He chuckled. “Well, then. How’d you discover your magic? I’m not sure I’ve met another human as strong as you.”

Ronnie smiled, accepting the compliment without commenting. “I was young, as you probably guessed. My youngest sister had just been born. My parents—” She paused, taking a second to breathe, “—our parents were still alive. I started summoning pieces of other planes in my sleep.”

Earnest raised an eyebrow. “Without a circle? That’s … not good.”

“No, it wasn’t. Burned off a nice chunk of soul before I even knew what I was doing. My parents kicked me out, didn’t know what to do with me.”

“That’s terrible.”

Ronnie shrugged. “They’re dead now. Happened a couple of years later. I started taking care of my sisters. Vent picked me up shortly after.”

“Oh,” was all Earnest said, watching Ronnie closely. “So... how far are you on the old soul meter? Guessing the well is pretty dry, seeing as you were desperate enough to demand a bridge from Vent.” 

“Low is probably an understatement,” Ronnie grumbled, staring at the table. “Let’s just say that your case was supposed to be my last for a reason.” 

“Hmm,” Earnest replied, drumming his fingers against the tabletop. “Guess it’s a good thing you managed to snag a big fish like me, huh?” 

Ronnie just shrugged. “Doesn’t exactly feel like a good thing.” The grekelhind harrumphed softly, making Ronnie wince. “I don’t mean it like that,” she blurted, looking up and gasping at the iridescent flicker in his eyes. “It’s just... I don’t work with others that often, that’s all. Another body is more of a liability than anything.” 

His eyes returned to brown, then he nodded, leaning back against the chair. “I guess this is the part of the movie where you’re all like ‘I don’t want a partner, I work better alone?’ If that’s the case, do I get to be the quirky sidekick?” 

Unable to help herself, Ronnie let out a genuine laugh. “Since when do planar creatures watch movies?” 

Earnest grinned, and Ronnie couldn’t help but notice that he actually looked nice when he smiled. “When it’s 3 am and you’re terribly bored in your shitty apartment, you do what you can.”

Unconsciously, Ronnie smiled back. “So it’s universal, huh?” 

“Guess so,” Earnest replied easily, folding his arms behind his head. “What, you got a love for cheesy buddy comedies, too? Or do you prefer rom-coms?” 

Ronnie made a point not to look at the way the buttons of his tacky shirt were stretching across his broad chest and cleared her throat instead. “Dude, really? You really aren’t like any other gre- planar- I’ve come in contact with before.” 

Earnest raised an eyebrow, his eyes shifting into that rainbow-colored sea again. “I hope that’s a good thing.” 

“And,” she said, brandishing a fry and leaning forward, “What the fuck is up with the rainbow thing you keep doing?” 

“Gotta have some way to keep you guessing,” Earnest said cheekily, reaching over to bop her on the nose and laughing when she scowled and swatted him away. “Effective, huh?” 

“Yeah, but I’ve never seen anyone else do that before,” Ronnie said, trying not to focus on the heat coming from her face where he’d touched her. “It’s usually why you guys are so easy to catch.” 

For a moment, a flicker of red went over his eyes. “I guess you just haven’t met enough of us, then.”

Ronnie stared down at her food, doing her best to conceal any reaction. His last words were a lie, the only one of the conversation. Well, unless he used that strange rainbow shimmer to hide other lies — if he was, then there’d be no telling what was going through his head. 

But what was the lie exactly? She stirred her ketchup with a fry, knowing damn well she couldn’t dwell in her fucking head without tipping him off to that fact. You haven’t met enough of us... it was so... benign.

Or was it? 

Truth be told, she’d always been so resentful of her magic and everything connected to planar events and creatures, Vent topping the list, she’d snubbed most. Easy to do when she was a big fish herself. Everyone was glad to give her a wide berth.

Planars were dangerous, even if their magic wasn’t very potent. 

She needed to stop thinking with her libido and letting this planar - who was clearly on her level, or maybe even stronger — manipulate her with his damn flirting. Besides, there was that whole dosthy business; she’d bet her car there was more to that story. There was no way he was actually interested in her. 

And she wasn’t interested in him either, even if he was bizarrely attractive. 

Whatever, he might not be the only one watching cheesy movies alone at 3am, but she didn’t need anyone else to care or worry about. Two sisters were plenty.

“Anyway,” Ronnie said with an exaggerated eye roll. “What the fuck are we going to do for two damn days?”

