That made no sense to her whatsoever. While Mama Lo could be a beast at times, the bears as a whole were wonderful. And so were the Dark-Hunters and others who came every year for the big bear party. “Why?”
He shrugged, then changed the subject. “What are you doing out here by yourself?”
“Not much. Akri is off with that red-headed demon, so he said the Simi could go play just so long as I don’t eat nothing not cooked by a human. But all my favorite places are closed now, so I thought I’d go find the bears and see if Jose, since he’s human, would make me up something good that wouldn’t make akri mad if I ate it.”
“Akri is Ash?”
It always amused her when others were confused by that. “Yes.”
“And the red-headed demon?”
How could he not know who that was? “Artemis the bitch goddess. You know her. She’s the one who stole your soul.”
“She didn’t steal it.”
Pfft on that. Akri said that was all the heifer goddess ever did was steal the souls of desperate people.
So Simi blew him a raspberry. “Of course she did. She steals everything.”
Standing up on her tiptoes, she stared into his dark brown eyes.
“Hey,” she said, taking his chin in her hand so that she could move his head back and forth while she examined him. “You’re hurting in there. That would make akri very sad. He doesn’t like for his Dark-Hunters to hurt, and the Simi don’t like it when akri is sad. Why are you hurt?”
“I miss my family.”
That she completely understood, and it made her heart ache that he knew her pain.
Releasing him, she nodded sympathetically. “I miss mine too. My mama was good people. ‘Simi’ she would say, ‘I love you.’ Akri loves me too.”
“I’m sure he does.”
With a smile, Simi tilted her head down so that he could see her horns which were covered by her bestest gift. “See, akri even gave me hornay warmers so my horns wouldn’t get cold. You want some hornay warmers too?”
The look on his face said that this had to be the oddest conversation of his life. “I don’t have horns.”
“You want some?” she asked hopefully. “I could give you some real colorful ones. Akri has some black ones, but he doesn’t let other people see them.”
“Ash has horns?”
“Oh my, yes. They are quite lovely. Not as lovely as mine, but they are still very nice. The Simi would say she hopes you see them, but if you ever did, you’d be dead, and I think the Simi would miss you. You seem very nice, too.”
And that made her want to make him happy.
She knew just the thing. Biting her lip, she rummaged around in her giant, over-sized, beaded purse that held the presents she’d brought for those at Sanctuary.
There were so many …
Hmm. She knew the one she wanted, she just couldn’t find it.
And then she did. Smiling, she pulled out an oven mitt that looked like a fish. Perfect!
She handed it to him. “That is quality. From QVC. My favorite place. Do you watch QVC?”
His frown deepening, he shook his head. “No.”
“Well, you should. Akri says I watch it too much, but he never complains when I shop there. They like me, too. Put me on television and call me Miss Simi. I like that.”
He handed her the fish back.
