“Oh, it appears to have worked! What a wonderful choice, Aphrodite! As usual, you know just what tea to pick.” “…Huh?” I said. “What?” Killian said, murderous. “Aphrodite.” The Paragon motioned to his cat—sitting in her pet bed positioned in the dragon statue’s mouth—and plopped down in the empty seat at the table. “She picked out my ‘lovers’ summer’ tea for the two of you.” Killian straightened. “I thought you said you didn’t check the label?” “For me.” The Paragon took off his spectacles and tossed them on the table. “Of course I was going to read what she picked out for the two of you! I
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Paragon/Aphrodite/Tea:
“Oh, it appears to have worked! What a wonderful choice, Aphrodite! As usual, you know just what tea to pick.” “…Huh?” I said. “What?” Killian said, murderous. “Aphrodite.” The Paragon motioned to his cat—sitting in her pet bed positioned in the dragon statue’s mouth—and plopped down in the empty seat at the table. “She picked out my ‘lovers’ summer’ tea for the two of you.” Killian straightened. “I thought you said you didn’t check the label?” “For me.” The Paragon took off his spectacles and tossed them on the table. “Of course I was going to read what she picked out for the two of you! I need to know what she thinks you’re lacking.” He took a swig of his drink. “Ahhh, that’s good stuff. Anyway, in this case, she must believe you need to rekindle your romance.” When our gazes swung to the sphinx cat, she yawned, displaying a mouthful of white teeth. “You’re joking,” Killian said. “Not at all. Aphrodite is very intuitive. She knows just what people need! Just last week she picked out a very appropriate tea for the Day King when he dropped by to complain. I call it ‘calm the heck down.’ A few swigs and he was sleeping like a baby!” “Wait.” I narrowed my eyes as a few facts came into sharp focus. “Then Killian is right. Your tea is laced—with magic!” The Paragon gave me a huge smile. “No wonder it tasted flowery! That was fae magic—I thought something was off. Fae mental magics are harder for us wizards to resist, so that would explain it.” I groaned and massaged my head, until my mind caught up with me. “Wait, you laced our drinks!” I leaped out of the chair and launched myself at the Paragon, who gave a high-pitched squeal of fright. Killian caught me midair. “What was in the tea?” he said between clenched teeth. “Barely anything at all.” The Paragon retreated to the far side of his study, cowering by Aphrodite’s dragon statue. “Just a hint of magic—barely enough to make you two relax and speak your minds. But the magic is only there for the first two or three sips. And the effects are very short lived—only a minute or two!” Killian set me down, but left an arm resting on my shoulders, and together we stared the Paragon down. He rolled his eyes. “It’s such trace amounts it’s not even illegal! Just being around Mr. Studly here is more likely to juice you up given the pheromones vampires ooze. I just wanted to give you two an opportunity to talk.” When he glanced back at us, the light in his eyes was tired and ancient, matching his sham of an appearance. “What you two have is rare. It pained me to see you at odds when friendship between supernaturals is so unheard of.” Killian narrowed his eyes. “How easy is it for the fae Courts to find the next Paragon?” The Paragon squeaked.
