“Really?” I asked dryly, half inclined to take Cheryl out for a spin right now.

“Ladies first, which is why you’re going last,” he said.

“Great, yeah, real snappy put-down, jackass.”

“How do ya like me now?”

I gritted my teeth, wondering what I could do. Magically shove him out of the way? Shank him? Wet willie? All were terrible, but I didn’t want to start a fight this close to Austin’s bar. It was rude, for one, and two, I wasn’t one hundred percent positive I would win. I mean…I thought I could, but a lifetime of being weaker than my possible attackers made me hesitate. I had a lot of past conditioning to work through before I was ready to start a bar fight. Besides, Austin quelled violence in his bar, regardless of who started it.

Sasquatch took slow, heavy steps, intentionally holding me up, swinging his weight too far from one foot to the next. He’d be easy to knock askew, and then, when he was getting his balance back, probably flailing his arms, it’d be easy to stick something sharp into one of his soft places.

Wow. I’d really retained Mr. Tom’s teaching. Clearly I had a violent streak somewhere inside of me, no doubt bulldozed in my twenties so I could better fit in with the mothers and wives and women around me.

Did social conditioning bulldoze away their interesting bits too? I wondered as I followed Sasquatch into the bar, careful to breathe through just my mouth. There was a funk wafting off him that I didn’t want invading my world. Maybe we’d all had a fire inside of us, clawing to get out, and we’d kept it at bay to fit into someone else’s mold of what we should be as women.

I chewed my lip, thinking. Digressing. I kinda wished I could go back in time and strike up some very different conversations with a few of them.

Maybe we could have encouraged each other to approach life differently, to let out some of that fire. Because it felt pretty damn good, and I couldn’t wait until I no longer had to rely on Austin and the others to protect me. Someday I would be the only protection I needed.

“Goals,” I muttered, drawing the notice of a younger guy sitting at a small table off to the side. I shrugged. “I only talk to myself when I need an intelligent conversation,” I told him, continuing on.

“Nut job,” Sasquatch said.

“You should talk,” I replied, barely stopping myself from giving him a dig in the ribs.

Sasquatch peeled off to the side, finally getting out of my way. I caught sight of Austin behind the bar, his large shoulders straining the confines of his gray cotton shirt. The fabric stretched down over his robust chest, pulling tight between his pecs and loosening a little over his flat stomach. His cobalt gaze noticed Sasquatch before darting to me—and then back to Sasquatch. His easy posture and relaxed air changed in an instant, and suddenly every muscle in his very impressive body was flexed. He straightened up slowly, and cold shivers zipped down my frame, screaming of danger. Telling me to leave Cheryl where she was, forget my magic—it wouldn’t be enough—and race the hell out of there.

Chatter and laughter died down until Austin’s presence extinguished it completely. His face—high cheekbones, straight nose, planes and angles that ended in lush lips—morphed from something handsome into something that might be the last thing his enemy saw on Earth. That enemy, at the moment, was Sasquatch.

Sasquatch froze. He tensed for a beat, clearly feeling a challenge, and just as clearly thinking about answering it.

I could feel the whole bar holding its breath. I’d seen Austin in action in wide-open spaces. He was strength and power and incredible brutality that, if set loose in this confined space, would ruin the bar.

I started edging backward.

4

Sasquatch let out a breath…and about-faced. Picking on me wasn’t worth facing Austin. He muttered an apology as he made his way out the door. Austin couldn’t possibly know what Sasquatch had done, but it was clear he’d identified that something had happened, and it was Sasquatch’s fault. Suddenly I was glad I hadn’t attempted to retaliate.

His silent decree carried out, Austin’s demeanor melted back into that of easygoing bar owner, steering his ship and slinging his alcohol.

“You don’t need to do that,” I said as I approached an open space at the very end of the bar. He met me there, his gaze roaming my face before slipping down over my body.

“You look beautiful, Jess.”

“Thanks.” I smiled at him, suddenly flustered that the hottest man I’d ever known had complimented me. “Turns out the only nice things in my closet are, like, ten years old. Fits, though, so that’s a win. Thanks, Ivy House.”

“Big win. You’re going to knock ’em dead.” He winked at me.

Face heating and trying not to show how nice that was to hear, I checked the time on my phone. I was only a tiny bit early. I had a feeling my date might already be in the bar.

