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“Whoo!”
A hard body slammed into us, throwing Alex and me off our feet. We collapsed in a tangle of limbs.
“Savvas, you idiot!” The weight keeping us both down vanished. “Sorry,KiriDamien.” Two young men helped us up and brushed us off. “He’s a drunk fool. We’ll take care of him,kiri.” I blinked at how much bowing and scraping they were doing to Alex. “Please, it won’t happen again.”
He held up a hand. “It’s fine. Just get some food and water in him.” Alex turned to me. “Are you okay? I’m so sorry. I should’ve been paying attention.”
I bit my lip.You were paying attention to the girl you were kissing. That’s exactly where your attention should’ve been.
“I’m—” A wild thought crossed my mind, then left my lips. “I’m a bit tired. So much has happened today. Is it okay if we go up to the room?”
“Of course.” Alex placed his hand on the small of my back and guided me past the bar, away from the party.
My skin burned through my jacket, alive at the barest feel of his touch. I had no idea what I planned to do when we got upstairs, but we had one interrupted kiss and a room to ourselves—seemed like that was a good place to start.
We topped the stairs, entering a short, narrow hallway. Alexander led me to the room at the end and opened the door. He cleared his throat as I stepped in and he didn’t.
“Good night, Aella. See you in the morning.”
“Good night? What are you talking about? Where are you going?”
“There was only one room left, so I can’t— I didn’t want to presume— We just met—”
A tiny smile curled my lips. Reddening face. Tripping over his words. This was the first I’d seen the cool and confident Alex look nervous.
“It’s better that I pitch up outside in my tent, and let you have the room.”
“Are you kidding? It’s freezing outside. I’m not making you sleep out in the dirt and snow.”
“No, no, it’s fine.” He shoved his hands in his pockets, rocking back on his feet. “I can sleep in the stables with my horse if it gets too bad.”
“Will you stop it?” I laughed. “You’re not sleeping on manure either. We’ve got a perfectly good room. We’ll share.”
“Are you sure?”
“Very sure.”
We stepped inside and shut the door. Myvery surehung in the air as we glanced around, looking everywhere but at each other.
The room was modest but cozy. A small fireplace was already lit, spreading warmth over the plush rug, armchair, small table, and the bed pushed against the far wall. I swear the bed was as big as my queen bed at home behind the flower shop, but it might as well have been empress-sized with how big it loomed between us—taunting us to get intogether.
“I’ll take the floor,” Alex said, answering her challenge. “I’ll be comfortable on the rug.”
“Okay.” I moved toward the bed, then sharply veered off, sitting down on the armchair instead. “I just remembered I don’t have a toothbrush or change of clothes or anything. I can’t wear your coat forever.”
“You can wear my coat for as long as you like.”
I hid my face behind my sleeve. Again, he didn’t say anything flirty or sexual, but his deep, smooth voice made every word exactly that.
“I have extra supplies in my pack. Clean clothes.” He picked it up from the corner and passed it to me. “Please, take anything you need. In the morning, we’ll go down to the market.”
“Where will we go after?” I flicked down to the bracelet. “Where do we start to look for my mom?”
“That’s tough, Aella,” he said, kneeling down beside me. “An echidna is the worst kind of monster. They give birth to other monsters. The cerberus that she brought to attack you both that night was most likely her offspring.”
My eyes bugged. “A half-snake, half-woman beast gave birth to a three-headed dog? How!” I grimaced. “Who, or what, is that dog’s father?”
“A typhon,” he said easily. “They’re demigods and giants with snakes for legs, many heads—some human, some not—and the ability to spit fire.”
