Page 8 of Deadly Avarice
I’d lost count of the number of times I’d sighed. For some reason, I couldn’t stop. What I also couldn’t stop doing was looking at my phone. I’d pulled up Tenzen Huxley’s contact information probably as many times as I’d sighed. It was a repetitive pattern that seemed to have no end.
“How long will you continue staring at that device?”
I counted it as a win that I only jerked and didn’t leap from my chair. My heart hammered for thirty, maybe forty seconds before quieting. I didn’t even glance Aurelia’s way. I simply continued staring at my now darkened phone screen. Tenzen’s information once more faded from view.
With yet another sigh, I answered, “I’m not sure. If recent events are anything to go by, then it might be another hour or two.”
Aurelia wasn’t impressed. “You are becoming increasingly boring.”
I softly chuckled. “Yeah, well, you won’t hear me complaining. Boring isn’t always bad, Aurelia.” Sometimes, boring was blissful.
I heard the softthumpof Aurelia’s combat boots as she walked across the kitchen floor. I was surprised when she pulled out a nearby chair and sat. Aurelianeverdid that. Raising my head I stared, blinking and wide eyed. If Aurelia noticed my surprise, she didn’t say. Instead, she wiggled out of a pair of familiar backpack straps and set the odd backpack, plastic bubble and all, on the table.
That backpack used to house a kitten, Little Fang. But as far as I knew, Little Fang was happily living in Minnesota with Navarre.
I started to ask about Little Fang, but the words never made it out of my mouth. Wood chip shavings could be seen through the clear plastic. They shuffled around until a tiny, furry face revealed itself.
This time, my blink was slow. I think my mouth fell open as I stared at the small rodent residing in Aurelia’s backpack. Pointing a finger, I asked, “Is that a mouse?”
Aurelia huffed. “Hamster. Or so Peaches tells me. It is a ridiculous creature. Completely useless.” Aurelia flicked a finger at the plastic bubble. The hamster didn’t seem too chuffed by the sound or movement. It simply moved toward that finger, its nose twitching and whiskers dancing back and forth.
I leaned forward, staring through the plastic. “A hamster. Why?” Aurelia’s current master,a pixie named Peaches, found Aurelia’s previous pet, Little Fang, on his orchard chasing and attempting to eat the colony of sprites Peaches cared for. I could kind of understand Peaches giving Aurelia the kitten to care for, but this… I was at a loss.
Aurelia shifted and the move displayed her unease. Arms crossed under her generous breasts, Aurelia’s flannel slipped from one shoulder, showing off the tank top below. Her large ears hugged her head and were pierced along their edges withmetallic rings. Aurelia’s plump lips pushed out in what I could only describe as a pout. An annoyed pout.
“Peaches believes the loss of Little Fang bothers me.”
I’d been staring at the hamster, lightly tapping the plastic bubble as the little fella placed his paws on the plastic and chased my finger. Glancing up, I raised an eyebrow and questioned, “Is that so?”
Aurelia’s pout turned into a sneer. “It is a ridiculous notion.”
Tilting my head, I considered those words before glancing back at the hamster. It did sounds ridiculous, and yet, here was the hamster. If Aurelia truly didn’t want to cart the thing around, she wouldn’t. Peaches would neverwishAurelia to do something she didn’t want. That’s how I knew this was her choice. Aurelia was all about choice and she’d made hers where the hamster was concerned.
Waving a hand at the backpack, Aurelia said, “I do not understand why I cannot have a scuttlebutt. Why must thesepetsbe such useless creatures?”
I swallowed hard. This wasn’t the first time Aurelia had brought up wanting a scuttlebutt. Scuttlebutts were of Fairy, and they were dangerous creatures. I’d met Wendall’s scuttlebutt, Trinket. While loving to those Trinket liked, she was deadly to those she found offensive. Scuttlebutts had a double row of razor-sharp teeth and their mouths opened to near a 180-degree angle. They had prehensile tails that could wrap around someone’s neck like a boa constrictor and suffocate them, maybe even snap their neck.
I shivered at the thought of such a creature in Aurelia’s already dangerous hands. That’s just what the world needed—an all-powerful djinn with a pet that could either take a chunk out of your carotid artery or strangle you with their tail. Yeah, that sounded like a great idea.
“Yeah, I…uh… Maybe Peaches is working up to a scuttlebutt.” I had no idea what else to say. Honestly, Peaches probably wouldn’t see the problem with Aurelia having one. Most likely Peaches’s bonded and beloved, the vampire king of the Southeast, Lucroy Moony, had put the kibosh on Aurelia having a scuttlebutt. Assuming that was the case, King Moony and I were, once again, in agreement when it came to Aurelia.
“Perhaps,” Aurelia absently agreed. “May the insignificant creature run around in its ball? I have no idea why, but it seems to enjoy the activity.”
I nodded. “Sure, that shouldn’t be a problem.”
It was surreal, watching Aurelia dig into her backpack, pull out one of those clear plastic balls, reach into the outer pouch and grab the hamster, place it into the ball, and then allow it to run around. The sound of the ball rolling across my hardwood floors was a little grating, but I didn’t mind so much. The little hamster took off. It rolled into a wall or two but seemed to get its bearings and then was off again.
I heard the ball rolling down the hall, the sound becoming increasingly distant. I had a disturbing thought and said, “You are not leaving that thing here.” Aurelia came and went as she pleased. Popping up here and there and leaving just as quickly and rarely with so much as a by your leave.
Aurelia’s Caribbean blue eyes glowed with increased intensity as she stared at me. “Fucking hell, that’s exactly what you were planning on doing.” Pointing a foolish finger Aurelia’s direction, I said, “Don’t even think about it. I donotwant a hamster.” I would have rather taken in Little Fang. I had this disturbing notion that my home would become a kind of shelter for all the pets Peaches foisted on Aurelia that she didn’t want. It was a bad precedent to start. “I mean it, Aurelia. When you leave, the little rodent goes with you.” I didn’t necessarily have abeef with hamsters, or rodents in general; I simply didn’t want this one.
Aurelia’s stare was intense and if it was anyone else, I might have backed down. I didn’t. This was an important line to draw in the sand. With an annoyed huff, Aurelia’s eyes dimmed, and she turned her head, gaze staring off into the kitchen. “Fine,” she answered. “It is your choice. I will not force it upon you.”
“Thank you.” The way Aurelia phrased her response eased my concerns.Choice. That word was sacrosanct to Aurelia. She wouldn’t take choice away from anyone just as she valued her choices above all else.
Aurelia shrugged by way of agreement before changing the subject. “Why have you been staring at that electronic device? It is not even showing any pictures.”
Aurelia wasn’t all that up-to-date on today’s modern amenities. When you could pop up wherever you wanted, whenever you wanted, a cell phone wasn’t really all that necessary.
