“Holy Jupiter,” I groaned, handing it back to him. “That's the best alcohol I've ever had.”
“Smooth, right?” Bram lifted the flask to his own lips and took several large gulps. “Ahhh, hell yeah. We're going to have some fun tonight, Scorch.”
* * *
An hour later,we were sprawled out in the grass, cheek to cheek, our legs in opposite directions.
“Your face is so soft,” Bram cooed, and I laughed when he rubbed his beard against my skin.
“Quit it, you'll mark up the money maker,” I grumbled with fake annoyance.
“I don't think we should stay here. We gotta keep the party going. Let's go find Faris,” Bram suggested, pushing himself up.
I stumbled to my feet. “Yeah, I got some stuff to say to that guy.”
“Ohhh, I have an idea. What if we get him to hunt us? It would be like the cool version of hide and seek?” Bram was nodding fiercely at his own idea, and I laughed at the thought of us hiding from a blood mage. It would be ridiculous. But it sounded kind of fun, too.
“Do it,” I said and crossed my arms to wait.
“Faris!” Bram whisper-shouted, and I shushed him. That last thing we needed was to wake Gran and Rick.
“What are you doing?!” I whisper-yelled back at him.
“Calling for Faris. He'll hear me, don't worry. Faris!”
“For the love of Jupiter's cock,” I groaned, and then jumped when a whoosh of air sent my hair flying around my head.
“You rang?” Faris asked Bram, staring intently at him with his hands on his hips.
It was still strange for me to see him—identical to Fischer, but with a more carefree attitude. Fish always kept himself restrained, for fear of what his monster inside would do without a tight leash, but Faris lived with this wild and reckless abandon that I wished Fischer could embrace. For his own sake. While Faris certainly had a dark side, it did make me wonder if Fischer had been fighting his true self more so than the blood mage trapped within.
“Scorch and I were thinking about playing a game,” Bram announced confidently, like it was the greatest idea he'd ever come up with.
Faris flicked his eyes to me and back to Bram. “How drunk are you two?”
“Pfft, never mind that.” Bram waved his hand, like he was tossing the question away. “Do you want to play?” I definitely didn’t imagine the husky deepness in his voice, and neither did Faris.
“What are we playing?” Faris asked smoothly.
“Hide and seek,” I piped up. “In the woods.”
His eyes brightened at the idea, and I knew he was down. “What do I get if I find you?”
“Whatever you want, Baby Fang,” Bram said with a wide grin.
The moon broke through the clouds at that moment, illuminating Faris' face, casting shadows that made him look like a predator.
I shifted on my feet, getting ready to run. “We get a five minute head start and then you can come find us.”
“Go on then. I'll need less than that to find you fools.” He sounded bored, but I could see the rhythmic pounding of the vein in his neck, and I knew he was excited.
Bram and I caught each other's eyes, and in a flash, we were racing across the lush grass and making a break for the treeline. It wasn't pretty, and it definitely wasn't in a straight line, but we made it in good time and burst through the brush like a couple of big drunk idiots. I laughed loudly, and Bram shushed me but he was laughing too.
“Okay, so where do we go?” I asked, looking around and seeing nothing but trees.
“Follow me—I found a cave out here once. It's across a small stream too, so maybe that will help conceal our scents,” Bram explained, taking off through the thicket.
We sprinted like the devil was on our asses, and I knew in a matter of minutes he kind of would be. “There's the stream,” I panted, when it finally came into view.
