“You’re going to get one of us killed,” Brayden said flatly.
My job was my independence. I wasn’t giving that up because I met some guy who might be my thousand-year-old husband.
I put one hand on my hip. “Leah loves coming to the bar. Why don’t you keep us both company and then we will be well protected?”
Brayden shook his head in defeat and threw his hands in the air. “Why don’t you put some pants and a turtleneck on?”
That got a grin out of me. He was jealous, and part of me loved that. I looked at his hands for the first time and gasped. They were full of small cuts and crusted blood and dirt. “What happened?”
He looked at his hands as if the sight was no big deal. “While you were resting I went back and burned the Elder Fae’s body and then buried the ashes so that no witches could keep his soul earthbound.”
What the what?Witches could keep your soul earthbound if they got hold of your body or ashes? I shivered. Idefinitelydidn’t like witches.
“Alone!” I growled. The idiot had a death wish.
“It was fine,” he said.
Now that I looked closer, I noticed scrapes along his arms and neck. “It wasn’t fine, you got your ass kicked by a tree warrior, didn’t you?”
He chuckled; it did sound funny coming out like that. I hadn’t realized I’d reached out and brushed my fingers along the red spot on his neck until he stilled beneath my fingers.
“Oh, I…” I pulled my hand back, embarrassed. “I should shower before work.”
He cleared his throat. “Me too.”
Wanna share water?I dared myself to say, and then scolded my inner thoughts. He could be Leah’s soulmate. Until one of us remembered whose husband he was, I wasn’t touching him anymore.
After showering and getting ready, we all headed into town as a pack. Leah and I were dressed in short skirts and crop tops. Leah had paired hers with knee-high boots, while I wore mine with some sneakers that wouldn’t hurt my feet. When we’d walked out of the room, Brayden’s eyes had gone to both of our bare legs and he just groaned and said he was waiting in the car. Maddy watched all of it with a childlike satisfaction.
Now I was an hour into my shift and the bar was packed. I’d gotten Brayden, Maddy, and Leah the best table in the house right off the bar and ran some beers and a bowl of bar mix out to them. I kept asking Ronan to get a small kitchen in the back so that we could serve nachos and stuff, but his answer was always, “Who’s paying for that?”
“Hey, gorgeous!” a familiar voice called as I was setting down the bowl of pretzel mix at their table.
I spun and grinned when my gaze landed on flirty Nik from McDuff’s. “Well, well, look what the cat dragged in,” I called, and he rushed forward to give me a hug.
As his arms came around me, they hung low on my back and Brayden growled from the table. Both Nik and I stiffened, freezing at the unnatural sound, and he pulled back, looking down at the floor. “Is there a dog in here?” he asked over the noise.
I turned to look over my shoulder and locked eyes with Brayden. His irises were glowing yellow and he was giving Nik a murderous look.
I reached out and kicked his shin, and his eyes dropped back down to blue.
“What can I make you?” I asked, and started to divert him away from Brayden’s possessive stare.
“Let’s dance!” Leah pulled Maddy by the hand and dragged her out to where a few drunken patrons were dancing in the middle of the makeshift dancefloor. Brayden’s attention now diverted to Leah and Maddy and I was grateful. He could only be possessive over one of us at a time.
“Vodka soda,” Nik said and took a seat.
When Clara noticed Nik, she squealed and ran over. “Hey, cutie.” Clara leaned across the bar top and planted a big kiss on Nik’s cheek.
Clara was about as bad as Nik in the flirting department.
There was a sudden awareness that someone was watching me. I looked in Brayden’s direction to see him staring right at me. It was a quizzical look, like he couldn’t figure something out. I gave him a sheepish smile and then went back to tending the bar. After another hour, my till was overflowing with cash. I needed to make a run back to Ronan as he didn’t like us to keep more than a hundred dollars on hand in case of robbery. Usually people did credit cards, but tonight the cash was flowing.
Grabbing the cash out of the drawer, I shoved it into a money bag and zipped it up. “Heading out back for a minute,” I told Clara, and she gave me a nod, her dark ponytail bobbing.
I popped out from behind the bar and headed down the hallway. As I neared Ronan’s office, I slowed. Loud male voices could be heard arguing inside.
“The Witch Mother just wants you to keep an eye on the girl. Report anything weird,” a male voice said.
