The Ocean's Heart (The Dragons of Flareia Book 2)

Chapter 30 - Nemi

           

The Black Hole, The Barren, Umbrassé

26th Year of the Ocean

Last Day of the Fifth Moon

Nemi wanted to scream. There was a reason the Stellustris met every week at the Crystal Tavern on the outskirts of Illustris rather than The Black Hole, and that was because The Black Hole had grown too small as the Stellustris expanded. Which was why Nemi was this close to smashing a glass, kicking everyone out and turning the lights out when the majority of the Stellustris had squeezed themselves into her bar. Shai was nowhere to be found. She could barely as Sana to work with her broken arm. Lora had heard the commotion, hid her face behind a silver veil and got to work cleaning dishes out the back.

Ison Fehey's boisterous laughter reached Nemi's ears from the far corner of the bar. She hoped he would be sober enough to lead the Stellustris tomorrow, or Cor's plan would fall apart. But she'd seen the look on Cor's face as he'd left earlier, hand-in-hand with his gorgeous Gaian boyfriend, and she doubted he'd care if the world ended tomorrow. She couldn't remember seeing anyone so loved-up. Love was a luxury many Umbrassis couldn't afford.

"Hinc itur ad astra," she murmured under her breath. It was the Umbrassé mantra, engraved into the arch leading inside the Palace of Stars. To Nequami, it probably meant nothing. To the people it was a wish of good fortune: from here, we go to the stars. Before he had died, before she had been taken in by Kylan's family, Nemi's father had explained it meant that once you hit rock bottom, the only place you could go is up. She hoped Cor would continue to do so, hoped his boyfriend would help him.

"What was that?" asked a too-drunk customer with one-too-many missing teeth. "If you want to whisper sweet nothings in my ear, you'll have to come a little closer, sweetheart."

Nemi hid her gritted teeth behind a sweet smile and leaned in close to his ear. "The sweetest nothing," she breathed, "would be taking the knife in my pocket, shoving it into your thigh, and watching you bleed out on my floor before a healer could arrive to help. And that's exactly what I'll do if you talk to me like that ever again." She leant back, smiling once more. "Got that, illia?"

The man nodded stiffly then downed what remained of his drink. Nemi savoured the satisfaction of watching him scurry all-too-quickly from the bar, his companions staring after him in confusion.

"Thinks he left the stove on," she told them with a shrug.

As she moved back behind the bar, Nemi noticed Sana, too, had thrown on a veil and started working. Her left arm was still in a sling, yet she seemed determined to carry four flagons in her right hand. As she sidled past a table of Stellustris members playing cards, one of the flagons fell from her grip and rolled across their game. Luckily, it was empty, but the man closest to her spun around.

"Careful there, illia," he crooned, "d'you need a hand?"

Nemi couldn't help but notice his hand – around Sana's waist, inching dangerously lower. Something in her snapped, and she was out from behind the bar in a flash. No other man would touch Sana. Not after that bastard, Ivenya. But as Nemi moved, several things happened at once.

The other three flagons in Sana's hand fell to the floor.

Kylan appeared in the bar, his gaze turning instantly dangerous as he noticed the man touching his younger sister.

And finally, Sana slipped her left arm out of the sling and slammed her bandaged forearm across the man's face. A loud crack echoed around the bar, followed by a howl of pain as the man fell to the floor, blood streaming through his fingers where he covered his face.