Page 37 of Somnium

There was something in the way he said it, soft and gentle, that sent a warm flush across her skin, making her suddenly very aware of her own body: The way she stood, how her hair fell, even the way her hands rested against the bar. She fought the urge to fidget, letting out a small breath when he spoke again, mercifully shifting her focus.

“What are we drinking?”

“I’ll do an Old Fashioned … and I have no idea what Sera wants.”

Elias waved a hand, grabbing a highball glass from the shelf behind him. “No need, I’ve had her drink order memorized for a while now.”

An unexpected tightness pinched Cadi’s chest, and she tried to logic away the cascade of thoughts that threatened to take hold. It made sense that he would remember Sera’s order after knowing and working with her for so long. She didn’t even know why she cared.

She glanced over her shoulder to where Sera sat guarding their table, arms crossed over her middle, glaring daggers at the sour-faced minotaur that was slowly inching closer.

“I may need to come back for those,” Cadi said, “if I’m gone much longer, someone may be getting dismembered, though I’m not entirely sure who that will be.”

Elias looked up, eyes darting to the tense standoff behind her, and his mouth crooked into an amused smirk. “Why don’t you go ahead? I’ll bring these out to you.”

Cadi waved a hand. “You’re busy, I can come back.”

He shook his head, securing the metal shaker over a pint glass with a practiced tap. “Best not to leave her alone; she’s easily provoked, and I don’t want to deal with the mess tonight. Besides, it gives me an excuse to come bug you.”

Ice rang against metal as he shook the cocktail, a playful glint dancing in his eyes that momentarily removed Cadi’s ability to form a coherent thought. She cleared her throat, buying herself a much-needed moment.

“Alright, but if she asks, I didn’t agree to this.”

Elias chuckled, skillfully pouring a stream of bright purple liquid into the sugar-rimmed glass.

Cadi pushed off from the bar and slipped back toward the table. She had no idea what good she would be in a fight against a mythic with a propensity for violence, but if nothing else, she could at least keep Sera from getting in over her head. Probably.

Sera barely seemed to notice when Cadi climbed back up onto her chair. Her eyes remained on the minotaur, who had now been joined by an attractive pair of sirens, each one gripping a thickly muscled arm. One of them pushed up onto her toes and whispered something in his ear that Cadi couldn’t make out. Though, judging by the way his eyes glazed over before he lazily let them guide him back into the crowd, it was clear she had just done them a favor. Cadi smirked. It was good to see women helping women, even when they weren’t the same species.

Sera tracked the group for a moment before her gaze finally turned to Cadi, her features softening, then quickly pinching into disappointment.

“What gives?” she asked, throwing her arms out to gesture at the empty table. “I send you for booze and you come back with air?”

Cadi shrugged and pressed her lips together in feigned innocence. “Bartender said he’d bring them out to us.”

Sera’s eyes narrowed again, her tone laced with annoyance so thick that Cadi had to bite her lower lip to keep from laughing. “Which bartender?”

Cadi opened her mouth, but was saved from the impossible task of keeping a straight face when Elias sauntered up to the table, drinks in hand and a self-satisfied grin already plastered across his face.

“Well, if it isn’t my favorite employee.”

“I hate you,” Sera deadpanned as she snatched the vibrant cocktail from his grip. His smirk only widened as he slid a lowball glass toward Cadi, the amber liquid gently dancing against a single rectangular ice cube in the center of the tumbler.

“Don’t you have a bar to tend, or something?” Sera asked.

Elias shrugged, shifting to lazily drape his arm across the back of Cadi’s chair. She tightened her fingers around the cool glass, her pulse thundering in her ears at the simplicity of the gesture. As if it was something he’d always done, instead of a move that had her questioning her understanding of reality.

“That’s one of the perks of being the owner,” he replied, “no one to tell me to get back to work.”

“Get back to work,” Sera quipped without missing a beat. Elias tossed his head back in a full laugh, the rich sound rising above the roar of voices to settle deep in Cadi’s chest.

“Nice try. You’re stuck with me.”

Sera sighed, rolling her eyes as she slipped the tiny black straws between her lips to take a long pull just as a jarring tone burst from the speakers making them all jump. Cadi’s hands flew to her ears in a protective reflex, and for a moment she could have sworn she felt Elias adjust his posture, angling his body the slightest bit closer to hers.

A spikey-haired man quickly dashed onto the stage, repositioning the microphone to cut the feedback before anyone’s ears started to bleed. “Yeesh, sorry folks. I promise our playing will sound a lot better than that.”

A smattering of laughter floated from the crowd as the rest of the band climbed onto the stage, warming up their instruments with a few practiced chords. Cadi eyed the massive speakers warily, noting the limited space between the sound equipment and their table. Judging by the plethora of piercings and neck tattoos decorating the musicians, this was not going to be a low-key performance. She seriously needed to start carrying earplugs.