“With your work ethic, no fucking wonder a bunch of gods attacked the bloody city,” I grumbled, following anyway, because technically the idiot was my boss.
6
SILVER
Gideon, Kleos, and I didn’t usually eat at Zest, even when one of us squirrelled enough money away to pay their exorbitant prices. We got it delivered, because the bill tended to double after their delicious yet eye-wateringly expensive little cocktails. Besides, while I loved dressing up, Kleos hated the formal dresses her evil stepmother used to buy for her, and didn’t purchase any black-tie outfits herself, saving her money to move out of her parent’s place some day instead.
Zest was definitely a black-tie kind of place. I half expected the maître d’ to tell off Cas for daring to step in here in a simple T-shirt, but she was too busy drooling at the defined muscles flexing under the tight dark fabric to object.
I managed not to roll my eyes as she led us to the best table in the trendy, fancy space, all black and white with the occasional gold accent.
“Get this menu away from me,” I hissed as I pushed the polished standee with the long list of drinks.
Kleos gasped. “But you love the Zest cocktails!”
I pouted. “My wallet doesn’t.”
As of Monday, I’d earn seven gold an hour as opposed to the measly three I got as a Guard trainee. That was a good salary, even in Highvale. In the outside world, it was the equivalent of about fifty quid, or seventy dollars, depending on the conversion rate of the day.
Maybe after a few years saving up my protector salary, I’d shrug at spending ten golds on one drink, but right now, the thought made me sweat.
Lucian reached out for the menu, and put it down right in front of me. “You just got promoted, smols. Dinner’s on us tonight.”
Byus, he meant him, and his endless pool of golds. Kleos might have been the Valesco heir, and I supposed that her trust fund must have been signed over to her now that she was married, but her fortune couldn’t compare to Lucian’s.
I didn’t even take into account that Kleos married a man who made Midas look like a pauper. Usually, we split our bills three ways.
I wrinkled my nose. “I don’t want to be that friend who sucks on your money because you’re loaded.”
“Don’t insult the man. He likes to remind the plebe that money means nothing to him.” Gideon laughed, dragging the menu to him. “She’ll want the Atlantis Falls, and I’m eyeing the Pixie Fire.”
I wasn’t convinced.
“We’ll cover the whole table no matter what,” Kleos asserted. “Cas is our guest, and we invited you tonight to celebrate your accomplishment.” She shrugged. “Gideon’s just sponging.”
“Hey!” He pouted. “Not any more than Cas.”
The newcomer tilted his head. “I have no need to…sponge? I have an account here, I believe.”
We all turned to him, expressions ranging from delight to suspicion.
Lucian, frowning, asked, “Have you been in town before, then?”
Kleos was excited. “You’re starting to remember.”
Gideon just perused the list of starters. For my part, I wasn’t certain whether I was glaring or glowering. Maybe something in between.
“I don’t know,” Cas stated casually.
My jaw ticked.Breathe, stay calm, check out the lovely food, Silver.
“The sky’s blue, the sun rises in the east in this world, and I have an account in the Gold Bank of Highvale. They’re facts I am certain of. Specific memories are still hard to grasp, but there are things I know.”
Lucian nodded. “Well, the bank should be able to locate your account based on your specific magical signature. I’ve seen it done before. And it might help work out who you are.”
“That’s it!” I cried out, delighted. “The account must have a name, an address, that sort of thing.”
“Not necessarily,” Lucian drawled. “Some accounts just…are. Especially the older ones. Back in the day, the head of a family would open an account. Anyone either belonging to that family, or bearing a mark identifying them as part of the clan, would have limited access—and the head of the family held a managerial position.”
