Branches of Life

While Harmony got our drinks, Ari and I found a table for us. In the past we learned the hard way, to never let Ari be the one getting our drinks. The last time we let her get our drinks, we woke up in a cave in the Blood Moon district. How did we end up there? To this day we still had no clue what happened. Nor did we know how we ended up in clothes, that were drastically different than the ones we started the night in. Harmony ended up wearing a man's clothes, that were three sizes too big.

We chose a table near the trees and as far away from the others as we could get. Harmony balanced all three of our drinks on a tray as she joined us. The glasses were tall, with chunks of fruit floating around the pink liquid. A small sip confirmed it was a fruity drink. And a delicious one at that.

Our alcohol ran on the more potent side compared to humans’, due to our accelerated healing and magic coursing through our veins. If a human were to drink our alcohol, even a sip, they would be drunk almost instantly. Anything more than a shot and they would end up with alcohol poisoning. On the other side of things, their alcohol barely did anything for us. So, not only did theirs taste awful, but I could drink an entire bottle and barely feel tipsy.

Harmony lit the black privacy candle in the center of the table. A translucent gray energy shield settled around the table, before becoming invisible, preventing anyone outside our table from eavesdropping. "What are your thoughts on the bartender, and do you think he would be into me?"

While taking another sip, I subtly glanced in his direction. The first thing I noticed was his inky black hair pulled back in a low bun, highlighting his sharp and angular face. There was a healthy glow to his deeply bronzed skin, that all fire court elementals had. Almost like there was an inner fire burning within them. Every single one of his movements was fluid as he poured multiple alcohols into a cup and added ice.

Several times he glanced our way, and seeing as Harmony was the one to talk to him, I was liking the odds of him looking at her and not us. "He's cute, and based on the looks he keeps sending our way, I'd defiantly say he's interested."

"Really?" Harmony turned in her chair to look at him over her shoulder. Both Ari and I reached out and stopped her.

"Don't look!" I whisper-yelled even though he couldn't hear us and wasn't even looking in our direction right now.

"Come on Harm. You can't seem too eager," Ari said with a sigh.

"Right. I know that, I just got excited. It's been over two months since I've...you know."

Pressing my hand to my mouth, I stifled my laughter at Harmony's hesitance in saying the word sex. A word that weirdly enough, she was only reluctant to say when she was talking about her own sex life. When it came to ours, she'd listen to our play-by-plays and give her opinions, occasionally blushing as she did so.

Compared to us, she was always pretty light on the details of her encounters. One thing she had confided, was that even while having sex, dirty talk made her embarrassed and uncomfortable. It had taken all my willpower to stop myself from laughing at that. Thankfully Harmony hadn't noticed, but Ari did. Once Harmony left the room, she kicked my foot and chastised me.

"Don't you worry, you've got yourself two of the best wing women in the district at your side. You'll be getting dick by the end of the night," Ari said downing the rest of her drink.

Oh no. This was supposed to be a relaxing night out. I groaned as I dropped my head into my hands. "She doesn't need wing women, he's obviously interested in her. All she has to do is go up there and talk to him."

"Says the girl who still hasn't had the what are we, discussion with her mate," Ari shot back.

Well fuck, she had me there.

"But you do make a good point. She should go up there and talk to him." She shook her empty glass. "And would you look at that? I'm all out. I guess someone will have to order me another drink."

"Allow me." Harmony laughed as she scooped up Ari's empty glass, and made her way to the bar, where the bartender smiled at her.

"This plan is going to end up with us getting wasted, isn't it?" I asked, watching as Harmony threw her head back and laughed. The bartender's eyes didn't leave her once the entire time.

"Hurry up and finish your drink."

Yep. We were going to need a sober person to guide us home tonight. Pressing the crystal on my wristband, I typed out a message to Ander. Basically telling him to come looking for us if we weren't home in two hours. After making our exit strategy, I chugged the rest of my drink.

"Attagirl."

Harmony bounced up to our table, but this time with a blue drink for Ari. When I held out my empty glass to her, she took it with a smile and immediately headed back to the bar.

Ari's amused expression was gone when I looked back at her. She was staring at her drink, as she swirled the liquid around the glass in quiet contemplation. "What's wrong?"

"When we were in the wastelands, before we were thrown off the cliff and into the water, did you see anything weird?"

"You mean other than the freak tornado that appeared out of nowhere and almost killed us?" At Ari's solemn nod, I frowned and thought back on the experience, but all I saw was the horror and strain on Koa's face. And the determination in the way Rowan wouldn't leave me behind. "I didn't see anything, I wasn't looking at the tornado, but Rowan said she saw a blast of pink energy. Which should've never happened, not there."

"That's all?" She pinned me with her intense stare, the green in her eyes more vibrant—with lighter notes swimming in their depths—from the light hovering over our table. It was almost unnerving, making me want to squirm around in my chair.

"What else was there to see?" The hesitant look on her face wasn't comforting.

She opened her mouth before immediately closing it. Shaking her head as she looked off to the side. "I must be losing my damn mind, because I could've sworn I saw Harmony's mini snow leopard."

That was the last thing I expected her to say. "You mean the one she saw in Antarctica?"

