Page 2 of Buzz Kill (Smoke & Mirrors Tavern #7)

Chapter two

DECLAN

Well, that cat was out of the bag. Since I cared a lot more about letting anyone see those tattoos than I did about being naked, and it was too late to fix that, I didn’t bother waiting for him to leave before I stripped down and stepped into the shower.

The questions hung in the air between us, but I was banking on the idea that Alwin was too nice a guy to try to force anything more out of me after the night I’d had. Hell, he’d hardly asked any questions about the state he’d found me in at the hotel, and that had been… not my best moment. But he’d simply stepped in and whisked me away like some fucking fairytale hero. It would be hilarious if it didn’t highlight how absolutely pathetic I was. But if I had an ounce of pride, I wouldn’t be here in the first place. Not just at Al’s place, but in Eastbend.

The bathroom door finally clicked closed, proving Alwin was every bit as good of a person as I’d suspected. Who the hell invited some pathetic loser who couldn’t protect themselves into their home and then didn’t even demand the reason they needed protecting? It was stupid. He deserved to know what he could end up with at his doorstep because of this, but he’d taken pity on me instead.

That was not how elves behaved. I’d met plenty and they were as cold and ruthless as people said they were. In all my days, only one had ever shown an ounce of kindness before Alwin and I could only assume it was an attempt to earn my parent’s favor, though it more likely had the opposite effect. In any event, he never came back. Just like everyone else I’d pinned my hopes on when I was young and stupid.

The water washed away any remaining haze of alcohol still lingering after the healing and I found myself regrettably sober by the time I wandered downstairs. That was a shame considering how much bourbon I’d downed since I found those flowers. Even thinking about it made my fingers itch to grab another bottle. Who needed a liver anyway? As long as it washed away the memories, that was all that mattered.

I came to a stop in front of the dining table covered in various foods, all meticulously plated as if being presented to some fancy-ass food critic at a five-star restaurant. “What’s all this?”

Alwin had his back turned to me as he cleaned up in the kitchen, but he’d known I was there. He wasn’t the kind of guy you could sneak up on. Neither was I normally, but for an entirely different reason.

“Healing takes a toll on the body. You need to eat properly for once.”

My eyes settled on the pitcher of water on the table and I grimaced. “Don’t suppose you have something stronger to wash all this down?”

Alwin’s expression didn’t change per se, but the distinct air of disapproval still came through loud and clear.

I sighed and sat down in the closest chair, catching the time on a clock that doubled as an art piece and realizing far more time had passed since I’d started my afternoon drinking binge than I’d realized.

“Come on, Al, it’s not like I can just go to sleep without booze. Who does that?”

Alwin took the seat across from me and filled a plate with food before pushing it in front of me. “Most people do that.”

He took a much smaller plate for himself and blatantly ignored the puppy dog eyes I was shooting his way. He wasn’t unaffected though. Even as he avoided my gaze, he shifted on his seat. Elves did not fidget. He covered it by reaching for the water pitcher, but I was a little surprised to see such a tell from an elf as old as Alwin. Sure he looked young and beautiful, but elves were extremely long lived and from the idle chatter at the tavern I knew he was significantly older than Aiden who was over fifty. It was hard to tell with elves, but I’d guess Alwin to be at least a hundred years old, maybe a little older. Still young for an elf, but old enough to have their ways well engrained in him.

The glass of water was placed in front of me and I obediently started eating. I knew better than anyone what happened when you didn’t eat or sleep after a healing. A few cuts and scrapes wouldn’t have taken enough out of me to make much of a difference, it hadn’t even been worth wasting a healing spell, but Alwin’s face told me he wasn’t going to budge. Even if the aftereffects would have been nothing compared to what I’d been through in the past, there was no point in suffering when there was food right in front of me.

When Alwin finally spoke, it wasn’t the topic I expected.

“We’ll leave for Faerie in the morning.”

He said it as if this was some plan we’d discussed. Had he concluded we could hide there? I hated to tell him, but crossing to another world wouldn’t stop my family from tracking me down. They’d figure it out eventually, probably sooner than later. Surely he knew that.

While I hadn’t exactly admitted that I was running from my family, I’d been too drunk to catch the trap he’d set and refute him at the hotel. It was too late to deny it now. Then again, with how fucked up I’d been during that whole exchange, maybe I’d missed something else?

“Uh, right. What’s in Faerie again?”

“Sage has asked to make the trip to question the hunters. I also received an urgent message from my household that will need to be dealt with.”

“Everything okay at home?”

“It seems my prolonged absence has made a court I hold a loose alliance with impatient. I may have to deal with them before we leave town instead of after. It shouldn’t take long.”

