Before Isiea got too close, the bartender rose up from behind the counter and narrowed his eyes. "You don't wanna do that, love," he warned. His dark hair was pulled back in a tail, and horns curled up from his brow. He moved to the edge of the bar, and they could hear hooves clopping over the wood. "Why don't you come over here and I'll fix you something nice? On the house, what'd you say?"

Grimalkin leaped onto a barstool and put his front paws on the counter. A human on the stool next to him sipped his drink like nothing was happening. "We're looking for Shard," Grim said as the bartender shot him an irritated look, turning away from the girls.

"Shard is busy," the satyr replied, but he didnt meet Grim's eyes as he said it, and a moment later he began wiping down the bar. Grim continued to stare at him, until the satyr looked up. His eyes slitted dangerously. "I said, shes busy. Now, why dont you beat it, before I get the redcaps to stuff you into a bottle?"

She wanted to ask who Shard was but refrained from asking questions.

"Who's Shard?" She asks. Her tone carefully isn't flat like usual.

Before the bartender could respond: "David, thats no way to treat customers," a cool female voice breathed from behind the girls. "Especially if one is an old friend."

The woman behind them was small and slight, with pale skin and neon-blue lips that curled sardonically at the edges. Her spiky hair stuck out at every angle, its dyed shades of blue, green, and white resembling ice crystals growing out of her scalp. She wore tight leather pants, a midriff tee that barely covered her breasts, and a dagger on one thigh. Her face glittered from countless piercings: eyebrows, nose, lips, and cheeks, all silver or gold. Her long ears sparkled with rings, studs, and bars, enough to make any metalhead weep from envy. A silver bar lanced through her belly button, and a tiny dragon pendant dangled from it.

"Hello, Grimalkin," the woman said, sounding resigned. "Its been a while, hasnt it? What brings you to my humble club? And with the Summer whelps in tow?" Her eyes, scintillating blue and green, looked the girls over curiously.

"We need passage into Tir Na Nog," Grimalkin said without hesitation. "Tonight, if you can."

"Dont ask for much, do you?" Shard grinned, motioning them into a corner booth. Once seated, she leaned back and snapped her fingers. A human, lean and gangly, melted out of the shadows to stand beside her, his face slack with adoration.

Isiea follows silently.

Lise glanced at the other human, then looked at Shard. Or who she presumed to be Shard.

"Appletini," she told him. "Spill it, and spend the rest of your days as a roach. Do you two want anything?" She asked the girls

"I wouldn't mind having some water." Isiea shrugs.

" ill just take water. "

The human scurried off, and Shard leaned forward. Her blue lips curved in a smile. "So. Passage to Winters territory. You want to use my trod, is that correct?"

"It is not your trod," Grimalkin said, thumping his tail against the booth cushions.

"But it is under my dance club," Shard replied. "And the Winter Queen wont be pleased if I let the Summer whelps into her territory unannounced. Don't look at me like that, Grim. Im not stupid. I know the daughters of the Erlking when I see them. So, the question is, what do I get out of this?"

"A favor repaid." Grimalkin narrowed his eyes at her. "Your debt to me canceled."

"Thats fine for you," Shard said, and turned her leer on the girls, "but what about these two? What can they offer?"