Fair guess, but that hadn’t been what he had meant to ask. “Reserved,” he corrected. “Is she always so reserved?”
“Sometimes.” Shrugging, Kol linked his arm through Ruger’s and began leading him across the hotel lobby. “Don’t worry. You’ll get used to it.” As they neared the cafe off the entrance, his lips stretched into a warm smile, and he lifted his free hand in greeting. “Hey, Flip.”
Ruger followed his gaze, his brow furrowed in confusion when he spotted an unfamiliar face behind the counter. The new addition to the staff didn’t surprise him. While the hotel didn’t necessarily have a high turnover rate, Skye did have a reputation for collecting strays.
Himself included.
In all the years he had been coming to the castle, however, he had rarely seen anyone behind the counter at that time of morning other than Emrys.
Petite, with a fair, radiant complexion and enormous lavender eyes, the male possessed the kind of ethereal beauty that marked him as fae. Whether pixie, faerie, or something else, Ruger couldn’t say. Not yet anyway.
Glossy hair the color of starlight teetered atop his head in a messy knot, the locks shimmering with streaks of lilac in the sunlight that poured through the windows. Four small silver hoops were stacked along the cartilage in each of his elongated ears, and a tiny diamond glittered on one side of his button nose.
“Hello, Kol.” The fae welcomed their arrival with the kind of smile that could melt the winter frost. “And this must be our new event coordinator.”
Ruger glanced to his side with a raised eyebrow. “Did you tell everyone I was coming?”
“Of course,” Kol answered dismissively. “This is Phillip Casey, but you can call him Flip.” His hand swept toward the male, then back. “This is my brother-in-law, Ruger Raines. You can call him whatever you want.”
“Asshole,” Ruger muttered under his breath.
“Yes.” Kol gave a resolute nod. “You can call him that, too. In fact, I encourage it.”
He rolled his eyes but remained silent, knowing anything he said would only embolden the guy.
“Well, it’s nice to meet you…” The barista trailed off, his voice lilting in question.
“Ruger is fine.”
Flip smiled and dipped his head in understanding. “Can I get something for you this morning?”
He pointed over his shoulder toward a chalkboard menu hung high on the back wall. Ruger glanced at it to be polite, but ultimately, he ordered the same thing he always did, no matter where he went.
“Just a black coffee.”
“You got it.”
“How much do I owe you?” he asked, reaching into his back pocket for his wallet.
“On the house,” Flip said as he poured coffee into a paper cup, secured the lid, and slid it across the counter. “Welcome to Blackhaven Manor.”
“Thanks.”
Coffee in hand, he said his goodbyes, then followed Kol across the lobby and down a long corridor behind the grand staircase. They walked in silence past bars, lounges, and a couple of restaurants until they came to a set of double doors with port windows.
“So, where is Emrys?” he asked as they stepped out onto a wide paved patio with a metal bench and a handful of potted plants.
The late morning sun shone brightly from a cloudless sky, its rays glittering off the surface of the lake at the bottom of the hill. Early autumn in Colorado could be turbulent, with temperaturesrising and falling as Mother Nature struggled to shake off the last remnants of summer.
The current weather, however, was mild and held only a hint of chill in the breeze that blew down from the mountains. Still, the distinct fragrance of fall carried on the wind, the scent of creeping decay from the changing leaves.
Kol slowed and pointed to one of the paved paths that disappeared into the tree line. “He’s working at the forest cafe.”
“There’s a forest cafe?”
“It just opened a few weeks ago, and it’s been pretty popular, especially among our treehouse guests.”
Ruger bobbed his head to show he was listening while secretly thanking the gods that Skye had offered him a cabin rather than one of the treetop suites in the woods. While he didn’t have the same fear of heights as his brother, he didn’t relish the idea of climbing a ladder just to get to his room.
