‘That’s so annoying that you can do that. Am I that predictable?’ She pauses for a few moments, stirring her tea. I shrug and she grimaces, rolling her eyes. ‘Xander, maybe a week more. You, indefinitely, or at the very least, for as long as I feel like it.’ Her blatant honesty provokes a smirk. Siara chokes on her tea, stunned.
Footsteps jog up the pavement outside that only I can hear. ‘Hm, that didn’t take long,’ I remark under my breath. ‘You have a visitor.’
Siara’s eyes widen, clearly remembering something. Putting her tea down, she scurries to glance at the clock. Rhythmic knocks echo through the house. Panicked, she turns around, shooting me a glare. She mouths the word go before opening the door, a fake smile plastered on her face.
‘Rye,’ she says, laughing slightly. ‘You’re early.’
Why do I have to leave? I was here first.
When Siara returns from around the corner to see me still in the living room, she frowns, her eyes once again communicating cryptic messages. Rye shortly follows, our eyes meeting. Siara fumbles, trying to explain. ‘Sorry, Rye, it wasn’t plan–’
Rye cuts her off short, a blatantly fake demeanour plastered on his own face. ‘It’s okay, it’s not like we don’t know each other,’ he states. ‘Nice to see you again.’ Extending a hand, he walks forward.
Surely, he jests.
‘Ah, the vomiting boy Siara rejected,’ I say, looking down at his hand as it approaches. His jaw clenches but manages to maintain his facade. When he gets close enough to block Siara’s view of me, I flash my red eyes.
‘Alright,’ he says, whipping back his hand, retreating a few steps.
Siara drags her palms down her cheeks, looking obviously uncomfortable. ‘I’m going to get changed quickly. I’ll be back in five minutes,’ she says, her voice considerably higher-pitched and more unbalanced than normal. Don’t. Do. Anything, her lips mouth as she climbs the stairs behind the boy. Rye turns around, noticing our eye contact, causing Siara to smile politely to hide our exchange. He returns the sentiment, completely unaware. Then there’s silence.
I’m not leaving.
‘It’s rather cold in here,’ Rye says, his warm breath coming out as a cloud. He rubs the arms of his jacket. I make no effort into looking interested.
‘I heard your ugly frog friend burned my letter,’ he mumbles. ‘No doubt you probably had a hand in that too. You know it took a lot of work to explain why I didn’t show up that day.’ His voice tangs with annoyance.
I turn to him, somewhat surprised. ‘Cutting right to the chase; I don’t hate that.’
I never liked this human. I had assumed him to be flaky and weak. Yet, here he is being almost outwardly hostile to me, albeit behind Siara’s back. It’s not that my distaste has changed but it’s nice to not have to listen to obviously insincere niceties.
‘Teaches me to trust a demon,’ Rye mutters, giving me a bitter glance. ‘Only out for yourselves.’
‘I thought that would be common sense.’
He huffs, breathing a warm breath into his cold hands. ‘You’re probably right.’ He narrows his eyebrows. ‘And it’s not like I don’t understand. The kid just gained a new friend, so he wants to keep her for himself.’ He’s not wrong either. A large part of Xander’s affection towards Siara is selfish. A shiny new toy that gives him attention and love, that I can confidently say he wasn’t getting from his previous sole companion.
‘You on the other hand, I’m not so sure. You’re a lot harder to figure out. I had one theory but I was just kidding myself, of course.’
I turn to him, arching an eyebrow. Does this kid want to die?
‘Oh, pray tell.’
He responds with a charming smile. ‘Despite showing a callous front, you seem to always be around.’
It’s astonishing to hear that coming from him. It almost makes me laugh. ‘Unfortunately, I was tasked with the job of keeping an eye on her.’
‘Yes, I’m sure it’s very unfortunate for you.’
I stop, looking over. He’s lucky I have grown more patient recently. ‘Do I hear insecurity talking?’
Rye chuckles in response, contempt written on his face. ‘I’m not insecure,’ he counters, ‘but even if I was, could you blame me? I’m only human.’ The way he accentuates human gets under my skin. Like he’s using it as some sort of leverage. My teeth clench together.
‘This human sure is quite the talker. He should be proud. All the other humans were never able to talk for this long.’
Rye faces me, a smile playing at his lips. ‘I’m assuming you mean apart from Siara, of course. She is the exception after all, isn’t she? I wonder, would you kill me knowing she would never forgive you?’
I hold my tongue, rage swelling within me. I can’t kill a human. If I do, there’s no more chances for me. Although, it’s infuriating that he thinks he has me cornered. ‘Would you like to find out?’ I say, quietly.
The human interprets my quietness for weakness and begins to walk closer. ‘Look at those red eyes. So, I was right.’ He laughs, peering up at me. ‘Have I gotten under your skin? I regret to inform you but there really is no comparison between us.’
Maybe killing this brat is worth getting dragged to hell. Although. A thought occurs. I don’t necessarily have to kill him.
‘I have no idea what you’re talking about. But you’re right about one thing.’ I grab the boy’s throat, tight enough to give him a scare but weak enough not to damage anything. ‘There really is no comparison.’
Searching for Siara’s presence, I find her still in her room doing her makeup. Plenty of space between us so that I won’t get in trouble for using my ice around her and plenty of time for some light entertainment. My ice creeps through the floorboards, grabbing hold of the human’s boots. I let go of his throat and just as I thought, he doesn’t yell or scream, or say anything at all. He is stunned with fear.
He tugs slightly at his feet, panicking. They won’t move.
I release an artificial sigh. ‘You want to hear about someone getting under my skin? I spent all this time constructing a plan so she could be saved, and she turns around and accuses me of just following orders. I’m the one that went to the Goddess. Heret-Kau wouldn’t have done anything without my insistence. You’d think I’d at least get a thank you. Although, granted, I’m partly the reason she’s involved in all this in the first place – but that was never my intention. And what’s really irritating is the fact that I don’t really understand why I’m so irritated about it all to begin with.’
The human boy isn’t listening to a word I’m saying, which is fine; he has more important things on his mind. The ice slowly swirls around his legs, climbing further and further. Up his torso. Down his arms. Each tug and squirm a little more frantic than the last, each breath turning more into a gasp or whimper. Sitting down on the couch, I relax. ‘I really don’t like you. If I’m candid, something about you annoys me too.’
That annoying arrogant smile has long been banished from his face, which is good because I really despised it. His eyes start to give that look. The look a human’s eyes give when they are pleading for their life. I’ve seen it before.
‘How unfortunate for you, you’ve gravely misjudged my tolerance.’
His eyes widen with a look of terror. He’s not babbling yet – that’s reasonably impressive. I push my game a little further, impressed by my own dramatics. The ice climbs his neck, on the edge of swallowing him whole.
