Feargus

  Adeline had been hoping to ask Everleigh to tote her to our destination, but by the time we were finished getting ready, she’d already left the base, and Alexander wouldn’t leave Evelyn. So, I’d be the one doing the toting. It wasn’t elegant, and we had to stop a few times along the way to manage our comfort levels, but it did the trick, and I reckoned Adeline had a good time.

  Past the city gates, we walked together through the districts, and we stopped in front of the door with the goose in the glass, psyching each other up with a silly grin. It had been a while since either of us had seen our other mutual mates.

  I used my key to let us in.

  “Holy shit,” the receptionist said. “If it isn’t our two favourite bartenders—and together.”

  I responded with a full-dimple smile and a two-finger salute, and Adeline rushed over behind the desk to give the man a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

  “Tanis is going to love this,” he added, hugging her back.

  “Anyone working the bar tonight?” I asked.

  The receptionist shook his head. “We’ll never be able to replace you two.”

  Adeline squeaked, and with another conspiratorial smile shared between us, we hurried to put away our coats and fetch our aprons.

  It was the weekend, and it was a busy night, and listen, I’m ready to pull Adeline into another interview if you don’t believe me, but to say the crowd went mental when the pair of us walked into the lounge would be a massive understatement.

  Anne, on stage in her cat costume, stopped dancing to join the celebration.

  I could tell Adeline was eating it up, and I’d be lying through my teeth if I said I wasn’t, too. So, we linked arms and waved, and after ten, twenty, twenty-three seconds of jubilation, Tanis came around the corner from her office to investigate.

  “Well, well, well!” she said. “If it isn’t Jack Finnegan and Abby Blaze.”

  “Aye,” I answered. “But actually, we’re going by J-FAB now.”

  We really weren't, I just made it up. But I thought it had a nice ring to it.

  Adeline laughed. Mission accomplished.

  “Looks like we’re going to be on fire tonight, folks,” Tanis announced. “I’ll go tell Vera to heat up the wine.”

  After pulling us both into a quick hug, Tanis scurried off toward the kitchen.

  “I’m having so much fun already.” Adeline tugged on my sleeve and we took our places behind the bar. “And now I'll have to teach you how to make Abby’s Blaze.”

  As you ought to recall from Adeline Gets a Job, Abby’s Blaze was a warm, spiced wine, floated with highly concentrated spirits, and a sprinkle of cinnamon. It was served in a stonewear goblet and set on fire. What can I say? The lass was a genius.

  Between the good company, the positive energy circulating the room, the tips, and the dancing, we were having a great time, mates. At one point, Adeline left my side to spend her hard earned notes, wisely, on showing the dancer on stage her appreciation.

  She certainly wasn’t shy about it, either.

  And I certainly wasn’t complaining.

  As the night went on, I’d consumed a few drinks from my old broom closet office stash of Hocks, and I caught Adeline stealing sips from my glass when she thought I wasn’t looking. By the third rotation on stage, we were both pretty drunk. And for the next two hours, we laughed, and worked side-by-side serving up flaming drinks while watching our friends dance naked.

  Anne, who’d finished her set a while before, was part of the service crew at that point, delivering food and drink in her cat costume. But when there was a sudden lull in the demand, she joined us at the bar, adjusting her tail before sitting.

  I poured her a shot of whiskey—her favourite.

  “Thanks, Jack. Amalia’s grace, I swear, between yourself, and bringing in Everleigh and Abby, you’ve practically reinvented this place.”

  Well, that’s no good, but it was bound to happen, wasn’t it?

  What were the odds Adeline would miss it?

  Adeline pouted. “Ugh—we were really hoping Everleigh could have come with us tonight, too. We were—no, wait, I was really hoping she could have come with us tonight because she and I have become quite close, actually, but Jack doesn’t really know—”

  Zero, mates. The odds Adeline wouldn’t pick up on Anne’s revelation were zero, even while drunk apparently. I knocked back the last of my latest drink while I watched the gears in Addie’s giant brain come to a squeaky halt. I smiled sweetly.

  And Adeline mirrored it, right down to the dimples, looking from me to Anne. “Well, Jack—you know, he just didn’t know where she was, unfortunately.”

  Did she just—?

  “She’s elusive like that,” Anne agreed.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  Aye, she definitely did.

  Adeline and I nodded.

  Meanwhile, Anne tossed back her shot, and after saluting with the empty glass, she said she’d see us around later, and she went back to work.

  When we were alone again, Adeline poked me in the chest, and I saw why she and Everleigh hit it off so well. “You knew her this whole time!”

  “Right, I did,” I confessed. “But can you keep it a secret?”

  “I would love nothing more than to keep your secret. But why?”

  “Well, I can’t really tell you that, unless—wait, can you keep a hundred secrets?”

  “…Is this really happening?”

  “Aye, I think it might be, because I reckon I’ve talked myself past the point of no return. So, Adeline, will you join me in my office for a chat?”

  “If it’s the broom closet, no. Absolutely not. We'll do this properly.”

