I glance at Wren. “Where are we?”
“Mary’s English Pub.” She pushes her phone across the bar top to me. I read off the address.
“Right, stay there,” Evander growls.
“He sounds mad.” Wren smiles, her shoulders going up to her ears.
“You think? I don’t hear mad; I hear relieved. That’s weird, right?”
“Maybe not. I could only overhear him a little,” Wren says. “Po-tay-to, po-tah-to.”
It was Wren’s idea that I call him after we couldn’t get a rideshare or taxi to pick up our fare. We’re not far from the inn, but it’s dark and we’ve had a few hard ciders. Walking the wrong way into the river doesn’t sound like a good idea. A few men have offered to drive us or walk us back to the inn. Okay, a few men have offered to walk Wren back. And I happened to be associated with her.
“Will you be wanting any more?” Mary, the owner, asks.
“No thanks. We’re heading out.”
“Oh, give me ten minutes and I’ll take you back to your inn,” she says.
“Ah, well. We have a friend coming to pick us up.”
Mary’s eyes go wide. We’ve chatted for a while, and she’s the sister-in-law of the woman who gave me her card earlier this week. Lana, the real estate broker. After she pried it out of me that I was working at Cloud Rift, she suggested I get an apartment. “Now, who’s coming to get you? One of the owners of the castle?”
“We can wait outside.” I grip my empty glass.
“No, I don’t let ladies wait outside my pub alone. They can come in,” Mary says.
“Who can come in, Mary?” a man three stools down asks.
“The Lord of the castle,” Mary answers.
“A dragon, coming in here?” The man’s voice cracks.
“That’s what I said.” Mary wipes her hands on her apron.
“Well, look at that, won’t ya? Getting on ten. I should be getting home to the Mrs.” The man tosses a bill on the counter and flees.
“Should you now, Jan? Make sure you give her a call before you tumble into something.” Mary cocks her head at him and takes his money off the bar.
Jan’s not the only one beating a hasty retreat. After five minutes of the cash register clanging and whirling like a fan, Wren and I are sitting there alone at the bar with Mary. In the corner are two larger men. I’m thinking they’re shifters, from the size of them and how everyone has left them to themselves all night.
“Mary, I’m so sorry. We’ve cost you a lot of money.” Opening my wallet, I see Kieren’s credit card staring at me, but I bypass it and hand over mine to close out our tab.
“It’s fine. I’m not worried about the dragons. But I wasn’t born here. The locals, they’ve been raised with stories to scare them from heading up the hill and wandering onto the dragon’s land.”
“I see. They don’t eat children,” I say.
“Just American women.” Wren laughs under her breath.
Mary’s eyes go wide. I elbow my sister. “She’s joking. Joking.”
Wren smacks my leg. I haven’t told her anything, but she’s guessed a good portion. She’s signed her own NDA. Not that she read it. Wren’s decided that means she can play guessing games. And my face? My face when I’ve been drinking, it tells no lies. She has no idea about me being a candidate or them being from another realm. But she knows I had sex with Roark. I’m not telling her anything else. I’m not. She signed her own NDA, but Leo mentioned that doesn’t mean I can share things with her.
The door thuds open. “Guess our ride is here,” I say.
The two men in the corner stand. At the same time, the three women from this morning rush in with another tall man.
“Nope, not my ride.” I sit back down.
