Page 38 of Renegade Queen

“We need food and drinks for tonight, and we’ll need you to source some supplies for us. Whatever’s left over, you can keep,” I told him quickly, trying to think on my feet.

He nodded slowly as he squinted suspiciously at me. I was expecting questions, but instead, he reached beneath the bar. Dean tensed, ready to move, but the bartender put two keys on the bar top, and he finally took a step back.

“Up the stairs to the left,” the bartender told us. “I’ll sort you that food. Get me a list of the supplies you need, and I’ll see what I can do.”

I didn’t wait for him to say anything else, just grabbed the keys with a mumbled thank’s and herded Dean back to the table.

Dean didn’t even wait for his ass to touch his seat before grumbling, “We should move on; I didn’t like how he was looking at you.”

The others were immediately on edge, turning to look back at the bar. I could see the smirk of the bartender over Ryder’s shoulder as they did, and if anything, it settled me. He wouldn’t be any trouble; he was just a typical male antagonising the strangers in his midst.

“You don’t have to worry about him,” I told them all, drawing their attention back to me. “We’re going to eat a meal and then go to our rooms. Anything we need to discuss about tomorrow happens up there.”

This place was way too busy to talk freely about what we were here to do. The atmosphere was too tense to mention we were heading up to the Winter Court, if that was even the plan. I had a feeling I could slip inside. But finding Damon and getting him out was something that seemed impossible.

“What did you order?” Tank asked, his hand absently rubbing his stomach as the thought of a meal no doubt appealed to his bear.

“Food,” Dean mumbled distractedly, eying the rest of the room.

“Don’t get many strangers in these parts,” the man from the table next to us slurred at him. The stench of stale beer floated across to us, and I cleared my throat, trying to dislodge it from my lungs.

“Just passing through,” Tank told him as he shuffled closer to me.

He’d have looked intimidating if he didn’t have a fluffy white owl gryphon curled around his neck.

“Don’t get much of that either. You working for the false king?” the stranger accused.

That was new. It occurred to me that maybe keeping to ourselves wasn’t the best tactic because this place was ideal for us to gather intel on what the hell was happening around here.

Before I could ask him anything, his companion shushed him. “Would you shut up, Will? You know it’s dangerous to say shit like that out loud.” He turned to us, “I’m sorry for my friend. Please, just ignore him.”

Desperation seemed to coat his tone, but his drunk friend was having none of it. The people at the tables around us seemed to hunch further in on themselves, wrapping cloaks tighter like it would shield them from being associated with the mouthy drunk in their midst.

“I’ll say what I fucking want,” he hissed. “What’s the point in being quiet when we’re all going to die anyway. You saw The Endless out there; it’s only a matter of time before he takes down those of us too weak to fight for ourselves. We waited, we were faithful, and we hoped she’d return, and she didn’t. He’s probably killed her too. There’ll be no true queen on the Spring throne. He’ll seize all of Nymeria, and we’ll all pay the cost of it.”

Suddenly standing from his seat like he was gearing up to start shouting at the room, he wavered before crashing back down again.

“I’m so sorry,” his friend muttered, trying to desperately get his friend out of the inn. “Come on, Will. Time to sleep it off,” he all but begged.

“So, why don’t you fight?” Dean asked the drunk.

His friend’s eyes widened as if we’d just committed treason right in front of him, and fear started coming off him in waves. But the drunk just stared at me like he was trying to see into the darkness of my hood and figure out who we were.

“What’s the point?” he finally said. “None of us has enough magic to face The Endless, and even if we did, without a true ruler on the Spring throne, we’re losing our connection to Nymeria. The land is turning back to the wild magic. If he doesn’t come for us, the forest will take us soon.”

“Then leave,” Dean blurted out. “Why stay here if you know you’re in danger?”

“Where would we go? He rules over everything. Only the Summer Court has held out, but it’s only a matter of time. He’ll take them all, and then he’ll try for the Hidden Court.”

His friend scoffed in disbelief at that point. “Now you’re really proving how drunk you are. Everyone knows the Hidden Court is a myth. Ignore him; he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He lost his wife last month, and he’s still mourning, out of his mind with grief,” he rushed out, scooping his hands under his friend’s armpits as he tried to haul him out of his seat.

However, he didn’t make it far when a scream pierced the air outside, and everyone froze. I surged to my feet, my eyes scanning the room in disbelief as nobody moved more than a wince as they desperately tried to ignore what was happening outside.

Another set of screams followed, these higher pitched, like the ones torn from the throats of the young.

The drunk at the table next to us dropped back into his seat, his hands pressed over his ears as he rocked back and forth, shaking his head as he tried to desperately block out the sound.

“What the fuck is happening?” Maddox mumbled as the guys started to move away from the table.

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