Page 25 of Chosen Spirits (The Bartender Mage #4)

Tossing his purple scarf over his shoulder, Leif lifted his chin, then declared haughtily, "Clearly this heinous crime was committed by Julia Scarlett , who lured the unfortunate host into the billiards room with promises of a fair game, before beaning his brains in with the candlestick."

Watching Julia's face, he saw her lips quirk. He sighed, already realizing that he was wrong before Rahul spoke up.

"Sorry, professor," his boyfriend said, dressed in a trench coat and playing the part of the referee. "The gathered evidence does not support your baseless accusations. To the brig with you!"

Rahul withdrew a pair of fuzzy handcuffs from inside his coat, sparking fierce laughter from Mina Mustard and Sakari Whitetail, the latter of whom was playing her namesake.

He secured Leif's hands, then held up the miniature envelope with the cards.

Leif shook his head, declining to see them, and instead picked up the dice and handed them to Julia.

As he'd suspected, she didn't even bother rolling.

"Dear me, Leif, it sounds like you didn't have all the right info and jumped the gun…

which is exactly what I used when I ended the life of our miserable, blackmailing host. Constable Basu, I confess!

I just couldn't stand any more of his dreaded ball puns, so I shot him and left him to rot in his favorite billiards room. "

Rahul dumped the three cards out onto the middle of the dining room table, confirming her guess. "Exactly right. Great job, Julia. "

Leif groaned good naturally as they put away the Clue board game. "I knew that she knew! I had to at least take a chance and try something."

"It was a good try," Sakari said encouragingly, her kitsune tails fanning out while Rahul took back his handcuffs.

Mina waved her hands, banishing her illusory yellow gloves, but left on her fake mustache. "That was fun, but I could use something to drink. To the bar!"

It was Friday evening, May 5th, and Rahul's new theater friends from up north had driven down to visit Minneapolis for a long weekend, with Rahul offering to show them around town and host them in the spare bedrooms. Leif's djinn boyfriend was always happiest among a crowd, though, so in addition to the four actors—Dane, Li, Eve, and Deirdre—he'd invited Mina, Julia, and the Whitetail couple for a nice home-cooked dinner and game night in their spacious home.

Leif took off the scarf, then accepted his blue tie and vest back from Dane, who was almost of a size to himself. Dressing the part had been a fun idea from Mina, and what they couldn't find in their closets, she'd conjured up with illusions.

"Aye, t'were a fun game!" Dane laughed. "But next time, I do be thinking I should think twice afore going up against real detectives."

"Julia's brilliant," Rahul said, joining them at the bar. Leif took a couple of drink orders, watching as Tucker and hunky dad Sebastian Whitetail chatted in the kitchen. "Maybe if I'd been in on it…"

"I'd have buried you alongside Mr. Boddy," Julia said.

"Confident, aren't ya? Maybe next time. So, what's next! I could warm up our backyard, and we could take this party outside. Just talk for a bit? "

Julia waved over to Li and Eve. The buxom nymph leapt to her feet and hurried over, dragging her kirin girlfriend along with her.

"Sorry, Rahul, but I've been talking with the ladies and I'm going to steal them away for a night out.

The plan is to sing some karaoke, visit a place that's a mix between a patisserie and a chocolate shop, and then catch a sapphic poetry read. "

Rahul knelt down, placing his hands over his heart. "Julia, dear Julia! I love all of those things, too!"

Julia pretended to flick him on his forehead, and he threw himself backwards, sprawling on the carpet. "I know you do, but you have a larger-than-life presence, and I want to have a more manageable group outing. Besides, you wouldn't abandon your other guests, would you?"

Rahul desisted his grumbles, admitting that he would not, and helped their friends gather their things.

After final bathroom breaks while Leif and Tucker cleaned up the mess of drinking glasses, they waved a temporary farewell to the women, Julia taking the keys of Li's minivan as their group's designated driver.

"We could always do karaoke ourselves," Leif offered, watching through the front window as they drove off. "There's programs for it we could display on the tv."

"Nah, it's fine. So, eight o'clock, gentlemen, and the night's still young. We could hit someplace in town, too, if we're all feeling up to it? Strip club, maybe, watch some gogo dancers strut their stuff?"

"I was hoping for a night in," Sebastian said. The middle-aged father of one grunted as he laid back on the couch. "Maybe another game?"

"Twister!" Leif said. "I saw it in the game closet, and I'm feeling kind of energized."

