Page 22 of A Legacy of Stars (The Lost God Legacies)

22

TEDDY

F ar below the hill where Stella and Teddy sat watching, the lanterns outside of the Muddled Mind Bar and Boarding House swung in the evening breeze. The heat and humidity were less oppressive so far north, and a chill crept into the night air.

Stella picked up a few more loose pine needles from the forest floor and began to braid them into the string she’d been working on to pass the time. “We’ve been watching for an hour. If someone was waiting to murder us outright, we would have spotted them by now. Besides, we were far enough ahead that we’re probably just giving everyone a chance to catch up by waiting.”

“There could still be assassins,” Teddy whispered.

“We only have a week. Not taking advantage of the lead was a mistake,” Stella argued.

Teddy tipped his head back and squeezed his eyes shut. Gods, this woman was so impatient. “We were attacked the other night, or do you not remember me saving you?”

Stella stood, stretching her legs. “Well, I’m going to get a drink, a map, and a room. You can suit yourself out here.”

Teddy stared at her in the dusk light. “We are not staying at the Muddled Mind. ”

“Then where are we—” Recognition tore over her face. “Absolutely not. I’m not sleeping on the forest floor a second night in a row when I don’t have to. We’ll be just as likely to be eaten by some wild animal as we will to be attacked by our competition.”

She turned and untied Shark from the tree behind them and led the horse down to the crossroad stables.

Teddy watched her from a distance for a few minutes. Then, he groaned and rose to his feet, untied Poker, and led the horse to the stables.

The stable hand grinned at him, taking Poker’s reins and holding out an expectant hand. “Good evening. Your lady said you would handle the boarding payment for the evening.”

Teddy laughed in disbelief and handed over enough coin for both of them. It was almost endearing the way she knew he would follow her.

As he approached the front door, the muffled music grew louder. He took a long look down the trail they’d come from, then at the few patrons talking in hushed tones and smoking, and finally pressed through the front door.

It was like stepping into another world. Outside, it was quiet and peaceful, but inside, a fiddler played loudly as a bard sang a lewd drinking song.

Teddy was greeted by a woman with pale, freckled skin, neatly styled black hair, and eyes so blue they looked almost violet. Teddy was not up on fashion, but he could recognize that her stylish purple silk dress didn’t belong in a country rest stop. It was cut like all the finest gowns at court, with jeweled embellishments and golden embroidery. She looked about ten years older than him, but there was something uncanny about her eyes and the simmering, ancient-feeling pulse of magic coming off of her.

Stella stopped short beside him, staring at the woman as if sensing the same.

The woman smiled, and the skin around her eyes crinkled. “Welcome to the Muddled Mind Bar and Boarding House. What can I do for you, travelers? ”

“You work here?” Stella asked.

The woman nodded. “I work where I want.”

“You’re a witch,” Stella said. “But you’re also more.”

“And so are you, dear. My name is Skylar—now, what can I do for you?” the woman said.

Stella took a wary look around the boisterous bar as if finally second-guessing her idiotic plan to storm in here. “We’re looking for a meal and two rooms for the night,” she said finally.

Skylar nodded. “Afraid we only have one room, loves. Quite a lot of you coming and going. But you’re welcome to share and to have a meal. I think you’ll find what you’re looking for at the bar. Follow me.”

She zipped into the crush of people without checking that they were following. Stella hurried behind her, shoving drunks out of the way as they crossed the room.

The bar was larger than Teddy had realized. It looked cozy when they walked in, but now he had the disorienting sensation of walking a great distance. He glanced behind them and it appeared as if they were mere feet from the front door.

The place was spelled. The tables and patrons stretched out in front of him for what looked like a mile. Teddy continued to follow Stella, waiting to spot one of their competitors or for someone to recognize them, but not a single person even glanced at them in the ten minutes it took them to walk across the space. Finally, they reached the bar that had looked just a few feet away initially.

Skylar stopped in front of two miraculously free barstools. “Here you go. The lazy ass of a bartender will be with you shortly.”

Teddy took his seat, but Stella stayed standing, staring after the woman.

“It’s the manipulation magic,” Stella said. “Looks small and unassuming from the outside, but it’s actually a pocket dimension on the inside. Very intricate and old magic to create something like this. It would require someone with great power, or a lot of experience.”

