The lights within the bottle grew brighter and Elysia smiled, enjoying the simple show of magic. She started to say yes before remembering she couldn’t pay. “I mean I do, but I don’t have any money.”
The bartender grabbed a beveled cocktail glass with one hand and the starshine with the other. “Just get here?”
She nodded as he poured the shimmering liquid out.
Pushing the glass at her hand, he settled back against the bar. “Did housing already set you up? You’ll find a job soon enough.”
Elysia combed her hair into a ponytail, grumbling. “Something like that.”
The bartender’s eyes latched onto the floral helm peeking out as she tied her hair back. He whistled. “I thought I recognized you. Elysia Parker, the mortal we’ve all been waiting for.”
He grinned cheekily, and Elysia pulled her cocktail closer,suspicion rankling her. “Why in the realms would you recognize me?”
Corking the starshine, he threw her a look. “I live here permanently. I care about what happens to my home.”
She frowned at him and sniffed her drink.Floral, but sweet. “That’s not an answer.”
He shrugged, evading her question, but still stuck out his hand, introducing himself. “Herman.”
Placing her hand in his, he flipped her wrist and jerked her half over the bar to examine the design more carefully. Elysia wrenched back, but what the man lacked in height he made up for in muscle. He released her, and she smacked onto her ass, the stool wobbling beneath her.
“Aidan’s driving you to drink already?”
“Don’t. Touch,” she bit out.
She didn’t know who she was allowed to stab around here. Could you even harm someone who was dead? Ignoring him, she took a cautious sip of her drink, liking how it slid down her throat like warm honey. Lightness hollowed her bones and her scowl fell away, replaced by an unfamiliar easy smile. Downing the glass, she held it out, silently asking for another. The quiet glug of the starshine stopped as the spout tapped against the rim.
She swirled the drink, her chest feeling looser than it had possibly ever been in her life. Every last tension and anxiety were gone in an instant. She couldn’t even remember why she’d been in such a mood walking in here.
Toying with the bevels of the glass, her gaze roamed around the small establishment. Five barstools and a couple of small round tables made it an intimate setting. Candles wavered in the low light, and the heat was positively toasty compared to outside.
“I shouldn’t be here,” she acknowledged, thinking about Kava and the temples.
“In my bar? How barbaric. Tell him you’re your own person.”
She shook her head, lips splitting into a grin. Herman was alot more tolerable after a drink or two. “In the death realm. Or in charge of finding Aidan’s talisman at all.”
Herman poured himself a thimblefull of something red and fiery. “You think you’re the wrong person for the job.”
She snapped her fingers and pointed at him. “Exactly. You get it.”
He considered her, his blue-gray eyes more serious than she’d been expecting. “On the contrary, I think you’ve been through a lot, and it’s easier for you to think you’ll fail. Easier to expect that both you and others will let you down. That everyone else lies and manipulates as much as you’ve had to.”
The airiness of the starshine rippled as her natural emotions tried and failed to affect her. Her brow wrinkled as she grasped for wariness or even confusion, but it was futile. They all drifted away like little clouds of nothing.
“What do you know about what I’ve been through?” Perfectly at ease, her question had no bite, only curiosity.
Polishing off his drink, he topped hers off again. “What can I say, I’m a fan.”
A frown started, but then left as her smile widened. “Find the talisman. Go home to Relaclave.” She nodded to herself, the room shifting with prisms of beautiful light. It was simple, she just needed to start. How hard could it be? She was born to find secrets, and the talisman was simply an object of power—hidden like a secret.
It was time to go to Bellia.
Droppingher jacket on the floor, Elysia stood in the foyer of the estate. She was humming tunelessly, staring at an oil painting of Aidan’s dogs, when the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. Twisting on stockinged feet, she found him striding closer, holding an open leather-bound ledger with his sights set on her. His mood wasn’t difficult to decipher, if his tightenedjaw and harsh gait were anything to go by.Serves him right, she thought, giggling. She hoped she’d stolen his favorite pen.
Elysia gave the worst curtsy of her life as he approached, almost falling over. “Your Deadliness.” Tiny spheres of light floated around his head, drawing her attention as she watched them shift colors with delight.
His expression flattened and the ledger snapped shut. “I didn’t realize day drinking was how one showed their commitment to the job.”
