And that did not make me want to cry. Not at all.
His gaze was steady on my face. “There a reason I can feel magic outside?”
I glanced at Evie, and she clamped her lips shut. She wouldn’t say anything. Good.
I shrugged, turning away to busy myself with polishing the glasses Orin had left to air-dry last night.
“Where’ve you been?” Evie asked Vas. He gave us both a long look, and I knew he wasn’t going to let it go. Nosy demon.
“New York. After I missed Daimonion in Peru, I heard he was seen there. He was gone when I arrived.” Cold fury was clear in his voice, and I refilled his glass. His dark eyes met mine, and I got back to my polishing.
The next few hours passed quickly. Evie grabbed a Lyft, more than a little tipsy after a few Green Demons. Vas had grinned when he learned the name of the drink, and I’d had to look away from his smile.
Unfortunately, Vas decided to stay put, his ass planted on a stool at the bar while I prepared for opening. Orin scowled at him while setting up the tables and chairs and refilling the ice bin, and I kept Vas’s whiskey topped up while I prepped and refilled the garnish bar.
He was obviously dealing with some dark shit. Since the quiet gave me a chance to think about the case, I left him to it.
Who would come after a pregnant seelie? Was it someone who wanted revenge after Ilayda’s king marched against all of us? Someone who wanted to steal the baby? Someone who wanted to hurt Nereus?
There were too many options. Hopefully we’d get something from either the pleatix or the phone.
Amy and Becky arrived, gossiping as they got ready for their shifts. Orin flipped the sign to open, and within half an hour, regulars were wandering in.
Within a couple of hours, a bachelorette party had arrived, the human women flirting with a group of fae guys. One of the women stumbled up to the bar.
“Nine Redheaded Slut shots, please,” she slurred, and I nodded, pulling out the shot glasses. Vas gave me an amused look, and I shrugged at him.
Orin was currently taking a tray of drinks over to the fae guys, while the servers took orders from a table of gnomes. It was busier than normal, of course, since I was down a server.
“I’ll help.”
I jumped about a mile in the air as Vas appeared behind me. How he could move so quickly when he had to maneuver his wings around my bar was beyond me.
“I’m fine,” I said. Truthfully, I was drowning. He simply ignored that, and I sighed, offering him an apron. He ignored that too, popping a Maraschino cherry into his mouth.
“Three Dragon’s Breaths and an orange juice,” a witch ordered. “Hey, Mere.”
I glanced at Vas. “The Dragon’s Breaths are cranberry juice and Fireball.”
He nodded, and I smiled at the witch. “How are you doing, Freya?”
She scowled down at her huge belly. “Sober driving for my friends. Not sure how I got roped into it, but it’s gotta be good karma or something. How are you doing?”
“Can’t complain.” Freya had helped destroy Lucifer’s deadly plant just a few weeks ago. Sometimes, it didn’t feel real.
She seemed to read my mind, because she sighed. “I still have nightmares about that day.”
“So do I.” Most of them involved the demon next to me. In my dreams, it was Vas who Daimonion killed, and every few nights, I woke up on the edge of screaming.
“Do you have a cocktail list?” a frat boy asked Vas. Vas just stared at him. The frat boy turned white, and I hid my smile.
“Beer or whiskey?” Vas growled.
I grinned. Freya laughed. “Someone isn’t used to customer service,” she said in a low voice.
“He’s helping me out.”
The kid chose beer, and Vas slid three bottles across the counter to him, took his payment, and gave both of us an ain’t-I-great-at-this smile.
