“Your room’s upstairs. First door on the right. Go on and get unpacked, and I’ll grab you in an hour to start prep work.” Her voice was rough and rasped from smoke and years of use, and her ice blue eyes met mine only briefly.
“Thanks for dropping her off,” she added, dismissing Morgana.
“Not going to invite me in for a drink?” the witch quipped, Vesper cawing in agreement and flapping his wings from where he sat on her shoulder.
Selene laughed, the sound rich. “Last time I let you in for a drink, you stayed for a week and broke poor Marcus’s heart. These old coots got enough problems without you sniffing around.”
“Oh, please,” Morgana scoffed. “I gave him the time of his life.”
My eyes darted between them, desperately wishing Morgana would stay, if only for the stories. They seemed like they had plenty.
When Selene didn’t budge, Morgana gave a beleaguered sigh of defeat. “Fine, fine, I see where I’m not wanted.”
She turned towards me and gave me one last assessing look. “The car is yours, with a list of safe houses in the glove compartment in case of emergency.”
I nodded along, trying not to cry.
“I will contact Selene every evening from tonight. If you don’t hear from me, then your location has been compromised and you need to run, got it?”
“Got it,” I replied, my voice beginning to crack.
Morgana’s eyes began to mist over as well. “None of those tears, Briar. This isn’t a total goodbye. Remember, we’re business partners.”
Arlen had fixed my code even faster than I’d hoped, and as of that morning,Kaldrinhad officially launched. The scant internet presence I’d had in the “before-times” was long gone, so with little fanfare to announce its start, I wasn’t expecting any huge user numbers right away. But Morgana was an influential witch, and promised to spread the word once she got back to Cindralis.
“And I’ll get right to work on finding out what happened to your parents.”
At that, I finally lost it, putting down my small bag and wrapping my arms around her waist. Vesper nuzzled my head with his beak as Morgana breathed me in, patting me on the back.
“You be careful, little witch. Trust your instincts, and use the burner phone to get in touch with me at anytime. Believe me when I say you cannot bother me, because my only satisfaction comes from knowing you’re safe.”
“Thank you, Morgana. Truly. You saved my life.”
In more ways than one. She’d gotten me out of Noctis, helped me finally set up my app and had delivered me to Selene, the woman who would house, feed, and employ me for as long as I needed.
And she had helped me officially break the bond with Victor. Just as Vesper had confirmed, the emotions that originally came through had stopped completely since the ritual.
I was well and truly free.
30
Shaken and Stirred
The seraph alpha at the bar clinked the ice in his empty glass at me playfully. “Hey Briar, can you make me another whiskey sour when you get the chance?”
“Sure thing, Ephraim!” I chirped, opening up the little bartender’s book Selene had given me. I had no idea how to make half the cocktails these old guys liked to order.
But they were patient with me, especially since it was my first night, and either happily finished my mistakes without complaint or offered kind advice on how to fix them.
When I reached for the bottle of bourbon behind me, Ephraim cleared his throat. “Sorry, sweetheart, can you use the rye instead?”
“Um…”
“Black bottle, second to the right, middle shelf.”
I blushed and nodded my thanks, getting to work.
“Can’t you make it a little easier on her?” the merfolk alpha two stools to his right scoffed, picking up his bottle. “Just get a beer like the rest of us.”
