The Heartstone Saga by Archibald Bradford (pdf to ebook reader txt) 📗

by trade. Leon Marshall, of Marshall’s fine Silverworks. A family business.”

The Gigas let out another belch that caused the other smith to raise an eyebrow at her manners.

It was plain to see that she could care less.

“Jewelry?” She asked.

“Some, though we made our name with dinnerware. Marshall’s Flatware?” He floated the name as if they might be familiar with his brand.

Nina meanwhile was fondly thinking back on melting down Ophelia’s cutlery to make the bracelet on Nameless’s wrist.

“Sorry little fella, if a Gigas didn’t make it, it never got made.”

He surprised her by letting out a great belly laugh.

“Isn’t that the truth! I witnessed the work of one of your sisters down in Karmest, a long time ago now. Spent the next twenty years trying to match up to it.”

By that point Nina had warmed up to him, the man reminding her of the smith in Kettering, Rory, who she also got along with.

“I like you. You can buy me a drink.” She declared with a broad smile.

His eyes lit up at her proposition and he gestured grandly towards the bar.

“My dear girl, they are free! So I shall buy you two!” He matched her grin as the two of them left Nameless and the others behind.

“Awww, Nina made a friend, that’s cute.” Erica remarked, curling herself against her master’s side.

“I hope he survives the night.” Milly said with a hint of worry.

__________

While Nina and her new friend were hitting it off at the bar, a few miles away in a different sort of bar a Wolfen was having a drink.

Lilly dropped her empty mug on the counter with a gasp, catching her breath after having drained it in one long draw.

“Ahhh, that’s good stuff!”

Starting with her head of blue-grey hair, her whole body wiggled from side to side as if to help the alcohol spread through her system.

She held the mug up and playfully twirled it in the air to get the attention of the barkeep, her tail wagging slightly behind her.

“Hey buddy! Fill me up again would ya?”

But he frowned and shook his head at her; his place was usually pretty mellow and he didn’t care for her boisterousness.

“I’m afraid I’ll need you to pay for the first two before we can talk about a third.”

Her frosty eyes narrowed when he didn’t comply immediately.

“Just run me a tab!” She barked.

His posture stiffened and he came over so that the two of them could have a more private conversation, setting his hands on the bar to lean closer to her.

“Word’s out on you wolf lady. You got canned from the Aegis, which means you got no money coming in for drinks.”

It was the truth; she and her pack had been expelled from the Aegis once the council found out about them killing Bethany Sinclair.

It was one of the reasons why the Saenga Amazons had joined the task-force in chasing down all of their leads: with the Wolfen gone, Miranda had asked for their help to bolster their numbers.

Lilly growled low as he struck a sore spot, reaching out to grip his collar and pull him close.

“Pretty sure I misheard you just now.”

He swallowed reflexively at the big wolf’s hold on him, but stood his ground.

“Snarl at me all you want. I got a family to feed. In these troubled times I can’t afford to get stiffed just so you can get blasted.”

Lilly’s growl abated and she looked him over, a bit impressed that he hadn’t backed down.

He was of middle years, with a bit of a gut, but his features were still quite a bit to her liking, and more importantly to the Wolfen he smelled good.

A smile spread across her face as a different vice came to mind.

“Alright, forget the booze. What say you and I go somewhere dark and we’ll see if you can draw a howl out of me?”

The barkeep’s eyes boggled at the proposition and he swallowed reflexively again, her face inches from his.

It was a good ten seconds before he shook his head at her.

“I’m married.”

“I don’t care.” Lilly replied immediately before teasingly licking at his cheek; “Go fetch your missus and we can make a party of it.”

Her tail wagged faster now as her anticipation built.

He drew in a deep breath and let it out with a huff, then carefully pried her fingers off of his collar.

She let him, figuring he was about to acquiesce.

But again he shook his head.

“Sorry to disappoint you, but my missus is far too busy at home with our two kids to make a party of anything. You owe me twelve bits for the drinks.”

With the sting of rejection, Lilly’s mood fouled again and she slammed some coins down on the bar hard.

“Fuck you.” She snarled one last time before leaving, her tail no longer wagging.

The barkeep sighed at the scrapes and scratches that she’d left on the polished surface of his bar with her claws and the coins, but collected them and tossed them into the change drawer.

In the street outside Lilly was fuming.

A large part of her wanted to tear the innocent bartender’s face off, but the look that he’d given her even as he refused her advances stopped her.

It was full of pity.

She growled deep in her chest and tried to shake it off, looking around the street for a distraction, any distraction.

Her eyes settled on a couple having a heated argument; it appeared pretty one sided, a man berating his wife for something or other.

Lilly didn’t care about the details, she was just looking for an excuse and with the smell of the woman’s anxiety and her husband’s anger hanging in the air, she found it.

Without delay she