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“Don’t know what I’d do without ‘cha, Mack,” she quipped as they each returned to their ends of the bar.
She slapped her rag down and smiled.I guess it’s not so bad.
Yep, sometimes it was hard to remember what life had been like as a little girl back in the outside human world. This was home now. At least she had Mack and Wendy. And she even had a few friends.I have Tam.They were her little family now.
And of course, The Tree. Or the spirit of the tree, Ash. That part had been a bit of an adjustment. But at only ten years old, coming here and learning that magic was real had been more of a confirmation of what every little girl and boy knows, rather than some big revelation. Still, realizing the bar itself was enchanted had been rather… She struggled for the word in her head.
Trippy.Yeah, it’s still trippy.
But she had adjusted. Given the spirit a name.
And now, after the events of the last few years, she was still adjusting. She just wished her father were still there. They had just been beginning to build a real relationship. And then he was gone.
Murdered.
Stop it. You don’t know that, Bloom.But she did.
They had said it could have been a wild animal.
Wild animal my ass.
She felt her temper flaring all over again.
Okay, Bloom, get a grip. Happy place. Go to your happy place.
“Who is gonna buy me a drink? It’s my birthday!” Marius’ voice pulled her out of her reverie as he bellowed to no one and everyone all at once, spittle flying from his lips.
He was in rare form. Likesuper rareform.
What’s gotten into him?
She looked down the bar to see that Mack had also clocked his increasing antics. She was all for live and let live, but when you were in charge of the bar, you had to know when to cut people off. She locked eyes with Mack and waved her hand across her neck, signaling what was already obvious. Marius was now cut off.
What is going on?This wasn’t Marius.
It was, of course. He was right there. But in the years he had been coming in she had never seen him likethis.
And he wasn’t just drunk. A sort of shiver or tingle went up Bloom’s spine, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. She could feel the slightest tension coming from the bar itself.Something is off.
“First off all, Marius, it isnotyour birthday, because your birthday, according to you, was last week,” Mack said to him.
“Oh, come on, Bloom. Just one more,” he said, changing his focus to her again. “What’za harm?” he managed to mumble as he suddenly leapt up onto the bar with surprising agility.
“What the…” Mack said as he came down the bar. Mack might be human and past his prime years, but he was still built like a brick shithouse, as they said.
Noticing Mack approaching, he leaped down. Actually, it was sort of half leap, half float.
What the fuck?
Fae had certain magical gifts, and they varied, but to say it was in poor form to display them was an understatement. The word gauche came to mind. Or cringe. The ill-fitting baseball cap pulled low on his head only added to the effect.
“Marius, what has gotten into you? You are getting close to earning yourself a one way ticket out of here…more than close!” she said, raising her voice a bit.
“Oh hey, sorry, sorry,” he said, almost seeming surprised himself at his antics. For a split second he almost seemed normal before his eyes clouded over again with a far-away look. He was the weirdest combination of hyper and drunk all at once she had ever seen.
As if on cue, he tumbled toward the bar again, causing the patrons in his immediate vicinity to scatter, this time Tam among them.
She let out a yell, probably for fear of being either stepped, spit on, or worse. Marius was a big boy.
