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She walks toward the front door instead. The apartment is small, so she doesn’t go far. She opens the door a crack. From the corner of my eye, I can see Malon sit up straight, his eyes narrowing. He doesn’t like being around the priest and the demon hunter, which I guess I can’t blame him for.
When he wasn’t around them, he was relatively normal. I think he’s feeling pretty skittish now, from the way he’s looking at them, from the way he’s wrapping his fingers around the side of the desk and pressing hard until his knuckles practically turn white.
But just from a quick glance, there would be no way to tell.
I only know because I went to school for this.
Trine wraps her arms around Misha’s neck and presses her body to his. He hugs her hard, his arms around her waist, his face buried in the crown of her head. “Hi,” he says as he pulls away. “Hope you didn’t have too much fun without me.”
“Only a little bit,” she replies softly. “You were missed. Both of you.”
Even from here, I can tell that Salinas is blushing. It’s weird to see him like this. He clears his throat. “Can we talk to you?”
Trine nods. “Of course.”
Luke and Misha exchange a significant look. “It would be better if we could speak to you in private,” he says. “We have some information that we think you might want to know.”
“What information?” Malon says, getting to his feet. I think it comes across as more aggressive than it’s supposed to be.
Trine glares at him. “They’re allowed to tell me whatever they want.”
I stand and walk toward him. I would rather deescalate than have a physical confrontation–fights aren’t really the way to solve anything–but I’ve never dealt with a demon in the flesh before, so if I have to kick the shit out of him, I guess I will.
Malon falters under Trine’s gaze, though. “Of course,” he says. He’s only talking to her. “I just…I’ve never lied to you.”
Bryony clears her throat. “I’m going to uh…”
Trine turns to look at her.
“Walk the dog,” Bryony says under her breath.
She walks toward the door–without a dog, obviously–and slinks out, closing it softly behind her.
I can tell Trine is trying not to laugh. When she sets her gaze on Misha, her face falls.
“Fine,” she says. “We can talk in private.”
“Wait,” I say. I can tell what they’re trying to do and I don’t know if this is going to work. Trine is just going to feel like they’re trying to turn her against Malon and he’s done nothing but protect her. “Misha? Let’s go outside for a minute.”
Misha narrows his eyes, but he nods. He knows better than not to listen.
We stand outside, next to the railing of the balcony. Misha looks like shit. His dark hair is getting in his eyes, his nail polish is chipped, he needs to shave. His usually immaculate clothes are surprisingly wrinkled. The whites in his eyes are sprinkled with burst blood vessels.
“What are you doing?” he asks. He sounds more defeated than angry.
“I don’t think trying to separate them is the right approach,” I say. “I think it might be better if you speak to her in front of Malon.”
He laughs, the sound surprisingly bitter. “What are you talking about, doctor?” he says, scorn obvious in his last word. “If we have that conversation with her when Malon is there, all that’s going to happen is that he’s going to deny everything we’re saying.”
I understand that he’s scared and worried about her, but it annoys me a bit when he decides to throw my credentials in my face as if I don’t know what I’m talking about. He hired me. He knows that I know what I’m talking about. He doesn’t always want to take my advice. This is one time I really hope he does.
“Right, but if you do it in a different room, then you’re not going to be able to rebuff anything he says later,” I reply. “Think about it, Misha. If you have a private conversation with her, she’s going to feel like she owes one to Malon. He’s already in her ear. He already knows everything she thinks. You’re at a massive disadvantage here since he knows literally everything about her.”
Misha looks into my eyes. He’s obviously thinking about what I just said. “But then, what chance do we have if we talk about it with him there?”
“It’s probably not that much more,” I tell him. “Look, I’m just leveling with you, you know that what I’m saying makes sense. I don’t know if she’s going to listen to you full stop, but if you give Malon a fighting chance, she’s going to perceive what you’re doing as fair. And it’ll give her something to think about. Even if she isn’t immediately on your side, you’re going to be able to implant a seed of doubt in her mind.”
Misha groans. “Fine!” he says. It’s a little petulant, but fuck. At least he is listening to me. “But if you’re not–if you’re wrong, just so you know, I’m going to be really annoyed.”