“You think she did it?” Teddy asked, nodding to Skylar.

“I think she cloaked us through the whole room and that’s not an easy spell to maintain that long if you don’t need to. Did you notice not a single person looked at us?”

Teddy nodded. “Why, though?”

Stella shrugged, but she was clearly on edge, scanning the room in the same way he’d seen Rainer do hundreds of times. The same way Teddy did in every room. He was relieved she had the instinct to always seek out the quickest escape route and the most likely place from which an attacker could enter.

“I know you’re not happy to be here, but I don’t think anyone is going to expect us to stay here for the exact reason you didn’t want to come in daylight,” Stella said. “It’s stupid to stay here, but as long as our cave locations aren’t more than a short ride, it makes sense to get a good night’s sleep before we have to be on our guard in the wild. At least here we know the way in and out.”

“I don’t like it.”

Stella rolled her eyes. “Of course you don’t. You’re trying to play badass for a week and I’m trying to get you to spend a night in a real bed. I’ll let you in on a little secret, Your Grace. If you’re actually tough, you don’t spend your time trying to prove it to other people. You just live your life. Let’s just sleep in the bed this one night. You’ll thank me tomorrow.”

He’d been so focused on safety that he hadn’t thought about the fact that one room meant one bed. It meant sleeping close to her. He’d be able to smell the wildflower scent of her hair and see her sleep-rumpled and soft in nothing but a nightgown.

The bond in his chest seemed to have a mind of its own. A primal, possessive tug shot through him and her gaze snapped to his, then dropped to his mouth. Suddenly, all he could think about was the way she’d kissed him, the way she’d ground against his thigh and groaned into his mouth. A fever tore through his blood and he leaned closer to her.

Her lips parted in a sigh, like she was feeling the same thing. The bond drew him forward. He was about to reach up to cup her cheek when his senses snapped back into place. He drew back like he’d been shocked .

“This fucking bond is going to be the death of me,” he grumbled.

Stella winced. He hadn’t said it to hurt her, but as a man whose life required an enormous amount of composure and control, the magnetism of the bond was making it harder and harder to maintain his stoicism.

Teddy glanced back toward the door, trying to ignore the buzzing bond. It looked deceptively close, just like the bar had when they were standing there. Skylar leaned against the wall by the front door and gave him a wave. “Doubtful I’ll sleep well with that witch or whatever she is milling about.”

“You look like your father,” a voice said from behind his right shoulder.

Teddy startled and spun to face Cato, former god of manipulation and influence turned mortal bar owner. Despite his humanity, the air still vibrated around him with the remnants of his power.

The god walked by him and rounded the bar, ignoring his gawking.

Teddy’s parents had spent his whole life telling him to stay away from Cato, so while he’d met the god in passing, he’d never truly interacted with him.

“Thank you,” he said.

Cato grinned widely. “Ah, I see you got his confidence.”

Stella stood at the end of the bar, staring at the god warily.

Cato glanced at her, mopping up a spill with a white rag. “And you look just like your mother, except for the eyes, the height, and that frown—that’s all your father. It’s like traveling back in time looking at the two of you.” He glanced at Skylar across the room, but the witch seemed to be avoiding looking their way.

“Figures that Skylar made space and sat you here. Did she say anything when she dropped you in my lap?”

“She called you a lazy ass of a bartender,” Teddy said.

The god nodded. “Could be worse, I suppose.”

“Are you two?—”

A stormy look passed over Cato’s face and Teddy immediately regretted opening his mouth to ask. He was here for a map, not gossip.

“What did you do to her?” Stella asked.

Cato looked down at the bar. “I told her the truth. Everyone thinks they want the truth, but they don’t want the truth. They want what they expect the truth to be.”

The cryptic answer was exactly the type of thing Teddy expected from the god after years of hearing about his talent for skirting the line of deception and manipulation without people noticing.

“We’re here because of the Gauntlet Games,” Stella said. “Your father sent us to retrieve our cave maps from you.”

Cato brushed his hair back from his forehead, revealing a bright white scar through his right eyebrow. Teddy couldn’t help but stare at it. Although he was mortal now, the scar was depicted in all the art of the god of manipulation back in Argaria. Every time Teddy saw it in paint, he wondered what sort of weapon could permanently mark a god.

