Page 4 of Buzz Kill (Smoke & Mirrors Tavern #7)

Chapter four

DECLAN

“Fuck it, give me another.”

I was a dead man anyway, what the hell did it matter if I died with a liver begging for mercy?

“No. You’re cut off.”

“What the hell kind of service is this, Blue? It’s not like I drove here.”

The shifter in question raked a hand through his purple hair and leaned one leather clad hip against the bar. “If you can remember to call me Blue when my hair hasn’t been that color in months, you can remember my actual name,” he pointed out.

Probably true. But putting in the effort to remember things when these were likely my last days on earth seemed like a wasted effort.

“And to answer your question,” he continued. “Ollie said not to let you kill yourself before the mission. As soon as Alwin gets back with supplies, you guys are heading out and we’ve all been put in charge of keeping you alive until he’s back on babysitting duty.”

Well, that was insulting. Not necessarily unwarranted, but insulting none the less.

Nicky, or whatever his name was, seemed to realize how harsh his words were and he shot me an apologetic look. “How about a virgin cocktail? Or food. You seem to be the only one not obsessed with Connor’s cooking. It’s kinda weird.”

Was it? I was no stranger to delicious food. The Prescotts spared no expense when it came to such things. I’d never gone hungry, never lived on anything but the best. Connor’s cooking was certainly on par with the highest paid chefs my parents employed, but it wasn’t anything new for someone like me.

“Not hungry,” I answered, ignoring the odd accusation as I stood and found my way out.

If he wasn’t going to pump me full of alcohol, there was no point in staying. Gods, was there even another bar in this suburban hellhole that could make a decent drink? The tavern crew didn’t exactly welcome me with open arms, but Blue was one hell of a bartender. I had to give him that. I could live with the constant suspicion and disdain as long as they kept pushing drinks my way. But if they were going to cut me off, what was the point?

My phone buzzed in my pocket and my stomach sank. Few people ever bothered to contact me and no matter how many times I got a new phone and number, there always came a time when someone I never wanted to hear from again still managed to find me.

I checked the screen and let out a breath when it was Ollie’s name that appeared. And then I stuffed it back in my pocket without answering.

“Not drunk enough to deal with that.”

“So you’re ignoring me on purpose?” Ollie growled, nearly giving me a heart attack.

The phone continued to buzz in my pocket, telling me I didn’t accidentally answer. Fuck. How long had she been behind me?

“Well?”

“Not… successfully.”

“You’re hilarious. Why are you out walking around? You’re supposed to be lying low until it’s time for your mission.”

“Don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You know damn well what I’m talking about. Come on, Zane’s waiting in the car to take us home.”

I grimaced, but knew it would be pointless to fight the little pain in the ass. “Fine, but I’m going back to Alwin’s.”

Zane pulled up and I climbed into the back seat while Ollie took the passenger seat, turning to look back at me.

“I think you should come back to our house, we can protect you better behind the wards. No one would be able to get to you.”

The thought of being trapped in that house again with all of them chaffed at me. Ironic really, considering all I’d done to get behind those wards in the first place. I never imagined the kind of life Elliot ended up living would be so completely different from mine, and it was hard to be around.

“No thanks.”

My response came out a little harsher than I’d intended, but it booked no room for argument. Which could be why a moment later a barely there tingle pricked at me.

I reacted without thinking, my hand gripping Zane’s shoulder. “Do not use your magic on me!”

The tiny trickle of magic came to an abrupt stop as Zane’s eyes met mine in the rearview mirror. “That wasn’t enough to affect your mind, I was just trying to calm you down because you’re clearly irritated.”

He wasn’t lying, that hadn’t been nearly enough magic to affect me in any major way, which meant my reaction was a little over the top.

“It was such a tiny amount of magic, how did you even notice it?” he asked.

Truthfully, if I didn’t have plenty of experience with succubi, I probably wouldn’t have. But that feeling was far too familiar to me. Not that I was about to tell him that.

“I’m still a sorcerer, even if I don’t use magic,” I deflected.

“Hm,” Zane murmured, his eyes flicking from his shoulder to my glove covered hand that had shut his magic down in an instant.

He must have sensed that I wouldn’t be taking any more questions because he turned the car toward Alwin’s house without another word.

Al’s house was exactly as he’d left it. Not a thing out of place except for the intricate elven puzzle box still sitting on the dining room table. He’d pulled it out the night before when I tried again to get into his liquor cabinet and I’d rolled my eyes at the idea that he could distract me with a puzzle. But in the end, we’d sat there working together for hours before retiring to Alwin’s bed, where he unfortunately raided my dreams again rather than keeping me up all night like I’d suggested.

