Page 56 of Dark Rover's Gift

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AREZOO

Arezoo was getting tired just from watching her cousins, or maybe it was Ruvon's presence that was draining her energy. A war was waging inside of her between the effects of her trauma and her empathy, and it was all happening in her subconscious because she couldn't assign any conscious thought to it while watching the little devils.

Rohan and Arman were turning the slide into a fortress they needed to defend against imaginary invaders, while Kavir and Zaden practiced super-jumps from the swings, trying to recreate Drova's spectacular leap.

"Don't jump so high," Arezoo called out, her voice carrying the same cautionary tone her mother used. "You're not immortal yet, and you can get hurt."

Zaden rolled his eyes at her the same way she rolled hers at her own mother.

Soraya would have called it payback, and she would have been right.

Thankfully, Cyra was happy in the sandbox, using the paper cup from Ruvon's coffee delivery to build a palace.

Girls were so much easier to raise than boys. If she ever had kids, she hoped they would all be girls. Not that she would ever have children. If she turned immortal, which she should do sooner rather than later, her fertility rate would drop, and children would be unlikely.

Arezoo couldn't say she minded.

She took another sip of her by now cold coffee, hyperaware of the immortal male sitting beside her. Ruvon hadn't said much since their conversation about his past, seeming content to watch the children play while nursing his drink. The silence wasn't exactly comfortable, but it wasn't unbearable either.

"You know," Ruvon said, startling her, "you should come with me to the Hobbit Bar tonight."

She turned to look at him, noting how he kept his gaze fixed on the playground rather than meeting her eyes. "Why?"

"Fenella is working at the bar tonight, and rumors claim that she's very entertaining. She's been conducting psychometric readings on objects brought to her by bar patrons. Her readings are fake, of course, but they are a lot of fun. The whole village has been talking about it."

"Who says that she makes them up?" Arezoo frowned. "Psychometry is her talent."

"Oh, she is. That's what makes it entertaining. She might be getting real impressions from the objects, but then she turns them into wild tales. Last night, she told a Guardian that he hada passion for performing yoga in the nude on top of the roof of his house and howling at the moon."

Despite herself, Arezoo found her lips quirking up. "Maybe it's true?"

"It's not, but eyewitnesses report that everyone in the bar was laughing hysterically."

From where she was pushing herself ever higher on the remaining swing, Drova had clearly been listening. "Fenella sounds like fun," she called out, executing a graceful dismount that had the boys stopping to watch. "I'd love to check it out."

She sauntered over, her long legs eating up the distance in just a few strides. "We should go tonight. All three of us."

Arezoo's stomach tightened. "I've never had alcohol before."

"You don't have to drink anything alcoholic," Ruvon said. "I'm sure Fenella can make a mocktail for you."

"What's that?"

"Non-alcoholic cocktails," he explained. "All the presentation and flavors, but without the alcohol. You'd like them. I don't know what Fenella can make, but there is one that tastes like tropical paradise, with mango, passion fruit, and coconut. Or a more subtle one with cucumber and mint or pomegranate and rose."

Pomegranate and rose sounded like home, like thesharbather grandmother used to make for special occasions. The memory brought an unexpected lump to her throat.

"I..." She paused, already knowing what the real obstacle would be. "I'd need to ask my mother's permission."

Ruvon's brow furrowed. "But you're an adult, right?"

As if that meant anything in her household.

Drova nodded in agreement. "You're what, nineteen? Twenty? Why would you need permission?"

Heat rose up Arezoo's neck. How could she explain? How could she make them understand that in her family, in her culture, unmarried daughters didn't do what they pleased, that her mother had already been through so much that she didn't want to stir things up, especially for something as inconsequential as going to a bar?

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