“Mei is staring at the toaster,” Lirin whispers against my lips, his green-blue eyes dancing.
Now that information startles me. “Why?”
“Do I look like a Strega whisperer? I have no idea what she’s doing. She’s just staring at it.”
There’s a high-pitch scream from the house, and then a flaming toaster gets thrown out and onto the sand.
Lirin and I stare at it for a minute and turn back to the ocean.
“I didn’t see anything,” I say blandly.
“Neither did I.” Lirin pauses then walks deeper. “Truth be told, the electronics baffle all of us. I know their names, but I can’t figure out what they do or how to work them. I may have accidentally blown up the microwave this morning. It had lightning in it. Was pretty damn cool, but then there was smoke, and it stopped working.”
I cover my face with my hand. “It can’t be that hard. Why can’t we figure it out?”
“I’m not sure, but it’s kind of gratifying that Mei is in the same boat.” We both still at his use of her name. We try to call her witch or Strega to dehumanize her. It’s an unspoken agreement.
Yeah, I will agree that she’s the same as us, but not out loud. Never out loud.
“Help!” Brio shouts.
“What now?” I grumble, turn, and race up the sand to the house. I walk in the sliding doors and find an angry, round, electronic thing chasing Canto.
He climbs onto the island and has his sword out, ready to attack. His eyes narrowed in concentration
“What is it? Where did it come from?” I shout as I edge into the house.
“It was hiding in the laundry,” Reed shouts from the couch, his lips white. “What kind of monster is it?”
Mei is hanging from the curtain rail, giggling.
“It’s not funny, Strega!” Reed shouts.
“It’s kind of funny,” she argues.
I have to admit; she has a pleasant laugh, and her sense of humour is fun. No, she’s still the enemy. Do not forget.
“Okay, so I’m just going to come in and get behind it.”
I get three steps in when the damn thing senses me and comes racing to eat me instead.
“What is it?” I shout.
No one has the answers. I back up and trip over. I turn onto my hands and knees and frantically crawl out of the house. Me, the warrior general of the Fae, crawling to safety, such a sight was never seen. Lirin, the useless bastard, is doubled over laughing like it’s the funniest thing in the whole world, but not for long. It follows me, struggling over the door frame.
I scramble up and toss Lirin at it. He shrieks and somersaults backwards, trying to get away from it. The thing crawls out onto the sand. It growls louder and louder, and then lets out a whine and just stops.
My shiver approach cautiously. Canto pokes it with a sword, but it doesn’t move. Just lies dead…defeated not by the Sirens, Leviathan, or witch who lives here but by sand.
I am exhausted. This world is so freaking odd.
“Someone go see Diablos and tell him that we killed his round thing,” I say with a growl.
When I walk into the house, Mei is sitting on the kitchen island, looking completely relaxed. I think she listens to the TV, but asking her would be crossing that barrier of silence we’ve erected, and I’m not prepared to do that just yet.
It’s hard to reconcile the monster who set our world on fire and this creature. She’s curious but keeps it tightly contained,she’s got a wicked side that isn’t evil but just almost naughty. It’s hard to imagine her living in a world of creatures that hunt and hate. Hard to imagine her fighting not to be eaten.
How did she survive?