The Sasquatch incident had temporarily derailed my anxiety, but it returned stronger than before. I stopped myself from looking down the bar, afraid of what I would find.

“You don’t need to scare Sasquatch—I mean Ryan—out of here,” I said.

“Yes, I do. He was going out of his way to be rude to a lady. He knows better than to do that in my bar.”

“Well, if you let him keep it up, maybe he’ll get stabbed one of these days…”

A smile wrestled with Austin’s lips. “This is true. Can’t allow it in the bar, but maybe if you hung around in a less-populated area, like in the shadows along his route to the bar, you could surprise him and I wouldn’t be the wiser.”

“Meaning…you wouldn’t feel pressured to keep the alpha’s law and order in this town?”

The grin dripped off his face. “I’m not the alpha of this town.”

“Yes, yes, I know, but you know what I mean. If you didn’t know about my randomly attacking a member of this town, you wouldn’t feel obligated to punish me…”

Confusion and unease stole over his expression. “I don’t think I could hurt you if I tried.”

“Oh.” I twisted my lips to the side, guilt lodging in my gut. “Because of the Ivy House magic?”

His eyes were deep and troubled. He didn’t comment.

“Honestly, Austin, I’m trying to find a way out for you. I really am. We all know you were trying to protect me and not the house. Ivy House knows that, too. She—or it, I guess, but I think of it as a she now—can communicate with me after a fashion. She knows she pulled a fast one. She’s being a real stubborn butthead about the whole thing, but I’m positive that I can break your attachment to the house once I learn more of my craft. I know I can. You won’t be trapped by the magic forever, Austin, and then you can thump on me like you thump on everyone else, don’t worry. I’ll be super scared of you, just like every other normal Dick you meet.” I grinned to show my jest.

He shook his head, a tiny movement that I barely noticed. It was the snap of his magic that had me clicking my teeth shut without meaning to, feeling the command of his power, his presence. I couldn’t remember him doing that to me before.

He grimaced. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to use my magic just then. I haven’t quite mastered controlling my magic around you when it compels me to assert…” He let the thought drift away.

“Your dominance?” I narrowed my eyes. “Not cool, man. I don’t want to be ruled any more than you do. One day I might accidentally react negatively to that silent command, and you won’t be pleased with the result. Or will you disown me when I have more power than you?”

“You already have more power than me. I can feel it brimming within you, which is why my magic tries to react. It’s muscle memory.”

“I mean, when I know how to use more power than you.”

“My ego isn’t fragile, Jacinta. I don’t give a damn how much power you have.” He paused for a moment, staring at me. I swallowed, not ready for his sudden intensity. “I know that you might accidentally react with magic, which is why I’m trying to train myself. I don’t want to set you off when you’re not sure what you’re doing. I felt that…summons earlier. That’s what Niamh called it, anyway. Not the one from Ivy House, which I also felt, but the one from you. I would’ve texted to see if you were okay, but it didn’t feel like it was meant for me…”

“Yeah, that was more unconscious magic. I was gearing up to fall to my death, apparently with the possibility of being run through by Niamh’s horn and then smooshing Edgar, when I felt that happen. I thought the house had done it. Mr. Tom is annoyed with me for calling in help, did Niamh tell you? His list of grievances is growing. He’s also upset that I’m dating Dicks. The guy is not super pleased about my life choices at the moment, I’ll say that much.”

Austin grinned, and then his humor drained away. “Listen, Jess, I will continue to ignore Ivy House. I did not agree to work for it, so I won’t come at its beck and call. If you need help, though—if you call me—I will be there, okay? All you have to do is ask.”

“I know,” I murmured, warm inside. “I didn’t bother you because I didn’t think you’d be much help with the whole flying thing. Though…you’d certainly be better at catching me than Edgar.”

Austin’s brow quirked. “I thought you were jumping from up high?”

“Yeah. Third floor. Edgar thought he’d be able to save the day if my wings didn’t show.”

“But…” He paused with a semi-open mouth and a confused expression. Whatever question he had, though, dissolved, and he shook his head. I agreed—no words.

“Anyway,” he said, “I’ll try to walk on eggshells until you’ve got your bag of tricks under control.”

“And after?”

“After you have complete control?” A smug grin pulled at his lips and his blue eyes glittered. “I won’t pull any punches. We’ll see who comes out on top.”