She doesn’t fight me on the issue; she knows how limited our options are. Instead, she looks pale and anxious as she packs her books back into her schoolbag before standing up. “Okay. Just… please be safe. I can’t do this without you,” she says.
Which is exactly why I have to do this. “I know.”
“I’m sorry,” Dahlia says as she reaches over and wraps her arms around me. She tucks her head against my shoulder, and I know that even though what I’m doing is absolutely selfish, I’m doing the right thing for my family because she’s all I have left.
Chapter Four
Etienne
“You are making a huge mistake,” Dyame announces.
“I’m aware.”
“Huge as hell mistake. Like triple D boob size mistake.”
“Extremely aware,” I say as I sit on Enzo’s back outside the address that Leo had given me. I’m probably making the biggest mistake of my life, but this is the first time I’ve had someone to care… or at least I just want him to care. Besides Dyame, I feel like I’ve been alone for years. And while Dyame cares for me… he sometimes has a different way of caring.
I slip off Enzo’s back as he wanders off to graze, and then head up to the front door, which I knock on.
“It’s sad that you had to resort to risking your life to get a good-looking man to notice you. I used to think you weren’t downright hideous, but it’s clear I was wrong,” Dyame says.
“You are nasty, evil, horrible, and crazy,” I growl.
I can feel Dyame’s smugness. “Thank you.”
“It wasn’t a compliment.”
“Tasted like one.”
I ignore him as I knock again a moment before the door swings open. Leo looks out at me with a raised eyebrow.
“I told you to only come if you were absolutely dying, and you look at least mostly alive.”
I smile at him, pleased to see him in something other than Anders’s disgusting uniforms. “I’m most certainly dying, and I’m positive only you can revive me. Can I come in?”
“Fine,” he says as he steps back, but I notice he doesn’t look overjoyed to see me. Maybe our relationship is still a smidge one-sided, but he’s letting me into his home. That has to count for something.
The moment I’m inside, a wonderful smell hits me, making my stomach tighten at the thought of food. “It smells really good in here.”
“I was making dinner. Would you like some?”
“I’d love some! I haven’t eaten all day. Instead, I was run out of my home and chased all over the city where I had to hide in this tiny little nook for hours for some reason,” I say. “But I did run into this super cute officer, though.” I wink at him and notice it causes him to have a smidge of an upturn to his lips.
“There has to be more of a reason why Anders wants you,” Leo says as he leads me into the kitchen just as a timer goes off.
I shrug before remembering that pulls on my side. Leo must see my wince because he turns to me and pulls my shirt up before setting his hand against the wound again. It’s like instant relief as his magic flows into me. He still can’t heal the wound fully, but he heals it as much as days on antibiotics and other care—things I don’t have access to—would do.
After finishing up, he waves at the table before dishing up two plates with pork chops and beans and a salad.
“You were going to eat all of this alone?” I ask.
“No, I knew you’d come. You’re pretty predictable.”
“Told you,” Dyame says.
I shrug. “Not even regretting it. Did you make me dessert too?”
“I sure did not,” he says with a grin as he sets a plate before me then sits down across from me.
I pick up my fork as Dyame starts talking. “Nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, slowing heartbeat, confusion—”
“What the hell, Dyame?” I whisper.
“Those are all symptoms of poisoning, which you’re going to get when you eat this man’s poisoned food.”
“What’s that?” Leo asks.
I smile big and wide, hoping it conveys that “I’m not talking to myself! There’s a monster in my head!” He continues to stare at me as I shake my head. “Nothing. I was just… looks delicious.”
“Thanks.”
I take a bite and find that not only does it look delicious, it tastes magnificent. I dive in, eager to eat every last bite. Even Dyame shuts up.
“This is so much better than our first few dates,” I say.
“First few? Are you… counting the times you tried to kill me as dates?”
“I would never try to kill you.”
“Your horse kicked me through a window.”
I wave him off in an attempt to make it seem like no big deal. “Again, I’m sure that was an accident. He’s a really good horse,” I say. “You’ll see.” I summon Enzo, who crawls out of the ground to stand in Leo’s dining room. It’s a bit of a tight fit and Leo seems to be less of a horse lover than I thought as he warily stares at the horse that’d just appeared.
“Um… that’s a horse,” he says as he looks up at the beastie staring down at us.
“He is! He’s cute, isn’t he? I stole him from some horse traders when I was a kid with the plans of selling him to someone who’d pay good money for him. Then I realized that he was too amazing, and I refused. We rode all across the land together.”
He nods slowly, oddly confused. “So… is he… sorry if this sounds rude, but… alive?”
I gasp as I reach out and cover Enzo’s ears. While I do so, Enzo tries to nibble a bite of the salad. “How dare you? Look into his face and apologize.”
Leo can’t seem to tell if I’m serious or not. “Um… sorry?”
“I’m joking. Yeah, the horse is dead.”
“So… you’re a necromancer?”
I shoo the horse away from my food. “Nope.”
“But you can bring the dead back.”
“Ehhh. In a different way, I guess. Let’s talk about you instead.”
“There’s not much to talk about,” he says as Enzo turns and wipes out a bowl that’d been sitting on the cabinet. It spooks the horse and he jumps forward, knocking down a clock that the horse then stomps into the ground like it’s a hellhound coming for his throat. I decide we’ve had enough of Enzo for one day and send him back before smiling, like the wreckage all around his house had absolutely nothing to do with me and could be simply forgotten with a smile.
“Sorry about that,” I say. “Just a little… super glue will fix all that up.”
I look over at the items currently in hundreds of little pieces.
“That’s okay. That bowl was only my last item from my family,” he says.
“Oh my god.”
“I’m joking,” he says. “It was some ugly thing that my niece picked up. Honestly, I thought it was hideous and am glad I don’t have to stare at it anymore.”
I glare at him. “You don’t make evil jokes.”