Aesira stepped back, creating space between them. “You would do well to remember your place, StoneOdega.” She spat the name like it was a curse, and to those who bore it maybe it was. A constant reminder of their past mistakes, branded into them for everyone to see.
Stone reached around her and grabbed her drink from the bar, sipping it slowly.
“That’s mine.”
“And where is my place, Commander? Beneath you?” Stone cocked his head to the side. The sour smell of ale drifted from his lips and she had to wonder how many drinks he’d had tonight. The first night they met, he’d been quiet. Timid. But now he looked at her with the confidence of someone in power. Maybe it was thedeal with Kamari that fueled his swagger. Maybe it was the drink he was steadily polishing off.
He swallowed back the rest of her drink and set the empty glass on the bar. “Trust me, I couldn’t forget being beneath you if I tried.” He leaned in and Aesira tilted back, though with the bar behind her, there wasn’t anywhere to go. His lips brushed against her ear. “Admittedly, I haven’t tried very hard. In fact, I’m picturing myself beneath you right–”
Aesira’s short blade was off her hip and under Stone’s chin before he could say another word. She pushed it into his soft flesh, not hard enough to mark him, but enough to silence him. “Finish that sentence, I dare you.”
“Stone.” A man wrapped his arm around Stone’s shoulder, pulling him back, away from Aesira. “I think you’ve had enough.” His dark, angular eye swept over Aesira, then to Nev and Nora, his other eye covered with a dark patch. Aesira dropped her blade. “Pardon my unintelligent friend, here. He’s had a few too many.”
“Queen’s money burning a hole in your pocket, Odega?” Nora giggled, sipping her drink.
The man holding Stone turned his attention to Nora, his dark eye lazily taking her in from top to bottom. “And who pays you, sweetheart?” A flush of pink swept over Nora’s freckled cheeks. “Exactly. Queen’s money or not, it all spends the same.”
Aesira tucked her blade away. “At least our money has been earned,” she mumbled. Stone opened his mouth, but the man stepped in front of him. His dark hair was swept back, gathered at the nape of his neck, his frame much larger than Stone’s. “I’m Patch.” He extended his hand, did he expect her to take it? Shake hands with an Odega?
“Aesira,” she said, ignoring his hand completely.
“Another ex-smuggler?” Nora sipped her drink, watching the man over the rim of her glass.
“What gave it away?” Patch asked through a smile. “We should go, boss.” He patted Stone on the back, gave Nora a quick wink, then wove through the crowd.
Stone leaned in towards Aesira again, “I’ll see you at the docks,” he said, before he left to join Patch at the back of the tavern where two others were waiting.
All of the criminals Kamari had released.
Aesira sunk back into her stool and ordered another ale.
“Well they seem fun,” Nev said through a smile.
“He’s a nuisance.”
“I don’t know,” Nora said, “he’s pretty cute. Don’t you think he’s cute, Nev? Not as cute as Patch, but cute.”
Nev stifled a laugh behind her drink and Aesira thought twice about leaving them both at the bar.
“Not my type,” Nev said.
“Right,” Nora said through a laugh. “We know your type.” She nodded to the end of the bar where a group of women huddled together, laughing and chatting. “At least be courteous and buy them a drink if you’re going to stare.”
“Fuck off,” Nev said before downing her drink.
Aesira listened to the sisters bicker back and forth but her mind was elsewhere. The memory of her and Stone’s bodies entwined together in the bathroom burned her cheeks. It was embarrassing. A regret she wished she could forget.
“He’s clearly taken,” Aesira said to no one in particular, brows pinching as she watched Stone from across the tavern. He leanedinto one of the women at the table. Her face was slim and angular, short honey hair cropped blunt at her jaw. She was whispering something now, making Stone smile, but what did it matter? Stone Odega was the last thing she needed to be thinking about. In just a few days, they’d leave Vargah and embark on a mission she wasn’t sure she believed in.
No, she was positive it would fail.
She’d never tell Kamari that. She couldn’t stand seeing her sister hurt. Aesira had always done her best to avoid being the root of her sister's pain. She was determined to give this mission everything she had. She’d take all the years she spent under the Order’s boot, all the training and diligence and put it to good use.
She sipped from her fresh ale and couldn’t help as her gaze drifted to the back of the tavern again.
Stone and the woman sat next to each other and across from them, another woman with deep brown skin and the man who introduced himself as Patch.
The ale was bitter, not as sweet as the last one like she preferred, but she sipped it and returned her focus to Nora and Nev.
