The high roller room was about as obnoxious as Ronnie imagined. Normally the formal level and scent of too much wealth would have made her nervous, but Ronnie remained hung up on the fact that a yeti almost smashed her into the ground when her runes didn’t fire… and the fact her sister was here. 

These thoughts occupied her mind for the next hour as they mingled around the casino. Earnest kept up a how-do-you-do patter. Ronnie kept her mouth shut, terrified of drawing any attention to herself. Instead, she watched the others, looking for anyone that wasn’t a complete fake. Everyone was. Fresh drinks kept appearing after she’d taken only sips of her last one, and she could feel the pulse of magic all around her. The combination wasn’t great for her head, making it swim.

Earnest sat them down at a pair of slot machines that reached the ceiling, blazing the name Fey Mysteries. She rolled her eyes, then coughed when she saw it was a hundred dollars each spin.

“Holy shit…”   

“High rollers,” Earnest reminded her as he leaned across, kissing her cheek before swiping the casino card. The display lit up with $10,000.   

“Oh fuck. I can’t… just fucking piss that away,” she hissed in a whisper at him. Turning made their noses bump, and she glanced down at his lips before meeting his eyes. They flickered that rainbow-colored hue as he held her gaze. When she didn’t continue, Earnest cocked a brow — Ronnie cleared her throat. “Earnest… this is more money that I see in four months.”  

A warm hand cupped her chin. “It doesn’t persist when we leave. Different realms, different accounts, remember? The exchange is only good in the casino. Winnings get translated into of human currency when we depart.”

Without thinking, Ronnie jerked away and pulled the lever on the machine. Lights flashed in her face. Sounds assaulted her ears, quick ding-ding-ding stacked on top of each other. The symbols flashed, the images too fast to see without magic. She slid a hand up to her hair, ready to reach for a rune to do just that, then caught herself.

Had she really been about to trade a teaspoon of her soul for better odds?

Earnest noticed, too, and slid an arm around her to twine his fingers in hers and gently tug her arm back down. “Easy, darling,” he rumbled in her ear. “Casino’s warded against those, don’t you remember?”

That answered that. The machine slowed. The first reel locked into a set of wings. Earnest snaked his hand down to her hip, lower than it had been before.

The second reel locked in; a flower crown.

“Thought the real action was at the tables?” she stammered, trying to remember why they were there.

“The night is young. We’ll find her, get her number, don’t worry.”

The last reel locked; the triple moon.

“No winner. Try again,” he murmured.

Pissing away a hundred bucks in fifteen seconds snapped Ronnie out of it. She glanced over at her date — no, partner, definitely not her date. “Think I might need some water.”

Earnest raised a hand, snapped his fingers. Instantly, a waiter appeared at their side. “A water for the lady, and another pair of cocktails for us both.” His tone was bored.

The waiter — human, Ronnie noted — bowed. “As you wish, sir.”

The ease Earnest displayed unnerved her. If she hadn’t tracked him down in that diner, she would have sworn he’d been born with the proverbial golden spoon. It was a stark contrast to her early years with Vent. Her dress shifted to a pale green.

Drinks appeared. Ronnie gratefully took a sip of her water. It was ice cold and flavored with minerals. The coolness spread to her pulse; the world snapped back to a semblance of focus.

Working to parse through her mental fog, Ronnie licked her lips again- even with the water, she felt like her mouth was on fire. “So,” she croaked, trying to calm herself down and definitely not staring at his slightly swollen lips, “Why didn’t my runes work in here?”

Earnest didn’t remove his hand- instead he just snaked it around her side, slowly wrapping his fingers around her arm and gently lifting her hand to his face. 

She went completely still, unable to take her eyes off him as he tilted her palm, brushing her knuckles with his lips. “This look familiar?” 

“No?” Ronnie said, confused how she’d gotten marked without her knowledge. 

“It’s a ward,” Earnest whispered, placing another kiss on the back of her hand. “Stops us from doing any major casting in here — a casino’s gotta have rules, remember?” 

