"Perhaps thank him in advance?"
She was about to do that when it occurred to her that she shouldn't assume he would agree and thanking him in advance did exactly that. She needed to be more specific.
I would be grateful for any information you can provide about my son.
Thank you,
Tamira
She read the message again and then showed it to Eluheed. "What do you think? Not too presumptuous?"
"Looks good to me. Now press the arrow to send it."
Tamira found the send button and hesitated for a moment, then tapped it. Her heartbeat accelerated as the message whooshed away. A split second later, it appeared in a little bubble on the screen.
"It worked." She let out a breath. "Now, let's hope that Kalugal is more like his mother than his father and is willing to help."
"Indeed." Eluheed leaned back in his chair and took a sip from his coffee. "I'm curious to meet him and see what kind of person a union between an angel and a demon produces."
Tamira chuckled. "Areana is not entirely an angel, and Navuh is not entirely a demon. She has a little bit of darkness in her, and he has a tiny bit of goodness in him. Otherwise, their union wouldn't have worked."
"I suppose." He put his cup down. "The thing is that he doesn't consider himself evil, only pragmatic and unapologetic about his goals. I guess no one thinks of themselves as all bad. Even the worst offenders find convoluted ways to justify the atrocities they commit."
Thinking about what Eluheed had just said, Tamira wondered if it was true for all the monsters. Surely some knew that they were evil and reveled in their evil deeds.
When her phone buzzed, she nearly dropped it.
"What was that?"
"I think you've gotten a reply." Eluheed pointed to the screen. "Look, there's a notification."
Tamira tapped on it, and Kalugal's response appeared:Of course. My wife and I are home, and we would love for you to come over. Drinks and appetizers will be served.
"He wants us to come to his house." She looked at Eluheed. "He even offers drinks and appetizers."
"Great." Eluheed pushed to his feet. "Let's go."
"Wait." She motioned for him to sit down. "I need to reply to his invitation first."
She also needed to tell Kalugal that she was with Elias and he was coming with her.
Typing her reply was faster now that she was getting the hang of it.Thank you for your prompt response and generous invitation, but I'm not alone. Elias is with me. Is it okay if he accompanies me?
Now that they were safe in the village, she really saw no need for Eluheed to call himself Elias. In the few days she'd been here, she'd met plenty of immortals and Kra-ell with strange-sounding names, and she'd never asked anyone about their meaning or origins. Besides, it was time for Eluheed to admit who and what he was and ask for the clan's help to retrieve his treasures from Mount Ararat.
The response came almost immediately.Naturally, you're both welcome.
"Now we can go." She pushed to her feet.
Eluheed stood and picked up their coffee cups. "Do you know where he lives?"
"No, but..." She studied her phone, trying to remember what William's assistant had shown her. "There is a map somewhere in here with everyone's home marked. He said we could find anyone by typing in their name."
After a few more moments of fumbling, they managed to pull up Kalugal's address and get directions. The map showed a route through the village, past the main residential area to a section they hadn't explored yet.
"It looks like a twenty-minute walk, more or less," Eluheed said as he offered her his arm. "It's a beautiful day, so we are sure to enjoy it."
It was gorgeous. The green areas of the village were not as vivid as the ones on the island, but it wasn't humid, the air was cool, and the sun was pleasantly warm instead of scorching.
