Page 111 of Liar Witch

“Don’t just stand there,” Rysen grunts, grabbing my elbow. “She needs somewhere to sit down. Cushions and shit.”

I don’t really have any choice but to let the vampire drag me back down below and stuff my arms full of fluffy cushions.

“Why could we not just get Val to grab these with his magic?” I grumble, voice muffled by an enormous pillow.

“We could have,” Ry agrees. “But you were mooning over our mate and looking so pathetic, I decided to put you to use.”

I bump into him purposefully, but our banter is cut short as we reach the deck once more and find Nilsa staring down Kier.

The fae is holding a glass with a thumb of sparkling silver liquid within, one arm behind his back as the others hold their breath.

I can practically see Nilsa’s brain working overtime as she decides if she’s brave enough to take a drink that’s been made and offered to her by a fae. She might be outside of faerie, but Kier can still make faerie liquor taste so good she never thirsts for anything else ever again.

I’ve seen enough people driven mad by fae food and drink that evenIwas hesitant the first time Kier gave me something he’d cooked. Even immortals aren’t immune. One sip and all other food will taste like ash, until you starve out of longing for the food the fae alone can give you.

Just another of the charming games the fae are famed for playing.

Nilsa has nothing to fear. Kier is just testing her.

Just when he starts to draw the offered drink back, expression shuttering, Nilsa reaches out to snatch it from him.

Then, with a level stare, she tips the glass back and downs it in one go.

The fae takes her glass with a nod, and his small smile as he refills it proves my theory correct.

The sneaky bastardwastesting her.

Rysen interrupts the silence as he lugs the huge phonograph through the hatch. Its size makes it awkward, even with immortal strength, and Val is watching like a hawk to make sure Rysen doesn’t damage it.

“What music do pirates listen to?” Nilsa asks, eyes alight with curiosity as the mage shoos the vampire away and takes over.

Val scoffs at her. “If you’re hoping for sea shanties, you’re going to be disappointed.”

Nilsa’s reply is curt, but her eyes shine with a teasing light as she replies, “I suppose I’ll have to join the legions of women who’ve been disappointed by you.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Kieran

The music behind me has gotten steadily louder as the night has worn on. I should have remembered that if there’s one thing Lunars are renowned for—aside from death—it’s their ability to have a good time. Nilsa is no exception.

Right now she’s dancing around the flames like moonlight incarnate. She’s drunk. Very drunk. And the others are well on their way to being the same.

Even Valorean has relaxed somewhat. Perched on the back end of a cannon, his fingers loose around the neck of a still-full bottle of rum as he watches the rest of his crew have fun.

I stand apart, keeping to the shadows, fingers still tingling in memory.

She took the glass.

She took a drink from a fae. From me.

That’s a huge step. A sliver of trust.

I could have dosed that drink with my power. So easily charged it with dust, until it tasted better than anything outside of the faerie realm. I could have driven her mad with craving.

If we’d been in Faerie, she would be stuck there for life.

It was exactly how I trapped Marcella.