She frowned slightly at the reddened rune stamped across her hand. “I didn’t see them do this,” she said, staring up at him. “When did that happen?” 

“When we came inside,” Earnest explained. “Happens automatically — can’t have people choosing not to get one and cleaning the place out.”

Feeling her cheeks heat, both from his nearness and her lack of knowledge, she scowled, lightly thumping him on the arm. “We’re here to work,” she hissed, ignoring his low and throaty laugh. “Spot anything yet?”

“No, but Lirianna likes to take her time.”

“We’re here for Eve.”

“I know that, but the siren will lead us to the leprechaun.”

Ronnie blinked a few times. “Siren? She’s…” Her voice stalled when Earnest held her head in place, preventing her from scanning the room for the siren — not that she knew what this one looked like, they were all different – and making her breath catch when his lips ran along her neck.

Her mind raced. Ronnie didn’t do this — she didn’t let herself get sucked into their world. She’d done it with Vent, and sure she’d been a child, but that mistake was still dogging her twenty years later. She wasn’t doing it again.

Earnest paused at her words.

“Lirianna is one of the planar proprietors, and she takes a hands-on approach. Odds are she’ll have information about any leprechauns using her facilities. And like Eve is drawn to luck, sirens are drawn to intense emotions. Their sheer presence amplifies any emotion. Lirianna is known for being… specific in her tastes, and she never speaks to anyone she doesn’t approach first.”

A warning bell rang in her head. “What do you mean?”

His tone gained an edge. “When you’re looking to treat with planars who can mask, sense or manipulate emotions—as opposed to just killing them — you have to watch yourself first. I warned you before we came in.”

He had warned her. She hadn’t listened.

Ronnie forced herself to stay still aside from digging her nails into his thigh so hard she knew it hurt him, because it hurt her hand. He pulled back to look at her in question. “I guess it’s a good thing you can mask and manipulate emotions, huh?”

His irises blazed, violet flecks laced in gray, right before they washed with that deep velvet green — she still had no idea what it defined. But then Earnest pulled her roughly, and she was suddenly sitting sidesaddle in his lap, hand ghosting up her back. “Not everything is a fucking manipulation just because I’m a planar being, Ronnie.”

The rainbow hue was back, quick as it left. “No? Pulling me into your lap isn’t a game for you when you know I can’t push off of you because of this damn place? Because of Vent’s stupid fucking totem?” 

His hand cupped her ass and squeezed. She bit harder on his ear, digging her fingernails into his neck, glad for the fancy, pointy manicure. His smirk was infuriating, and then he had the nerve to say, “I have to admit, I’d forgotten the perks of …” he trailed off. His breath was hot against her skin.

Flushed now, embarrassed as all fuck and the game be damned, Ronnie tried to shove off him, but she stalled when he pressed his hips up against her ass, his voice a shot of whiskey through her blood when he said, “I might be a planar, but I’m also a man, Rainmaker. I’m not blind or immune to your presence, especially in that damn dress.”

Ronnie barely started processing that before he stiffened slightly. His brow furrowed, eyes shifting to that rich green again. Before she could ask, he shook his head minutely. “We’re being watched.”

His hand moved down her throat, tracing her pulse — she blinked, the shiver snaking through her body almost painful in its intensity. Earnest smirked a bit, leaning in until their lips were almost touching. “Hmmm. I imagine we can convince prying eyes of the ruse.”

Ronnie tried to think of a reply, suddenly overwhelmed, trying to think of anything, but she only ended up wetting lips with her tongue. She felt Earnest exhale sharply against her lips. 

“No objections then?”   

She shook her head, the motion barely moving her head — without preamble, Earnest’s mouth closed on hers. Shit, how long had it been since she’d kissed anyone? She couldn’t even remember, and maybe it was a ruse but…   

His mouth was warm and unexpectedly sweet, and she tasted embers and wind, a fire at dawn and the sky before a storm. Her head swam at the contact, her hand finding his chest as his lips parted hers and he deepened the kiss, tongues caressing, hunger and longing seeming strangely …mutual?