“Ah yes, he’s certainly enjoying his chance to have a little vengeance,” Cato said. “I’m sure he meant to demean me by making me a tool in his challenge, but the joke’s on him. I love a bargain.” He knocked his hand on the bar three times and his gray eyes lit with a silver glow. “The task is simple except that it’s not at all. You have to trade with me for something I actually want.”

Teddy tipped his head back and blew out a frustrated breath. Of course. Of course he would have to bargain with the very god his parents had warned him constantly to never make a bargain with.

Long ago, his ancestors had made a deal with Cato—so long as a Savero didn’t make a deal with the god, he would never be able to influence them. His entire youth had been filled with warning stories from his parents to never, ever, under any circumstances, trust Cato.

Teddy was about to break that news to Stella when she reluctantly sat down on the stool beside him and rested her hand on his.

“I’d like to bargain for both of our maps,” she said.

Cato’s eyes danced with delight. “Now, what could you offer that might be that valuable? ”

“My mother asked me to give you this.” Stella pulled a wax-sealed piece of parchment from her vest and handed it to him.

Cato opened the letter and read it quickly. From what Teddy could see, there were only a few lines on the paper, but Cato stared at it for a few long moments.

The god walked away and returned a moment later with two scrolls. He handed one to Teddy and one to Stella.

Teddy was stunned into silence. He had expected to have to do something wild to get through this challenge. He hadn’t counted on Stella taking care of it for him. He was so relieved. If she hadn’t, he would have had to break another promise to his parents and he’d already shattered their trust in him by entering this stupid contest.

Cato pulled two pints of ale and set one in front of each of them. “Your mother has not spoken to me in twenty-five years. I fear you’re about to find out why.”

Teddy saw Stella prepping to test the drinks.

“No need, baby dove,” Cato said. “Poison isn’t my style. I just know you two will need a drink in a day or two when you retrieve those memories.”

He nodded at them and ambled off down the bar to wait on another patron.

“What could your mother have offered him in that small letter that was worth two maps in this contest?” Teddy asked. “Did she tell you?”

Stella took a long sip of ale, her bright green eyes vibrant in the candlelight as she said a truly unexpected word. “Forgiveness.”

A full stomach and a pint of ale led Teddy to believe their quest was on an upswing, but his hope was dashed immediately when they stepped into their small room in the boarding house.

It was worse than Teddy had expected. There was no plush chair for him to pretend to sleep in. There was hardly any furniture at all— only a nightstand with fresh candles, a hutch to store their clothes and gear, and, of course, one bed.

He paused on the threshold until Stella shoved him inside.

“Let’s go. I want to bathe before bed and you need to, also.” Her gaze lingered on the bed for a moment. “It’s not a big deal.”

“Speak for yourself. I’m used to sleeping alone.”

She muttered something that sounded like “frigid.”

“Are you not used to the same?” he asked.

“No. I’m not.” She smirked as she unzipped her satchel and pulled out what looked like a scrap of blue silk, a linen towel, a bar of soap, and two small jars, one that contained an oil and the other some kind of cream.

Teddy stared at her for a long moment, trying to master the strange jealousy swirling in his chest.

The corner of Stella’s lips quirked into a smug smile. “Don’t be jealous, Your Grace . Rosie has bad dreams, and she often sleeps in my bed. She kicks something vicious.”

He wanted to offer a clever comeback, but she slipped into the hall before he could counter. He followed a moment later to bathe in the washroom at the other end of the hall. He took his time to scrub the grime from his skin and clean beneath his nails in the hopes that, by the time he came back from such a thorough bath, she would already be asleep in bed.

He dried himself, changed into linen pajamas, and padded back down the hall to their room. Stella was not asleep in bed. She was still bathing.

She stepped into their room a moment later. Her skin was flushed from the heat of the bath and her wet hair dripped onto the silk, plastering it to her breasts. Teddy had been trying to forget how much of her skin he’d seen when they were bathing at the temple, but it all rushed back to him.

Stella stretched her arms up and pushed her wet hair behind her shoulders. Her nipples strained against the delicate blue silk.

