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“Um.” Elia is very clearly uncomfortable with the question. “I don’t know. Both my parents are dead.”
It is clear that any more questions in that direction will not be welcome.
“How long have you been in Sarziroch?” I need to persevere. Hopefully she’ll open up to me eventually.
Hopefully she’ll stop acting so strangely.
“About five years.” Her voice is almost listless. But then it twists, becoming hard and sharp. And suspicious. “Why do you ask?”
I shrug, and take my time answering as I hand her a small plate of cake.
“I’m just curious about you, Elia. I just want to get to know you. Is that so wrong?”
My voice is mild and almost gentle, although I cannot keep the edge of annoyance out of it. Elia must sense my irritation, because her eyes flash dangerously as she takes her plate of cake.
She is a human, so I have never seen Elia as a threat. But the flash of light rippling across her eyes just showed me someone else. Instead of seeing a fragile human, for a split second, I saw a woman capable of hurting just about anyone.
She takes a cake fork, and we eat in silence.
The air in Sarziroch is particularly humid tonight. I have opened all the windows of my apartment to let the cooler evening air in, but it hasn’t helped much.
The cake is decadent. It is a spongy, moist creation of nimond beans and kaffo beans. I love getting cake from this particular patisserie, and tonight it is especially delicious.
But Elia says nothing. She eats up her slice of cake wordlessly.
I cannot ignore the irritation that is rising within me.Any other woman, human, demon, even gorgon, would have commented on the cake! She is saying absolutely nothing!
“Are you okay?” I ask her eventually. My voice is hard and dull.
When Elia looks up at me, her eyes are flat and her mouth is pressed into a hard line. For a minute, her eyes shimmer, looking almost glossy, and I wonder if she is going to cry.
“I’m fine.” She pushes her chair away from the table and stands. “Thank you for the night. I really enjoyed myself.” Her voice is as dull as mine just was.
I stand up, my fork falling to the table with a clatter. “You’re leaving?” I can’t keep the hurt out of my voice.
To my surprise, Elia lets out a mirthless laugh and turns to me.
“Do you really want me to stay?”
“Of course, I do! I invited you here, didn’t I?” I wince at the tinge of desperation that laces my voice.
You’re a demon! You’re stronger and faster and more powerful than the woman in front of you, but she has reduced you to a ball of desperation!I would feel ashamed of myself, but I am too angry and confused at Elia to worry.
She brushes past me and heads for the door.
I grab her by the arm just before she can reach for the door handle. Elia whirls around, and I see that flash in her eyes again.
“What is it?” she hisses, nearly spitting the words at me.
“Why are you acting like this? First you seem like you want to be here, like you want to spend time with me. And then you flip a switch and act like you don’t even want to see my face!”
Elia sighs almost impatiently.“Listen.” Her voice is tight and measured, as if she is forcing herself to remain calm. Again I am convinced that she could be dangerous.
She could be dangerous to you. She could hurt you.
It was just a flash across her eyes, and I don’t know why that convinces me that Elia could probably rip my head off if she wanted to.
Regardless of this new feeling, I don’t let go of Elia’s arm. Instead, I pull her closer to me, so that she is standing in the curve of my body and can feel the heat rolling off me.