“That’s the million dollar question, isn’t it?” Food finished, Earnest kicked his feet up on the other side of the table, next to Ronnie. “The range of the bridge isn’t … huge.”

Ronnie ignored his phrasing. “Define it for me.”

“Hundred feet, give or take. We’ll know we’re out of range if the coin burns. Stay outta range, I go up first, then you.”

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” The day was getting better and better.

“Nope,” he said, popping the p, as his eyes flicked yellow and he gave her a shit-eating grin.

Ronnie clenched her jaw. “Anything else I should know about this bullshit?”

Earnest shrugged. “There’s not a time limit, no point to that. Job won’t get done any faster, just sloppier. Need major mojo to create one, but you knew that. Your soul meter is on pause, ‘cause you draw on mine.”

She didn’t want to ask. Putting off the question wouldn’t make it any less awkward. “I don’t suppose your place is in Queen Anne? S’where I’ve been staying recently, and we gotta stay close.” Her sisters had a place further south, but she never dragged them into her jobs.

He shook his head. “Sorry. I’m out east.”

They looked at each other. Ronnie pictured her shelter — little more than a dilapidated room in an area that wasn’t heavily patrolled by cops. She didn’t even have a bed. Earnest’s probably wasn’t much better; plenty of landlords didn’t love renting to planars. Most were lucky to get a rent-by-the-week place in a run-down tenement.

“Guess we’ll have to figure that out,” Ronnie finally said. “Maybe we’ll get lucky, and we’ll find this totem at that buy.”

Earnest snorted. “You got a unicorn blood habit I should know about, one that makes you say stupid shit?”

Ronnie wanted to sneer, but caught herself in time — they’d agreed to a truce, after all. “Drugs fuck up my magic. Can’t access it. Strongest I can do is booze.”

“Good to know.”

She tapped a finger on the table. “Hate sitting on my ass, and we don’t know nearly enough about this Eve.”

“Well,” Earnest said thoughtfully, “I don’t suppose it would hurt to do a little recon... never hurts to know what you’re up against, right?”

Ronnie stopped, looking up at him. “Glad to see you’re being sensible for once.” She quickly grabbed the remains of her burger, shoving the entire thing in her mouth in a most undignified fashion. See, not worried about impressing him at all, Ronnie thought, brushing the crumbs from her mouth and wiping her hands on her pants. “What’s the plan?”

“Leprechauns like to hang out at casinos,” he replied casually. “If anyone knows anything about Eve, that’s probably our best bet.” 

Ronnie couldn’t help it- she snorted. “I’m sure we’re gonna find out girl just hanging out at the slots, dumping quarters into a machine and hoping for a jackpot.”

Earnest just stared at her. “Good grief, did you really not learn anything beyond ‘bag and tag?’” When she stared at him blankly, Earnest clapped a hand to his forehead. “Leprechauns feed off the luck,” he said in a bored monotone. “It’s like a drug for them. So... they like to party in places that thrive on luck. Which,” he said pointedly, “makes a casino the perfect place to find a leprechaun.” 

“That’s all well and good, but there’s plenty of options around,” Ronnie pointed out. “Where exactly would we even begin looking?” 

At that, Earnest’s eyes flickered black for a moment, then his expression grew sheepish. “You won’t like it... might want to hide out and let me do a little digging on my own.”

“Fat fucking chance,” Ronnie spat, shaking her head. “You just said you’re gonna get your soul sucked out if we’re too far apart — why would I agree to doing something like that to you?” 

“Good to know you do care,” Earnest replied, making Ronnie roll her eyes. “But seriously, I don’t think—”

“I didn’t ask for your opinion, I asked for a plan,” Ronnie said, pressing her palms on the table. “Spit it out.”

“They hang out in high roller rooms,” he said warily, watching her closely. “And they’re special rooms, planars only. Think of it like a club VIP room. They’re parties with instant favors every time a jackpot hits... no better place to corner a stoned leprechaun. She’s that big of a player, someone’s gonna know her.”

Ronnie stood up from her seat, grabbing her stuff. “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go find ourselves a casino.”

His eyes flickered black again, and he grabbed her arm- she shivered, then turned to stare as he quickly released it. “Not so fast... I just said planars only, remember?”

Ronnie frowned, working to shake off the buzz that flowed through her arm when he touched her. “Yeah, but you also said you had a plan... that I wouldn’t like, remember?”

“I did,” he admitted. “Planars only... with the exception of their dates.”