She caught him looking and smirked as he snapped his gaze away. “ Are you well, Theodore? You look a bit flushed.” The pleasant, teasing edge to her voice sent a surge of heat through his blood.

“Never better.” He gestured to the bed that was pushed against the wall. “Do you want the inside or outside?”

She glanced at the bed. “Outside. I don’t need you pinning me in.”

His mind filled with an unwanted vision of caging her beneath his body. He climbed into the bed, trying to shake that daydream from his head.

Stella crawled in after him and snuffed out the candle on the bedside table. She nestled under the covers.

Teddy was certain she wasn’t trying to be so close. There just wasn’t much space in the single bed.

The bond was like another entity tucked between them. Teddy waged a private war with the desire to hook an arm around her waist and tug her against his body. Her hair was pinned up on top of her head to keep it out of her face, but the soft vanilla scent of whatever she’d put in it smelled so good that he still wanted to breathe her in all night.

He was relieved at least that she was facing away from him so that he wouldn’t constantly have to drag his gaze away from the wet silk stuck to her breasts. The pale curve of her neck looked soft and inviting—the skin begging to be kissed.

“Why do you always smell like wildflowers?” he whispered.

“It’s a family spell. I smell like the day I was born in late spring. My mother bound the scent of the season to me. Why? Does it bother you? It smells the strongest at pulse points.”

Gods, hearing that made him want to bury his face in her neck. His cock twitched.

“No, it doesn’t bother me.” He sounded pained and not at all believable.

She was quiet for so long that he thought she’d fallen asleep, but then she spoke again. “I think it bothers Arden. He keeps buying me perfumes and commenting when I don’t wear them.”

“But you don’t like them?” Teddy asked .

She sighed. “They are such lovely gifts, and they all smell nice, but it feels like I’m wearing something made for someone else.”

“They don’t feel like you,” Teddy said.

She glanced at him over her shoulder. “Exactly. See. You get it. When I told him that, I think he was insulted.”

Teddy wanted to punch Arden Teripin in the face. What was she even doing with the Olney prince when he clearly didn’t appreciate her? Arden bought her perfume and flowers she didn’t like and he hadn’t even noticed.

Teddy sighed. Just like he hadn’t noticed that Grace was unhappy. He didn’t have room to judge.

In the dark, the rest of Teddy’s senses were sharper and Stella overwhelmed every one of them—the sound of her breathing growing more shallow and steady, the salt air and wildflower smell of her skin, the warmth of her body that was not quite touching him.

He sighed and stared past her at the wall on the other side of the room, waiting too long for sleep to claim him.

A warm tug in Teddy’s chest woke him from heavy slumber. He blinked his eyes open. Gray light poured in between the gap in the faded red curtains. It took him a moment to remember where he was. The Muddled Mind.

Stella was still asleep beside him, her ass pressed against his hard cock. Sometime during the night, he’d draped an arm over her side. His hand was tucked against her stomach.

She shifted and sighed, and his cock twitched as she rubbed against him.

If her breathing wasn’t so soft and steady, he would have accused her of pretending to be asleep so she could torture him.

She burrowed closer to him, grinding her ass against him.

Teddy was so hard. An unwanted vision filled his head—Stella pinned beneath him, screaming into the pillow while he fucked her from behind .

He tried to force the thought away, but instead, it just kept becoming more detailed. His fingers threaded through her hair, the flush of her skin, the way she trembled for him.

Stella shifted, pressing her ass into him harder.

Teddy could not escape her. His back was up against the wall. Her scent was everywhere, and every place their bodies touched felt lit up with sparks.

Logically, he knew sharing a bed was a terrible idea, but his body seemed entirely on board with it. It was just the stress of the past week pent up inside him that needed some kind of release.

Her hand slid on top of the one he’d placed on her stomach and she started to guide it lower.

Apparently, he wasn’t the only one feeling it.

“Fuck,” he rasped. “Stella.”

She startled awake. “What’s wrong—oh.” She released his hand immediately. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I?—”

“Must have been a good dream,” Teddy teased.

Her cheeks flushed pink. “Were you having the same dream?”

“No. Why do you ask?—”

She pressed her ass against his hard cock. “That’s why.”

