Page 20 of Marked by the Demigod

None of the pictures are familiar, though a few are quite handsome. "Life insurance?" She flutters through them again, none of them quite the pale striking face of Jake.

There's a suspicious silence, and she glances up again. Katya's face is pale, as if guilty.

"It's...it's the not-so-nice way of referring to the marriage, my apologies," she says, after a pause. "It's assuming he only took you so he could make sure he doesn't die as easily, it's...it's almost a slur, in the community."

Aimes hands the packet back. "None of these, sorry."

Katya takes them back, and if taking back papers could be apologetic, it would be. "I'm sorry I implied that, that was less than professional of me."

Aimes stares at her for a second, then takes a deep drink, the professional comment rankling her. Like she wants to take this woman and peel apart all the layers and figure out what makes her tick. "Have you ever just..." she gestures, wide, "not given a fuck about being professional?"

The blurry bartender snickers.

"I'm the one human representative to the entire not-quite human community, I need to be professional." Katya's lips thin into a bitter smile.

Out of a lack of anything else to do, Aimes takes another sip, and the bartender fills another glass for her.

She's had more intense conversations about explicit sex with her mom. You know, back when they were still talking.

The knife still sticks in the back of her mind as odd, though as if it has to be connected. "Hey," she starts, then pauses, feeling silly. "Do you think this guy would have any reason to send me a butcher's knife?"

Katya stops mid-drink. "A what?"

"A butcher's knife, you know," Aimes mimes the shower from Psycho. "Someone sent me one to my apartment once I got back from the convention."

Katya and the blurry bartender make fleeting eye contact, then Katya sets her glass down with a click. "Well," she starts, then her face twists, "that's fucking weird."

"Yeah, I don't order anything to my apartment, but someone Amazon Primed it to me. No note, just a nice knife."

Katya slowly reaches into her bag and takes out a notebook. "Any...other weird things?"

"That's the weirdest." The bartender is staring at her, eyebrows drawn. "Um, weird sex dreams?"

Katya waves her hand. "That's normal."

"Normal?"

She sighs. "If you're not in the same bed, you're gonna miss him, and it's gonna be emotionally weird cause you hardly know him. Can I see the knife?"

Aimes pulls out her phone, flicking through the pictures. "Here." She twists her phone around, and Katya and the bartender lean in close. "Near as I can tell, it's a two hundred dollar knife that's available on Amazon."

The bartender leans in closer. "That's...a really nice knife." He says, slow, as if it wasn't obvious by the picture.

She's starting to get a bit of a grasp that he wasn't the smartest of people in this world.

Katya’s eyebrows raise, and she grabs the phone to peer at it closer. “Well, it’s bronze,” she says, matter of fact, then risks a glance up at Aimes. “It means it can kill things that steel can’t.”

Aimes just blinks at her.

"I have nothing. I'll research the brand but..." Katya sits back, hesitates, then shrugs.

"But literally anyone could buy one on amazon."

"Exactly."

"Which doesn't exactly help."

"And," Katya emphasizes, slow, "And anyone being this sneaky probably has fake bank accounts."

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