Alwin cleaned up after our very late dinner and settled me in his spare bedroom where the nightmares caught up with me almost immediately. My body was exhausted, it had been a long time since I had a good night’s sleep and it almost always came at the end of an alcohol induced coma. I had no need for an active imagination, my family had shown me everything there was to fear in this world and several others, and it all came rushing back in these quiet, sober moments when I was alone with my thoughts.

My heart raced as I checked the time and found it had been barely more than an hour since I’d finally closed my eyes. Knowing that more sleep wasn’t in the cards, I headed back to the shower to scrub the sweat and memories away. It helped, but not enough. Nothing was ever enough to make them go away completely. No matter how hard I tried to leave them behind, they always found me in my dreams.

I roughly dried off and pulled my boxers back on. Since Alwin had already seen what I’d done to myself as a stupid kid, I left the rest of my clothes on the bedroom floor and tiptoed my way down the hall. I’d just found the good stuff in his cupboard when he sighed behind me.

I felt my shoulders tense, but I couldn’t manage to let go of the bottle. “You were holding out on me, Al,” I joked.

“Because you already had a bottle of bourbon at the hotel. You don’t usually drink this much at the tavern. Are you concerned about the flowers? I will keep you safe.”

Of course I rarely felt the need to drink this much at the tavern, the tavern was loud and there was always something going on. I didn’t need distractions there, they were all around me.

My fingers tightened around the smooth glass. “It’s not just the roses, it’s the nightmares. You got sleeping pills in your bag of tricks? Cause if you can knock me out so I won’t remember a thing, I’ll put this bottle back right now.”

There was a long pause while we both refused to budge.

“Put the bottle back,” he finally said, taking my hand.

I reluctantly let go of the fae wine and let him lead me back upstairs. I’d expected to head for the medicine cabinet, but he pulled me into his bedroom instead.

My eyebrows shot up. “Not complaining at all, but I didn’t think you’d be the one to suggest wearing me out until I fall asleep. Just to be clear, I am definitely in.”

The elf glanced back at me, and while it was dark, I could clearly see that I’d flustered him. He wasn’t wearing his glamour and his pointed ears peaked out through his long, blond hair. He was radiant even in the dark and my heart pounded harder even though I knew this probably wasn’t what it looked like. Sadly.

“Lie down on the bed,” he instructed.

“Should I get naked first?” I offered jokingly, even as I obeyed.

“I would not take advantage of you in a vulnerable state,” Alwin answered.

“That’s a shame,” I sighed, settling into the bed. “So, what’s the plan, then? Are you going to sing me to sleep? I hear elves have ethereally beautiful voices but refuse to sing.”

The elf shook his head. “That rumor is untrue.”

“I think you’re being modest. Sing for me, Al.”

He steadfastly ignored my antics and pulled some kind of token out of a drawer. Laying down next to me, he pressed the coin between our palms.

“You’re going to let me into your head.”

My eyes went wide and I yanked my hand away. “I’m what now? Hell, no!”

“Declan,” he said, pushing up to prop his upper body on one elbow. “Do you trust me?”

What an awful question, I didn’t trust anyone. How could I? But as I got caught in the crystal blue pools of his eyes, I found myself giving an answer I didn’t expect.

“Yes.”

He stared into my eyes for a moment longer before he nodded and settled back into the bed. His hand covered mine, twining our fingers together this time. His hand was strong and steady, warm against my skin, and when I focused on him, I felt myself pulled along until I was surrounded by delicately woven trellises covered in flowering vines. The sky overhead was a deep violet at the moment and a small table and chairs sat on a stone slab next to me. The furniture itself looked like it had been woven out of tree roots and vines and the buildings beyond the garden were equally beautiful.

“We’re in Faerie?” I asked.

“Mm. This is my garden. I thought it a peaceful enough place to spend some time for now.”

“You can control what I see? Or are we in your mind?”

“Since you aren’t dreaming yet, I am able to project my own imagination onto your mind. Eventually, your mind will fight it and pull you back into your dreams, but this time I will be here to protect you.”

“Why do you have this kind of magic?”

“Few fae and demons possess this kind of magic, though this is not its purpose. It is typically used to get someone to lower their guard and make them susceptible to persuasion. We can slip into someone’s inner thoughts and form a contract without them being fully conscious of it. We cannot strip someone of their free will or force them to agree to something they feel strongly against, but it does allow us to play to their emotions. They become less rational and more emotional the further we dig into the subconscious.”

“That’s pretty terrifying,” I grumbled.

“As I said, I have no intention of using this magic against you.”

