Chapter 20

Twenty

"The honor of a sorcerer must be above reproach. If it ever comes into question, it is their duty to defend it, whatever the cost." — Sorcery in the Age of Reason.

By the third day after the blood moon, Augustus was ready to tear Melbourne apart, looking for Mara.

After she had left the Blood Moon Bar so abruptly, Augustus had waited an hour for her to return before deciding to go home. Unfortunately, a blood moon brought out all sorts of crazy, so he’d been dragged into solving more than one quarrel on his way home, including stopping a kidnapping by the fae in Fitzroy Gardens.

It was precisely why he never went out for long on a blood moon. Kissing Mara had been worth the drama. It was only frustrating him because he had wanted to keep on kissing her and felt robbed of the opportunity.

Augustus had sent messages that night, making sure she was okay and that she had gotten home safely. He had messaged her again the following day. There had been no reply.

On the second day, he had decided that she was embarrassed about kissing him and regretted it so intensely that she was hiding out.

Now on the third day, Augustus’s patience was well and truly gone, and he was determined to find the store. He didn’t care if he had to beg or plead. He needed to see Mara and find out what had happened.

Underneath his frustration was a sharp spike of worry. What if the miracle had escaped her and she had died? That thought was unfathomable, but he wasn’t going to sleep again until he saw that she was okay.

Augustus roamed the streets all day, trying to find the teashop. He had always felt the hooks and call of the place, even when he wasn’t looking for it. He had spotted the red door in the corner of his eye three times, and each time, it had disappeared on him.

Something was going on, and he didn’t know if it was the unpredictable magic of Melbourne or Mara herself that was keeping him away.

But why would she want to keep you away?

She had agreed to go home with him, or at least implied she was interested in the idea, before she had run from the bar.

The sun was almost gone, and a storm was brewing when the red door appeared again on Little Lonsdale Street. Augustus lost his temper and threw his magic out at it as it started to fade on him.

The door shuddered violently, fighting against his grip. Augustus spat out a binding spell to hold it in place and tie it to the street. He ran up the steps, and the teashop stopped trying to escape him.

Augusts cupped his hands and looked through the window. There was no sign of Mara, and the sign in the window said CLOSED. He banged on the door, panic lacing his veins. What if she was hurt?

At the bottom of the red door, the cat flap opened, and Athanasius stuck his head out.

"Go away, sorcerer, you’re not welcome here," the cat spat at him.

"Wait! Did the miracle come out? Is she okay?" Augustus demanded, falling to his knees.

"The miracle is fine, and Mara will be too after she gets over you," Athanasius growled. "I tried to warn you about playing with her heart, and you completely ignored me. Damn you to hell—put me down!"

Augustus grabbed the cat by the scruff of his neck and lifted him up to eye level.

"What did you just say? I haven’t played with her heart. I want her heart."

Athanasius swiped at him. "If that was the case, you wouldn’t have kissed her and gone home with another woman! She went to your house, so don’t try and lie to me about it."

Augustus frowned, and then he realized what had happened. "There has been a terrible misunderstanding."

"I’ll say. She should never have lowered herself to kiss you."

"Not that. I was helping a woman that night, and I let her in the house to use the phone and get some clean clothes. I never slept with her and had no intentions of doing so."

Athanasius stopped struggling. "Can you prove it?"

"Yes. I know where the woman can be found, and she can tell you herself if you don’t believe me."

"It’s not me you will need to convince."

Inside the teashop, a door slammed. Athanasius gave him a smug cat smile before yowling at the top of his lungs.

"Maaaarrraaa! The sorcerer has me and is going to hurt me if you don’t open up and talk to him!"

"What are you doing?" Augustus whispered harshly.

"Saving your ass," Athanasius hissed. "Mara! Help!"

The red door swung open, and a very pissed-off saint glared up at him. Her black eyes crackled with fury, and Augustus’s insides shriveled up.

"Put my grandfather down this instant," she snarled.

Augustus held onto the cat. "Not until you talk to me."

"I have nothing to say to you."

"Then it looks like you’re coming home with me, puss," Augustus told the cat.

"Just talk to him, Mara, for saint’s sake!" Athanasius begged.

Mara crossed her arms. She looked tired, her braid disheveled, and sadness radiated off her. Had he caused this?

"The woman at my house on the night of the blood moon wasn’t someone I brought home to sleep with. She was in trouble, and I helped her."

"Helped her right out of her clothes from what I saw," Mara huffed.

"She was attacked by fairies in Fitzroy Gardens, and I helped save her," Augustus insisted.

"Fairies! Sure, Augustus. Don’t bother, really. You probably saved us both from making a terrible mistake."

"Don’t say that." Anger clouded Augustus’s vision, and he took a step towards her. "Kissing you wasn’t a mistake. Letting you leave without me was."

"I left because my miracle was trying to escape, you oaf. The ambrosia messed with it, and I had to spend hours in a freezing park, trying to get it to go back down. Now give me back my grandfather."

