“Oh, do we have a newcomer?”Matilda asked, peering into the car.“Hello there.”
“Matilda?”The newcomer sounded unsure.“I thought your name was…”
It was hard to tell behind the ultra-tinted sunglasses, but I was pretty sure Matilda rolled her eyes.“Medusa?That’s my sister and the reason I’m here in Arrythmia.Her antics made it nearly impossible for us to live peacefully in the human world.”She sniffed and petted a cluster of the hissing snakes curled about her head.
Someone had taught the newcomer manners, because although she threw me a scathing look while she did it, she turned off the car and climbed out of the driver’s seat so she could meet Matilda properly.
Which worked in my favor because now I could ogle her properly.
She wore an oversized black hoodie and black yoga pants, with rubber flip-flops on her feet, cerulean-blue polish on her toes.The color matched her shoulder-length hair.When she tucked a lock behind her ear, I saw no less than eight piercings.The bottom one was a seashell, the topmost a trident, with tiny silver hoops in between.
She had a tiny silver hoop in her nose, too.
While she had a vaguely sulfur scent to her, she was absolutely stunning.Which, for the record, I would have thought even if she weren’t my potential fated mate.
“Daruka,” she finally said, shaking hands with Matilda.
“Daruka.What a lovely name.”Matilda beamed.Her kind’s reputation, much like mine, was entirely undeserved.One bad apple and all that.
It took me a moment, but I noticed something else about Daruka.Specifically, something that was missing.
I stretched my black leathery wings to their full length.
She didn’t even blink.
“Where are your wings?”I blurted.
She shrugged.“My shapeshifter nature canceled them out.”
“Your shapeshifter nature?”
“I’m part mermaid.”She glared at me like she expected me to challenge her, when really, all that proclamation did was make me want her more.Mermaids were hot.Not that I’d ever met one in person, but everybody knew some mermaids were sirens, and sirens were practically as lusty as lust demons.
Seven minutes in heaven in a closet?Twenty minutes in a shower?All night in a bed?Sign me up, pal.I’d take whatever I could get.
“I have so many questions,” I murmured.Could she have sex in her mermaid form?Did mermaids even have sex organs?
If they didn’t, did that mean no sex in the shower?Because that was a little disappointing, I wasn’t going to lie.
“And I have zero answers, so leave me the hell alone.”
Damn, she was prickly.“I have the perfect cure for grumpiness, you know,” I suggested.
Matilda giggled.Daruka glared some more and muttered, “Hellfire and damnation.”
I clearly did not know when to stop, because I said, “I know nothing about mermaids.Except what people whisper around campfires.Care to enlighten me, or are you going to leave me with my assumptions?”
“News flash, lust demon.I don’t care what anyone thinks of me.To clarify, you are definitely on that list.Now, leave me the hell alone.”
“Actually,” Matilda said, “if you need a place to stay while you’re in town, you’re going to have to deal with Asmoday.Unless, of course, you’ve prearranged your living arrangements?”
Daruka’s shoulders sagged.“I didn’t prearrange anything.I just left town.In a hurry.I don’t even have a change of clothes.”She sniffed and wrinkled her nose.
“Very common,” Matilda said solemnly.“And that’s where Asmoday comes in.”
I really should start handing out commissions, although, why bother when Matilda was happy to tout my services for free?
“I have an appointment coming in, so I best get to the coffee shop for my caffeine fix.”Matilda petted her snakes again.“And an update to the spell on my glasses.It was so nice to meet you, Daruka.Your hair is so beautiful.If you’d like, I’d be happy to give you a complimentary wash and blowout.Have a lovely day,” she called over her shoulder, already hurrying across the street.
