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But first, I looked down at the cold glass of bier, mouth watering.I'm going to savor this delicious drink — every last drop.

Tipping back the glass, I let the cool liquid course down my throat, and let out a contented sigh.

"Nothing like a cool bier after a long day," I sat down the glass with a thunk and nodded to the man on my left.

The man said nothing, and I looked at him more closely.

He was hunched over the counter — slightly swayingin his seat, and before him sat four empty glasses and a fifth half-full of something blue and fizzy.

Well, hello …

"So friend, what're you dri —" I trailed off as the man finally took notice of my attention and turned to face me.

Hells — he wasmuchlarger than I'd first thought …

Tugging back his hat, he revealed a pair of familiar yellow eyes and short cropped white hair.

My whole body went rigid.

Fuck! Of COURSE I had to sit next to one of the few people who might recognize me!

Mind spinning, I frantically considered and immediately rejected several explanations for why I was here dressed in a soldier's uniform.

He wouldn't believe any of them —

"You're wrong, you know," he slurred as he squinted at me. "There are no good ones here. Not the mages. Not the Empire. And especially not the crazy, pretty ones who ask you to do the one thing you can't fucking do."

Wow. If he wasn't talking about Kaiya, then I'd eat a sock.

My shoulders relaxed, and I let myself smile. He was so drunk he didn't even realize who I was.

Maybe I would get out of this yet …

He turned back to the counter and resumed glaring at what I now saw to be a paper, as if it were some dangerous creature.

Chuckling nervously, I stepped off the stool and away from him. "Well," I said. "I'm sure she'll come around. If you can't do it, you can't do it. She'll understand."

He laughed, but there was no humor in it.

"You're wrong," he slurred. "If I don't help, people will get hurt. But I just … she doesn't know what she's fucking asking of me." He reached out and crumpled the paper — then flattened it and smoothed out the creases. "I don't know what to fucking do."

I looked up at the roof and sighed.

Gods! Was I really going to sit there and comfort him when I should be looking for answers?

My gut told me he needed me, though, and my gut was rarely wrong.Andit seemed to have to do with Kaiya …

Shaking my head, I patted the big man on his back. "You sure there are no other options? Nothing else you can do to get youbothwhat you're looking for?"

"No. No! It's just not —" He squinted at the crumpled paper — a messily scrawled list of some sort. "Well …" He nodded slowly. "There might be one way …"

With a hiccup, he snatched the paper. Then, giving a quick, paranoid glance around, he crunched it back up, popped it in his mouth, and swallowed.

What in the —?!

"You know what?" he laughed wryly. "My legs haven't been tattooed yet. That's plenty of canvas. And worst case, I can always useit…"

I bit back a laugh and shook my head.