With a sigh, I sat in front of the puzzle. Alwin had several others completed and sitting on his shelves, each was delicate, and intricate, and insanely difficult. They started as a simple box made up of thousands of pieces and the moving parts unfolded in various interlocking ways until the puzzle revealed some kind of scene or building or creature. And of course, because they were elven made, they were perfectly beautiful woven art pieces rather than just some toy.

My fingers moved without thinking, at first just fidgeting with the moving pieces, but before I knew it, a tiny corner of a scene had come together. I couldn’t quite tell what it was, but I felt the need to keep messing with it. The usual noisy silence was lost to the amount of concentration it took to reveal the puzzle’s secrets, and for some reason, I just kept tinkering without fully realizing it.

By the time Alwin returned, it was late and I was still messing with the same section of the puzzle. It took an immense amount of brain power to get the damn thing to reveal its secrets, as expected of something created by the elves. Alwin didn’t appear to have anything on him after his day of shopping, but I knew anything he’d stocked was hidden away in those elven concealing pouches they all carried.

Alwin glanced at the puzzle. “That must have taken you some time. Those are quite difficult.”

“Should I be offended that you’re surprised I’m not an idiot?”

His expression didn’t change per se, but he seemed almost disappointed with my response. Probably because I knew damn well he wasn’t insulting me. If anything, that was Alwin’s version of a compliment.

“Never have I questioned your intelligence,” he refuted.

“Just my integrity and motives, right?”

Again, Alwin seemed a little confused. He wasn’t the only one. Why was I being such a brat toward him? And why did that babysitting comment suddenly come back to me right when I was acting like a moody teen?

“Did something happen today?” he asked. “Did you receive another message from your family?”

I waved him off. “Nothing like that. Just tired of being treated like I’m under house arrest or like I’m too stupid to make my own decisions. This town and I don’t mix.”

“What happened while I was gone?” he questioned. “No one thinks that.”

I stood and headed for the liquor cabinet that I should have raided the second I got back instead of wasting time with that stupid puzzle.

“Real convincing coming from my designated babysitter.”

The word was bitter on my tongue and my resentment was obvious as I snapped at him. Alwin didn’t deserve to be the one catching my ire, but I was tired, and frustrated and he was surprisingly easy to vent to. It was like that with quiet people sometimes, they just let you spew whatever was on your mind. Which was definitely not a good thing in my case.

Alwin grabbed my arm as I tried to move past him. “I am not your babysitter.”

“No? Then what the hell is all this? Huh? Why did you track me down? Why did you bring me here? Why do you keep showing up over and over? What are you doing pulling someone like me into your life?”

His expression didn’t so much as flicker. No matter how much I yelled at him, he simply stood there watching me. I knew he was listening, the man missed nothing, but he didn’t respond. Not a single word left his lips. Not a ‘fuck you’, or even a ’get the hell out’. Both would have been appropriate responses, and yet, he simply waited out my anger.

When I no longer had the energy to yell, I turned for the cabinet again. A solid night’s unconsciousness and I’d be my normal self again in no time. But before I could take another step, Al’s grip tightened on my arm.

“Declan.”

My anger came flooding back and I turned and shoved at his shoulder, expecting him to release me. Except I forgot to account for the fact that Al was way fucking stronger and my push might as well have been a fly landing on his arm. He didn’t even sway from my attack. For some reason, that made me even angrier.

“You could at least pretend that I’m not completely insignificant!”

I shoved again, looking for some kind of reaction, but again there was nothing. I didn’t think a hair on his head so much as fluttered out of place. Alwin stood there while I threw all of my body weight into my next shove, and it proved as fruitless as the last. With a frustrated growl I stepped right into his space, our fronts pressed together as I got in his face, ready to let him have it, but to my surprise, Alwin swiftly stepped back.

All that shoving, but getting close was what made him retreat. Part of me wondered if I should be insulted, but I’d never gotten the vibe that he was disgusted by me. Sure, he wasn’t a fan of my motives or actions half the time, but he’d never hesitated to get close in the past. So what was with that reaction?

Taking advantage of my confusion, he took my wrist and held it in his warm hand. “I am not your babysitter,” he repeated firmly. “And you are not insignificant.” he turned and headed for the stairs with me in tow. “We should retire, tomorrow will be a long day.”

Fucking elves.