Page 1 of Buzz Kill (Smoke & Mirrors Tavern #7)

Chapter one

ALWIN

A half-dressed Declan dragged the hotel room door open, releasing the harsh scent of bourbon and roses. We stared at each other for a long moment before he arched an eyebrow at my unannounced visit. And yet, I could offer no explanation. My eyes dropped to the rose petals scattered on the floor and I immediately regretted my poor timing. Clearly, I’d interrupted something I’d rather not see.

Then he shifted his weight a little unsteadily and the door opened further, revealing the rest of the scene. One glance was enough to confirm there was nothing romantic happening in that hotel room.

“What happened?” I demanded, pushing my way into his room without waiting for an invitation.

It was rather improper of me, but it was obvious there’d been a struggle and Declan, who could barely hold himself up with the wall’s help, wasn’t in any shape to deal with it.

Declan let out a fake laugh. It was harsh and bitter, and for someone whose mask was almost as impressive as mine, it was a little startling. He picked up the mostly empty bottle of bourbon from the table and started making his way back to the bed.

“Nothing, I’m just fucking peachy. Doesn’t it look like everything’s just fine, Alwin?”

Unlike Aiden’s mood swings growing up, Declan was becoming easier to figure out. There was a note of warning in his tone that told me to back off, but I ignored it. I’d seen Declan dealing with things poorly many times since we met, but I’d never seen him like this. His eyes were red, and I didn’t think it was just from the alcohol. His button-down shirt hung open over his chest and stomach and allowed an occasional glimpse of black markings from his tattoos. The floor was littered with broken glass and roses that had been ripped to pieces and thrown all over the room. His hands told the tale of how they’d ended up that way, bloodied and scraped up from the thorns. The fingerless leather gloves he always wore were missing, exposing the spells tattooed over his palms and the backs of his hands.

It was odd though, in this world florists usually removed thorns from flowers. I remembered learning that and thinking it silly with how harmless the plants were in this world compared to my own. And yet, the card naming the flower shop sat on the floor at my feet.

On closer inspection, there was a note scribbled on the card that made my blood run cold. “See you soon.” A few simple words, seemingly harmless, but in the context of Declan’s life, someone from his past coming to find him could only be a threat.

Declan stumbled through the crushed glass and flowers toward the bed, adding blood to the water on the floor from the broken vase. He seemed to be beyond feeling pain, but I couldn’t let his reckless behavior continue. I scooped him into my arms and carried him to the bathroom where I set him on the sink.

“What are you doing here, Al?” he asked tiredly.

“I could ask you the same thing,” I answered simply as I started cleaning his hands, making sure there were no thorns left behind. “You worked for months to get Elliot to let you stay behind their wards, and now you’re back at the hotel. What happened?”

Declan leaned forward and dropped his head to my shoulder with a groan. “It’s not my fault, they’re just so fucking happy and in love. It’s disgusting. I needed a break from all that new parent lovey shit. Trust me, you’d have run away too.”

He was lying. Or at least, part of it was a lie. I had no doubt that Declan didn’t know what to do around a family that wasn’t constantly trying to force him in line, but that wasn’t the main reason he’d left. In fact, if I had to guess, it wasn’t a coincidence those flowers came when they did.

“You had a hunch that someone found you and you didn’t want to put Elliot and his new family in the line of fire?” I deduced.

“Pfft,” he huffed, sending a rush of warm breath brushing against my neck.

I covered my reaction by prodding at a particularly deep cut and immediately regretted it when he flinched ever so slightly.

“Please,” he grumbled next to my ear. “Do I seem in any way like a selfless person?” I didn’t respond, but Declan continued anyway, though without the previous sarcasm. “If you’re looking for something good in me, you’re going to be sorely disappointed.”

I doubted that. But saying so would make no difference, so I remained silent. I wasn’t in the habit of conversing simply to converse. Declan talked enough for the both of us anyway.

Declan seemed to realize he’d changed the mood in the room and added a joke. “But disappointing people is what I do best.”

No doubt he’d disappointed his family with the path he took in life, but I certainly wasn’t going to judge him for it. I too had defied my mother for my own ideals and never once did I regret the decision to cut her off and raise Aiden on my own. Breaking off and starting my own household had been difficult at times, simply because others tried to take advantage of smaller courts, deeming them weaker. But that was a mistake they quickly came to regret. I’d found my way, and Declan would as well.

Though I imagine it was easier for me to break ties than it was for him. The offhand comments he often made told the tale of the many ways he’s paid for defying his family. I wasn’t sure how much the others picked up on, but Declan wasn’t really the mystery he seemed to think he was. At least, not to me. But people only tended to see what they were looking for.