“No, that’s just a natural occurrence when I wake with a beautiful woman in my bed.”

They both froze as they realized what he’d said.

Teddy fumbled for anything else to say, but by the grace of the gods, Stella rolled out of bed and onto her feet. The boarding house floor creaked underneath her as she padded across the room and started to dress. Teddy stared up at the ceiling and tried not to think about the fact that the body that had been pressed against him a moment ago was now naked and no more than ten feet away. The bond tugged on him, beckoning him to peek. That’s how it felt—like his gaze was constantly being pulled toward her—like the light in every room was making her glow.

It was exhausting. He pressed a pillow over his face and sighed.

“It’s safe for your delicate eyes now, Your Grace,” Stella said .

Teddy threw the pillow aside and glowered at her. Stella curtseyed as she buckled her dagger vest.

“Gods, don’t tell me you’re a morning person,” he grumbled.

She cocked her head to the side, her dark curls falling over her shoulder. “Did I not see you running on the beach first thing in the morning when you arrived in Olney weeks ago?”

“Yes, but just because I’m up early doesn’t mean I’m happy about it,” Teddy said, pushing to his feet. He grabbed the back of his shirt and tugged it off.

Stella watched with rapt attention. Her gaze dragged over his bare chest and then lower, coming to rest on his still-hard cock tenting his pajama pants.

“Do you mind?”

She licked her lips as she braided her hair and continued to stare. “Shy all of a sudden, Your Highness?”

He ignored her and changed his pants.

A piece of parchment slipped under the door, and Stella crossed the room to pick it up.

“What does it say?” Teddy pulled on a fresh shirt and his leather vest.

“‘Leave the horses. Beware the bugs in the woods. The river is safest. Skylar.’”

Teddy sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled on his socks and boots. “What does that even mean? There’s not a river near here.”

She frowned and stuck the note in her pocket. “But there is one near the caves.” Pinning her braid around her head in a crown, she slung her bag over her shoulder. “Why would we leave the horses?”

Teddy frowned and considered it. “It’s rainy season. There were a few mudslides on our journey to Olney that slowed us down. Or?—”

Stella arched a brow. “Or?”

“Or that witch is trying to get us killed.”

She crossed her arms. “It will take longer on foot.”

“Then it takes longer.”

“So you trust her now? ”

“Why give us the maps if they wanted to kill us? They could have just poisoned our dinner.”

Stella sighed, but she didn’t argue further. “Then you better move your royal ass. We have a lot of ground to cover today.”

Stella pushed the door open and stepped out into the hallway. A blur of green whizzed by the door and tackled Stella to the ground. Katerina Shank shoved up, pushing off of Stella’s back, and sprinted toward the stairwell.

Teddy made to give chase, but he was shoved into the wall as Jeneva Lampry barreled into him, knocking the breath from his lungs.

He spun, catching her in the ribs with an elbow. Teddy shoved Jeneva into the opposite wall. The hallway was too narrow for a fight. A dagger sailed past his face and he whipped his head around to see Katerina waiting for her friend at the top of the stairs. One inch in the wrong direction and he would have been cut by what was surely a poison-coated dagger. That’s what Stella had said about Katerina—that it was wise to not even get a small cut from one of her blades.

Jeneva slammed the heel of her palm into Teddy’s chin, and his head snapped back. His teeth bit into his tongue, the pain in his head momentarily bright and glittering.

The distraction was enough. Jeneva turned and ran toward the stairs. Stella tossed a blade after her. It clipped her red braid and embedded itself in the wood wall with the ends of her hair.

Their two adversaries escaped down the stairs, a door at the bottom slamming behind them.

Teddy should have given chase, but instead, he stared Stella down. The same fear that he’d felt when she hadn’t stabbed the assassin coursed through him. Stella had missed on purpose. She’d let them get away.

“Don’t look at me like that. I scared them off.” Stella crossed the hall and yanked the blade from the wall, sliding it back into her vest.

“You let them go.”

Stella ignored him, looping her bow and quiver across her body and picking up her fallen satchel .

Teddy’s heart was still pounding. He wasn’t afraid their opponents wouldn’t be scared off. He was afraid they’d know that Stella didn’t have the stomach to kill and they’d come back soon to finish the job.