“Maybe.”
Or maybe Meldoesmake them herself, and she’s especially gifted at making terrible baked goods.
But, hey, maybe this is an opportunity! Maybe you can get Ziros a job somehow as a chef for a cafe. That’d be cool!
Extra rent money,andmaybe the cafe would actually benefit.
If nothing else, it would be a good deed to anyone else misfortunate enough to think the ones currently in the display case looked edible.
If only there were a way not to hurt your boss’s feelings while bringing it up.
Speaking of work…
Now that you’ve finally managed to swallow the last dry crumbs of pastry, you guiltily remember what you meant to ask Ziros several blocks back:
“Is it really okay we left Lizzie working there by herself? I don’t want anything bad to happen to her. Or to a customer.”
“She’ll be fine. Any non-magical human will be. Loads of human places have been built close to fault zones since all eternity, and nothing bad happens—usually. Except for the occasional monster sighting, that is, but nobody believes those anyway. Where do you think all the monsters of legend came from? Every culture’s got ‘em.”
You hope he’s right.
And you glance around, but fortunately nobody seems to be paying your conversation any mind. All the other pedestrians here are on their phones or pulling out umbrellas, hurryingtoward their destinations as the first thick raindrops splat down from the dark clouds overhead.
“Here,” Ziros says, wrapping an arm around your shoulders. “You’re getting wet.”
Before you can protest that you’re fine, he waves one hand, and a stiff breeze blasts all the raindrops away.
Hopefully, everyone else on this sidewalk stays too busy to notice.
You know you should protest to him so brashly using magic in public like this, but it’s kinda nice.
His arm is hot and comforting around your shoulders, and you let yourself sink down against his side as you walk, the warmth of his body lulling you into relaxation as the steady rhythm of your steps fades together into one.
Sy
—On a rooftop high above—
What the hell is that damn brother of mine doing now?
I’ve never seen him like this.
He’s playing her. He must be playing her. He’s using that little human to get whatever he wants—probably his freedom—and then when he’s done twisting her emotions to his end, he’ll dump her.
He doesn’tactuallycare about her.
No way.
I know that bastard better than to think something like that.
Ziros
There’s pretty much only one rule when it comes to immortal happiness. One rule that’s more important than any other:
No matter what you do, never fall for a human.
You’re way better off if you hate them.
Or in Sy’s case, flirt the hell out of them, but never make arealconnection.
