Page 39 of A Hint of Delirium

My eyes widened in shock. “Excuse me?”

“You’re excused,” she deadpanned.

Did I like Vi? I’d never been interested in a human before, but she wasn’t exactly human now, was she? I couldn’t deny the attraction I felt. The electricity that sparked every time we were near. But …

I laughed and started pacing amongst their discarded belongings. “I’ll admit I found Vi intriguing when I first met her, but she’s practically human!” I scoffed. “Our kind doesn’t fraternize with humans.”

She snorted. “Right,” she said sarcastically. “Because that never happens. Don’t forget, Vi is a halfling. That means your kinddoesoccasionally fraternize.”

That was true. Very, very true. But Vi wanted to be human more than anything, and I was the furthest thing from human.

She rolled her eyes and turned away. “I’ll pack our bags. Just keep a look-out until I’m done.” She shuffled to the back bedrooms, leaving me dumbfounded in the TV room and wondering what the hell just happened.

* * *

After portalingVi’s mom to South Florida to my friend’s house, I returned to my apartment with a bag of clothing her mother had packed for her. I found her in my bedroom watching TV on my laptop. Once she heard the whoosh of the portal, she hopped out of bed and ran to the doorway.

“How’d it go? Is she okay?” she asked breathlessly.

“Your mom is fine.” I handed her a suitcase filled with her clothes and toiletries. “Once she gets settled in and buys a new phone, she’ll call you. You should probably get a new phone as well.”

She nodded, then hesitated. “Are you sure she’s going to be safe?”

“Yes. And if anything happens, at least there’ll be someone there to notify us.” I said what I hoped, though I wasn’t sure it would play out that way. If the Ancient Order of Leviathans caught up to her and she couldn’t fight her way out of it, at least my friend would be able to tell me she was missing, and we could search for her.

She walked down the hall and wandered into my bedroom to drop off her things.

“Are you hungry?” I called out.

“Yeah!” She made her way back to the kitchen just as I pulled out a stack of take-out menus.

“There’s a really good Greek restaurant downstairs if you want to order delivery. Their spinach pies are to die for,” I recommended.

She nodded. “Sounds good …” Affecting a casual air that was anything but, she kept her eyes on the countertop and asked, “So … how long have you known?”

I peered over at her, expecting this conversation. “Only recently,” I admitted. “I was hoping you’d tell me yourself, but you stayed tight-lipped about it.”

“Do you understand why?” she asked, raising her eyes to mine, full of pain and conflict.

I shrugged. “I told you who I was and that you could trust me … I was hoping you would.”

She shook her head and dropped her eyes again. “Trust doesn’t come easily for me.”

I grinned. “I can tell.”

She rolled her eyes. “I just can’t understand how they found my mom. She’s been hiding for twenty-five years with no issue. Why now? How? What happened?”

I scratched my head, reluctant to tell her. “That … might have been my fault,” I admitted. “I paid a visit to the person who carried the orb before your mother. She managed to alert them before she died.”

“She died?” Vi gasped.

I nodded. “I killed her in case my brother came sniffing around.”

Her mouth fell open and she stared at me, dumbfounded. “Do you realize what you just admitted todoing?”

I tilted my head and studied her shocked expression. “I don’t understand where you’re going with this.”

She clenched her eyes tightly, her hands balled into fists. “The person who carried the orb before my mother was my grandmother. You killed my grandmother!”

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