Teddy’s irritation grew more urgent in her chest. Fionn seemed to sense it, too. He smirked and shuffled the cards with the skill of an avid player.
“Tell me, Your Grace,” Fionn started. “Do you play this game often, or did you just make an exception to play chaperone to the young and impressionable Lady McKay?”
“I’m not that young,” Stella said at the same time Teddy said, “She’s not remotely impressionable.”
Fionn laughed heartily.
Stella pinched Teddy’s face in her hand and pushed his lips into a pout. “You’ll have to excuse His Broody Highness. He wasover-servedlast night.”
Merl barked a laugh. “Over-served! As if it’s the barmaid’s fault for being so accommodating! I’ve never used that one, but I’ll have to try it. It’s a terrible thing to be wasteful with booze this good.” He held up his glass and waited for them all to clink it. “Hair of the dog that bit ya. It’s a solid strategy. In my experience, the best strategy.”
“Seems like it’s youronlystrategy, Merl,” Reever taunted.
The patrons at the surrounding tables broke into a chorus of laughter that suggested Merl was a regular.
“It only postpones the inevitable,” Stella said.
She looked around the pub. She’d not been to Nightmare’s Muse before because of its ominous name, but the pub’s wine selection was excellent.
“You two have been friends for a long time?” Harcom asked, nodding at Teddy and Stella.
Stella wrinkled her nose. “Oh no, we’re not friends. His Grace is just obsessed with me and follows me everywhere I go.”
Teddy choked on his whiskey, and the men burst into laughter.
Fionn winked at Stella. “Can hardly blame you, lad. She’s a beautiful woman. Even more so with a blade in her hand.”
“Yes, of course. Stella has plenty of admirers and friends. Though I must say I haven’t seen Katherine Crawley for a while,” Teddy said. “I thought for certain you would have summoned her for this. She’s not one to miss a party.”
A pit formed in Stella’s stomach.Kate. With all the stress of the murder, inquiry, and Arden’s offer, she’d managed to put their fight out of her head.
Kate’s words stung in the way only a best friend’s could. But she was wrong. Arden had shown up and explained himself. He’d wanted to make things official. Kate was the one who owed her an apology, not the other way around.
Stella sipped her wine slowly. “I’m sure Kate would have beendelighted to join us had I the time to ask her before being forced to fulfill my end of a bargain. As you’ll recall, I didn’t realize we were coming to a bar when the favor was called in.”
Teddy studied her, rubbing his chest absentmindedly. He could probably feel her hurt through their bond. “Perhaps another time.”
“Perhaps,” Stella parroted. She focused on trying to narrow the funnel of their bond the way her mother had taught her. She refused to break her glare, though she felt the way the men at the table were making eyes at each other over the growing agitation between her and Teddy.
Finally, she dragged her gaze from Teddy’s and nodded to the cards. “Another hand, or have I won enough of your money, gentlemen?”
Fionn said this was only a stop on the way to her favor.
“Is this our final destination?” she asked.
Fionn shook his head. “No, we needed to wait a bit, but now that it’s dark, it’s safe to say you can finally pay your debt.”
Adrenaline shot through her blood, a thread of anxiety bursting through her bond with Teddy. Sayla’s bow, that was annoying. He really needed to control himself better. She’d already gotten so much better at the meditation exercise her mother had taught her to temper her emotions. Teddy had clearly not been as studious with learning how to manage.
Fionn signaled to the barmaid and paid their tab as Stella shook hands with the gentlemen around the table before collecting her winnings and shoving them into the pocket of her dress.
Then Fionn shepherded her outside.
“You can go, Your Grace. Probably best that you’re not involved in this next part anyway,” Fionn said to Teddy once they were outside.
“I go where she goes,” Teddy said firmly, a hand resting on the dagger at his hip.
Stella hated that he just decided for her. He could have at least asked her if she wanted him to tag along first.
