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Chapter 1
Clover
Istood in the line at the bar called Vital Essence. The bouncer at the door looked gruff and scary, but the short girl with bright green hair looked up at him adoringly. So surely he was a good guy? The line shuffled forward. I could hear the people behind me complaining about the line.
A giggle behind me. “Mortals.”
“Any excuse to get drunk?”
The line moved forward again. I showed the grumpy bouncer my ID, and he waved me inside. They covered the bar with shamrocks, green streamers, and leprechaun cut outs.
I heard a drunk shout at the bar as I walked into the bar. “How dare you have those on the wall! This is blasphemy!”
“Siobhan, why did you come out on St. Patrick’s day? You know every bar will have a leprechaun on the wall.”
“They’re all men!”
“Well, that’s what the lore says,” the bartender argued.
“It’s wrong!” she screamed. I sat beside her. She was on the shorter side. Plump and curvy. Her hair cascaded down her backin rivulets of blonde and green curls. Her eyes were a bright green, and she had red freckles on her pale cheeks.
“I’m sorry to disturb your…argument, but I wanted to say that your hair is absolutely beautiful,” I said.
The woman twisted around as she looked at me. A smile spread across her face. “Thank you so much! It’s all natural!” She flicked a strand over her shoulder. Natural? How can green be natural unless she swims a lot? I nodded my head like I knew what she was talking about. She turned back to the bartender. “Give my new best friend a drink!”
His eyes flashed red as they flickered towards me. “That’s some cool contacts,” I said. “Can I have a beer?”
“Get her the stout!” Siobhan argued.
“I...”
The bartender shook his head. His eyes were normal now. Just a rich brown. “Don’t argue with her. She’s determined,” he said. He turned as he grabbed a mug. Siobhan grabbed me and pulled me closer. The smell of beer wafted off her, along with the smell of grass.
“I exist, right?” she said as sadness filled her face as she grabbed my shoulders.
Ah, shit. Is she drunk?“Yeah, you do.”
“Days like this, I feel like I don’t exist at all. It sucks.” She stood up and threw a bottle at one of the plastic leprechauns on the wall. “Fuck men!”
A tall and brawny man appeared from the shadows of the bar. “Siobhan, do I need to remove you?” he growled.
Siobhan looked over. “I’m fine. Aren’t you off the clock? I heard you say that earlier,” she said. The man ignored her as he sat on the other side of me. Her head cocked to the side. She scooted closer to me. Her fingers crooked as she motioned me to come closer. As I neared, her fingers sparkled and a gold coin appeared in her hands. “Here, for you, good luck.”
“What’s that?” I asked.
She shoved the coin into my hand as she laughed. The man grunted. “You shouldn’t have done that. She might have seen.”
Siobhan glared at the man. “She’ll be drunk in no time and won’t remember that. Is that what you are working on, my dear?”
“Shut it,” he growled.
I sipped my drink as I studied the coin in my hand. It was rough and uneven gold. It had letters and designs on it that weren’t familiar to me. Was this some antique? I couldn’t take it. If she was drunk, she’s liable to be handing me a precious object. I turned back towards her.
She smiled as she elbowed me. My body jostled as my drink spilled. “His not-his-girlfriend broke up with him a few months ago. He’s not over it yet. She went to find better pastures or whatever. What’s a bull joke?”
“Bull?”
“Fuck. He’s a bull, right?”
