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“Oh, we’ll break you in good!” Unexpectedly, Hannie reels me in and hugs me.
“Oh…uh.” I force a smile as I hug her back. She smells like flowers and sea salt. It’s a pleasant scent.
“We don’t know each other, but we’ll become family by the end of the night,” Hannie assures me.
“That’s if we can escape that brother of mine,” Juniper says, rolling her eyes.
Hannie swings her eyes to Juniper again. “Is it Rowan? He’s lots of fun, eh?”
“No,” Juniper grumbles. “It’s Killian tonight.”
“Two gold tonics!” The bartender slides two gold cups across the counter to Juniper and she takes them, handing one to me. I take it, thanking her with a smile.
“I don’t think I’ve met Killian yet. Well, not properly.” Just as she says that, Killian pushes his way through the crowd like a mountain, meeting up to us.
“Don’t drink a lot. We have to be alert tomorrow,” Killian grumbles, looking between me and Juniper.
“What are you, my father?” Juniper rolls her eyes again.
“Jun, stop it with the smart-ass comments. I don’t want to be here anymore than you don’t want me to be.”
“So leave.” Juniper supplies him a shit-eating grin before taking a sip of her drink.
“You’re a big guy, aren’t ya?” Hannie looks Killian up and down. “A bit wound up too, eh?”
Killian steps back, glaring down at Hannie. “Who the hell are you, and why are you talking to me?”
“I’m Hannie Keery. Eldest daughter of the Keery family, and I’d shake your hand, but it seems you’ve been struggling to dig the arrogance out of your ass for a while, so verbal greetings will do.”
Killian squares his shoulders and grimaces. “You should watch your mouth.”
“And you should watch your temper.” Hannie’s eyes that were once brown, light up and flash gold. I gasp at the sight of them.
Killian bellows a laugh, which is hardly a reaction to me. “You think your fiery little eyes are gonna intimidate me? I’ll pop them out your head before you even have a chance to use ‘em on me.”
“Is that a challenge?” Hannie stands taller, raising her chin.
“Only if you want it to be, love.”
Hannie’s gold eyes turn brown again, and she narrows them, then huffs a laugh. “It’d be a waste of my time and energy.”
Killian shakes his head. “Whatever. Off to take a piss.” He points a finger at Juniper. “Stay put.”
We watch him go, and when he’s out of earshot, Hannie turns to us and says, “There’s a guy named Tomán having a party at his house. Booze, wine, gold dust, tonic—it’s all there. What do you say?”
“Oh, hell yeah! What are we waiting for?” Juniper gulps down the remainder of her drink, and Hannie lets out a belly-deep laugh. I finish mine off, and Hannie grabs us both by the wrists, leading the way out of the club. When we’re outside, I draw in a cool breath and follow Hannie and Juniper’s lead down the block.
“What do you think Killian’ll say when he finds you gone?” Hannie asks, laughing.
“Oh, he’s going to lose his shit. I just know it,” says Juniper.
“Do you have your transmitter with you?”
“No. Left it at Alora’s palace.”
Hannie stops in her tracks. “Okay, before we get any further, promise me you willnotrepeat those words.”
Juniper blinks at her. “What words?”
