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“Not a chance. If there’s a fortune to be had, you can bet your buttocks I’m not missing out on that.

” Daethie fiddled with the assortment of items she wore around her waist, various things she’d collected over the years.

Producing a teacup more appropriate for someone of her stature, she dipped it into the cup at her side and guzzled the contents with a sigh of happiness.

“Plus, someone will have to bring back the news if you all die horrific deaths.”

Yrra smacked his lips thoughtfully, having tasted the concoction in his flagon.

“What do you think?” I asked him. “Is it worth the risk? Would you come with us?”

Upon noticing that all eyes were on him, he blushed dark blue. “Maybe,” he whispered, reaching up to tug on one of his pointed ears. “Let me think.”

“Of course.” I considered our situation for another beat.

The kind thing to do was to let them come to their own conclusions; make their own choices.

We were halfway there, anyway. “No one’s found her after all this time, so there’s no rush.

At the least, we can sleep on it. The others might not be interested, but we can fill them in too.

I’d still ask around about other employment options for the summer, but… a guaranteed payout sure sounds good.”

The others murmured their agreement.

I went in for another sip when a door slammed above us, startling me into spilling a mouthful of borderline unpalatable mead down my front.

Pushing my cup back, I cursed and searched for something to clean myself up.

The din of merriment around us faded as footsteps thundered down the stairs and everyone’s attention turned to the two descending.

First came a woman with albino coloring, gray horns peeking out from a cloud of tight white curls on her head.

Underneath her skirt, a striped, prehensile tail twitched in a distressed rhythm.

A naked man followed close behind, his modesty barely maintained by a sheet around his middle.

The shade of his skin, the warm brown of an acorn shell, contrasted beautifully with the woman’s pallor.

Dark markings decorated his forearms, stretched along his arms, and bled into his chest, caressing each muscle group as though they’d been applied by an artist. On his back were large, black, feathered wings he kept tight against his body.

The man was attempting to console the woman, who appeared distraught. “—came out wrong. I’ve never pretended to be good with words. What I meant to say is that I’m honored to have you, specifically. You’re an exquisite creature, truly! A vision!”

“You must think me a fool,” the woman wailed. As she reached the bottom, she whirled, clutching her dangling cloak to her chest. “My mother was right. I can’t believe I fell for your… your…” She gestured wildly upon failing to articulate whatever she was trying to say.

“Charm?” the man supplied, striking a pose against the railing.

Is he for real?

At a loss for words, the woman’s face scrunched up, her eyes filling with tears. “I should have stayed home!” she cried. With that, she swept across the dining room toward the exit, past numerous patrons who jostled each other and laughed at the lovers’ display.

As the man went to follow, I turned away from the debacle and raised my flagon.

You didn’t have that kind of drama to worry about when living out in the woods.

Relationships opened a can of worms. Hell, people in general did.

I counted myself lucky that I only had to deal with a select few on a daily basis, and I wasn’t tempted to sleep with any of them .

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Vyrain stiffen, and a strange look came over his face moments before a sultry voice spoke from my right.

“Well, hello there, gorgeous.”

The mead went down the wrong pipe.

As I sputtered for air, eyes watering, it registered that the man in a sheet had not gone after his girlfriend.

No, he stood two feet away, studying me with his head cocked at a curious angle.

Up close, I could see that his eyes were a stunning amber, round and perceptive with big pupils like a predatory bird’s and ringed by enviably long, thick lashes.

Deep-brown textured hair was tied into a haphazard knot at the nape of his neck, leaving long, pointed ears with tufted tips on display.

Several piercings lined the lobe and cartilage.

When I didn’t respond, the stranger took my lack of rejection as an invitation.

He closed the space between us and leaned against the table, expression nothing short of delighted.

I caught a hint of a mouthwatering scent—a warm olfactory hug of fresh-squeezed citrus, spices, and caramelized sugar.

To my left, Vyrain inched closer to my side.

Hohem appeared amused by the sudden development, while Yrra and Daethie looked on in fascination.

“I have to ask,” the man before me began in a low and provocative tone of voice, as though we were the only two people in the entire room. “What are you?”

Record scratch. What kind of question is that? I reared back to put space between us and put a hand up, my brows coming together in confusion. “I’m sorry?”

“Forgive me.” The man eased up, but his gaze remained intent. “I’ve never seen someone like you. Your coloring is like a wingless, deformed Peri , yet the dull eyes and round ears… With your petite size, you could almost be a land-bound nykse . I must know what you are.”

Is this guy flirting with me right after having a spat with his girlfriend? And… is he calling me deformed? A familiar heat suffused my chest. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Caught somewhere between disbelief and anger, my answer came tight. “I’m a human.”

The man blinked. “A hyumin,” he repeated to himself, tasting the word. “Fascinating. I’ve never heard of you. Why have I never heard of you before?”

