Danya wraps a possessive arm around my neck and sneers, “Darling, why would he speak with you while I’m here?”
“Because unlike you, I don’t still carry the scent of three different males.” She inhales deeply, then crinkles her nose. “You fucked them what? No more than an hour ago?” Lena cocks her head to the side. “Did they at least pay you well enough?”
A strangled sound bursts from Danya and I try my damnedest not to laugh.
“Careful, Lena,” I say, smothering a smirk. “You're beginning to sound a bit desperate.”
Lena’s hard gaze snaps to mine. “I wasn't the one begging in the Gods Garden today, now, was I?”
My smirk falls.
“Watch your tone, human,” Danya snaps, appearing only a hair’s breadth away from lunging for Lena. “You’re in the company of your betters.”
“Is that what you believe?” Lena asks me, ignoring Danya. “That you're better than me?”
“I am an immortal,” I reply, tightening my arms around Danya.
“Half immortal, Darius.” Lena grins wickedly. “Half.”
“I still have royal blood,” I snap, her words reminding me too much of my argument with Luthais today. “What are you? A nobody. A scarred human hiding away in a decrepit inn.”
Even with the warring noises in the pub, I can hear the creak of her leather vambraces as she clenches her fists at her sides. “You're such an asshole.”
“I never pretended otherwise.”
“No you didn't, did you?” she says quietly, searching my face for something. Something I'm sure she won't find.
“Alright, alright,” Zander says, moving towards Lena. “Let’s cool it a bit before Lena makes Darius a eunuch.” Coming up from behind her, Zander wraps both arms around her upper chest. I bite back a growl when Lena clutches his forearms. “How about that dance you promised me?” Zander asks Lena.
“Yes! Dancing.” Aurora hops down from her stool. “We’ll meet you out there.”
Lena doesn't say anything, but she allows Zander to steer her away, holding my gaze until they reach the cleared off space before the cold hearth.
“That's better,” Aurora sighs, drawing my gaze to her. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, she turns to face me with a sickly-sweet smile and slams her tankard into the side of my head.
“Godsdammit, Aurora!” Cupping my ringing ear, I feel warm blood slither between my fingers. “Why do you always have to go for my ear?!”
Her smile widens, but she says nothing more as she saunters off to join Zander and Lena, dragging a pleased looking Tristan behind her.
“Oh, my prince!” Danya gasps, reaching for my ear. But I jerk my head back and snatch her up by the wrist, dragging her off my lap with a startled yelp.
“Fuck off, Danya.”
“But… I thought…” she says with a slight tremble to her lip. I might’ve thought she was sincere if I hadn’t seen that same manipulative pout a thousand times before.
“Leave.”
Her lip stills and she narrows her eyes on me. With a huff, she spins away and stalks out of the tavern, rattling the door when she slams it shut.
Spinning on my stool, I find Griffin staring wordlessly at me.
“Don't even start,” I warn. “I don’t want to hear it.”
“I didn't say anything.”
“No lecture?”
Griffin arches a brow. “Would it make a difference if I did?”
“No.”
Glancing at my chest, Griffin's brows pinch, the same look he gives when scrutinizing someone's aura. “Didn't think so.” He inhales a deep breath through his nostrils, then turns and walks away, following the same path as Danya.
Grateful I can now drink in peace, I wave Trip down, but the little shit turns his back on me, ignoring me. Sucking on my teeth, I bend over the bar and grab the bottle of whiskey hidden beneath.
“You're a damn fool.”
“For fuck’s sake.” Plopping down on the stool, I scrub a hand over my face and throw a glare Kace’s way. “Not you too.”
“Yes, me.” Anger I've rarely seen from the fae reddens the sharp points of his ears and cheeks. “You were unnecessarily cruel to someone who has become a friend of mine. A friend to all of us.”
“Lena’s no friend of mine,” I grumble, swigging directly from the bottle.
“She is, you're just too blind to see it.” Brown eyes probing into me, he licks his lips, visibly calming himself before lowering his head and huddling beside me. “I know your mother said something to fuck with your head, but you need to snap out of it. If you don't,” he shakes his head, “you’re going to ruin the best thing that ever happened to you.”
“Piss off.” Dismissing him, I palm the neck of the bottle and swivel on my stool, seeing Lena has corralled a minstrel with a vielle to the floor with her dancing.
An arm snaps out into my line of sight. Kace rips the bottle away from me and takes a drink, slamming it back on the rail with a glare. “Immortality is a long time to live with regrets, brother.” Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he turns his back on me and strides off to join the others. My gaze trails behind him until it darts to Lena once he reaches her side.
