“Now, now,” Shadow says, laughter dancing in his voice.The werepanther steps out of the shadow roads, becoming fully visible in his fae form. Only the cat sith can walk the hidden roads of Faerie, and that ability makes them especially tricky.
Instead of wearing the leather pants and linen tunic top of Faerie make, he’s dressed like a human in jeans, a green cotton shirt, and a black leather jacket. About as tall as me, Shadow has pale skin and long black hair that shades to silver by the tips. His green eyes sparkle above a too-large smile. He’s annoyingly handsome and genial. And even though cat sith can’t match the magnificence that is dragons, he’s so cocky it’s clear he doesn’t recognize any inferiority. “Is that any way to treat a friend?”
“No,” I growl. “But who says you’re a friend?”
He pulls his hand from my grasp and clamps it over his heart as if I’ve given him a mortal blow. “Oh, how you wound me!”
Then he slides his own box of pizza onto the bar top and takes the stool beside me. “We can trade.”
“What is it?” I sniff. His food smells strongly of spices.
“Chili garlic chicken.” He hands me a piece, and I let him steal one of mine in return.
His pizza tastes surprisingly good, tangy and hot, with the chicken and cheese offering a nice counterpoint to the spices. But I’m careful to keep my expression neutral—there’s no point in inflating the werepanther’s ego any more than it already is.
“Meat lovers…again?” he teases, finishing off the piece he took from me in two bites, fangs ripping through the crust with ease.
“It’s what every carnivore should eat,” I say, biting into my own piece, piled high with pepperoni, sausage, and smoky bacon.
Shadow shakes his head and gestures to Thorvinn. “What new drinks do you have this week?”
“The human women keep asking for special cocktails for something called Valentine’s Day.Redcocktails.” The orc sneers. “As if alcohol should be red!”
My wings stir on my back. “There’s nothing wrong with red.”
“These red drinks aresweet.” Thorvinn sounds offended.
“Cider’s sweet.” I frown. His argument makes no sense.
The orc grumbles, “Not like this, it isn’t.”
“But you’ve been practicing making them anyway, haven’t you?” the werepanther prods, knowing full well the bartender can’t resist the challenge of new drink recipes. “I want to try one.”
The orc slams a metal carafe onto the bar top and starts pouring in various liquors from human bottles. He shakes the entire thing, ice cubes rattling against the sides, then strains it into a strangely shaped wine glass with a conical bowl. After adding a piece of red fruit to the rim and sprinkling chocolate shavings across the top, he slides the drink to Shadow with a gruff, “One chocolate covered strawberry martini.”
The werepanther sips the creamy cocktail and nods. “I can see why the women love it. It doesn’t pair well with my pizza, but it’s like dessert in a glass.” He grins widely. “And I’m all for dessert before dinner.” He downs the rest of the drink and asks for a cider to complement his pizza.
We eat in silence—perhaps not completely companionable silence, but notnot-companionable.
Before things get too awkward, the door opens behind us, and Rune and Severin walk in. Both fae are tall with long dark hair, though Severin’s is a bluer-black paired with light skin, while the werewolf’s is a warmer brown against his tan complexion. Rune’s the physically larger man, carrying more muscle mass, but a steady thrum of magical power vibrates in the air around Severin and stirs the black tattoos covering his skin. Next to dragons, shadow fae are the strongest magic users in all of Faerie.
“What brings you two here?” Shadow asks. “Did your women let you out to play?”
Severin smirks. “They’re having one of their witchy meetings tonight, so we’re stuck looking at your ugly face.”
“Ha! Such a lie.” Shadow spreads his hands wide. “I’m magnificent.”
“He also looks quite similar to you,” I say to Severin. “So if he’s ugly…”
Rune’s lips twitch, while the shadow fae scowls at me, his tattoos swirling across his skin in agitation.
This is good news, though. If the human witches are meeting, then the other women can help Skye break the spell. I consider asking the other fae for assistance but don’t want to face Shadow’s teasing if the spell’s going to be broken soon. Besides, I don’t want anyone to know I’m doing anything as undignified as dancing.
Rune grunts and gestures to Thorvinn for an ale.
Severin says, “Make that two.”
“You’re not trying the new human drink, Rune?”Shadow asks. “I thought you wanted to study all the human traditions your mate Autumn loves. The women have been asking for a new cocktail for Valentine’s Day.”