Even if he didn’t, this wasn’t the best plan. My nightmares weren’t nonsensical imaginings, they were the highlight reel of the worst moments of my life. And there were plenty of them. It was not something I wanted Alwin to see.

I let go of his hand and stepped back. “Listen—”

I didn’t get to finish my thought before the sky darkened drastically.

Alwin looked around. “That happened faster than it should have.”

I couldn’t find my voice. The room I suddenly found myself in had only been mine for a short time, but it held horrors I’d never forgotten. It was in the basement of Prescott manor in a warded section with no windows that allowed them to summon monsters to do their work for them. The room was nearly pitch black except for a dim sliver of light under the door.

My body was small and weak from being locked in this room for so long, and when I threw myself out of the bed to hide, my shaking legs collapsed under me, dropping me to the floor. I scooted back against the wall next to the bed as shadows moved through the eerie glow. The anticipation and creepy clicking sounds sent my anxiety soaring until I couldn’t breathe. A whining cry like a child followed and I squeezed my eyes shut.

I knew that sound too well and goosebumps broke out over my skin. The Sack Man. He was back. I forced my eyes open. I couldn’t let him take me or everything I’d endured would be for nothing.

The door opened, backlighting a figure that haunted me to my core. Ragged clothes hung over his skeletal body and a farmer’s hat sat on his head. A sack made out of patches of skin and the souls of his victims hung from one boney hand and the memory of being trapped inside, paralyzed and helpless, had tears spilling down my cheeks.

The Sack Man stalked forward unerringly in my direction. He wouldn’t kill me right away, that wasn’t how he worked. He was a boogeyman. A monster who came for disobedient children like me. He stole them away and stored them in that bag until he was ready to devour them in some sick ritual.

But he would never get that far.

The one thing I knew was that my parents wouldn’t let him kill me. That was never the point in summoning him here in the first place. But it didn’t matter, that sack was pure evil and the thought of going back in it sucked the air from my lungs. I forced myself to move and scrambled under the bed. It wouldn’t stop him for long, but there was nowhere else to hide. Even if I got to the door, it would be locked.

The skull face appeared at the edge of the bed and reached one hand under to grab my ankle. I kicked out, slamming my free foot into his face, but it barely reacted, continuing to drag my leg into the bag.

My magic buzzed under my skin reacting to the threat. This was what my family wanted. They wanted me to use my magic and defeat the monster in front of me. The magic wanted to break free, my panic nearly allowing it to spill out without direction. But there was something that scared me more than this monster. The thought of becoming one of them kept me from using it.

I struggled as the Sack Man grabbed my other leg and pulled it toward his bag. He was winning and it was nearly effortless. It had taken him mere seconds to trap me.

My legs were paralyzed the moment they were pulled into the bag, but I grabbed onto the bedframe, refusing to be dragged the rest of the way in. The bed scraped against the floor with a horrible shriek of metal against concrete and the creepy boney arm reached out once more to pry my arm loose.

Something slammed into the door and my heart leaped into my throat. What else could be trying to get to me?

The monster’s hand never quite reached my arm before his whole body clattered to the ground in a heap. The bones were brushed out of the way in one swift move and the sack was tugged off my legs before a hand reached for me. It didn’t grab, simply waited for me to accept. I blinked past the offered hand finding the most beautiful face I’d ever seen. Even in the dark, he was mesmerizing. But I’d learned the hard way not to be fooled by a beautiful face. Sometimes they hid the most terrible monsters.

“I’m sorry that took so long. We were separated somehow, that shouldn’t have happened.”

His voice was even and nearly toneless, but there was a subtle gentleness that made me suspicious. There was also something familiar about him. Something comforting, which I found disconcerting. This was a trick. A trap. He was sent here by my family to lower my guard.

“Declan? Are you still lost in the dream? Do you know who I am?”

Dream? Did I? Part of me wanted to say yes, but I didn’t know why.

The bed disappeared and the dark room became an elegant garden. I blinked at the sudden change in light, my eyes adjusting to find Alwin kneeling in front of me, watching me curiously.

“Sorry, I’m with you now.”

“How long have you been having these dreams?”

“As long as I can remember. But they’ve gotten worse since just before the roses arrived,” I admitted.

The damn things had been sitting on the table in the hotel room mocking me for a couple of days before I finally lost it and tore them to pieces in a drunken rage. And of course, that was when Alwin had shown up.

I cleared my throat awkwardly. “Thanks for killing the scarecrow. I’m good now, you can go ahead and get some sleep.”

“Something is not right,” Alwin said.

“What does that mean?”

