Page 179 of The Poison Daughter
Guardian’s Crossing is so packed, I have to shove my way through three drunk old men doing a linked-arm line dance just to get to the bar.
Bea has a glass of whiskey waiting for me. I’d prefer wine, but I’ll settle for anything to take the edge off of seeing Aidia.She’s fine. At least as fine as she can be considering the circumstances, and yet I’m still full of nervous, churning energy.
I take a long gulp of the whiskey.
Bea clicks her tongue. “That’s good stuff. Don’t gulp it like it’s common swill. You’ve only been out with the wild mountain people a few Divine damn days.”
I lick my lips as I place the glass down on the bar and grin at her. Bea looks beautiful as always. Her short hair is twisted back from her face, a flower tucked behind her ear. No doubt it’s Josie’s touch. Bea has never been one to accessorize.
She pulls a few beers for the men on the stools beside me and grabs a rag to wipe down the bar. “I wasn’t expecting to see you so soon,” she says, rubbing at a nonexistent stain in front of me.
“I was summoned.”
She frowns but still doesn’t look at me. “They call. You come.”
“Not for long.”
Finally, she meets my eyes. “Oh?”
I nod. “I think I finally have a way to get everything I want, but that’s a conversation for somewhere more private.”
She nods her head toward the back room, and I round the bar and follow her through the curtain into the dim stock room.
As soon as I step inside, I take off my coat and toss it onto her desk in the corner. Her face shifts from annoyance that I’ve disturbed her stacks of papers to appreciation for the gown.
She whistles. “Bleeding woods! Every time I think you can’t wear something less appropriate in public, you go and one-up yourself.”
I smooth my hands down the deep red silk. “Thank you for noticing. I’d been saving it for a special occasion. After being naked in front of all the magical families of Mountain Haven, I figured why not.”
“So it has nothing to do with your new husband?” Bea challenges.
I shrug a shoulder. “If Henry isagitatedby my choice of dress, that’s merely an added bonus.”
Bea laughs, the sound a smooth, melodic alto that’s all at once familiar and foreign. I used to collect those laughs like precious coins, but we’ve laughed far too little these last few months.
“What’s your new deal?” Bea asks.
Bea doesn’t know everything about my family. There are many things I can’t tell her for her safety. It was a huge sticking point in our relationship. She didn’t understand that my not telling her things wasn’t because I didn’t trust her, but because I didn’t trustthem. If they even suspected she knew things she wasn’t supposed to know, I wouldn’t put it above them to at the very least have Electra wipe all recent memories from her brain. Something like that would be devastating to a woman who runs her bar from an accounting system that only makes sense to her and a list of merchants and favors she keeps in her head.
“I need to turn Henry against Rafe.”
“How do you plan to do that?” Bea asks.
I wave my hand down my scantily clad body. “With the gifts the Divine gave me…and my sparkling personality, of course.”
She laughs again. “Of course. It seemed like you were off to such a good start.” She takes a step closer. “He’s been good to you?”
“He’s been humbled.”
Bea purses her lips. “As I knew he would be. But really? You’re doing well?”
I don’t take the offer to share. It’s hard enough for me to share things with anyone, but it’s far too strange to talk to a former lover about my new husband.
She seems to sense this new boundary between us. “And what will you buy with this one last favor?”
“Freedom once and for all.” I take a deep breath. “I’m leaving.”
“How?”
