Page 90 of Angel of Water & Shadow

The round top of a bowler hat skimmed the bottom of the counter. Was the bartender crawling on hands and knees? Golden caps from a ladder hitched onto a groove in the bar right in front of us, and the felt brim drifted upwards, followed by flattened pointy ears and overgrown brows that fused with the tips of a wiry handlebar moustache. Beneath all the hair, there were so many human elements—deep folds in his rosy beige cheeks, a youthful gaze, a natural pout to his bottom lip. But there was a distinct air of otherness, one that made my heart flutter.

He presented us with two pints of golden liquid, tipped his hat, then shuffled his way back down. I wanted to smile in thanks, but I had trouble reeling in my jaw, which had fallen to the floor.

“Dwarf,” I whispered, as if I needed to confirm it out loud to myself.

Ryder nudged me with his elbow. “Staring is quite rude.”

“I-I’m sorry.” I closed my mouth and focused on the bits of upturned skin on my cuticles, tearing off the dry pieces. Ryder grabbed my hand and tucked it under his, hiding it. “Sorry,” I muttered, raising my head to meet his. “This is just wild—” The words caught in my throat as my attention snagged on the scene behind him. “Is that a centaur playing a fiddle in the corner?” My head hadn’t stopped shaking, the disbelief stubborn and unwilling. “Sorry. I’m getting distracted again. Anyways, I wanted to thank you. For yesterday.”

“They’re a faun,” he corrected me. “And stop apologizing. Maybe this is wild, but it’s new and you’re adjusting. It’s pretty unheard of that a Nephilim doesn’t know what they are, let alone to find out at your age. You’ve been conditioned to think none of this is real.” He leaned closer, spearmint breath a pleasant burn that awakened my senses. “But let me tell you, there’s nothing more real than this.” He held up his glass with the hand not shielding mine. “Cheers for breaking through to reality.”

I raised my drink. Our eyes and pints met. The bitter aroma tingled my nostrils. “To reality.” I sipped the froth gingerly, and my insides flurried. “What is this witchcraft!?”

“It’s a pilsner.” I couldn’t tell if he was laughing or choking. “So, what did you want to talk to me about?”

The bubbles tingled in my belly and instead of fizzing out, they rose to my chest. I took another big gulp, which quickly turned into me downing half the glass. We had just toasted to reality but suddenly…I needed to escape it. Suddenly, I didn’t want to brood on my past and talk in circles about yesterday or discuss what I’d found out about my dad. I wanted to live in the moment, to get caught up in the present—and presently my hand slipped out from under Ryder’s palm and lowered to his thigh. I trembled at the bold move but pushed past my nerves and lifted off the chair, coming to stand between his angled knees. Every inch of him stilled, waiting.

My fingers slid over the exposed part of his tatted upper chest and went around his neck, my gaze snagging on the vibrant blue peeking out from his shirt hem. I ran the back of my fingers over the ink in the lightest sweep. “You still haven’t told me what this means.” I picked up his hand, stamping the Celtic letters with my lips. “Or this.” Although Leif had pretty much disclosed the N and S stood for some sort of secret Nephilim Society. But I wanted to hear it from him.

Goosebumps trailed in the wake of my touch. He cleared his throat, dipping his chin to divert mine. “It’s just a mark of the hunt. It’s nothing.”

“Fine.” I let out a breathless laugh. “You want to do something else besides talking?”

He wet his lips. “Like…”

Something burned in me, a feeling that only warmed as the light changed in Ryder’s eyes. As they flared greener, brighter. Someone strung a lute in the background, but all I could hear was him, the slight quickening of his breath. He clenched his jaw and shut his lids, and in that moment, I could see him trying so hard to keep his feelings locked down. It was cute, actually. But I knew my kiss would ignite him.

It incinerated both of us.

The warm pressure of our lips coming together made everything else fall away. Those rigid arms he’d kept at his sides wrapped around my waist, reeled me in closer so that nothing except the heat of our bodies existed between us. A second instrument laced the air, the music building with the pace of our kisses.

Another urge overtook me.

“You know what else I want to do?” My words were muffled against his lips. A sexy hum answered. The tips of our tongues met, and for a second, I almost forgot about where we were—and who might be watching. I slowly pulled back, taking his lower lip with me. When I released it, I told him, “Dance!”

Ryder stayed fastened to his seat, his earring dangling from our fluid motions, tousled hair finally toppled over his forehead. God, he looked so kissable—and stuck. Like I’d cast a spell that glued him to the spot.

“Come on!” Fingers intertwined, I led him to the stage I’d been eying ever since we sat down. A small crowd had formed around the mythical musicians—three of them now—turning this corner of Elsewhere into a dance floor.

The fiddle’s strings rang quick and clear above the steady strum of the guitar and the lower plucks of the harp. I tugged on Ryder’s hand and pulled him into me, putting my other arm around his waist, swaying to the upbeat music, smiling up at him as if I were drunk in love—and maybe I was. But I didn’t care.

He squeezed my hand tighter, and in a move that totally surprised me, he twirled me. Again and again.

My hair unraveled from the hasty bun I’d put it in, the layered strands flowing down my upper back, tickling the scars that peeked out of the racerback cut of my tank. I became so lost in the moment I couldn’t tell when Ryder let go of my hand or when I latched on to another’s. All I knew was that to dance was to escape, and these bodies cocooned me, their hoofs and wings and outstretched arms protecting me from…

My hips froze. Protecting me from what? I thought I’d stopped running.

Cool sweat drenched the nape of my neck. My head tossed around, searching for Ryder. All I saw were strangers, their smiles twisted and no longer enchanting. As I snaked through the sea of unfamiliar faces, they pulled at my wrists and cursed me for leaving. I didn’t want to stay but for some reason my knees started bending, like the music had a hold on my soul, sucking me back in. And then I saw him watching from the bar.

A thousand secrets lay behind those furrowed brows. I didn’t want to become another. I wanted to feel seen, and he made me feel like I’d never have to hide again. My hips swung like a pendulum as I strode over, ready to serve my heart on a platter. Maybe that was too much, but again, I didn’t care. His gaze tracked every movement until I reached the edge of his shadow.

He took a ragged inhale as I stepped into the crook of space between his knees and where he rested his elbow on the bar. A shiver worked its way through me as his eyes left my face and slowly drifted to my neck, my chest, my ribs, like an invisible finger was dragging down the very front of me.

He dropped his stare to the counter. “What did you find out, River?”

Huh? Oh. I’d almost forgotten why I’d called him. It wasn’t to make out in a magical bar. I slunk back onto my seat. Right. New developments. A sigh left my tingling lips.

How was I supposed to get deep when my cheeks still hurt from smiling?

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