Page 12 of Of Nightmares & Fire
“Ohhh, I like the sounds of this.” Zinya laughs, leaning back against the backrest.
“I don’t.” Kyros growls again.
“What’s the game?” Marvos asks, leaning in and pointedly ignoring his brother. Just as he does, the musicians start playing an exciting tune, and everyone in the tavern beyond our booth takes to their feet and cheers for the entertainers.
“I’ll start…” I shout, leaning in too so everyone hears me over the chaos. I toss the coin, bouncing it off the table and into Kyros cup that sits in front of him, making the golden liquid splash over the edge and onto the table. His eyes slowly turn to meet mine in a glower. I make a face at him with a dare in my eyes. “If the thrower makes it, everyone else drinks. If the thrower misses, they have to drink and answer a question. After one turn, we switch. If you’re ready to play… take a drink. I made the first coin.”
“I didn’t think you had mettle, but I’ll accept when I’m wrong. I’ll go get more drinks. I think we are going to need them.” Zinyaslaps her hand down on the table and takes a quick drink before laughing and disappearing into the crowd of bodies.
Kyros scoffs as Mavros leans over and pulls the cup to the center of the table, fishing out the coin. He winks before he tosses it. The small silver disc bounces off the rim and lands back on the table with a wobble, and he grins up at me mischievously before his eyes dance to meet his brothers.
“Do your worst, Princess,” Mavros whispers just as Zinya returns with pitchers of what looks like the raunchy ale. I wrinkle my nose at it but press forward and ask my question.
“What are you in Eathian for?” I’m immediately growled at by the man next to me. Like he is some sort of beast in the night, wild and rabid.
“No.” He says, pinning Mavros with a look.
“Oh, come now… Have a little faith, brother…” Mavros responds cockily; he hooks a finger, calling me forward, and I lean in for the secret, but he doesn’t whisper. His voice isn’t a yell, but it’s loud enough that our table hears him clearly.
“We’re here to revive magick to what it once was and will kill anyone who gets in the way of stopping us.” He wags his eyebrows at me and bites his lip. Another growl rattles out, sending shivers down my spine, and Mavros busts up laughing as Kyros pushes from the table.
“Can you not take anything seriously, ever? Fuck, Mavros!” He turns on his heel and storms away, creating a divide in the bodies as he pushes through the crowd. Zinya doesn’t say anything but doeslift her eyebrows, looking down into her drink as she takes a long pull and looks at me over the rim as she presses her lips together.
Unfazed by the outburst, Mavros slaps Zinya on the back and slides the coin to her.
“You’re up, Zinny.” She looks side long at him before rolling her eyes.
“Oh joy,” Zinya coughs with a smile on her face, but I tune out of their back and forth as my eyes hunt for the man who seems to hate my very existence.
Chapter ten
Astraea
Icancountthenumber of times I’ve been drunk on one hand. I had to be careful living under my father’s thumb. The princess could be called on at any moment. He hardly ever left the castle long enough for me to have true reprieve from him. I think it was his cowardice that has kept him cooped up in the palace since he took it. Always afraid that someone else would swoop in and steal it away, just like he did. Tonight, though, I’m pretty sure I am the most inebriated I haveeverbeen. The room is beginning to spin, and my eyes don’t want to stay open. I have to stare at my tumbler, still half full of the amber liquid, with one eye closed for there to be only one.
Mavros and Zinya invited a couple of other women over to the booth we were sharing and have been otherwise tied up. I’ve neverseen such a display in person before. Though some of the guards were pretty boisterous about their nights in the city when they weren’t on duty. Their stories could have never painted the picture I see now, though.
They are like a coil of snakes intertwined around each other’s bodies. Mavros is at the center of all the women as their hands seek skin at every opportunity. Heat climbs the back of my neck as I risk a glance and see Zinya shove her tongue down a busty blonde’s throat and, at the same time, slip her hand under the waistband of Mavros’s trousers.
I moved to the bar pretty quickly after that all started, and I’ve silently kept drinking my weight in alcohol. The awful ale even tastes better. All the while, I know Kyros has been watching me from the other corner in the tavern. His steady gaze causing more heat to creep into my cheeks.Did he see me watching them?
“You look like you might be done for the night.” The barmaid surprises me as she reaches for my cup. I quickly recover and plop my hand over the rim and level her with a look that saysI’m not done.She quirks an eyebrow. “You better not throw chunks on my floors, girl. I’ll have you on your hands and knees cleaning it up yourself.” Her sharp tongue makes me slap my hand over my lips to keep the drink I just took in my mouth. Once I swallow down the liquid that is now burning my sinuses, I smile, and she shakes her head.
“What’s your name? I think I like you.” I hiccup.
“Girl, you need to rest. Go get some sleep.” She responds and I snort, but she holds me in her gazewaiting…
“There is no rest in sleep—only the monsters we keep hidden while awake.” I say, taking the last drink from my tumbler and sliding the empty cup toward her. “Thank you.” I clumsily place a coin next to it.
“My name is Ruby,” she says with her brows furrowed.
“Did your parents name you that before or after they knew you had all that red hair?” My question makes her smirk then.
“If I ever find out who they are, maybe I’ll ask them.” She responds.I want to crawl into a hole.I stand up and smile sheepishly before muttering‘thanks’again and turning away.
“Hey, girl?” I turn back to face her as she is wiping the bar down with a wet towel. “Sometimes the demons we keep hidden in the deepest parts of ourselves are the ones who can hurt us most when they finally come to the light, but ever so often, even nightmares aren’t all that they seem.” She stares at me for a moment, her hazel eyes penetrating, then she nods as though she’s satisfied I understand and turns away.
The whole conversation is unsettling, and suddenly, I feel too many eyes on me. Chewing on my lip, I stumble my way through the lingering people still remaining in the tavern and shuffle slowly up the stairs. It’s when I reach the top I notice the presence behind me. I speed up, trying to put distance between myself and whoever is behind me, and stop short, just before reaching the door to the room when he speaks up, far closer than I thought.
