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2
Edrich
Iknew Lina was here before I even saw her.
Ever since we were kids, I could practically sense her in a room. She may as well have been shooting off beams of sunshine like a beacon, leading me directly to her.
Even when I don’t want to see her.
Sure enough, there she was, standing—or swaying, anyway—on top of the polished oak bar. At twelve centimeters high, she was barely taller than the tiny ornate cup she drank from, and not half as high as the tankard of the man next to her.
I brought my fingers to the bridge of my nose. This was the last thing I wanted to deal with tonight, but I knew I couldn’t avoid her forever after her mother’s funeral.Not that I had seen her then, either.I still wasn’t sure what would have been worse; facing every single demon in my past and confronting the death of one of the few decent people in the world, or what I had actually wound up doing the day of the funeral.
“You gonna stand in the door all day, mate? I’m getting soaked out here.” Atesh’s voice sounded behind me, happier than he had a right to be after what we’d just done.
But then, he had a few years of experience on me. Enough time to learn to leave the missions behind when you were finished with them.Or maybe he’s just better at ignoring that constant gnawing sense of guilt than I am.
I sighed.
Maybe someday I would be able to shut the screams out, too, but today they seemed determined to keep me company to punish me.
And rightly so.
I shifted out of the way, allowing him room to walk around me out of the rain and into the tavern, making a beeline for the bar.
Or, I suspected, the striking woman behind it.
“Edrich!” Lina’s voice was surprisingly loud for such a tiny person, pulling me out of my own head, and back to the crowded bar around me.
I knew she came here on occasion, but she usually left before night fell. I knew this because I made sure to ask after a couple of accidental run-ins. I didn’t like seeing her when I wasn’t prepared for it.
“Lina.” I said her name with markedly less excitement than she had shown, covering the distance between us in a few short strides. “What are you still doing here?”
The question was for her, but the hulking creature next to her with coarse, olive skin decided to move as well. Ogres were deceptively mild and unfailingly polite, something I could have done without right about now.
I didn’t want to sit by her. I didn’t even want to be in this bar with her. I just wanted to drink enough ale to forget the sound of a woman pleading for her children’s safety, knowing it would do no good.
“Thank you, Wigbert!” Lina called after the ogre, her pink skin brightening with sincerity, before she turned to me. “And actually, I was waiting for you.”
I removed my wet cloak and signaled for an ale to fortify me for the conversation I could have gone my entire life without having.
“Look, Lina, I’m sorry I couldn’t make—”
“It’s all right.” But her sparkling rose-gold skin and blue-green eyes dimmed. “I got your note.”
“I’m sorry.” Princess Piper, a girl with golden-blonde hair and bright, purple eyes peeked around the ogre, and I could pretty well guess from her expression that she was not remotely sorry about whatever she was about to say.Typical royal.“Did you just say you sent anote? To hermother’s funeral? I hope you at least sent flowers with it.”
A purple reptilian head stretched up from her lap, eyeing me like it was affirming her indignation. I took another long drink before I could say something I would regret.
This day just keeps getting better and better.
“You can’t expect a man to think of flowers, Piper.” The familiarity of the new voice surprised me. I turned to see a curvy woman with skin the color of tree bark, and eyes to match, standing on the other side of me.
“She’s lucky he sent a note.” Jessie looked at me out of the corner of her eye.
There was a slight undercurrent there, but that was fair. I wasn’t great about keeping up with people… even people I had been on dates with. She briefly put a hand on my shoulder in a gesture of peace, then turned to order another round from Vale.
She’s clearly nicer than I deserve, anyway.