"Only if you come with me so I can prove I’m not lying about the woman. Do you really think so little of me that I could kiss anyone after you?" Augustus asked, genuinely hurt for the first time in decades.

Mara looked uncertain. "She opened your door in your night robe. What was I supposed to think?"

"Anything but the worst!" Augustus replied, his patience gone. He put the cat down, and it scampered inside. "I’m not leaving until I prove that I’m not lying. So you can come with me willingly, or we can do it the other way."

Mara’s chin rose. "What does that mean?"

Augustus bent down until their noses almost touched. "If I have to throw you over my shoulder and carry you to Fitzroy Gardens, kicking and screaming, I fucking will, little saint. The choice is yours."

Mara crossed her arms. "You wouldn’t dare."

"Don’t count on it. I’ll give you to three," Augustus warned.

"You really aren’t going to go away, are you?"

"No. One."

"I don’t think—"

"Two!"

Mara threw up her hands. "Fine! I’ll go. Anything to get you off my doorstep." She locked the door. "You have one hour."

"That’s all I need."

Augustus hated fighting with her, which surprised him because he generally enjoyed a good spat. It wasn’t her anger that vexed him so much as his desire to kiss her pout until it went away. He knew what she tasted like, and now he wanted her on his lips always.

They walked in silence all the way to the tram stop. Augustus wanted to take her hand, his palm burning insistently. He ignored it the best he could.

"Are you okay from pushing the miracle back down?" he asked, unable to hold back anymore.

"It seems to have gone back under my ribs. Remind me never to drink ambrosia again," Mara replied, her hand rubbing at her chest.

"Maybe not until you release the miracle anyway. I rather liked everything that happened beforehand." Augustus smiled, and Mara’s cheeks flushed with color.

"Don’t try and flirt with me when I’m angry at you."

"Don’t tell me what to do. I happen to like flirting with you, and I’m going to keep doing it. Just so you know, I am already thinking of how you can make this whole incident up to me."

Mara’s eyes flared in anger. "How about I don’t knock you on your ass for being an arrogant dick face."

A bark of laughter escaped Augustus and made the people on the tram stare at him funny.

"If I deserved it, I’d probably let you." Augustus didn’t provoke her for the rest of the trip, even if he sorely wanted to.

They got off the tram at Fitzroy Gardens, and Augustus led her through the winding paths.

"A few times a year, and most often on a blood moon, there is a weak spot here that becomes a gateway to Faerie," Augustus explained. "In 1930, the attacks became so frequent that I decided to have a warning made to mark the weak spot."

Mara stopped walking. "You are taking me to the Fairy Tree? You’ve got to be kidding."

"Not even a little. Ola Cohn was a friend, and I commissioned her to make it. Everything built up around it was to disguise what it really was," Augustus continued. "And then there is the matter of the knight."

"The what?" Mara whirled as the sound of a horse echoed on the path behind them.

The knight sat on top of a black stallion, a long black braid flying behind her and silver armor gleaming.

"Ah, sorcerer. You honor me with another visit," the knight greeted. She looked down at Mara and smiled. "You rescuing another damsel already?"

"Not tonight, Avalon. This is the saint I mentioned on the blood moon," Augustus replied.

Avalon dismounted and held a gloved hand out to Mara. "A pleasure to meet the woman that has finally softened this old bastard’s heart."

"I wouldn’t go that far." Mara shook Avalon’s hand. "How can no one see you?"

"The magic isn’t right in the air, and the sorcerer here fixed me with a glamour that does a good enough job most days."

"Avalon is one of the few fae allowed within the city. She guards the portal to make sure that no fairies or creatures try and cross over or kidnap any humans for fun."

Augustus loved the shocked look on Mara’s face. Her eyes were taking in the shining knight, the sword on her back, her sharply pointed ears, and the stallion waiting for its master.

"Avalon, be a darling and tell Mara what happened on the blood moon," he said, crossing his arms.

The knight raised a brow at him but obliged. "The eclipse opened the portal, and I had a hell of a time of it. Some smaller creatures got past me and tried to drag a poor lass off. With Augustus’s help, we stopped them from hurting her too badly, and he took her to safety. What’s this about sorcerer? Is the lass okay?"

"See for yourself," Augustus said as the woman in question came up the pathways. She waved at them, and Mara’s eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Hey, I know you!" she greeted Mara. "I was hoping you got home okay. You looked like you had a hell of a night."

Mara mumbled something incomprehensible.

"It is a pleasure to see you in one piece, Miss Cassie. I trust you are recovering from your ordeal," Avalon said, bowing at the woman.

"I am. I told Augustus that I wanted to see you again and thank you properly." Cassie smiled shyly, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Would you like to walk with me?"

Avalon gave her a dazzling smile. "It would be an honor, my lady. Good evening, Augustus. Mara." The knight and the woman walked off together, the horse trailing after them.

Mara’s mouth opened and closed and opened again. Augustus held out his hand. "Come on, saint. Let’s go home and have a drink before the storm comes."

Mara didn’t look at him, only slipped her hand into his with a sigh.