Page 1 of Witches and Wine (The Mythical Mates of Arcane Cove #1)

Boom. Bada boom. Bada boom. The repeating bass from the blaring music reverberating off the walls in the club had become static noise to me as of late.

It used to give me life, making me want to double fist with a wine bottle in one hand and a whiskey in the other, partying until the sun rose.

Not that I could see myself doing anything else in the Cove, but its grandeur had started to lose its luster within the past year.

And I blamed a temptress with crimson hair .

“Boss,” Tambie yelled, her black pixie haircut bobbing as she stomped her foot when I hadn’t answered her on the second beckoning.

I’d crawled into my favorite spot in the establishment—a corner rounded booth with burgundy crushed velvet upholstery and large enough to seat ten averagely sized beings. With my arms sprawled on the back, I tapped a finger to the music’s steady rhythm and lazily turned my gaze on her. “Yes?”

Tambie rested the silver tray she’d been carrying on the grey and white marbled table between us, flattening her palms on either side of it.

“I know you prefer your you time—” She shifted her gaze to the side and mumbled, “—a lot lately.” Her eyes didn’t turn back to me until after she nervously scratched the tip of one of her small, tan, fawn antlers extending from above her temple.

The sight made the spot on my skull itch where my own much larger horns made an appearance when I allowed them, but I resisted the urge to touch my head there.

“Has the club lost business? Caught on fire? Has a stampede of centaurs suddenly burst through the doors, destroying everything in their path?”

Her brown eyes blinked, and she flicked the collar of her black button-down uniform shirt. “No?”

“Then it seems that my lack of involvement hasn’t affected business. So, my dear little maenad, what’s the problem?”

Tambie clucked her tongue against the inside of her cheek and folded her arms in a huff. “Sir, when people come to Bacchus , they expect its owner to be on theme .”

Arching a brow at her and ignoring her eyes rolling as I turned in my seat to survey my establishment, I continued to drum my fingers to the music.

Violet and white light spilled in rotating rays across the main dance area on the first floor; dozens of gyrating bodies swayed and bounced to the rhythm.

Several more female maenads danced between Corinthian columns bordering the top floor while male demons of varying colors patterned between them, their spade tails twirling to the music.

Whichever patrons weren’t dancing were either taking up stools at the bar or chatting away at one of the many lounge areas or tables.

Club Bacchus turned no one away, and it was apparent from this night alone with its variety in attendance —gods, witches, minotaur, demons, gargoyles, sprites, griffins, and even a leprechaun or two. And this was a slow night.

With a deep sigh, I turned my gaze back to Tambie. “Seems like everyone is doing just fine without my company.”

Tambie leaned her forearms on the table and curled her finger in the air, beckoning me to pay attention. “Listen, Dion. They talk .”

“They?” Propping my elbows on the table, I rested my chin on my palms and grinned. “Sounds scandalous. I’m almost intrigued.”

After Tambie let out a lion’s cub growl, she swiped the tray and shrugged. “Fine. It’s your club, D. All I do is schlep drinks, right?”

Regret twisted in my gut, but by the time I swallowed my pride enough to open my godsdamned mouth, Tambie was already sulking away, her steps rivaling a minotaur’s hooves.

“Tambie,” I called out. “I didn’t mean it like that.” Sighing at Tambie ignoring me with her back firmly turned, I rose from my seat to try again, “Tambie.”

She proceeded to act as if I were invisible and busied herself with taking drink orders.

Grumbling, I slumped into my chair and checked my phone—still no new messages.

It’d been months since I’d heard from her.

A growl bubbled in the back of my throat, and I slammed the device to the table, screen down.

A sudden chill washed over my skin, causing my spine to stiffen.

It only took one quick whiff to recognize that scent.

Tossing a glare at the entrance, my grip tightening on the lounge chair, I ground my molars.

“A primordial. The icing on the fucking cake today.” After snapping the collar of my dress jacket and ruffling my hair, I pushed to standing, working my way toward the entrance to reluctantly greet our VIP guest.

