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Augustus's voice came back to her, warning her about ambrosia.It will bring out what's already buried inside of you.
"You damn idiot, Mara Corvo," she muttered to herself. She really hoped that Augustus didn't think she had run out on him because of the kissing. God, she had liked the kissing.
She wanted to message him but didn't have her phone with her. What a disaster.
"Find out where you are, and then go and see him," she told herself and got to her feet. She wouldn't be able to find the bar without him, so she would go to the house on Albert Street. If he hadn't gone home yet, she would wait.
After wandering around the park, Mara found a sign that told her it was Argyle Square in Carlton. Helpful signs pointed her toward a tram stop that went in the direction of Albert Street.
It had started to rain softly by the time Mara made it to Augustus's door, and she was shivering.
Turn up looking like a drowned rat. What a brilliant idea.
It couldn't be helped; she couldn't let a night pass without explaining to him what had happened.
The wards let her pass without a fuss, and Mara marched up to his door. She wiped the water from her face as best as possible and rang the doorbell. A light burned inside, and the door swung open.
Mara's greeting died on her lips as she came face to face with a tall brunette. She had tousled wet hair and was wearing a man's night robe.Augustus's night robe.
"Hello, can I help you?" she asked.
"Is Augustus here?" Mara managed to squeak out, blood going cold.
"He's just in the shower. Do you want to come in?" She stepped aside with a friendly smile.
Nausea roiled Mara's stomach. "No, thank you."
The brunette called something behind her, but it was drowned out by the cold rain and the roaring in Mara's head.
* * *
It was dawn when Mara finally found the teashop and sat down on the steps. Athanasius opened the cat flap minutes later and caught her eating her way through a too big kebab.
Despite her nausea, the ambrosia hangover demanded she eat something to soak up the last of the magic. The confused kebab shop owner had taken one of her ruby crow feathers without question.
"Mara? Are you all right?" Athanasius asked, rubbing against her.
"No, I'm not," she sobbed.
"Tell me, child. What happened?"
Mara told her grandfather about the bar, the ambrosia, and her miracle trying to escape. All of his fur stood up in indignation when she got to the part about the brunette.
"I don't know what to do with this feeling," she sobbed because, for the first time in her long life, the saint of grief was heartbroken. "I feel like such a damn fool."
"Don't. You did the right thing by leaving the bar when you did." Athanasius looked like he had swallowed a bee and forced himself to add. "Perhaps you need to sleep and then try and talk to the sorcerer."
"He had a woman in one of his robes hours after kissing me. There's nothing to talk about."
"You don't know if he took her home to sleep with her. You could be jumping to conclusions."
Mara frowned. "You hate him, so why are you defending him?"
"Because you love the big idiot!" Athanasius hissed. "And when you love someone, you don't just jump to conclusions. You get the full story. If you don't, you end up like Sophia."
"What about Sophia?" Mara asked coolly. She didn't even want to think how her mother would've berated her for the last twenty-four hours alone.
Athanasius prowled around the top step before lying down beside her.
