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11

WREN

As I rounded the corner, I caught sight of Dina moving around the bar. Although only about a third of the space was occupied, she had her hands full, collecting empties and depositing fresh drinks.

“Are you sure you’re okay with me going? I can stay and help,” I offered, adjusting my duffel on my shoulder.

Dina waved me off. “You worked a double yesterday. Go. But maybe first, see if you can get that register unstuck. I hate those tablet doohickeys.”

I chuckled and moved behind the bar. “I’ll do my best, but you know tech isn’t always my thing either.”

When the new register system was delivered a week into my working here, Dina had cursed up a blue streak. I’d managed to get it set up and working, but she still struggled now and then.

I tapped the tablet’s screen, but nothing happened except a flicker of movement. I frowned. Maybe there was a bug or something. I pressed the button on the side to turn it off. Because when all else failed, reboot. Still, nothing happened.

“Crap,” I muttered.

“Can, um, I help?” The hesitant voice came from the other side of the bar and down a couple of seats.

I hadn’t noticed the man when I came downstairs, but I should’ve. He was incredibly handsome, though, in a way that said he didn’t want people to notice. He was leanly muscled and wearing a dark-blue flannel. Black-framed glasses hid enchanting gray eyes.

As I focused, I scented wolf. It didn’t surprise me this time. There was clearly a pack in the area. The only reason I hadn’t noticed was because the space was clogged with Puck’s scent. That infuriating charmer of a wolf had worked the bar all day, teasing and toying with every person in Arcane. Including me.

The man sent me a hesitant smile and something about it felt like a warm hug. Like arms being wrapped around me that I could sink into and forget all my problems.

The backs of my eyes burned. Gods, I hadn’t felt that in years. Probably not, since I’d spent half a year in California and allowed myself the luxury of a single friend. But I’d disappeared out of Hayden’s life, too, when the town got a few too many supernatural eyes on it.

I couldn’t risk it, not when I knew Bastian was still looking for me. I shook off thoughts of all I was missing and everything I was terrified of and focused on the person offering help. “I think it’s glitching. I can usually turn it off and back on, and everything’s good. Seems not this time.”

The man nodded. “If you unhook it from the dock, I can take a look.”

I gave him a quick, assessing stare. The last thing I needed was to get Dina’s tablet stolen. But the man had a laptop open in front of him on the bar along with his burger, and a messenger bag sprawled on the stool. He wouldn’t leave all that for a tablet.

Disconnecting the device from the dock, I walked it down to the man. As I got closer, more of his scent hit me. Spiced chocolate, like the drinks I used to treat myself to once a month in New York. And it held the same sort of comfort. Like wrapping my hands around a cup of Mexican hot chocolate as snow fell softly around me.

Gods, that was a ridiculous thought. I shook it off and handed the man the device. He took it, and it was almost like he was trying not to move too fast. Interesting.

He also didn’t seem to want to make eye contact. But I kept my focus on him as he tapped the screen a couple of times, registering the glitch.

“When’s the last time you updated this thing?” he asked, his voice matching the soft feel of his presence.

“We only got it about three weeks ago. So, never?”

He nodded, his brown hair swooping across his forehead. “There was a critical update about a week ago. That’s why you’re running into this issue.”

“How the heck am I supposed to update it when it’s frozen?” I asked.

His lips twitched—lips that were a reddish berry color and only accentuated his strong, stubbled jaw. “We can force a reboot. Just need to press these two buttons and hold.” He demonstrated with the power and home buttons. Before long, the screen went black and then began rebooting.

“A magician,” I mumbled.

He shrugged. “This is just kind of my wheelhouse.”

Dina moved up behind him and bent to kiss his cheek. “My hero. Thank you, Locke.”

His face flamed. “No problem, D.”

Locke. An interesting name. One that fit him. I had the bizarre urge to ask him where it had come from, but I didn’t ask people questions. Didn’t take those risks. Because if you asked someone about their life, they generally asked about yours. And I couldn’t give them answers, not honest ones anyway, and the lies still tended to give something away.

Plus, they got old. Nothing about me was true. Nothing except the name I’d held on to, which wasn’t even my real name yet had become the most truthful part of me. The piece of my mother I still had.

Her face flashed in my mind. Her kind eyes were the same sea-blue as mine. I knew I’d gotten my empathy from her. It didn’t matter that it was a rare shifter trait; I knew her kind spirit and caster magic had burned the gift into me. And even though it felt like a curse most of the time, I’d hold on to it with all my might because it felt like holding on to her.

“Are you okay?”

The quiet voice snapped me out of my walk down memory lane. “Sorry, just crossing things off my mental to-do list.”

Locke frowned, looking frustrated as he seemed to search for the right words. “I’ll get this fixed and back to D.”

Something told me he hadn’t wanted to say that, but I still nodded. “Thanks again.”

“No problem.” His gaze had already dropped.

And losing sight of those stormy gray eyes felt like a vicious blow. Regardless, I just kept on moving. Fighting through untold pain wasn’t anything new.