" Strip Twister," Dane said, giving him a cheeky grin .

Leif blinked, then looked around at the others, considering. Rahul, Tucker, himself, Dane, and then Sebastian, all with their limbs tangled…

He cleared his throat. "I mean, um, I'm game for that."

Sebastian was turning red in the face, but wasn't saying no. "How do you even play a strip version? And besides, there's five of us, game's meant for four. I could be the spinner, I suppose."

"Nah," Rahul said. "Leif, you can make yourself a Telekinesis potion, yeah? You can be the spinner and a player at the same time. We'll make it work, somehow."

"Aye, it should be a blast. But I mean, if ye're afraid of losing, handsome cousin of mine…"

Sebastian grabbed his mimosa, downed the rest, then stood up. Keeping eye contact with Dane, he spread his legs out to either side, letting his socks slide across the floor until he was doing a side split with the bulge of his sweatpants touching the ground.

"I'm not a pushover. Still, what about cards? Poker, maybe?"

Rahul looked at Dane, then back to Sebastian. "Strip poker!"

"Strip poker, and then naked Twister," Dane amended.

Sebastian tugged at his shirt collar, clearly embarrassed, and Rahul started goading him.

"Alright, fine, you persistent devil. But only if Leif makes us more drinks, and you don't send any pictures to Kari."

"I promise that any pictures will be sent to you first, and you can decide to share at your own behest."

While Rahul and Dane went to the game closet to fetch the supplies, Leif hurried behind his bar, trying to remember which drinks each of the others were having.

Tucker came up beside him, brushing a hand across the back of his head.

Smiling at his boyfriend, he set to work.

No way were they going to have less fun than Julia's group!

On the other hand, dang, karaoke would have been a blast. Maybe after everyone loosened up some more, he'd suggest it again.

◆◆◆

A melodic chiming woke Leif up from sleep. Blinking in the darkness, he tried to figure out where it was coming from. Tucker's phone, maybe?

He lifted his head, using the faint light of dawn that seeped in through the curtained windows to look around.

He was in the middle of their bed, wrapped up in the arms of Tucker, his boyfriend's steady breathing a soothing motion against his back.

The erection he could feel against his ass let him know that his big ol' pup was having a good dream.

In front of his face was a slumbering Dane, being spooned similarly by Rahul, his face barely visible behind the massive, tattooed arm. Not a bad cuddler, but after almost a year of being with Tucker and Rahul, it had felt decidedly odd to be the big spoon for someone close to his own size.

Leif turned his head this way and that, trying to triangulate the ringing.

The sound seemed to get louder the more awake he became, but he still couldn't place its location.

Was he just imagining it? Maybe it had something to do with the other mythblooded and mages in the house.

Li and Eve were sharing the downstairs guest bedroom, and Deirdre and Mina were down the hall, sharing the king-sized bed after Leif had made sure to remove the assorted sex accessories—

Wait.

Mina.

Leif opened himself up to his spirit senses. The melody he was hearing immediately became louder, clearer, and more insistent.

He felt Tucker stir, and his hands stroked up and down his chest. "Darlin', is everything okay? You smell tense."

"The herbs," Leif said aloud, at the same time as the realization hit. "They're ready!"

Leif struggled out of the heavy blanket, then climbed past an accommodating Tucker in an effort to get out of bed. He heard Rahul mutter his name as he dashed down the hall, feeling a twinge of remorse for disturbing everyone's sleep but… no time.

Leif hurried down to the basement, his vision blurring as a golden haze filled his peripheral vision.

By the time he was in arm's reach of the soul herbs, he could scarcely see the normal room on account of how loud the spirit ripples were, and their song thrummed through his core.

Distractedly, he started humming along as he concentrated on figuring out what he needed to do next.

As he plied the herbs with his spirit senses, a distant part of him realized that Tucker was pulling a pair of shorts up over his naked ass while explaining the situation to what was growing to be a crowded basement. Gradually, though, the flowing lights and sounds settled down.

Mina stepped closer, and Leif paused, trying to make sense of the resonance he felt between her and the herbs. He nodded to himself, then turned to face her. Dressed in a shirt and undergarments, she looked a bit apprehensive.

"The herbs are ready to harvest," Leif said to her. "I'm pretty sure that I need to make the potion now . This hour."

Mina didn't look away from the hydroponics setup, but after a pause, nodded her head.