I’d initially been suspicious of his sudden appearance in Eastbend, but the flowers seemed to prove my theory that he hadn’t been cut off from his family so much as he’d escaped them. He also hadn’t denied it when I’d said his goal was to get behind Elliot’s wards. For someone who played things close to the chest, it wasn’t all that difficult to decipher his secrets if you were paying attention.

Secrets aside, it was a bad time for Declan’s family to come calling. Perhaps we could lead them away and deal with them on our own. Declan couldn’t use magic and wasn’t much use in a fight, but he was smart and exceptionally knowledgeable. He was still a valuable part of the Eastbend crew, even if he did his best to make sure no one ever saw it. It wasn’t ideal, but it was better than letting a family of sorcerers descend on the town my niece or nephew would soon be hatched into.

“Al, are you listening to me?” Declan slurred, pulling back so he could see my face. “That was your cue to laugh at my joke. If you don’t laugh it just sounds like I’m being mopey and pathetic.”

“Was that not what you were going for?”

The young sorcerer’s eyes narrowed in unfocused suspicion. “Was that… did you just tease me?”

Anyone else would have assumed I was serious and thought me cold. It was a fair assessment of an elf. Declan was the only one aside from Aiden who managed to pick up on my jokes and moods. In fact, he seemed to pick up on more than even Aiden. It was strange that he saw the subtle changes that no one else seemed to catch.

Elves were not an expressive people. We lived in a world where any weakness was preyed upon and broadcasting the things most dear to you the way humans did was nothing more than advertising your vulnerabilities to the enemy. And in my world, enemies were everywhere.

In order to survive life in Faerie, elves were raised with a sword in one hand, a bow in the other, a silver tongue to lure our enemies in close, and a stone temperament to allow us to do what needed to be done. Our people were known for being lithe and beautiful, but equally cold and calculating. Most never dared to get close unless they were trying to get something out of it or take something by force. But Declan was different.

Perhaps Aiden had softened me over the years. I was still ruthless when the situation called for it, but my time in the human world hadn’t left me unaffected. And no matter how cold I still seemed to others, Declan had never for a moment feared me. He’d likely encountered far worse in his life. His isolated world perhaps not so different from the one I was raised in.

“You don’t have to do that,” he protested when I moved to clean his feet.

“My healing spell will seal the wounds, but it won’t remove glass.” I pushed on a particularly deep cut and pulled out another piece of glass.

Declan winced, the pain finally cutting through the heavy haze of alcohol, but he didn’t make a sound.

Memories surfaced of a young Aiden complaining as I pulled thorns from his clothes and skin after he’d avoided sword training by hiding in a bush to draw. Efficiency was clearly the best course of action here. The faster I removed the glass, the sooner I could heal him. But one look at Declan’s red-rimmed eyes had me softening my touch.

Sometimes there’s more than one best way to do things, Alwin. Aiden had said those words to me many times over the years. It didn’t make sense. Obviously there was only one best way to do things, but I was starting to understand what he meant. Working quickly might be the fastest path to healing, but if I was right about his past, Declan had rarely been treated gently and after what had clearly been an emotionally taxing night, perhaps that was what he needed.

I softened my touch and carefully removed the remaining glass. It took longer, but when I was done, something had changed in Declan’s expression. I wasn’t sure what it was, reading emotion was far from my area of expertise, but I thought maybe I’d done the right thing.

Once the glass was removed, I washed the blood off my hands, released my glamour, and pulled a woven pendant from beneath my tunic. It was imbued with healing magic and I always kept one on hand. It was actually the second time I was using one on Declan, but he’d been in bad shape last time after being stabbed by an undead creature and I wasn’t sure how much he remembered.

Declan sucked in a breath and I tried not to let the way his eyes roamed over my body affect me. Many people thought I was beautiful and they were often not shy about telling me. But the heat in this man’s eyes stirred something in me that none of their words had never touched. It was unfortunate that I could not give in to such whims. As Aiden would say, he had “bad idea” written all over him. Though I was beginning to understand why that had never stopped my brother.

“Are those leather pants, Al? Gotta say, I’m loving the look. They’d look even better tossed over my headboard.”

“It is gwyllgi hide. They have thick skin, good for protecting against sharp objects. One of the courts that attacked mine years ago brought a pack of gwyllgi with them and they were especially difficult to take down. I decided to put the thick hide to good use once we defeated them.”

Declan blinked at me for a moment before a genuine smile broke over his face for the first time and he let out a laugh. “That’s amazing. I was trying to get in your pants, and you gave me a history lesson. Don’t ever change, Al.”

I paused. “Are you making fun of me?” Not many dared, but I wouldn’t put it past Declan.

“Uh no, for those keeping score at home, it would be my ego you just crushed into the dirt, thanks. But at least you made me laugh. Didn’t think that would be possible tonight.”