  So, we did it properly. I mean, not it. But we pooled our tips together, and Adeline asked Anne if she wouldn’t mind entertaining us while we talked. I knew well enough the peepshow rooms were divided with a thick, tempered glass, and were relatively soundproof, especially from a Barren. Once we were settled, Adeline took my hands, and after reminding me she couldn’t believe this was happening—that she was going to be the vessel for all of Feargus Finlay’s deep, dark secrets—I let it all spill:

  “…stalking me, but it really started when she asked me to wake up Zacharias Vonsinfonie…”

  “…was already going to anyhow, because I wanted to meet him, and ask him what a group of Anima was called..."

  "...it's an auditorium of Anima, by the by..."

  "...besides, Councilwoman Faust and the Trio also asked me to…”

  “…food-related problem…”

  “…was the strawberry rhubarb, and Sebastian was the lemon meringue…”

  “…cried—a lot. And sometimes he sang to me…”

  “…were actually living together, but I didn’t lie to you, exactly, because he’d just told me he was moving out, but prior to that, we were definitely living together in the cabin…”

  “…sorry he’s so weird, you know, the staring…”

  “…but actually, he’s pretty great. I love Zack…”

  “…like, a lot. But not like that, because we’re just friends, and he’s not even into lads anyhow…”

  “…may have been in a vaguely polyamorous situation with an Anima couple who host debauchery parties at the Jaskar. You know, I should introduce you to them. Della’s gonna love you, actually…”

  “…was the one who cleaned up Strauss after Zack saved his life…”

  “…and I was—no, I still am—I’m in love with Ivana Novak…”

  “…and now she’s dead…”

  “…because I told her I loved her…”

  “…so when I found out, we were in the cell…”

  “…left me and Alexander the Widow’s Peak…”

  “…oh, right, Alexander. Aye, so I met Alexander my first day in Amalia. We’re really close.”

  “…left the flowers at Zack’s casket. You weren’t there for that, but I’m sure you heard the story, and I honestly had no idea he was going to kidnap you from the hill. So I’m sorry about that, too. He didn’t mean it. Well, he did. He said you were scared…”

  “…also, I think he might have a compulsion for spontaneous theatre…”

  “…Sebastian, too…”

  “…performance art masters, though, right? Then again, I think I might have a similar problem…”

  “…aye, but it’s like I said, Zack’s a bit of a strange bird…”

  “…but who among us, right?”

  “…and how could I forget Florea? Great lay, terrible time…”

  “…shaved my beard…”

  “…locked in the cellar with dozens of frozen men…”

  “…weren’t for Zack, I’d be dead…”

  “…costume chest, overheard Rhian and Strauss doing it…”

  “…twice…”

  “…and now I can’t get it up, but not because of that, that was fine, and I was so happy for them. But because of Florea, I think, or maybe not, maybe I’m just broken.”

  “…also, I didn’t really spy on you—not much, anyhow. Zack did it for me because you tapped your spoon against your cup three times before taking a sip, and I don’t know, I just couldn’t do that to you, even though now I realize you would have liked it, so I mean, if you really want, I can spy on you sometime to make up for it…”

  Though we occasionally broke eye contact to have a gander at Anne, Adeline otherwise sat there, listening in silence while I rambled on for seventeen and a half minutes.

  Her cheeks were red, but they always were when we were together, and the alcohol, and Anne—well, when it seemed like I was done, and I reckoned I was, she finally spoke.

  “I should probably be so many other things right now, but somehow the only thing I am is incredibly turned on. Do you think I’m broken, too?”

  The lass had no filter, but also, she had an excellent filter, didn’t she?

  So, what do you even say to that? Nothing, that’s what. Because what’s important is: I felt the weight of a thousand mountains fall off my back when instead of judgment, or pity, or obvious and unhelpful advice, I got whatever that was, and so I started laughing, and then so did she. And from behind the glass, while seeing us having such a good time, seemingly, Anne started laughing, too.

  Oh, and in other news: this Strachan’s steed seemed to be back in action.

  Tentatively, but I’d take it.

  After appreciating Anne together for a little while longer, we closed out the night with a last call for Abby’s Blazes, cleaned up the bar and the lounge, and made our way into the pre-dawn morning. We were the last ones out, and I locked the Gander door behind us.

  But we weren’t two steps from the goose in the glass when it happened. A gloved hand reached around the corner of the alley and wrapped around Adeline’s mouth, dragging her backward.

  Whoever it was, they were fast—really fast—and they were silent—really silent.

  I didn’t have my crossbow with me, but I always carried a knife. Wouldn’t do much good against the Anima, but I had the whistle, and—

  I zipped forward with abandon, and just as I reached them, Adeline’s assailant cried out in pain, releasing her before instinctively trying to rub the fire-spray out of his eyes. While still holding her perfume bottle, primed to spray again if needed, she reached into her jacket, pulled out a gleaming knife of her own, and rammed it upward between her assailant’s ribs.

  The figure crumpled to the ground not long afterward.

  Adeline stepped over to his side and glanced downward. I did the same.

  By then, our eyes had adjusted to the low light, and—well, whoever was on the ground was about average Strachan height, but thin as a rail, with a pale, almost luminescent skin tone, and ink black hair. And, considering he was properly dead, he wasn’t Anima.

  Adeline bent down beside the stranger and pulled one of his eyes open.

  The whites were bloodshot, but the answer was clear: whoever she just killed was a Partisan, and a mixed-breed, too.

  Well, mates, that was unexpected.