I slung one leg out of the window and turned to hold on to the sill so I could drop to the awning below. My heart rate picked up, and I basked in it. I loved a good adventure, especially if it was something I’d been forbidden from doing. Was I possibly risking the life of the prince? Sure, but at least we’d have some fun.
The prince followed, landing in a half crouch beside me in the alleyway, and finally, Kol joined us. We waited a few moments to make sure we hadn’t roused the dragon before strolling out into the cool night.
The whole city was built over rivers, making the city a bit of a maze of stairs, bridges, and islands. It was built on levels and platforms, creating secret spaces only accessible by some staircases.
We found an out-of-the-way tavern that wasn’t overly crowded. It was well-lit by fae light and housed quite a bit of weird art. But nonetheless, the all-male servers were happy to give us a table and a drink menu delicately printed on the back of a leaf.
“How often do you think they need to redo these?” I asked, squinting at the fancy font. “Can anyone make this out?”
“I can read it to you if you can’t read.” One of the males sauntered over and plucked it out of my grasp.
“I can read,” I muttered. “Just not whatever this is.”
The prince clapped a hand over his mouth, holding back a laugh.
“It’s not that hard,” Kol mused.
“I guess my education was more practical than both of yours.” I huffed and turned to the male still holding my menu. “If you want to read it to me, be my guest, handsome.” I couldn’t get over how two weeks ago I would have had him in the alley before the night was through, but now, I couldn’t bring myself to look twice at him.I didn’t like how much I’d changed and I didn’t even know her.
“Ohhhhh.” Kol stared. “Are you allowed to flirt?”
“I flirt with everyone.” It was a mask as much as anything else, and it would draw less attention to us in a place like this than if I ignored the temptations so blatantly on offer. I flicked my gaze back to the male. “Please continue.”
Kol gave me a curious look but dropped it as the server read seductively.
“I want the cider,” I said when he finished and waited expectantly. “And we’ll take a bottle of the Aquatic Absinthe.”
The prince locked eyes with me as he ordered but waited to comment until the server left. “And you accused me of making bad decisions.”
“I’m not going to half arse this. Not when I know Nyx will be furious, and we will never get out again.”
“He’s got a point.” Kol took the bottle of absinthe when it was set down and filled the tiny glasses.
“Does anyone know how we’re going to get back?” Kol asked, a couple drinks in. “Because I’m pretty drunk, and there may ormay not be a mini dragon sitting on my shoulder trying to give me advice.”
“Right, I didn’t think this through.” I nodded philosophically. “That might pose a problem.”
“At least it would be easy to escape a pursuit,” the prince added.
“You know, you’re right. We are safest when no one knows where we are, including ourselves!” I can’t believe I didn’t think of that.
“You’re hardly hard to find.” Nova sat down next to Kol.
I lurched back in shock, and Kol rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn’t seeing things.
I glanced over my shoulder, finding Calytrix, arms crossed, looking fierce and wonderful. May the Goddess save me. I’d trusted Nyx and Zaria to keep them inside. I never would have let my guard down, drinking like I had, if I thought we’d have any interaction tonight.
At least I seemed to be handling my drink better than the other two, but I never was good at resisting something I wanted—and less so when my inhibitions were at an all-time low.
TWENTY-THREE
FAOLAN
This wasn’t going to end well, and maybe I didn’t want it to.
“By the Goddess! What are you doing out?” I demanded, standing so abruptly, I tipped my stool over, trying to decide if I was going to be responsible and leave, or stay and accept what may come.
Calytrix jolted back to avoid it landing on her toes, then fixed me with a deeply disapproving glare. “Why should we not be, when you are?”
