Chapter 6: A Drink for a Lady

“What you drinking, honey?” the bartender asked. I was in one of the few human-run establishments in the spaceport. The bartender was a tall blond with more than just perky lips and a sultry voice. She knew how to get good tips. Her facade hid a sharp wit, and I’d seen her tie people in knots with both her words and her hands.

“You know me, Tessa.”

“Telaxi Cream Rum. It’s a good favorite, but one of these days I’ll convince you to try a proper drink.”

I smiled at her, trying hard to make it look natural, but my heart fluttered. I had been eying Tessa for a while now, trying real hard to not look like a try hard. Yes, I know how that sounds, but I had this problem where if you walked in the room with blond hair, black leather boots, and a mysterious attitude, I had to work desperately to keep myself from drooling on the floor. I’d be the first to admit I had a type, but this meeting was all about business, regardless of what my libido thought about it.

“Anything interesting happen while I’ve been gone?” I asked.

Great. Real smooth, Karla. How stupid can you be?

Tessa poured my drink into a glass and slid over to me. She picked up a rag and started cleaning a few droplets of rum from the counter. “Nothing too crazy. I had a Revaulo Imperator come by last week though. He was trying to shut me down.”

I chuckled. “I bet that didn’t go well for him.”

Idiot. Clearly it didn’t because she’s still here and the bar is still open. Can you be any more obvious?

Tessa smiled at me. It was a wicked thing that made my knees weak. “It might have gone better if I didn’t have video of him in here hitting on me.”

I tossed the drink back in one quick motion, hoping it would loosen me up enough to act like a person instead of a quivering mass of blushing school girl.

Don’t drink too much. You’re here for a reason. Don’t lose sight. Henry isn’t going to rescue himself, especially if you’re stuck here trying to get into Tessa’s pants. Eyes on the prize.

My eyes were certainly on a prize, but it was the wrong one. Tessa refilled my drink and slid it back to me, one eyebrow raised in an obvious question. “Rough trip?”

“You have no idea. Did you know Revaulos can go full space-zombie? I sure didn’t.” I tossed back the fresh drink, this time only finishing half of it. Tessa didn’t know I was a necromancer. Neither did anyone else in the bar. I’d been coming for several weeks, but had done my level best to keep my cloak on and arms covered. If she found out, it would kill my chances of finding her Valraithi contacts.

Sure… That’s the chances you're worried about.

Tessa scoffed. “I bet that made things interesting.”

“We got what we came for. Those argon tanks sell for a pretty penny, but it was a close thing.”

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“The Valraiths don’t usually leave fuel behind.”

“That should have been our first clue,” I replied, finishing the drink. “There was a reason they didn’t loot that particular ship.”

Tessa laughed and poured a third drink for me. A man at the other end of the bar raised his hand, trying to flag her down. “How’d you get away?” she asked, ignoring the man.

“We ran for it. They blew the airlock, and we booked it across the gap back to the ship. Did you know those things can survive in the vacuum?”

The man slid along the bar to stand right next to me. His breath stank of cheap beer and he poked me in the shoulder. “Stop yapping. I’ve been trying to get another drink for ages over there.”

Tessa grabbed him by his collar and turned him to face her. “Leave Karla alone. She’s not distracting me. I’m cutting you off. Remember what happened last time you had too many? I do, and you still owe me for the table.”

“Screw you, lady. I work hard for my money, and the least thing I can do is get a drink without the local flirt putting her eyes all over the wrong sort.”

Two things: One, Tessa was putting her eyes all over me? Two, did he say the wrong sort? Did he know? Where had he seen me?

“Jack, you’re drunk. Go home,” Tessa answered.

“Oh, I’ll go home alright, right after you give me and mine another round on the house.” With that, I heard several pairs of chairs scrape along the floor and the bar got real quiet.

By the stars, Tessa didn’t miss a beat. “All of you can do one of two things. You can either sit back down and enjoy the rest of your night, or you can start trouble and never drink here again.”

The drunk named Jack let out a bark of laughter. “I saw this one on a heliopause waystation not four months ago. She’s a necromancer. Are you sure you want to be defending her?”

Uh oh.

Tessa looked from the group to Jack and back. She let out a sigh and then, picking up my untouched drink, she threw it back. Tessa grimaced for an instant. “I’ve got to teach you about better drinks than this,” she said to me. “You didn’t bring your staff with you, did you?”

I cautiously shook my head. I felt the metaphorical ground around me crumbling, but through all of it, I latched onto one thing. When that drunk asshole had told the whole bar what I was, Tessa hadn’t batted one beautiful eyelash.

“I hope you’re good in a fight.” Tessa said, and then, with absolutely no warning, she threw the empty glass into Jack’s face. The entire bar stood still and stunned into silence for ten seconds before everything burst into chaos.

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