“Speak of the diable, and the diable shall appear.” I couldn’t help but blink in confusion as the woman stopped before me. Her dark blue eyes blazed in fury as she looked at me. She was a few inches taller but only with her high heels. Her skin looked as if she had spent all her life in the sun, it was so tan. She swept her platinum blonde hair away from her shoulder as she glared haughtily down at me.
Eric straightened his stance behind me and held onto my shoulders tightly as if he wanted to push me behind him. I wasn’t sure why. Honestly, she didn’t look that strong. Violent, maybe, but I had dealt with cat fights before. I hadn’t ended prettily for my opponent since I didn’t fight like a normal girl or a cat. I started to wonder if Eric knew that.
“You didn’t answer me, Eric. Why are you flirting with this… this floozy in a place where I could easily see you? You can’t seriously like her!” Had she just called me a floozy? I couldn’t even begin to voice how confused I was by the outburst.
“Charity, you are not, I repeat, you are not my amie! I am quite tired of reminding you of that.”
“But look at her! She’s puny! There are spots on her face and those clothes… Jeans and t-shirts are made for men. I thought everyone knew that.” She crossed her arms over her chest. I’m sure the men didn’t notice it, but, being a girl the way I was, I could tell that she only did it to keep them from noticing the differing sizes of our busts by the way her eyes scanned me. I almost wanted to laugh.
When Eric went to defend me, as I was sure he was about to do, I held up my hand to stop him. “You do realize, madam, that you are actually shorter than I am. You only look taller because of the heels.” I pointed down at her feet and couldn’t help but smirk at the way her face contorted in shock. “Also, my skin is freckled. There are quite a few people who have freckles. In fact, there are a few on your neck you’ve tried to cover up with make-up.” She looked horrified at my accusation while her hands flew to her neck as if to cover them up so that the males wouldn’t see. “Lastly, I’ve heard worse insults about my clothes from my mother. The most I can say is that I, at the very least, do not look like a salope.” Eric broke into a fit of laughter at my curse. I forced myself not to look behind me at Icarus’ face and focused on the now confused look on the woman’s.
Eric moved from behind me with a grin on his face before leaning in and whispering into her ear. He was no doubt telling her the meaning of the French word I had used. My suspicions were confirmed as a look of total outrage came onto Charity’s face. She tried to say something in retaliation, but all she managed was a huff as she turned on her heel, her short skirt so stiff it barely managed to move, and stormed off down the hall.
“That was amusing for an afternoon, but I have other things to do. I will see you later, Eric.” Icarus didn’t direct a word towards me, but he did manage a glance before walking off after Charity with his hands in his pockets. I’d never seen a deadlier swagger on a man…
“Let’s get you something to eat, cher.”Eric wrapped his arm about my shoulders and made me walk by his side as he turned and strode off in the opposite direction of his comrades. I should have protested his arm around my shoulders. I should have protested food, but I knew if I did, my stomach would betray me again. I would simply have to not eat if he put food in front of me like I was sure he would. Oh, that was going to be difficult on my empty stomach…
I was starving. Hadn’t I eaten before all of this had happened? If didn’t feel like it. What had happened before I had been kidnapped? Eric still hadn’t explained any of that to me. He had simply dodged the question of whether or not my kidnapping had been just another of his commissions. Should I ask him again? Why was I here? Why was he protecting me so zealously from the others? Whoever had said questions were a good thing had never been bogged down by so many at once; that was for sure.
Eric pinched my left cheek. His right arm was still around my shoulders, but we had stopped walking. Wow, that was some reverie. I couldn’t have said how long we had been walking; two minutes or two days. It probably would have felt the same, as if only a second had gone by since we had left Icarus and Charity.
I smacked the man’s hand and shrugged his arm off of my shoulders. We were standing in a kitchen. There was a young man standing in front of the stove, stirring something, I thought. The stove was on the opposite side of the room, so his back was to us. There was an island between the boy and us with a block of knives set at the closest left corner from where we were standing, a cutting board in the center, closest to him with what looked like onions sitting on top of it, and a wire book stand with what looked like a cookbook sitting closed on it to the right of where the block of knives sat.
“Devi-darling, I missed you so!” The boy turned sharply, more than likely having been startled by Eric’s sudden outburst. I wouldn’t have noticed if I hadn’t been watching so closely, but his hand dropped and brushed against the side of the pot. He cursed loudly and drew his hand away just as Eric was rounding the island.
I don’t know what made my feet move towards the two men, but by the time I realized my actions, I had already grabbed the boy’s wrist and was looking over the burn. Damn my protective nature…
The skin was already turning red from its originally tan color and slowly swelling already. “You should soak that under ice water. It will soothe the burn and stop the swelling. At most, it will be tender afterward.” I released his wrist and glanced up at Eric. He was staring at me with a knowing smile on his lips. I glanced at the boy, and he was simply staring at me curiously with those green eyes, though I was somewhat surprised he could see me through his mop of brown hair falling into his face. “Why are you both staring at me?”
