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Ryan leaned closer to me. “They’re exhausting.”

“You encouraged them for years.”

“I’ve made mistakes.”

The warmth of mezcal still moved beneath my skin, loosening the last of the tension I’d carried into the bar. Ryan remained one empty stool away, though the space felt less like a boundary now that everyone had crowded around us. Bliss settled beside Cade near the center of the bar, Rider took the seat on Ryan’s other side, and Briggs remained standing because sitting would’ve restricted his ability to become involved in every conversation.

Lyric entered last.

She had changed from the cream dress into fitted black trousers and a pale silk blouse, though her expression suggested the entire castle had failed to improve during her absence. Her gaze moved over the group before landing on the empty stool beside Briggs.

He pulled it out for her.

“You want wine?” he asked. “They have the kind you like.”

“I told you I have a headache.”

“I know. I thought one drink might help you relax.”

“Alcohol doesn’t cure headaches.”

“I didn’t say it did.”

“You implied it.”

Briggs’s hand fell away from the chair. “I was offering you a drink.”

“And I answered.”

The ease that had gathered around the bar shifted. No one stopped speaking entirely, but every conversation required slightly more effort after Lyric entered it.

Bliss attempted to smooth the moment. “They have a full cocktail menu too. Charm abandoned wine and became a vodka woman while nobody was looking.”

Lyric’s gaze moved toward my drink. “That explains the straight liquor.”

“It’s Tito’s over ice,” I said. “I haven’t started drinking from an unmarked bottle inside a paper bag.”

Ryan’s mouth curved beside me.

Lyric glanced between us before looking at my hair. “You changed that too.”

“I did.”

“The blonde is surprising.”

“I’ve always enjoyed an element of danger.”

“I meant surprising for your coloring.”

Her tone carried the polished concern I’d spent most of my life hearing from women who understood how to insult someone while preserving enough deniability to become offended when challenged.

A year ago, I might’ve searched the mirror behind the bar and wondered whether she saw something I missed.

Tonight, I took another drink and smiled. “My coloring seems to be handling it bravely.”

Aura coughed into her cocktail. Bliss covered her mouth, while Rider developed an intense interest in the label on his beer.

Lyric didn’t smile. “I only meant strawberry blonde looked more natural.”