I looped the pendant over Declan’s head and pressed it to the bare skin of his chest as I whispered the incantation in my native tongue. Elves didn’t have the same kind of magic as sorcerers or mages. We couldn’t cast on the fly, but we’d become quite skilled at weaving certain types of magic over the centuries. The healing spell wouldn’t compare to what Elliot could do, but it was sufficient for most battlefield wounds.

Declan’s head dropped to my shoulder again and he slumped against me. “Thanks,” he mumbled. “Wanna stay the night?”

Since I was already standing between his legs with his head on my shoulder, I slid my hands beneath his thighs and hoisted him up against the front of me. Declan was average sized, maybe even on the tall side for this world, if a little thin, while I was taller and stronger than the average human, as were all elves. Carrying him that way was a little awkward, but not difficult.

Declan clutched my shoulders as I left the bathroom and headed for the bed. “Whoa, didn’t think you’d actually be into it. This would work much better if you were naked.”

The healing had cleared up most of the haze of alcohol and he was speaking more clearly now, but a weariness had replaced the glassy look in his eyes. He was in no shape for the things he suggested, which confirmed it was another joke. I set him on the bed and tossed him his bag.

“Pack your things, you’ll be staying with me.” I pulled my glamour back into place and called down to the front desk for supplies to clean up the mess.

“This isn’t your problem, Al,” Declan muttered even as he haphazardly tossed his scattered clothes into the bag. He didn’t want to pull me into it, but he was scared enough to let me get him out of there.

“Someone knows you’re here. The logical answer is to not be here when they return.”

“And what happens when they find me at your place instead?”

“The same thing that happens to all enemies that make the mistake of coming after me. They will see their end.”

“God, you’re so hot. You sure we can’t just ignore all this and spend the night making the bed hit the wall until the people next door complain?”

I took a smaller bag and gathered the items he’d tossed all over the table. Despite his jokes, Declan was too smart to follow through with such reckless behavior.

I still wasn’t sure how to handle his teasing. It was distinctly different from the way Aiden teased me and they were the only two people in this world who dared to interact with me in such a way. The fae were known for their ability to entrap people with their words, and elves were no different, but I had a feeling even that wouldn’t work on Declan. If nothing else, he’d clearly received an impressive education in his time with his family, though I wondered how hard won some of that knowledge was.

Declan finally buttoned his shirt and grabbed his shoes while I answered the door for the hotel staff. Since I wanted to get him out of there as soon as possible, I accepted her offer to clean the mess for us and tipped her handsomely.

The sorcerer was unusually quiet as we checked out of the hotel and returned to my house, but once inside, he found his voice again.

“Didn’t you like just get this place?”

“The renovations were completed a few days ago,” I confirmed.

He shook his head as he looked around, but I wasn’t sure what he was getting at. Everything was in its place. The house was fully furnished and looked as one would expect a home in this world to be. Other than a few items from my home world, the house was made to look like the ones I’d researched in design sites on this world.

“You should eat,” I decided, ignoring the urge to ask him what I’d done wrong. I could ask Aiden later, though he’d seen it already and had mentioned nothing amiss.

“It’s fine. Wouldn’t mind a shower though.”

“I will cook while you shower,” I insisted, leading him upstairs. “You’ll need it after the healing.”

“Thanks,” he muttered as I left him in the bathroom.

“Come downstairs when you’re done.”

I stepped back, intending to close the door and get to work, but I froze in my tracks before I made it. Declan dropped his shirt and reached for the shower controls, exposing the black marks I’d seen only glimpses of before. Thick black lines were tattooed on his shoulders and low on his hips, but they didn’t look like any tattoos I’d ever seen. The ink had bled into his skin, murky black seeping over the lines and concentrated in little rivulets like it had trailed along his blood vessels. What I was looking at wasn’t a tattoo at all.

I must have made a sound. Elves were stealthy creatures rarely moved by anything, but what I was looking at had shocked me and something must have slipped out because Declan spun to face me. His surprise quickly melted into something else, something I couldn’t quite place.

“Thought you left,” he said.

That was a fair assumption. Even I didn’t know why I was still standing there. There wasn’t anything I could say that would excuse the fact that I’d stopped to stare as he undressed for his shower, so I didn’t bother.

“I was leaving,” I agreed. “But that’s not a tattoo.” A strange feeling was building under my breastbone. I didn’t dare let any of it show on my face, but for some reason I needed to find whoever had done this to him, and make them pay.

His eyes were less friendly than I’d ever seen them before. Five minutes after I’d forced him to move in with me, I was unraveling secrets he clearly didn’t want exposed.

“It is. But it’s not just a tattoo.”

“It’s not just a spell either. Tell me who cursed you.”

His next words crumbled my quickly forming plans to seek revenge.

“I did.”