A ghostly wolf rampages toward us, but at the last second, it dodges around and disappears.
Nai Nai grins. “Trespassers would be punished.”
Lacey blinks a few times. “Some wine.”
“Yeah, let’s just get this out of the way now,” I say as I pour a serving of wine for my elder first. “Raul isn’t the only one with a weird secret. Nai Nai’s a fortune-telling mystic and I’m some kinda…astral mage.”
I pass Lacey the next glass, then Rhazan, but he refuses. Ace reaches out for the cup and I smack his hand down. Nai Nai serves him a portion anyway, and who am I to argue, I guess? Tomorrow’s Sunday and it’s not as if he’s going to get wasted on Grandma’s wine.
“I knew you were a witch,” Ace says as he takes a drink. His face scrunches up in disgust, but he smooths it out quickly. “Good stuff, elder Feng.”
“Thank you,” Nai Nai says with a smug smile.
“So, where did you meet?” she asks, looking at Rhazan.
“Here. Or rather, just over there,” he points to the bar.
Nai Nai furrows her brow. “More.”
We look at one another, then shrug.
“That’s it,” I say. “Just over there.”
“What happened?” she urges.
“He told me not to freak out his bartender,” I say. “I was projecting.”
“And then?”
I blow out my cheeks. “And then…an interdimensional cockroach burst through space and time and was about to eat my face, but Rhaz—aul saved me.”
I bring my wine to my lips and avoid everyone’s gaze.
“Cockroaches…” Ace says, and they stare at one another.
Then they all laugh.
“They were huge!” I exclaim. “Like, dog-sized!”
“They’re skreet,” Rhaz says.
“Skreet?” Lacey flaps her lips.
I stomp my foot. “Stop making fun of us. It was scary!”
“And then?” Nai Nai asks.
“Then we met again to reinforce the wards in the pantry to protect against skreet,” Rhaz says.
“Aaaand,” Nai Nai pushes.
I’m not sure I want to give all the details of our second encounter.
“And…we made a magic pact so she could better protect you,” he says.
I touch the mark on my wrist and he shivers, then looks up at me with a smirk.
“Yes, that pact.”
