in an empty P & P.
“I’ve got it here…” Connor’s gaze moved between our faces. He frowned briefly, then clearly decided he would just forge on. “You’ll be feeling better in no time. Not perfect—not until we get some of her blood to fully break the curse—but definitely better. More yourself.”
“Less like an evil minion?”
“Precisely.” He smiled, his dark hair flopping over his forehead as he looked down at the vial in his hand. “I’m afraid this doesn’t taste very good, however.”
“They rarely do.”
I approached and took the little blue vial from him. “Thank you so much. You really are a lifesaver.”
He shrugged. “It’s not that different from making cocktails really.”
“Those are also a lifesaver.” And damned if I wouldn’t love a Manhattan right now.
That was a long way off, however.
I swigged back the potion, feeling Tarron’s eyes on me. I shuddered as the sour taste exploded on my tongue, then handed the vial back to Connor. “Thanks.”
He nodded. “Anytime. Can I get you anything else?”
My stomach grumbled. Now that I’d partially come down from the terrifying high of seeing my mother and confessing to Tarron, I could feel the ravenous ache.
“Food.” Connor grinned. “No problem.”
He returned to the space behind the counter and began to fiddle around with things. I turned back to Tarron, surprised to see him still watching me and seemingly unconcerned.
He really wasn’t that bothered about the killing thing—no doubt because he thought it wouldn’t happen—and he was only partially ruffled by the lie.
I shook my head slowly, perplexed.
His gaze swept down my body. “You need some real clothes.”
“It’s a bit hard to fight battles in a bathrobe, yeah. Not that I’m not up to it, of course.”
“Course not.” He conjured me a set of my usual clothes and boots.
“Thanks.” I took them and headed to the bathroom, then changed quickly and ditched the robe in the cabinet below the sink. It was too nice to throw out. Maybe I’d come back to get it.
Dressed, I returned to the main part of the bar. Aeri rushed into the room a moment later, the front door allowing a gust of wind to enter the bar.
“Well?” she demanded, her gaze bright.
“We have our work cut out for us.” I frowned.
“I’m going to check in with the Court Guard while you two catch up,” he said.
I watched him walk toward the corner of the room, then turned my attention to Aeri. “Tell me you found a way to keep me from having to kill Tarron.”
“I don’t know that I have, but I’ve at least found out why you might have to kill him.” Worry entered her eyes. “Does this mean that your mother got the location of the Eternal Flame.”
“She did.” Anger twisted my insides, and regret. Regret for the fact that I had been born to such a sociopath, even though I couldn’t have controlled that anyway. “We need to go to Mount Chimaera to stop her, as soon as possible.”
“Okay, well, first, you need to talk to this Fae historian that I met while helping Luna find reinforcements to protect the Seelie Court.”
“We don’t have time.”
“He’s right there.” She turned and pointed to a slender man who waited outside, shifting impatiently from foot to foot. “He’s the reason I couldn’t come right here. I needed to go get him. I’ve left Declan with Luna to keep helping.”
Declan was her boyfriend, and he’d probably do a good job finding reinforcements.
I studied the slight Fae man who stood outside. “Who is he?”
“What is the royal historian doing here?” Tarron asked from behind me.
I turned to see his gaze on the man outside, his brow furrowed.
“Ah, he’s my partner for recruiting reinforcements,” Aeri lied. “He’s just waiting for me.”
“It’s okay, Aeri. I told him.” I turned to Tarron. “I told her that I was fated to kill you and asked for her to look for the reason why, considering that we were too busy hunting my mother.”
“Well, let’s go talk to the man, then.” Tarron sounded matter-of-fact about it. He strode toward the door.
Aeri looked at me, brows raised. “He took it rather well.”
“I don’t know if there is any other way to take it,” I whispered. “Hysterics is the only other possible option, and he’s not really prone to them, is he?”
“No. Definitely not.”
We followed Tarron outside.
The Fae historian’s eyes widened when he saw Tarron. He bowed deep, the silver thread on his navy blue coat catching the light. His hair gleamed a similar color. “My lord.”
Tarron inclined his