“Until you get rid of thatthing, I want nothing to do with your shop.”
Shame burned Aofe’s cheeks as she waited for the final exchange of money and the bell to indicate the demon had left. She would have turned and fled if she hadn’t needed her other crutch, but even the back workroom wasn’t safe from Kizros coming to find her. He’d reprimand her for messing up a potion and losing him a customer. Maybe tell her that this wasn’t working out and send her away for some other demon to handle.
No, might as well face that shame now. It’s not like the day could get any worse.
She peeked out of the hallway to see Kizros hanging his head as his tail swished limply by the ground. He’d rolled hissleeves up, forearms flexing as he leaned on the counter over that tiny vial returned by the customer.
Aofe remembered that one, too. How excited she’d been to have done almost every step by herself, even if he’d supervised. Obviously he’d helped with the runes, but there had been delight and pride on Kizros’s face when she’d finished. It had made her want to immediately do another, even if it was late, just so he could stand over her shoulder and give her directions. Keep talking. Radiate warmth in his laughter and proximity.
At the click of her crutch, Kizros jerked upright and turned, trying to hide the vial with his large body. His smile might have worked, if she hadn’t seen his eye twitching or the uncomfortable way he squirmed.
“I overheard,” she said quietly. “I’m so sorry.”
He deflated, shoulders sinking, and that was somehow worse. Kizros was always so bright, so happy, and she had been the cause of this disappointment.
“I’ll just go back and work on the human medicines,” she whispered, discarding the vefuricot rind as she reached for her other crutch.
Kizros’s hand circled her wrist, claws retracted, before she could grab her mobility aid. His grip was so warm, even over the fabric of her long sleeve, and much more gentle than she would have thought a hand that massive could be. “Aofe, wait?—”
“So the rumors are true,” another voice saidfrom within the shop, and Aofe suddenly remembered the second chime of the bell.
Kizros’s hand was gone in an instant, and Aofe could have sworn his teeth had elongated into a snarl before he forced a smile and turned to face the customer. “Tholvich, what brings you here today?”
A dark blue demon stepped out from the aisles, nearly a head taller than Kizros. His tail was thick and leathery, lined not in spikes, like Goldy, but slightly hooked barbs. She could see them along the muscles of his forearm, too, though they looked to be just as retractable as claws, which this demon had also not bothered to do. His smile looked broad, but where Kizros’s was soft and genuine, this one looked almost sinister. Maybe that was the terrifying dual horns on either side of his head, the top set long and curving back, the lower set shorter and sharp.
Tholvich gestured around him, but his black eyes stayed focused on Aofe as he said, “Wanted to see how things were going since I was last here. Check in on you. Won’t you introduce me?”
Beside her, hidden by the counter, Kizros’s fist curled. It was in complete contrast to his voice which remained polite, if not stilted. “Tholvich, Aofe. Aofe, this is Tholvich, my former assistant.”
Aofe noticed the demon didn’t bow in greeting. She didn’t either.
His nostrils flared slightly before he finally took those unsettling dark eyes away from her. “Business struggling abit, Kizros? I didn’t think you’d be so desperate for help when I left that you’d foolishly doom your business by leashing one of those human women. But I can’t say I’m surprised.”
More shame curled up Aofe’s throat. She wanted to defend herself, wanted to flee or bash this demon’s skull in with her crutch. But there was a malice she could feel surrounding this demon, and she was well aware of which battles she would not survive unscathed. Especially today.
“Does she speak? Or is that part defective as well?—”
“If you’re not here to purchase anything, I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” Kizros stated firmly, a growl lingering underneath his voice that Aofe had never heard.
Tholvich placed a hand over his heart, mocking a frown. “That’s quite rude, Kizros.”
“Buy something or leave,” Kizros snapped.
Just as quickly, Tholvich held up a vial, almost like a peace offering. He stalked toward them then set it on the counter, and this much closer, Aofe felt more than just fear in her gut as she noticed it was a mixture she had done.
He’d picked it out off a shelf with hundreds more surrounding it.
And known exactly which one she had made.
He grinned at Kizros’s growl, possibly at realizing the same thing. “Or maybe I’m wrong andyou’rethe real reason you’ve been losing business since the human showed up. You’ve never been so rude. Her speciesreally is a… taint.”
Kizros stared at the vial, long enough that Aofe’s shame had time to claw its way up her throat again.
“Is it true?” she asked quietly.
“No,” the green demon said, too quickly. And with the way he was keeping his back turned, she knew he was hiding his eye twitch.
He was losing business because of her.
