“Well, hey, boss.”
“What’s going on?”
He turned and took in the crowd. Most of them were my regulars. Kyla grinned at me from across the room, where Evie was using her magic to clean up a pile of broken glasses. Gary was carrying broken bricks toward a pile by the door, and Selina waved from where she was deep in conversation with Bael as they surveyed the hole in the wall.
My eyes burned. Vas threw his arm around my shoulders and grinned. “They’re helping you, Mere.”
That was self-explanatory. But his words were enough to make the tears I’d been holding back roll down my cheeks.
“Uh-oh,” Orin murmured. Vas pulled me closer, using his knuckle to gently wipe at my tears.
I could barely get the words out. “Thank you,” I said as the crowd went quiet. “You don’t know how much this means to me.”
A witch I didn’t recognize strolled over from where she’d been stacking broken stools with her friends. “You’ve made this a safe place where we can hang out, talk, even negotiate with people from other factions. Hell, this place is probably responsible for preventing multiple wars.”
Several people nodded at that. I opened my mouth, but my throat was so tight I didn’t know if I could speak. I was saved by Nathaniel, who walked in with a bunch of wolves, all of them dressed ready for work.
Virtus padded in behind them.
I eyed the griffin, who trotted over to me, unfazed by the broken glass. He stared into my eyes, andknowledgeappeared.
He was here to watch over me. To…protect me.
“You don’t need to do that,” I whispered. He nuzzled my hand and strolled over to a spot that had already been cleared near the bar. He lay down, huge head on his paws as he watched everyone work, and I caught several grins as they glanced at the griffin.
“Sorry we’re late,” Nathaniel said. “We figured we’d take care of the wall. Had to pick up some bricks.” He swept his gaze over the bar, and I went still. My body knew when a predator was close by, even if I knew Nathaniel would never hurt me. Well, he’d never hurt me unless I became a threat to his pack.
My eyes burned again, and Kyla moseyed over to me. “Mere can’t speak right now.” She grinned at her Alpha. “She’s overcome by emotion. But she’s very grateful.”
Nathaniel grinned back, the hard lines of his face softening. He turned to his wolves—who’d somehow made my bar feel about half the size simply by standing in it. “Let’s get to work.”
* * *
Vassago
There was enough power in this bar to level it—and the city block—several times over. And yet, all of the paranormals were behaving as they worked. Orin was behind the bar, attempting to figure out how much booze would need to be replaced. From the grim look on his face, the answer wasn’t good.
I strode around the bar and eyed the fae male. He lifted his head from where he was crouched and riffling through a small fridge.
“What?”
I lifted one hand and created a silence ward. Orin angled his head as I crouched next to him.
“What did you do with the body?”
“What body?” Not a hint of recognition in his eyes. He was good.
“You know what body.”
He narrowed his eyes at me. “Took it to the seelie realm.”
“Where?” My voice was flat, and something similar to amusement flickered over his face.
“The swamplands.”
In that case, there shouldn’t be any trace of the body left. There were creatures in the seelie swamplands that mademeshudder.
“Did anyone see you?”