“Devi-darling, this is Elya.” Please tell me he hadn’t just ignored me… Oh, I wanted to slap him so badly! But I had to keep it together… Oh gods, why was I stuck with this french buffoon? The boy lifted my chin and studied my face intently as if he could see straight through me… What was with these men and touching me?
“You were right, Eric. She is awfully cute.” He smiled at me before removing his hand from my chin. Now that I looked, he wasn’t much taller than me. Unlike Eric’s abnormal height at over six feet, this boy couldn’t have been taller than the average five foot nine or so.
Wait, I was cute? When had this been stated between the men? I scowled up at Eric who simply grinned in a giddy fashion down at me. “Now you’re talking about me behind my back, Frenchie?”
“It wasn’t as if I was saying bad things about you, cher.” Eric shrugged before leaning down and kissing my cheek. I rolled my eyes at him and crossed my arms over my chest.
“If you wait too much longer to soak that burn, it will more than likely bruise.”
“See, Devi-darling? She’s such a considerate jeune femme!” Eric pushed the boy towards the sink with a grin on his face.
“Eric, could you stir the soup before it boils over, please?” Eric picked up the spoon before the sentence had left the boy’s mouth. I couldn’t help but think this was a normal scene on any other day as I watched them. It never occurred to me to run. I never had a thought of escaping. Even if I had, I doubt I would have gotten away. I was a fast runner, but my legs were shorter than Eric’s. If he were as fast as I was, he’d have me in a matter of seconds. Even if he were slower, his long legs would make up for it.
The boy held his hand out to me with a smile. “My name is Devin Riley. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Elya.” I took his hand and bowed my head out of habit.
“I wish it were under better circumstances.” I glared past him at Eric. He glanced back and winked at me before returning to the soup.
“It’s not all bad here, love. There are plenty of decent people around.” Eric snorted behind him.
“All except the she-demon, you mean.” I wanted to… I wanted to hold back that smile so badly… Yet I failed so miserably! I hated that Eric could touch on my humor so easily. I hated that he could be so kind… So sweet... I hated that I couldn’t hate that horrible man! Despite how terrified of him I was at times, I couldn’t hate him! Ye gods, what was I thinking? I had to stop that train of thought. It was simply pure madness, that’s all it was.
I looked at Eric again and caught myself before I started thinking any other insane thoughts. However, I couldn’t stop myself from noticing that I hadn’t had an attack around him unless he was trying to force one from me. In fact, hadn’t I asked him to help me? To protect me from David? I needed to stop thinking. I just had to stop. I was becoming psychotic and there was no way I wanted to pursue the thoughts my mind was starting to brew.
“Devi-darling, could you put some food in the fille’s belly before she passes out from lack of nutrition? She won’t eat what I give her, but maybe she’ll eat something of yours.” Eric handed the soup spoon to Devin while the boy chuckled at the taller male.
“Considering your cooking could fell a hog, I think she has good intuition.” Eric feigned hurt just as he had done to me earlier.
“That’s terrible, Devi-darling! You know I’ve been practicing my cooking. You doubt my skills as a student that much?”
“I don’t doubt your skills as a student. I doubt your skills as a cook. You could follow a perfect recipe exactly and still kill whoever ate it.”
“Horrible enfant!”
“Terrible Frenchman.” The two seemed so close, but maybe Devin could help me.
“I would love to continue this banter, Devi-darling, but I must speak to le patron. Keep an eye on Elya for me.” Eric stepped past Devin raised my chin so that I was looking up at him. “I do apologize, aimer, I must break my promise, but I will be back shortly. Just stay close to Devin.” He released me and strode away in such a graceful fashion that I caught myself staring after him for a few seconds as he disappeared through a doorway I hadn’t noticed when we had walked in.
“Will soup be all right, Elya? Is there something else you prefer?” I looked up at Devin’s smiling face for a few seconds as thought after thought raced through my head.
“Soup is fine, Devin.” He pulled a stool out from under the island for me to sit in before he turned his back and took a bowl from a cabinet above his head. This was my only chance… Ye gods, why was it so hard to simply ask? I took a deep breath and brushed my hair behind my ears just as Devin set a bowl of soup and a spoon in front of me. I stared at it for a few seconds before managing to look up at him.
“What’s the matter, Elya?” The smile on his face was gone, replaced by a worried frown. “Do you feel sick, love?” He placed the back of his hand against my forehead, pushing my bangs out of my eyes.
“I’m not temporarily sick, Devin, but… I do have some questions.” Devin removed his hand and took a seat in one of the other stools.
“What about, love?” I paused for a second and stirred the soup in my bowl with the spoon. I’d suddenly lost my appetite.
“About Eric.”