It wasn’t easy to discern which of the primordial gods he was through the seas of dancing bodies. But as I got closer, smiling and nodding to those who addressed me, the primordial slid into a squared lounge area in the corner, and our eyes locked.

Erebus. As if it could get any fucking worse.

“Emo,” I announced, playing with the golden grape charm hanging from the chain around my neck. “To what do I owe this displeasure?”

Erebus peeled off a pair of black leather driving gloves, for whatever the fuck reason he needed those, and tossed them to the table before bothering to look at me. “Dion. I had a feeling this establishment was yours.”

Flagging the bartender, I silently ordered drinks delivered to the table and took a seat without invitation. “And what gave it away?”

“What brought you to Arcane Cove? Weren’t you gallivanting with the likes of mortals for years across North America?” Erebus flicked some of his long black hair from his equally dark eyes and motioned for his lackeys to give us space.

“I was.”

Aella, another maenad, approached with drinks, resting them on the table with a wicked glint in her eyes as she devoured Erebus with her stare. The chestnut ringlets of her hair bounced when she pressed the empty tray to her chest. “Can I get you anything else?” She directed the question at Erebus.

“No,” Erebus quipped, not giving her more than a quick glance at her antlers.

Aella’s demeanor turned instantly, and I delicately snatched her wrist, knowing she was seconds away from giving the primordial a warranted piece of her mind. “Thanks, Aella.”

Another of my maenads stormed off, slamming her heels off-beat with the music. At least this time, it wasn’t my fault.

“I was in North America for a time, yes,” I continued, sliding one glass to Erebus and raising mine. “But I got tired of hiding my true nature. What can I say?”

“Oh?” Erebus flicked his gaze to my hornless forehead. “Did someone saw them off?”

Godsdammit. Why did it have to be a primordial who waltzed into my club?

“Tartarus, no.” Leaning my elbows on the table, I lifted the glass between us, flashing a sinister grin. “Why? You miss ‘em?”

“ Yámas , you prick,” Erebus said deadpan and clinked his glass against mine.

Guzzling half of it down, I wiped my sleeve across my mouth. “And what about you? Aren’t you supposed to be in Chicago?”

“I got bored .” Erebus eyed the alcohol suspiciously after taking a swig. “Is there ambrosia wine in this?”

Smiling proudly, I interlaced my hands behind my head and leaned back. “And that’s why my place is the most popular spot in town. Because only at Bacchus can a mythical, paranormal, or fairytale creature find a buzz.”

“Fitting,” Erebus scoffed, resting the glass on the table. “I decided to move the business away from humans.”

A black bear sauntered past us, following a woodland nymph toward the bar. The bear shifted into a hulking male clad in leather pants before curling an arm around the nymph’s waist and sitting on a stool.

“And you chose to bring it to a place with some of the most dangerous beings in the universe? Gee, Bus. The Cove is a great place to run an organized crime outfit.”

A rare smirk bordering on a subdued smile quirked Erebus’s lip. “Precisely. What’s it to you? You’re not the Cove’s sheriff, too, are you?”

“No. That’s Herb. A porcupine shifter.” Shaking my head, I leaned toward the primordial and lowered my voice.

“I don’t give a rat’s ass what you do with your time, and considering the gods and primordials have an agreement, I don’t have a choice but to look the other way.

” Erebus’s glass had gone empty, and I pressed a finger to it, magically re-filling it.

“But you bring that shit into my club, and I’ll have a little chat with my pops about releasing the Titans again out of spite . Do we have an understanding ?”

Erebus’s jaw clenched, his ominous gaze casting shadows between us. After giving a curt and barely noticeable nod, he pointed at my bare chest beneath my jacket. “It seems you’ve forgotten how to get dressed.”

“What?” Pretending I hadn’t realized I wasn’t wearing a shirt, I peeled open my jacket and snapped my fingers.

“Nope. I’m positive my shirt is right where I left it—” I paused and downed the rest of my drink, locking eyes with the embodiment of darkness sitting across from me. “—your mom’s bedroom floor.”

