Page 64 of Her Demon Mate
But surely his response won’t be positive? Now that Elia’s secret is out, General Senel will feel obligated to report her to the xaphan.
And that will probably end the ceasefire,I think to myself, and my body goes cold as dread seeps into my skin.
I almost jump a foot into the air when Senel turns and walks over to the window. The sun is setting over Sarziroch, and color ripples across the sky in stages as the sunlight disappears slowly.
I am starting to think that Senel’s silence is a terrible thing, when he turns to me and bursts into a hearty chuckle.
He stuffs his hands into the pockets of his trousers and throws his head back, laughing.
My General might be laughing, but the tension has not dissolved from my shoulders yet. My jaw is still tightly clenched, so tightly clenched that it is almost painful.
But then Senel looks at me with a grin on his face, and I know that everything is okay.
“Why don’t you put the kettle on?” His voice is mild, and he lifts a hand to rub his chin thoughtfully. “I could do with a mug of hot kaffo right about now.”
I follow his orders, like I have been doing for all of my adult life.
As I make the kaffo, I do my best to make it perfectly. I am quite sure that whatever I do now determines Elia’s future.
When I turn back to Senel, the lights in my apartment are flickering on, powered by demon magic.
The sun has set almost completely, and in a few minutes, Neomia and Ediea will rise, spreading their bright light across Ikoth.
Sarziroch’s sky remains tinged with red though, no matter how dark the sky becomes. That is how it always has been, at least for as long as I have been in the city.
And it will never change. And now I’ll probably never get to go back to Bilgonith. I’ll never be able to settle down. And Elia and I will never be together properly.
“Well,” Senel speaks after he has downed half a cup of his kaffo. “The buzzard certainly deserved it.”
I choke on the hot kaffo that I just swallowed, and I cough loudly before I regain my composure.
“You don’t have to worry, my boy.” Senel waves me away as I stand and start to list all the things that both Elia and I have done.
“What do you mean, I don’t have to worry?” I ask him heatedly.
Senel sighs and folds his hands in his lap.Then he looks at me with the stern expression that he uses on the new recruits.
“I mean you don’t have to worry. I will ensure that the xaphan do not pursue this murder any further, and I won’t engage with them over this matter any longer, either.”
“But you can’t just do that,” I protest. My mind spins on and on as I think of all the ways that Senel is jeopardizing himself for me. “They’ll want answers! One of their own was killed! Would you give up if one of them murdered one of your soldiers?”
“Of course not,” the General says placidly. “But that is not the case here. Listen, we may be cooperating with them, but the truth remains that they are still our enemies. I have no interest in protecting their rights or interests.”
“What about the ceasefire? Won’t this affect the ceasefire that the King signed?”
Neomia, ever the fast one, is already halfway up in the sky. She is in her waning phase now while Ediea, who is slowly rising behind her, is waxing.
The light of the two moons is faint, but luckily Sarziroch, and most of Ikoth, is lit up. The lights of the city are run by demon magic, like the lights in my apartment, so we have never had to rely on the natural light provided by Aerasak.
My general shrugs and pulls an envelope out of the inside of his jacket. He opens it and reads through the letter inside quickly.
“I’ve been wanting to get those fucking birds out of this city for so long,” he speaks almost wearily. I cannot help but wonder at what was in the letter. “I’ll take care of it. I will take care of everything. You really do not have to worry.”
“You are telling me not to worry, but all I can do is worry,” I say to him and take a heavy seat at the kitchen table. “This is not good, for me or for Elia.”
I trust that he won’t sell either of us out. But how could he possibly solve this without exposing us? Without exposing Elia? How could he protect us?
I wonder then if I should get Elia out of Sarziroch. Maybe I should get her out of Ikoth completely.