AISLIN | I

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

REACHING FOR the door handle of the tavern, I pulled the door open. The rapid movement caused the wind to swirl around me as I walked in.

As I walked down the stairs to the tavern's main floor, I sighed in exhaustion.

As I reached the final stage, Arius' voice greeted me, "Welcome back."

"How did it go?" August inquired as he approached him from behind.

I reached into my vest's pocket and cautiously took out the fragile piece of paper without saying a word. They grinned and their eyes glowed with wonder.

"What does it say?" Leland asked. I moved to the side to see Evander and him sitting at a table in chairs.

I nearly told them, but something held me back, and I could not understand why. I almost told them.

"We shall worry about that in the morning." I said instead, "We have endured a long trip to get here. Let's spend the rest of the night relaxing. We can worry about the clue tomorrow."

Although I saw protests in the gazes of the boys, they nodded eventually.

"Arley, Arley!"  I hollered.  He looked at me with an eyebrow raised behind the bar island, "We'll need some rooms."

He nodded and reached into a cabinet behind him. I got to the bar and he turned and placed five sets of keys in front of me. "Here you are." He said.

"Thank you, sir." I thanked him and saluted him with two fingers.

"Welcome, Ma'am." He answered, returning my gesture.

I turned around and grabbed the keys with my right hand. "These are the keys to your rooms tonight," I said as I handed each boy a pair of keys. "If you return up the stairs we came down, you will notice another set of stairs to the right. It's a little hidden, but you'll find it. Then you can just go from there to find your rooms."

They nodded and placed the keys I gave them in a secure place. When I turned around, there was a slam behind me, and Arley had a smirk on his face and tall beer glass in his hand. The top of the caramel liquid was foaming.

I shook my head at him, "I can't. I'm working."

He shrugged, "Exactly." He winked at me and walked away, leaving me with the glass to attend to the other customers who were calling his name.

I shook my head with a wide smile and wrapped my hand around the clear glass. Goosebumps lined my arms at the touch of the cold glass. I brought the glass to my lips and drank the caramel-colored alcohol. I felt my body relax as the familiar taste swiped against my tongue.

I turned back around, resting my back against the bar. I let my eyes sweep across the floor, taking notice of the smiling faces. I couldn't help but take notice of the boy's carefree smiles. They all laughed freely. They looked..happy, and free of any responsibility. It was probably the first time I've seen a genuine smile on Evander's face as he conversed with the people around him; people he had never met before, who had no expectations of him.

Arius and August were both beaming, and Leland leaned back against his chair, a slow, genuine smile arose, and he watched everyone interact. His glowing emerald eyes clashed with my sea blue as he moved his gaze to mine. When our gazes met, he smiled a little wider, almost as if he was sending a message. I couldn't help but return a small smile. I returned the cup to my lips as he returned his gaze to the group.