High Noon - Casey Bond Page 0,21

I could tell she was going to help before the words left her mouth. "Tell you what. I'll go fix you up something you won't forget. You’ll want to eat here every evenin’."

"That would be great."

She returned a few minutes later with a small glass of whiskey. “This’ll help fill you up until the food’s ready.”

“Thanks,” I told her, tipping the amber liquid back. It burned all the way down and I stifled a cough. “Whew. That’s strong.”

“The strongest.” She laughed and promised to be back when the food was ready. I scrubbed my hands over my face when the chair across from mine was dragged across the floor. Terah made herself comfortable across from me, wearing a gown ten times finer than the barmaid had worn.

“Fancy meeting you here,” she drawled, her accent as fake as her smile.

“Terah.”

“Titus.”

She didn’t bother to glance at my wrists. I knew now they could tell us apart from the clones by our scents. She gave me a genuine smile. Wide. Pretty. Malicious. “I’m going to kill you,” she promised. “When you walk out of here, you’re as good as dead.”

“Then I better stay put,” I quipped, raising my glass and taking another swig. This time I did cough, making Terah roll her eyes.

Terah was pretty, her hair shiny and golden brown. She’d curled and pinned most of it up, but a couple tendrils dangled from the pile of hair and ghosted the nape of her neck. She wore a small hat tilted sideways on her head, and I couldn’t for the life of me figure out how she kept it from falling off. Her dress was white and purple, striped vertically from the top of the bodice all the way to the bottom hem.

She looked like she belonged in the circus. Technically, I wasn’t wrong. Talk about a freak show.

“Interesting pattern. Did you pick that out yourself?” I asked with a smirk, gesturing to her dress.

She huffed, crossing her arms and looking indignant. “From the rancid odor, I gather that you stole those rags just outside from one of the lushes lying around, too drunk to know day from night. Not that their habits don’t benefit me. A girl needs to feed.” She grinned at me and I wanted to stab her through her smart mouth instead of through the heart.

She and I sat in stony silence, but I used the time to listen to the chatter around us. A man with an impressive mustache pounded the keys of a piano across the room. Meat sizzled over a fire in the back room. Glasses clinked. People guzzled strong spirits. The smell of fresh wood and the grit of sawdust lingered underfoot.

Most of the patrons were male. Most had taken note of Terah.

Their desire for her wafted off them in waves, but she didn’t pay attention to any of them. She sat unnaturally still and waited for me. The only indication that she wanted anything was the glances she flicked to the door and to my throat.

“This is taking forever,” she complained, holding her hand out to inspect her cuticles.

“Cooking takes time. You can’t rush it.”

“I’m not sure why you’re bothering to eat. But, I suppose it’s fitting that a final supper would be all you cared about. You’re always cramming something into your mouth.”

“You should try it. You talk too much,” I said honestly. It was true.

She uncrossed her legs and crossed them again on the other side.

The woman who greeted me and brought the whiskey returned, but the smile she wore faded when she saw Terah sitting with me, and it wasn’t just jealousy. She knew what Terah was. The woman practically dumped the plate of steaming stew onto the table in front of me and rushed off, pushing through two men who were shouting at one another just to get away.

“You scared her,” I chastised, picking up my fork.

“Good.”

“She was nice.”

Terah tilted her head. “You only spoke to her for two minutes. How would you really know?”

I shrugged, loading a fork with meat, a chunk of potato, and a sliver of carrot. “I can just sense these things. My instincts have been right about you.” The food was deliciously hot. I touched it to my tongue to test the temperature, deciding to blow on it until it cooled.

“What if I told you she’d poisoned the food you’re about to swallow?” she remarked breezily, as if we were talking about something as mundane as the weather.

It looked okay. I mean, the meat