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I blinked, a laugh spilling from me before I could stop myself. So far he had glowered and flirted and taunted, but that had been an actual joke. “Just call me Cate.”
He inclined his head, but from the mischief glinting in his eyes, I doubted he would.
Since he seemed to be in a good mood, I seized the moment. “Your necklace didn’t work. I was stuck here all day.”
I had to be certain of how the magic worked before I…
Gage didn’t look at me. “It works.”
It took effort not to attempt murder on the spot. “If you aren’t going to uphold the bargain—”
“The terms were set today,” he interrupted me. “Hence, they start today, and since you received the necklace after sunrise…”
“You’re unbelievable.” A few heads turned toward us, and Gage hurried me along.
“I swear it will send you home at sunrise. Happy?”
“Ecstatic.”
A slight rumble rose from his chest, his nostrils flaring, before he gestured toward the bar. “I really need that drink.”
That made two of us.
We were a few steps from the bar when he placed a hand on the small of my back. I opened my mouth to protest and found him staring over my shoulder, a frown deepening on his face even as his hand remained possessively in place, making me more aware of him, of the warmth and steadiness of that hand, of how every nerve in my body seemed to narrow to that point of contact. I wondered how many humans had unwittingly bound themselves to fae under the influence of that strange, seductive magic he wielded.
I was still preoccupied as we reached the bar. His hand fell away, and, instantly, my head cleared. Further proof of his magical, fae fuckery. He held up two fingers. I took a step back, needing more distance between us, and bumped into the man behind me.
“Watch it,” a rough voice said.
My blood chilled as I recognized the deep timbre and whipped around to find the man from last night glaring at me.
“Manners, MacAlister,” his companion said, a trace of London on his tongue as he adjusted the sleeve of his tux.
MacAlister continued to glower at me, but the other man nodded. He was both ruggedly handsome and infinitely bored, his white hair as icy as his light-blue eyes. Gage stepped next to me, pressing a champagne flute into my palm before moving his hand to rest once more on the small of my back. I didn’t shrink away from his touch this time, even if I didn’t know what he was playing at.
“Bain.” He spoke to the other man. “I’m pleased you were able to make it.”
Bain scoffed at the greeting. “Liar. I hear I missed out on yesterday’s fun.”
I swallowed as I recalled the fun he spoke of, but I must not have kept my disgust from showing. His companion returned my stare, his lip curling back when he recognized me.
I lifted my chin. “That’s your idea of fun?”
That caught Bain’s interest. He turned his attention from Gage to me, but I didn’t shrink under his glare. I returned it.
Gage’s fingers dug into my back.
MacAlister chuckled. “He deserved what he got.”
“For breaking a bargain?” I asked.
MacAlister’s eyes flicked to Gage. “Do you always let them speak so freely?”
Oh, he did not just say that.
“He doesn’t let me do anything,” I shot back hotly. “I’m a person. Not a pet.”
Gage tensed next to me but didn’t step in.