"You know you aren’t terrible company when you’re not trying to kill yourself or begging for treats.”
His little beady eye blinked open. “If you don’t give me treatssss, I'll eatssss babies.”
“No, you won’t,” I said in a scolding tone.
“I’m evil.”
I stood up and stretched. “You’re a sugar addict, but that doesn’t necessarily make you evil.” I also didn’t have an overwhelming need to suck out his demonic filling the way he did to Twinkies. He was what Travis called neutral evil.
“You’re evil,” he chirruped then whistled.
“You’re rude.”
Snarp burst across the room to land on the coffee table next to the book of Luxis.
“Treatssss,” Snarp screamed.
“No, you lost treat privileges, you little toilet monster. You have plenty of birdseed and water. Look, we even gave you little bells and ropes to ring and play with.” I reached out a finger and rung one of the bells.
Snarp’s beak hit the embedded stone of the book, cracking it lose in two tries.
I dove at him, but he was faster than me. He snapped up the stone and swallowed it.
A sound halfway between a scream and a yowl flew out of my mouth. My outstretched hands closed into fists as I fought the urge to strangle the feather-covered demon.
Oh dear... If the Luxis ever were into barbeques, I was most certainly going to be the main course.
The melodic ring of my phone stopped me from pursuing Snarp who was dancing along the tops of our kitchen counters. Walking away before I did something I regretted, like smack him with a broom, I was met with Krystan’s impatient voice. “Are you picking me up? Or did you expect the super mega pregnant chick to come get you?”
Snarp used the distraction to fly back into his cage.
First pointing to my eyes then at Snarp, I said, “This isn’t over.”
When I opened the door to leave, a robed member of the Luxis was there, bent over, arms out.
“I am here for the book.”
Looking over his shoulder I saw Leonidas, one of Calan’s Chevalier brothers, waiting in the parking lot.
As soon I handed the book over, the order member practically ran back to join Leonidas. Taller and broader than even Calan, Leo smiled and waved as the robed man ran past him and into the portal Leo made. His long blonde hair and beard reminded me of a certain Norse god, though this one preferred an axe to a hammer. He was my favorite of Calan’s brothers, never taking himself too seriously but still able to kick evil’s ass. He still did everything the Order of Luxis told him to, even though he knew they manipulated him
I waved back and locked the door behind me. By the time I turned around he was gone and so was the portal. Now I just had to pray Ylang didn’t notice how Snarp defaced their treasured book. Or I’d be the dead duck here.
* * *
After first picking up Krystan,then my wedding dress, we went to lunch, scoring a well-shaded table on the patio. Krystan was as pale as a vampire and I often teased her that she was likely to burst into flames if she weren’t careful.
The air smelled like fresh, hot garlic bread. My mouth watered in anticipation of the inevitable carb-fest. People milled on the streets, off to lunch dates and to do their shopping. A blue cloudless sky was set against the Flatiron mountains. Knowing spring in Colorado, we were still due for a snowfall or two, but today was gorgeous.
Reaching down, I adjusted the strap of my sandal. For once, I wore an honest to god sundress with red poppies on it, instead of tight combat clothes. My hair was loose and curled. I was embracing my feminine side for a day of wedding errands, but I still toted a bag big enough to hold my Kurki among several other portable weapons. I regretted not sticking my combat boots in there just in case, but at that point, the damn thing would be too heavy to drag around on my shoulder.
My wedding dress was safely in the car and more perfect than a dream. When the boutique owner tried to hand over a second dress, Krystan bared her teeth and went junkyard dog on my behalf, refusing to take the dress. I didn’t ask her to do that, but it was satisfying none the less.
I sunk back into my chair, reminding myself there was nothing left to worry about. Despite all that, that same uneasiness wriggled in my belly. As if I were waiting for the other shoe to drop.
It’s been months since anything dire has cropped up. Relax and enjoy yourself.
Oddly enough, trying to tell myself to relax didn’t magically produce the desired results. Go figure.
