“You have no idea,” I muttered. How could I explain to a human that I’d found my mate and that I could never see him again? Because of a prophecy. From a druid. Who had originally come from the magical land called Faerie. He probably wouldn’t serve me adrink.
“What’s your poison?” he asked, flipping a shot glass in his beefyhands.
“Give me a shot of your best whiskey.” I twisted on my seat to see the vacancy sign flashing just outside the window. “You have some openrooms?”
“Sure.” He poured the drink and slid the glass toward me. “A hundred quid anight.”
I made aface.
He let out a low chuckle. “Sorry. Prime real estate right here. Views of the castle, a one minute walk to the High Street. Tourists love it here. Plus, we have access to Mary King’s Close, right across the street. Guests here enjoy free entry, and we do private tours every day at noon. Though tomorrow’s already bookedup.”
Ah, Mary King’s Close, the most famous close in all of Edinburgh. Once, it had been part of the Royal Mile, a bustling main street for businesses and homes. Over the years, the close had been built on top of, again and again until it was buried beneath the city. The area had been sealed shut. No sunlight, no fresh air, and no escape for plague victims. A lot of people had died in that close, and what humans didn’t know now was that over half of them had been due to hungryvampires.
“So, you charge extra for being across from a veritable graveyard.” I downed the shot and winced as fire burned mythroat.
He shrugged. “Tourists are convinced supernatural shit is going down in there, especially after all those weirdos came out of the closet. You know some of them live in the castle on the hill? All this time, I thought the place was shut to visitors because the military was doing super secret training in there, but it turns out a fae king bought the damn place. Can you believeit?”
I swallowed hard. I was not yet ready to be reminded of the mate I’d left behind. “I heard the fae help keep the vampires inline.”
He grunted. “They’re all the same to me. Vampires, fae, werewolves. Did you know there are also magicians outthere?”
“Sorcerers,” Icorrected.
“Yeah, sorcerer magicians.” His grin widened. “A friend of mine bought this pretty cool drug off a magician the other day. It’s called sapphire blue or something. And lemme tell you, that thing waspooooooootent.”
My head jerked up. “Oh yeah? You got a name for thisguy?”
The bartender jerked his head back and forth. “Nah. I just know he deals out of Mary King’s Close but not at this time of night. You’d have to catch him during the day. But it’s hard to get to him. Other than the tours, that place is shut to the public. I don’t know how hemanages.”
Right. Of course he did. My mind ran a hundred miles an hour. If I could talk to the sorcerer, maybe I could find out which fae he’d sold drugs to, and then we could get a lead on who took Saoirse. I needed to get out of this town, for Lugh’s sake, but I could check things out tomorrow before I got on thetrain.
“I got some weed though if you’d like thatinstead?”
“No, thanks. I think I’ll take another shot, and then head up tobed.”
“You got it,” he replied, pouring the drink before I could start babbling about fae mates and kings and evil prophecies. He didn’t seem too keen on supernaturals, and I needed a room. Best to keep mum about the whole thing. Like Lugh liked to do. Lugh. Mymate.
Argh! I couldn’t think about anything without my mind circling right back to his raven hair and perfectbiceps.
I downed the shot and decided I should probably call it a night. Two whiskeys and my head already buzzed. The bartender tossed me a set of keys and instructed me to head to the third floor, first room on theright.
As I pushed up the stairs, the door to the pub opened, and a wave of cold air rushed inside. The little bell clanged, and the murmur of voices drowned it out. Huh. Guessed I wasn’t the only living thing out there wandering the streets in need of a drink at two in the morning. The place was called A Knight’s End, afterall.
But something stopped me from heading up thestairs.
I wasn’t entirely sure what set off the alarm bells. Something about the way the air moved as the new arrivals whispered through the bar. No. It wasn’t that at all. It was the way they smelled. Lavender, iron, and deadleaves.
My heart dropped. It was the crew from the night of the attack in MagMell.
Gripping the banister, I eased into a crouch to see into the pub, but my view was blocked by the half-shutdoor.
“Yeah, can we have a round of bourbon? Here’s a little extra for you to find something interesting in your stock room back there. We have some business to attend to out here. Trade secrets and thelot.”
“Yeah, alright.” The bartender’s voice sounded pleasantly surprised. They must have passed him a tidy sum to make him vanish. At least they hadn’t decided to kill him for his trouble. A moment later, footsteps thudded on the hardwood, and a door slammedshut.
“Ugh, humans.” The female’s voice dripped with disdain. The leader. The one who had the magic sword. “I’m so sick of having to pretend to care about them. Can’t talk about supernatural stuff in their presence. It’s time this world had achange.”
“Nemain will make certain that our lives are for the better once she returns from the underworld,” a quiet male voice replied. “Patience,Fiona.”
