Page 128 of A Taste of Bliss

“Glad you think so,” Liz says. “Urvine’s assigning the hex case to you guys.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

PISCES

The bartender setsa glass down in front of me, the foamy beer sloshing a bit onto the wooden bar top. I bring the glass to my lips, letting the cold hoppy beer glide down my throat with a few swallows.

I head back over to the table the others are at and slide in next to Benny. I’m starting to notice my siren’s hunger eddying in the depths of my stomach. I take another drink of my beer, hoping it’ll somehow curb that appetite, even though I know it won’t help. But for now, a warmth settles into my bones and that’s good enough.

Benny side-eyes me as he listens to Shaun and Simon bicker about whether we should switch over to some new microphone inputs for the drum kit. “You okay?” he asks me.

I have the urge to lay my head on his shoulder. But I just wrap my hands around the glass. “No, I’m not. Someone out there is using me to target women. And it feels like there’s nothing I can do.”

“We posted on our socials to be wary of anyone pretending to be us, both online and off,” Benny points out. It was the first thing Simon did after Grim and his gang of undercover fae copsfinally took the body and stopped accusing me of murder. My mind is reeling from both the murdersandthat the Phantoms are undercover investigators that have been keeping tabs onme.

I really don’t like that guy.

“It doesn’t feel like it’s enough.”

My gaze snaps up to the door of the pub, where Bliss, her aunt, and the members of Goddess’ Trance—minus their drummer—file in, taking a table across the room from us.

Her eyes meet mine as she takes the end seat in the booth, but she doesn’t stay there long. She looks to the group, muttering something, then walks over to me—to us, I correct myself.

“How are you doing?” she asks, stopping in front of our booth. I slide over and motion for her to sit. To my surprise, and pleasure, she does.

Her smell wafts over me, and I glance at the white ribbon in her hair, tying up half of it into a ponytail, a few wisps framing her face.

My eyes drop to her glossy lips.

“Okay, I guess,” I say, throwing Benny a look to stop him from correcting me.

Shaun and Simon stop their bickering and greet Bliss, sliding the basket of chips her way in offering.

She takes one, biting into it, and I can’t help myself watch as she chews.

“You alright?” Simon asks. “It’s been a really weird day.”

“I’m okay,” she replies with a small smile. “I can’t believe everything that’s happened.”

“Well, on a positive note, you killed it. We told Niamh about your performance. She was stoked,” Simon informs her. “Then she promptly fell back asleep. Evan, on the other hand, is up and playing video games instead of resting, because he’s an idiot. How’s Tubbs doing?”

She grins. “Tubbs is good. Also playing video games. He even tried to come out to the bar with us, but Taser and Blake finally talked him out of it.”

“Bliss!” Grim calls as he strides into the bar. I mentally curse the man. He’s probably a good guy. But I still don’t like him.

“What’s wrong?” she asks. I can see Amelia and the others tense in their booth as they watch.

“We went to the flat Dead Hearts was staying at. Looks like Jordan cleared out, but the rest of the band was still there.”

Grim pulls up a chair, making himself at home. He spreads his legs wide—which I roll my eyes at—and his knee knocks against Bliss’. It’s not his job to comfort her.It’s not yours either, a snide voice in my head shoots back.

Grim eats a couple chips.

It’s getting really hard to keep my siren teeth beneath my gums. A tiny part of me wants to eat this guy. Okay, maybe a big part.

“How are you going to track him down?” I ask, my voice accusatory, as if it’s Grim’s fault that Jordan got away.

“Well, he’s probably gone into hiding if he’s smart.” Bliss lets out a snort at that. Grim continues, “But we think we have a shot at getting a lead on him.”