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"Yes, Augie. I will." Angelica looked up at him from under her lashes. "I don't suppose I'll see you at the Blood Moon? It's in two days."
"I might make an appearance. You take care, Angelica. I would hate to banish you," Augustus said, tempering his threat with a smile. Without a goodbye, he turned and walked out the way they came in. "Let's get out of here. This place is making my skin itch."
Once they were back outside, both of them took deep breaths of clean air. With a snap of his fingers, the invisibility dropped away from them. Mara's skin was going to be tingling with his magic for days.
"What happens on the Blood Moon,Augie?" Mara asked, fluttering her lashes at him.
"Please, for the love of God, don't call me that. You really don't know about the party?" Augustus raised a brow at her. "Wow, you really haven't been social. There's a bar that only appears on a Blood Moon. All the supernaturals in Melbourne are welcome. It's truly neutral ground for one night only. No glamours can be held in this space either. Everyone dresses up and hits the ambrosia hard."
"It sounds like it would be an interesting night," she replied as they walked. She felt the teashop calling her, and the red door appeared, wedged between a cafe and a dry cleaner.
Augustus's shoulders slumped a little when he saw it. "Would you want to check it out? The Blood Moon Bar, I mean."
"You want me to go with you?" she asked, smiling awkwardly.
"I usually stick my head in to make sure nobody forgets I'm still alive and they better behave and then get out of there before it gets too wild." Augustus rubbed at his neck. "I would like company. Your company? Please?"
Mara stepped up on the stairs in front of the red door. She was just as tall as him, so she didn't miss the flash of green in his eyes when she asked, "Are you asking me out on a date?"
"Maybe? If that's something you would want? Otherwise, we can go as friends?"
Mara had never seen a man squirm so adorably. "I would like that."
"You would? Okay, then it's a date," he replied. He spotted Athanasius in the window, glaring at them. He flipped the cat off. "She said yes, puss!"
Mara laughed loudly. "You better bring him some of the fancy catnip, or he won't let me leave the store."
"I will." Augustus unexpectedly gave her a slight bow and kissed her hand. "I'll see you then." And he was gone with a wink and a grin.
Athanasius wasn't about to let Mara off without a scolding. His hair and tail stood on end, hissing at her the instant she came through the door.
"Are you crazy? It's bad enough you've been making him tea. You're now going to let him court you? He's a fucking sorcerer, Mara!"
"I've noticed. And I don't think I care anymore." Mara hung up her coat and went to boil water. She touched the back of her hand where he had kissed it, the feel of his lips still there.
Athanasius prowled along the wooden bar toward her. "Tell me why? Whyhimof all the men in this city? You know saints and sorcerers shouldn't mix."
Mara's temper flared. "Oh, I've been told, but no one wants to tell mewhy. Augustus is…"
"If you say 'he's different! He's not like other sorcerers' I will cough up a hairball on this counter, I swear to Anea."
"Until he does something worthy of hostility, I'm not going to treat him any differently as I would anyone else."
Athanasius glared at her. "And what of the miracle?"
"What miracle?" Mara asked.
"The one you feel building inside of you. The weird one."
Mara dropped the spoon she was holding. "How do you know about that?"
"I can feel the energy in the air. You're just about glowing with it. I've…seen it before," the cat admitted, licking his paw.
"With whom? What are you hiding?" she demanded.
"Nothing. All I know is that you need to be careful. Corvos have their usual miracles they dispense on the daily, but they are given one big miracle too. It's their special task. The reason they are born. If you feel it building, then it means you are getting closer to whatever it needs to be used for." Athanasius rubbed his face against her arm.
"Be careful,cioara. After your grandmother performed her miracle, all that remained was feathers. When your aunty performed hers, it killed all the enemy soldiers in a mile radius. Miracles are dangerous. Never forget that. Both times a sorcerer was involved. Saints and sorcerers are just too much magic in one place, so it becomes volatile. I know you like him but look after yourself first."
