Ronin hadn’t seen a single human since he’d arrived, so he had no idea what the male was talking about. Still, he felt the need to confirm that he didn’t feed from humans before he ordered a double-shot of aguaver.
As the bartender poured his drink, Ronin leaned across the bar and lowered his voice. “How long have you been here?”
The bartender puffed out his chest. “Been serving the thirsty citizens of Tartarus for four-hundred-and-fifty-two years. Almost as long as the Koenig has been in power, if ya please.”
Ronin slid onto a barstool, settling in to grill the oldest tenured prisoner he’d met thus far. One who he hopedmight provide him some clues to Selene’s whereabouts. “I’m wondering if you might be able to help me find someone?”
The bartender hooked a thumb over his shoulder. “Nearest brothel’s three blocks left of here.”
“No, no, I… My sister—my twin sister—was arrested and sent here ten years ago. Her name’s Selene Matakos.”
The bartender studied Ronin’s face as he slid him his drink, then shook his head. “Never heard the name. And pretty sure if I saw a female who looked like you, I’d remember.”
Ronin wrapped his tattooed fingers around the cloudy glass, his shoulders slumping. “Cheers,” he said before slamming it back, the burn of the liquor shaving off the sharpest edges of his disappointment. “What are you in for?”
The bartender leveled him with a glare. “Not a question one typically asks around here in polite company.”
Ronin barked out a laugh. “I’m the least polite person you’ll ever meet, friend.”
An amused chuckle escaped the bartender’s bearded muzzle and Ronin caught a whiff of a familiar scent. A tinge of decaying flowers that reminded him of Mireille.
Mortality.
Was the bartender part human?
If so, and he’d been here for centuries, perhaps he’d been locked up during or just after the war. During that time when Leonin Erabis and his Imperial minions had been determined to rid the continent of both humansandhalf-breeds. Ronin wondered how many other half-breeds were in here before returning to the subject of Selene.
“Is there a chance she’s here and you’ve never met her?” he asked.
The bartender dashed his hope. “I know nearly everyone in Tartarus. Perils of the job.”
“But she was arrested,” Ronin said, twirling his empty glass and trying to decide if it was wise to order another. “So if she’s not here, then…”
The bartender’s bushy brows dipped with sympathy as he muttered, “The mists.”
Ronin swallowed, his face going pale. There was no way. If Selene had been in the mists, Ronin was certain he would’ve sensed her. And if she’d died in there… Well, he and his wolf would know that as well.
Wouldn’t they?
Ronin frowned, throwing back the rest of his aquaver and mulling over the hot load ofnothingthe bartender had shared. Perhaps Ronin would have to take Wormwood up on his offer after all.
But not tonight. His head was pounding, he was exhausted, and all he wanted to do was get out of this tavern, shift into his wolf for a quick run, then crash onto his tiny bed in Mireille’s tiny apartment.
As he slid off his stool, a gorgeous Beastrunner female with a sleek blonde bob and a low-cut burgundy top leaned across the bar, signaling to the bartender.
Her eyes drifted to Ronin, then widened, her pupils dilating as her scent deepened.
Ronin knew what looks like that meant. If anything, he’d inspired even more since he’d started wearing the eye-patch.
The blonde’s lips curved into a coy smile as she turned toward the bartender, but her body remained angled toward Ronin.
And Creator help him, he thought about it. For a second, hereallydid. About how easy it would be to throw her some half-hearted pick-up line and end his month-long dry spell with a quick, sweaty fuck against the tavern wall outside. He was partial to red-heads—for reasons to which he refused toascribe any meaning—but he was desperate enough to make an exception.
But he just…
He couldn’t.
And he wondered why? He’d been with plenty of females since he and Mireille had fallen out. Plus, she’d made it pretty clear she’d been fucking other people, too. So really, why did it matter?
