Bound to Earth

3: Fear Not, I'm a Certified Alcoholic

"So, tell me something interesting about yourself." I tugged Alistar into the restaurant and to the bar.

"What do you want to know?" He frowned.

The bartender slid up to me, his one eye flicked between Alistar and me. "Well this is an abnormal sight, Mistress. The usual?"

"Yes, please." I nudged Alistar with my foot. "What did you want?"

"Do you have any fae wine?" Alistar hooked his ankle around mine, preventing me from taking my foot back.

Nodding, the bar tender walked into the back where most of the exclusive alcohols were stored.

"Did you grow up in the fae realm?" It was rumored the leaves of the trees never fell, and the waters never ran dry.

"Yes, I was born there." 

"How'd you end up on Earth?" Traveling through realms was nearly impossible. You needed to find an existing portal or find someone strong enough to open a new, temporary portal.

He let go of his hold on my ankle, turning toward the bar. "I was exiled."

There was nothing I could say to take his sadness away, but I could make the lingering fear disappear. Resting a my hand on top of his, I slowly pulled the fear off him. "Did you have a family?"

"I'm the youngest of five." 

Taking my hand back, I stopped pulling at his fear. Most of it was gone anyways. "What happened?"

He clasped my hand, tugging it back to him. "My brother and father died."

My own sorrow burned my heart. Before I could say anything, the bartender slid a wine glass to Alistar, and a whiskey glass to me.

Alistar leaned down and sniffed my drink. "Is that fae ale? How did you get it?"

I swirled the ale. "I have my ways," I said, brining the cup to my lips. 

Fae ale was one of the strongest alcohols anywhere. It was known to knock even the strongest of supernatural beings on their ass in a matter of minutes. Most fae could hardly stand it themselves.

I was going to need a shit load more of this if I wanted to get through tonight.

"Stop." Alistar grabs my wrist.

His grip wasn't rough, but I was tempted to snap his wrist anyways. The only thing stopping me was the fear I sensed. 

Fear for me.

"Do you have a death wish?" He dragged my hand down to the table.

"Do you have a death wish?" I fired back. "Next time you grab me, I'll slice your hand off."

He let go of my wrist, muttering an apology and sipping his wine. 

I tilted my head back, letting the heat of the alcohol sear my throat. My eyes watered by the time I finished the whole glass, and I grinned. This was the shit.

Alistar choked on his whine, frozen where he sat.

The bartender refilled the glass when it touched the counter and set the to-go containers of food next to Alistar. "Are you trying to get drunk tonight, or a small buzz?"

"Neither." Something bad would happen with me drunk and four hot men in my house. Something would go wrong with me sober, as well, but at least I'd remember what'd happened sober.

"Then this is your last one." I came here enough times for all my bartenders to know how many drinks it took before I was done.

"What the hell are you," Alistar breathed.