Why did it matter to him? “We’re not common around these parts.”

“No?” The man considered my answer. A slow smile spread across his face. “Well, then, I am a lucky one, aren’t I? Tell me, how would you feel about a brief rendezvous in my bed? I have a private room upstairs. It can be as quick as you like, in and out, you’ll barely feel a thing.”

I was rarely rendered speechless, but audacity of that degree did the trick.

Clearly, I’d entertained him too long. My hand twitched with the urge to slap him, and my mouth opened with scathing words at the ready.

However, a supportive arm came to rest across my shoulders before I could get violent.

“She’s not interested,” Vyrain answered for me, his tone as frosty as I’d ever heard it.

When did he get so close?

“I can answer for myself,” I snapped, shaking his arm off. Tension had me in a chokehold, the only reason I lashed out at him. I regretted it as soon as it was out of my mouth. Hurt flashed across Vyrain’s face, but he returned to the seat without argument.

Pissed now, and more than willing to direct that energy at the cause of my irritation, I turned back to the man in front of me and imbued my voice with a blistering degree of sarcasm. “A tempting proposition, to be sure, but I’m not interested.”

“We were leaving anyway,” Vyrain added. “Got a quest to get on with.”

“I believe Mar was just saying there’s no harm in taking our time,” Daethie drawled from across the table, fluttering her eyelashes. I shot her a nasty look.

“A quest?” The man perked up. “What a coincidence. I’m on a quest myself, you know, albeit a more personal one. Perhaps they could go hand in hand. Have you got room for another member in your party?”

Though I knew better, curiosity got the best of me. Was he going to be one of our competitors? If so, it might be wise to play nice—he could have valuable information. Mentally pacifying my roiling nerves, I eased my posture into a lean conveying friendly interest.

“Oh, yeah? What kind of quest is that?” I asked, trying to be casual about it.

“To copulate with one of every race,” the stranger responded smoothly, with quite a bit more pride than was appropriate for the statement. “Or, at least, those that are compatible. As much as I might want to lie with, say, an Aminkinya , it’s not exactly feasible. Regrettably.”

He cast a saucy wink over his shoulder in Daethie’s direction before looking me up and down.

A crease appeared between his straight brows.

“Hm. I realize now that my lack of familiarity with your race might have me overcommitting. At the risk of coming across as ignorant, I’m assuming you’ve got some sort of hole or a cock between?—”

I stood, the bench underneath me shifting back with a harsh groan. “Respectfully”—my voice rose, attracting the attention of nearby patrons—“what I have or don’t have is none of your damn business. And to be frank, coming across as ignorant should be the least of your worries.”

My hand went to the purse at my waist. Realizing I only had the vodt from our last job, I gritted my teeth and tossed one on the table, even though it was probably four times the cost of my drink. Had to get out of here.

“Goodbye.” I strode toward the door. My friends scrambled to slide out of their chairs.

“Wait, wait, wait.” The audacious man followed, almost falling flat on his face when the sheet tangled around his legs.

For a moment, the linen dipped, nearly revealing too much—trimmed dark curls and an intriguing shadow—before he hopped upright and yanked it back into place.

“Let’s try this again. Please?” he implored.

“I’m Luthri. You can call me Lu if you like.

It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance. And you are?”

God, this guy is worse than Vyrain.

“Not. Interested,” I reiterated. When I paused out front to wait for the others, Luthri followed me outside, not taking the hint.

Hell, we’d gone way past hints, hadn’t we?

One had to admire his tenacity by this point.

“You’re naked,” I exclaimed, giving him an incredulous look.

“And I’m pretty sure that sheet doesn’t belong to you. ”

“Oh!” His gaze dropped to the fist that held the sheet closed in front of him, as though he were noticing his state of undress for the first time. “So I am.”

Telling myself I was doing what I was trained to do and making note of anything that stood out about an individual, I let my eyes follow his movement, taking in the expanse of sculpted abdomen on display.

Hm. On second thought, it might not be such a hardship to sleep with the guy. How long has it been, anyway?

No, no—there was a principle to be followed. People like this were a plague, and they needed to hear a “no” every once in a while. It didn’t do him any favors if I folded.

“Give me a few minutes,” Luthri beseeched me, putting his hands together as best he could while holding onto the sheet. “Let me fetch my things and get dressed, and we can talk about it. I promise I can make it worth your while.”

I ignored him as the rest of my group filtered outside.

Daethie was back on Yrra’s shoulder, and Hohem pushed Vyrain along while he stared daggers at our new friend.

The night was still young; we could spar or keep going over our options for summer work before bed.

Giving Luthri a mock salute, I left him in front of The Bitter Brother with his sheet.

I had Vyrain’s antics to contend with on a day-to-day basis; that was more than enough for me.