The garden went dark again. This time the only light in the room was on me and I was strapped down. My wrists were bound to the arms of a chair, putting the newly inked, still healing tattoos on my hands on display. Half the bones in both hands had been broken and my father was far from done.

“Tell me who dared to defy me!” he spat.

I wouldn’t. Literally couldn’t. Not only would it ensure that no one would ever help me again, but I’d voluntarily agreed to a blood oath that ensured the name of the person who’d tattooed me could never again pass through my lips.

My father settled both hands on my shoulders and his magic rushed through my body like fire. Waves of agony battered my insides and blood trickled from between my lips.

“Did you really think that would solve all your problems?” he sneered. “You can’t use those spells to deflect magic if you can’t use your hands, can you?”

He was right. It was an overly optimistic solution and it had taken him no time at all to find a way around it. I’d been infuriating the man my entire life, but this time I truly feared that he might kill me. Sole heir to the Prescott name, or not, no one defied my father, and yet I’d been finding ways to do it my whole life. The only reason my father hadn’t strangled me to death long ago was because no matter how much he tried, he couldn’t manage to replace me. But it was only a matter of time before his rage drowned out reason or one of the many women he bedded managed to give him a proper heir.

I had to be smarter or I would never make it out alive. I’d almost gotten away this time. It had been so close, but someone must have turned me in. My family had a long reach.

A new wave of pain overwhelmed me until I gagged on it. Blood coated my tongue and poured out onto my lap.

“You want this to stop?” my father taunted. “Use your own magic.” He crushed my hand against the chair until another bone snapped. “I won’t let you cheat!”

Blood dribbled down my chin and poured from my nose. I could barely breathe, let alone respond to his taunting. Not that it mattered. He would never understand that I was far more terrified by the thought of becoming one of them than I was of the things they did to me.

“Get the healer,” he spat, backing off until he could be sure he wouldn’t kill me.

A moment later a small child-like woman with big eyes flashed a friendly smile as she bustled into the room. “Hi Declan! It’s so good to see you again!”

The blood in my veins ran cold and my eyes burned with frustration. Elinessa was a zamubus, she fed off of pain and it would ensure that I got no relief from her healing. On the contrary, her healing was a torture all its own.

“Gosh look at you. What are you, thirteen now? Fourteen?” she asked as she checked the restraints on my wrists and began straightening out the bones.

Her healing magic seared through my hands as she followed her manipulations with a touch of magic. I gritted my teeth against the pain. But when she moved on to the internal injuries my father had caused it was impossible to keep quiet. A scream tore from my throat, splattering blood across her shirt.

Elinessa froze and her magic withdrew. I panted, looking up to find a sword sticking out of her chest. It withdrew a second later and swiped through the space next to me. I blinked at my father’s body on the ground for a long moment before finally focusing on the man removing the restraints.

He took my less injured hand and twined our fingers together as he helped me stand.

“Something is manipulating your dreams. It can’t keep me out, but it’s trying to keep us separated. Do not let go of me.”

“Who are you?” I demanded weakly. I wasn’t in any shape to fight the man who just took down one of the most powerful sorcerers in the country, but that didn’t mean I trusted him.

“You will remember soon.”

What the fuck was that supposed to mean?

Between one step and the next, the room brightened into a garden and my injuries disappeared.

I looked up at Alwin and sighed. “What the hell is going on?”

“Have you had a recent encounter with a mare?”

“As a kid. The connection would be broken by now. But I encountered an epiales demon far more recently.”

“How recently?”

“Several years back, but I’m not sure their connections work the same as a mare.”

“It doesn’t. No matter what, don’t let go of me.”

“How are you going to fight one handed?”

“This sword can easily be wielded one handed.”

“Uh huh.”

The next nightmare swallowed me up and I dropped to my knees in front of the magic tutor who’d tormented my teenage years.

“I said shield!” she screeched, pointing her finger at me once again. “You will learn to do this or—”

Her head hit the floor in front of me and my eyes shot up to the man pulling me to my feet and into a garden.

“Holding on to each other seems to work, he can’t separate our consciousness when they’re entwined.”

“Can you wake us up?” I asked, once my brain caught up.

Alwin shook his head. “I can withdraw, but I’m concerned that I won’t be able to wake you until the demon is done with you or you wake on your own.”

“Then go. This won’t actually kill me and there’s no sense in both of us being stuck here.”

Alwin gripped my hand more firmly even as I tried to pull free. “I will not leave you to face this alone.”

“Al, I already did face all this alone. You’re years too late to change that now. Seriously, just—”

“I will not.”

Another nightmare wrapped around me and as promised, Alwin spent the night slaying all my demons.