along behind him and grab the payment. Austin wasn’t so much a bartender as the owner and peacekeeper. Tending bar helped him keep an eye on things without having to mingle within the crowd.
“Austin Steele.” Down the bar, Niamh raised her empty glass, seated between one of the support beams and a guy in his early thirties with pale eyes.
Niamh still refused to call Austin alpha. If it had been anyone else, he might’ve pushed the issue and asked for the respect he was due, but he knew it was her way of honoring Jess. Of showing her pride in the Ivy House mistress, and maybe making a subtle statement that she thought Jess was the mightier of the two.
The sentiment probably should’ve enraged him, but it warmed him instead.
Austin refilled the ice in Niamh’s cup, placed a bottle of cider in front of her, and then braced his hands against the edge of the bar in front of the mage, meeting that flat, watchful stare.
“If you’re going to park here, you have to buy a drink,” he said, which wasn’t even remotely true. This mage was here on business, waiting for Jess. He could sit at the bar all night if he wanted to. Normally Austin would make sure he wasn’t disturbed while he did it.
But something about the mage’s cool demeanor set him on edge. Austin was typically an excellent judge of character, but he couldn’t get an accurate read on this guy. He was dangerous, that was clear. The tang of his power, recently used, tweaked Austin’s nose. He didn’t show the usual swagger or overblown ego of high-powered mages—of high-powered anyone—but he had the power to back it up.
What really set Austin on edge, though, was the way the mage had been watching his every move, every interaction. He didn’t glance away when Austin caught him, or lower his gaze in response to the look. There was no hostility, but there was also no fear.
This guy either had incredible confidence, or he hadn’t ever dealt with an alpha shifter.
Austin certainly hadn’t dealt with a magical person like this mage. Then again, he wasn’t exactly worldly when it came to powerful mages. Shifters and mages didn’t usually mix.
“Scotch. On the rocks,” the man said.
“That’s on Ivy House.” Niamh poured her cider over the ice cubes.
“Any particular brand?” Austin asked as Donna bustled by behind him.
“Glenfiddich. Please.”
Austin held the man’s stare for a beat, but he didn’t sense a challenge. He wondered if the mage was simply inquisitive, like a child examining a colorful bug that he didn’t realize was poisonous.
Whatever his purpose, the mage was treading a fine line. The staring had a time limit, and it was fast approaching.
Austin felt Jess winding her way closer to the bar. She’d started the trip by herself, but Jasper, who’d been outside the bar, blending in to the stone façade, had peeled away in his gargoyle form and flown to meet her.
In the beginning, Austin had only really felt a magical connection with Jess, but he could now keep tabs on the whole crew, something that helped him gauge Jess’s level of safety. Her anger earlier in the day, for example, had been met with Jasper’s confusion and wariness instead of alarm. Whatever she had reacted to, it wasn’t a potential threat.
Austin set the glass down in front of the mage, meeting his gaze again. Increasing the weight of his stare, pouring power into it, Austin tried to force a reaction.
“Thank you,” the mage said, but didn’t reach for the glass. He didn’t look away.
No spike of adrenaline came, no hint of challenge. No fear. No expression at all. Nothing!
This mage was an enigma, and in Austin’s experience, enigmas were dangerous.
Niamh watched Austin Steele as he walked away to help someone else, his eyes lingering on the stranger as he moved away. That was odd. It seemed like the alpha couldn’t figure out what to make of their new friend, and neither could she, truth be told. She’d yet to meet anyone else who could hold eye contact with Austin Steele like that. Besides Jessie.
She grunted and took a sip of her cider.
“What do ye think of the town?” she asked.
“It’s…” The mage took a sip of his drink, watching Austin Steele go about his business. “This territory should be in its infancy, right? Isn’t he a new alpha?”
“Yeah. What of it?”
He shook his head. “Looks like he’s been running this town all his life.”
“He’s basically been running it