"Yeah, it was the strangest thing. He just ran right through the tornado with no problem." Shooting a glance around the bar, even though no one else could hear us, she leaned forward in her seat. "That's not even the weirdest part. I swear he looked right at me before the blast of pink energy came from him."

My body sank back in my chair as I watched her take a long swig of her drink, checking to make sure she wasn't screwing with me. "The mini snow leopard was the one to save us?" My disbelief coated my tone, and probably my face as well.

Another hesitant look crossed her face as she tilted her head from side to side. "He was more the size of a house cat."

"Its size doesn't fucking matter, how did he—wait, how do you know it's a he?"

She shrugged. "It feels right."

I just stared at her, looking at her like she was insane, all the while hoping she would tell me she was just fucking with me. "Never mind that, how the hell did a mini snow leopard...cat—whatever the hell it is—use magic in the wastelands? I was there, I couldn't even feel my wolf. It was like there was a wall between us." This was too much for me right now, I was supposed to be relaxing, not figuring out a weird ass mystery.

Ari swirled her drink around again, staring intently into its depths as if it held all the answers. "Several years ago, I heard a story about the deity Io. I can't recall much about the actual story, but that's not important. What is important, is that Io had a familiar. Don't give me that look, I'll get to my point when I get to it. You are the worst to tell stories to."

"I wasn't giving you a look." I groaned and dropped my head back, annoyed we were doing this again.

"Yes you were, and you know it," she said pointing at me.

With a long sigh, I rolled my eyes. "Fine, I just don't understand the significance of her having a familiar. Sorceresses have been known to occasionally have them."

"I was getting there before you interrupted."

"I didn't say a single word!"

"Your face said it all."

I threw my hands up and barely restrained my frustrated shriek. Covering my face with my hands, I took a deep and calming breath. This wasn't the first time we bickered like this, and it sure as hell wouldn't be the last.

Having impeccable timing, Harmony returned to the table, depositing a green drink in front of me, a broad smile on her face. "Someone looks to be in a good mood," I commented noting the flush of her cheeks.

Harmony gave a noncommittal shrug. Snorting and shaking her head, Ari downed the rest of her drink, holding it out for Harmony. Who rolled her eyes as she exited the sound barrier again.

Heaving out a sigh, I waved my hand at Ari. "So you were talking about Io and her familiar."

"Yes, so the significance is that she didn't just draw on its energy. The familiar was able to draw from her."

That had me leaning forward in my seat. "How? Familiars aren't able to do that."

"That's why the detail stuck with me all these years. I mean, it makes sense a sorceress deity could do more. The summoner deities were said to be able to shift into their spirit animals."

"Allegedly," I muttered, crossing my arms.

"It makes the most sense," Ari continued, ignoring my comment.

"That drink must've been stronger than I thought because I'm not grasping your meaning."

Ari groaned, like I was being the unreasonable one. Here she was talking about fucking cats and familiars, and yet she had the audacity to look at me like I was the idiot. "The cat, he's a familiar. How else would he have the energy to save us? He drew it from his bonded. Who probably wasn't even in the wastelands to begin with. Meaning they would still have their magic for him to draw from."

All I could dowas stare at her for several moments, trying and failing to process what she said. "So let me get this straight. Our stalker cat is someone's familiar. A deity's familiar, if we're going by your theory. So a deity's familiar was following us for some inexplicable reason, and when he saw us in danger, he drew energy from his bonded and saved us. Even though he doesn't know us and neither does his bonded. Makes total sense."

"Don't be a smartass, it's just a theory."

In an unexpected twist, the green drink Harmony gave me tasted like watermelon. It wasn't bad just unexpected. I shook off my surprise and focused back on our conversation. "A ridiculous one. You know I've always been on the fence on whether or not they even existed."

"Your lack of belief astounds me."

"I've got another problem with your theory," I said after taking another sip of my drink that was slowly growing on me. The watermelon flavor was quite refreshing. She sighed and leaned back in her chair, gesturing for me to continue. "While I was in the wasteland, not only was my connection to my wolf blocked, but to Rowan as well. I couldn't feel her. Meaning the cat wouldn't have been able to feel the bond either."

Ari stared into space for a few seconds, before shrugging. "Huh, there goes that theory."

I gave an incredulous laugh and shook my head. "How do you know so much random shit?"

Ari tilted her head from side to side, mulling over her answer. "Most of it I learn from my hookups. I don't know how I manage it, but I ended up sleeping with guys who tell me this stuff as pillow talk."

There were no words for how cringy that shit was. "Why would anyone think scholarly shit is good pillow talk?"

"No clue. Just like I have no clue how I keep sleeping with guys who do it. I mean, I choose different races and personality types. None of it seems to matter. Eight times out of ten, I'm getting a lesson about something."

I was howling with laughter when Harmony deposited a light yellow drink in front of Ari. It seemed we were getting the whole rainbow tonight. "Do I even want to know what's so funny?"

"You were gone for a while," I said after getting my laughter under control and wiping the tears from my eyes.

All thoughts of my outburst were gone as her smile grew. "Yes, I think tonight is going to be a good night."

"It's about to get better." Being the good wing woman I was, I finished off the rest of my drink and held it out to her.

"I hope you warned Ander." Harmony chuckled, shaking her head as she returned to the cute bartender.