Erebus’s hand coiled into a fist atop the table, a smoky halo forming around his head and shoulders.

“But that’s right.” Interlacing my fingers and resting them in front of me, I let the snarkiest of grins curve my lips. “You don’t have one.”

“How does it feel to be such an insignificant god that they charge you with sex, frenzy, and festivity?” Erebus arched a dark brow, the shadows billowing around him settling.

Scoffing, I pushed my back to the seat. “Did you just hear yourself?”

“Yes, but these are things most gods delight themselves in regularly between a more meaningful existence.” Erebus swirled his hand through some of the inky tendrils near his mouth, producing a cigar. A lackey was quick to trip over the table to light it.

It’d been a while since someone tried to crawl under my skin.

“I don’t think you spend enough time around mortals. Sex and festivity are rather high on their enjoyment lists.” I raised my hand from the table to above my head and chuckled.

After taking several puffs from his cigar and wasting one more minute of my damn time, Erebus replied, “Enjoyment. Not necessity. Not aspects that enrich or embody their livelihoods.”

“I’m pretty sure sex is necessary for human life to continue, or did you miss that day at tyrannical primordial school as a kid?”

Erebus spent ash directly onto the table despite an ashtray resting inches from him, inciting a growl to bubble in my throat.

“Fertility. That, when you want to get technical, is necessary. Correct me if I’m wrong, but that jurisdiction belongs to a goddess who tried to have you killed once, right? ”

It was old news that my dad and his former queen had an arrangement to take lovers outside of their marriage.

My mother was one of his first conquests, and the hatred the queen bore from her pregnancy announcement never bothered me.

It was the fact that my mother died as a result of it.

Fury and frenzy coiled up my spine, firing at the base of my skull.

A vibration went off several times from my front pocket, immediately pulling me from the inferno that’d been building in my chest.

“You’re lucky my ass is vibrating,” I said to Erebus, pointing a stern finger at him as I stood and walked away, relishing that quizzically shocked look on his dumb face.

Slipping my phone from my jeans pocket, I halted when I saw the notification blazing on the home screen—a text from “Red.” The woman I hadn’t heard from in months with the fiery auburn hair and my polar opposite whom I couldn’t get off my fucking mind .

Holding my breath, actually pinching my lips together, I swiped the screen. A random drunken demon smelling of sulfur and tequila hugged my shoulders from the side. As politely as I could, I shoved him away, an equally drunk warlock catching him with a hoot of laughter.

The air escaped my lungs when I read the text message:

Red

Hi.

One word. Two fucking letters. And it was enough to send my ethereal heartbeat into overdrive. She texted me. That meant she was thinking about me.

“Tambie, I’m checking the mail,” I shouted toward the bar.

Tambie scrunched her nose at me. “You know they deliver it straight to your office, right?”

“The other mail,” I corrected, raising my brows.

Tambie gave me a thumbs up and hoisted her tray filled with drinks to her shoulder.

Arcane Cove was resplendent during the day with its blue skies and perfectly crafted sunsets, but it was damn near enchanting at night.

It could be the night owl in me, but nothing compared to the hundreds of stars blanketing the sky and the moon shining so bright it cast intricate shadows.

This was a rare sight in the mortal realm from its vast number of artificial lights dampening it.

That wasn’t the case in the Cove because any light here came from magic .

As I strolled down the sidewalk, my thumb hovered over the reply button, at a loss for what to say to her after all this time.

I mean, I, too, could’ve picked up the damn phone and texted her, but I hadn’t.

She’d seemed so disinterested in being anything but friends, and to be honest, I’d be perfectly fine with it, but her presence?

It created an entirely different frenzy inside me.

One I had never felt with any other female or male.

Fuck it.

Not wishing to stew on it any longer, I quickly typed up my reply and slid the phone back into my pocket.

If she wanted to be friends, I’d be the one who was never short on innuendo and oozing with compliments.

And if she wished to take things to the next level, I’d show her a time she’d never imagined possible.