Sympathy for the Demons (Promised to the Demons #1) - Lidiya Foxglove Page 0,32
tasted one and it had a good nutty flavor.
I wondered if Bevan has olive oil. Butter might do just as well…
Hm. Look at me, wandering off and thinking about cakes! No one even asked me to make a cake. But why do I get the feeling that we might need one…
I heard surprisingly soft footsteps coming down the path behind me, so soft that I thought it would be Bevan, and I was shocked to see Variel coming after me. He was such a huge monster of a man, treading on the floor of leaves, but clearly he knew how to move through the woods quietly without thinking twice about it. He immediately grabbed me in one of his thick, muscular arms.
“What are you doing, going off by yourself, slave?”
“Excuse me!” I tugged my arm back—or tried to. I immediately felt a little shakiness in my stomach, but once he let go of my arm, I still wasn’t as nervous around him as I was around Bernard. “I’m not your slave. And I’m not in danger. I’m just gathering up some pine nuts.”
“You don’t know what sort of dangers lurk in these woods.”
“I’m not far from the house! I don’t sense anything. Do you? Plus, I’m good at hiding if I really needed to.”
His eyes swept the scene, with the river burbling gently over some smooth rocks, flashes of sunlight catching the waters. The sun was warm at the river, and my ears pricked to the distinct ‘blurp’ of a fish jumping. Grilled fish would make a nice dinner too.
“I suppose…it isn’t as dangerous here as it is in the fens,” he said. “But you should still stay close so that no beasts decide you would make a good snack.”
For the briefest moment, a different sort of shakiness went through me at his tone, which sounded almost…protective. Like he had been worried that I was in danger. Bevan was the first person I’d ever met who spoke to me like he would protect me, and I thought he would be the only one, but now I wondered if people were more complicated than I realized, once I started getting to know more of them.
If I could even call a high demon a ‘person’. He was so huge, and pretty terrifying, between the red glow of his eyes and all of the sharp edges on him—he had several different ways he could tear me apart, from the horns to the claws, and worst of all—those teeth. When he spoke I thought I could see two rows of them in there. But when his mouth was closed, he actually had a pretty pleasant curve to his lips. I wondered what he would look like without all the demon bits. He might be pretty handsome.
“Don’t be a fool, Jenny,” he said.
I blushed. For a terrifying moment I thought he knew I was considering his looks. But no, he was still just worried that something in the woods might attack me, I guess.
“Did you want a fish?” he asked.
“Uh…it would be a nice dinner.”
Now he moved past me to the river. He watched for a moment, and then his arm shot out and grabbed a fish right out of the water with his claws. “My dinner,” he said. “You can have some if there is any left.”
“Well, you can have my cake,” I said. “I like to share.”
“Cake?”
“Pine nut cake.”
Bevan was sweeping dust out the front door.
“Bevan!” I called. “Do you have olive oil?”
“Yes.”
“You do!? Really? What about vanilla?”
“I have that too.”
“That’s the most wonderful thing I’ve ever heard!”
“Is it?”
“I can make you my pine nut cake and it’ll be just right! Wait—wait—do you have oranges?”
“No…”
“Oh. I forgot about the orange zest for a moment.”
“I have dried lemon peel.”
“Well, that might do.”
“What’s all this for?” Bevan asked. “Do we need a cake?”
“I think we do need a cake,” I said. “I think maybe everyone always needs a cake.”
“I don’t need any cake,” Lord Variel said. “I’ve caught a fish for my dinner. Grill it for me, rare.” He handed Bevan the fish, as it finally stopped flopping in his hand.
“What are you going to do?” Bevan asked.
“I will—request that you do not ask what is not your business,” he said. Then, as if he’d just thought of it, said, “I need a horse. I am a lord, and am used to traveling with speed. I’ll go hunting and bring the catch to a market to procure a fine horse.”