The bar was larger than Teddy had realized. It looked cozy when they walked in, but now he had the disorienting sensation of walking a great distance. He glanced behind them and it appeared as if they were mere feet from the front door.
The place was spelled. The tables and patrons stretched out in front of him for what looked like a mile. Teddy continued to follow Stella, waiting to spot one of their competitors or for someone to recognize them, but not a single person even glanced at them in the ten minutes it took them to walk across the space. Finally, they reached the bar that had looked just a few feet away initially.
Skylar stopped in front of two miraculously free barstools. “Here you go. The lazy ass of a bartender will be with you shortly.”
Teddy took his seat, but Stella stayed standing, staring after the woman.
“It’s the manipulation magic,” Stella said. “Looks small and unassuming from the outside, but it’s actually a pocket dimension on the inside. Very intricate and old magic to create something like this. It would require someone with great power, or a lot of experience.”
“You think she did it?” Teddy asked, nodding to Skylar.
“I think she cloaked us through the whole room and that’s not aneasy spell to maintain that long if you don’t need to. Did you notice not a single person looked at us?”
Teddy nodded. “Why, though?”
Stella shrugged, but she was clearly on edge, scanning the room in the same way he’d seen Rainer do hundreds of times. The same way Teddy did in every room. He was relieved she had the instinct to always seek out the quickest escape route and the most likely place from which an attacker could enter.
“I know you’re not happy to be here, but I don’t think anyone is going to expect us to stay here for the exact reason you didn’t want to come in daylight,” Stella said. “It’s stupid to stay here, but as long as our cave locations aren’t more than a short ride, it makes sense to get a good night’s sleep before we have to be on our guard in the wild. At least here we know the way in and out.”
“I don’t like it.”
Stella rolled her eyes. “Of course you don’t. You’re trying to play badass for a week and I’m trying to get you to spend a night in a real bed. I’ll let you in on a little secret, Your Grace. If you’re actually tough, you don’t spend your time trying to prove it to other people. You just live your life. Let’s just sleep in the bed this one night. You’ll thank me tomorrow.”
He’d been so focused on safety that he hadn’t thought about the fact that one room meant one bed. It meant sleeping close to her. He’d be able to smell the wildflower scent of her hair and see her sleep-rumpled and soft in nothing but a nightgown.
The bond in his chest seemed to have a mind of its own. A primal, possessive tug shot through him and her gaze snapped to his, then dropped to his mouth. Suddenly, all he could think about was the way she’d kissed him, the way she’d ground against his thigh and groaned into his mouth. A fever tore through his blood and he leaned closer to her.
Her lips parted in a sigh, like she was feeling the same thing. The bond drew him forward. He was about to reach up to cup her cheek when his senses snapped back into place. He drew back like he’d been shocked.
“This fucking bond is going to be the death of me,” he grumbled.
Stella winced. He hadn’t said it to hurt her, but as a man whose life required an enormous amount of composure and control, the magnetism of the bond was making it harder and harder to maintain his stoicism.
Teddy glanced back toward the door, trying to ignore the buzzing bond. It looked deceptively close, just like the bar had when they were standing there. Skylar leaned against the wall by the front door and gave him a wave. “Doubtful I’ll sleep well with that witch or whatever she is milling about.”
“You look like your father,” a voice said from behind his right shoulder.
Teddy startled and spun to face Cato, former god of manipulation and influence turned mortal bar owner. Despite his humanity, the air still vibrated around him with the remnants of his power.
The god walked by him and rounded the bar, ignoring his gawking.
Teddy’s parents had spent his whole life telling him to stay away from Cato, so while he’d met the god in passing, he’d never truly interacted with him.
“Thank you,” he said.
Cato grinned widely. “Ah, I see you got his confidence.”
Stella stood at the end of the bar, staring at the god warily.
Cato glanced at her, mopping up a spill with a white rag. “And you look just like your mother, except for the eyes, the height, and that frown—that’s all your father. It’s like traveling back in time looking at the two of you.” He glanced at Skylar across the room, but the witch seemed to be avoiding looking their way.
“Figures that Skylar made space and sat you here. Did she say anything when she dropped you in my lap?”
“She called you a lazy ass of a bartender,” Teddy said.
The god nodded. “Could be worse, I suppose.”
“Are you two?—”
