Page 58 of Lore of the Wilds

Isla’s brother was tellingly silent.

“Now, Lore, don’t expect these drinks to be any good with him behind the bar. But theywillbestrong. Oh, and I forgot to introduce you two! This”—she gestured toward Lore with both hands—“is Lore. She’s a friend of our dear Asher! Lore, this is—”

“I don’t care to meet anyone who came withhim.” Isla’s brother continued to busy himself behind the bar, pointedly not looking at Lore.

“Well, if you don’t wish to be introduced, I’ll just have to guess your name,” Lore said, fed up with being dismissed. “Twins, hmm? What goes along with Isla? Cape? Peninsula?”

Isla’s brother glared at her, and she had to resist the urge to shrink under the weight of his gaze. To lower her eyes and cower. His gaze was colossal and cruel. He didn’t have to bare his teeth at her. His gaze alone seemed deadly enough.

“My name is Finndryl Theaon Hwraeth. I am named after my great grandfather, thesaviorof Freya Isle. I’m sure you’ve heard of him.”

Lore hadn’t. Of course, she hadn’t. If they knew where she was from, they would understand that. “I have not.” Lore steepled her hands in front of her, returning his glare. She noted Isla’s curious expression when she denied knowing of their grandfather.

“Are you denying this just to—” Finndryl started in on her, apparently deciding instantly that she was a liar.

“It’s a long, tragic tale anyway—” Isla butted in.

His eyes flicked to Isla. “Isla, your cavalier—”

“—that isn’t one to tell over drinks, Finn. You can bore her with how our family name was unjustly tarnished some other time.”

Finndryl sneered, sharp canines glistening even in the low lamplight of the bar. He dropped the glass he was holding intothe sink, where it shattered, before walking away to angrily clean the bit of counter farthest from them.

Isla stood and hopped up onto the counter.

“Don’t mind my brother, Lore. He’s just angry that I convinced him to travel all the way up here. He’s all bark and no bite, truly. I’ll make our drinks and at least”—she raised her voice—“now they will actually taste good.”

Finn didn’t look up from his self-imposed task.

A moment later, Lore was clutching a fizzing, light-purple drink. She took a small sip through the wooden straw and struggled to keep herself from falling off the stool.

It wasn’t like anything she’d ever had before. It tasted exactly how lavender smelled in spring after a long winter without flowers, when the sun was warm, but the breeze was cool, and you could cry from contentment.

It was like that, but somehowbetter.

Lore smiled, allowing herself to enjoy this moment of contentedness, right before pulling another large sip through the straw.

***

By the time Asher finished the meeting with the twins’ father, Lore was on her third lavender and sage tonic, and Isla was on her fifth.

Her head felt light, her thoughts flitted about like butterflies, and she was having a hard time catching them. When Asher appeared, she realized any hint of annoyance she’d felt toward him for shutting her out of the office had dissipated. Now, all she wanted was to shut him in a dark room with her and make sure that they had absolutely no clothes between them.

Why hadn’t they kissed since that day at the inn? It had seemed like pretending it had never happened was the right thingto do, but now she couldn’t think of a single good reason not to carry on where they’d last let off.

She opened her mouth to tell him this, but hiccupped instead. She and Isla fell into a fit of giggles.

Asher narrowed his eyes, picked up her half-empty drink, and sniffed. “Are you drunk?”

“No!” She swatted his arm. Then she and Isla started giggling again. She hopped off the stool and immediately stumbled, so she fell against Asher’s chest. She couldn’t stop herself from nuzzling into him and giving his firm chest a light pet. She loved his blackberry smell.

She wanted to eat him up.

“Ash, why—”Hiccup.“—haven’t you—”Hiccup.

Before she could finish her question, the world had started to spin.

Asher stepped back, keeping his hands on her shoulders. He bent to her level and lifted her chin up a bit. “Come on. Let’s get you upstairs. Gryph said we can stay here as long as we need.”

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