I crept closer, pressing myself against the wall alongside the door and hardly daring to breathe. Low, murmured voices came from the other side. While my hearing was slightly better than a human’s, I still struggled to pick up more than a few words of the conversation.
“…vows. Can’t do that…”
“…at home… he won’t…”
“…sorry. I can talk to…”
“…please? Just once?…”
I bit my knuckle to keep from making a sound. Stavros' voice was low and firm, tempered and even throughout the whole exchange, while the woman steadily pitched higher as she seemed to grow more desperate. The door flew open suddenly and I let out a squeak of surprise, giving away my cover.
The woman’s head whipped around to face me, shock and then venom in her eyes. She continued turning until facing Stavros, sitting behind the desk looking defeated.
“Did you know this…creature was eavesdropping outside the door?” Her pinning stare returned to me. “Why is it still here?”
“Emma, you heard Zach’s talk last night,” Stavros answered wearily. “We’re giving her sanctuary here. She’s not a prisoner.”
“Well if she’s skulking around the church, listening to private conversations, maybe she should be!”
“Eavesdropping is not a crime.” Stavros leaned back in his chair. “If she truly were a demon, she’d probably be up to far worse.”
“So what are you going to do?”
“I’ll handle it, Emma. Thank you for coming to me with your…concerns. Have a good day now.”
Emma did not look pleased at being dismissed by him, despite being on her way out of the office anyway. She turned without another glance, speed walking down the hall while I took a moment to taste the emotions she threw in the air. They were familiar, but not something I tasted often.
When they hit me, a fiery mix of possessiveness, intense desire, and embarrassment, I turned into Stavros' doorway with a gleeful smile.
“She wants to bang the shit outta you.”
He coughed with surprise. “You heard that much, huh?”
“No, hardly anything, actually. But I tasted everything she felt on her way out of here.” I leaned against the doorjamb, studying him as he studied me. “But you turned her down. Why?”
“Why?” He had the nerve to scoff. “I’m a priest.”
“Nah, come on, Stav.” I stepped into the room, shrinking the distance between us. “Maybe you were at one point, but you don’t even put on a collar anymore. And you certainly don’t abstain from sins of the flesh.” Reaching the edge of the desk, I placed my elbows down and propped my face in my hands. “So why? She’s pretty. Not your type?”
“What does it matter to you?” The question was defensive, but his tone was light, his curiosity matching mine. “You haven’t been here a whole day, now you’re all interested in our personal lives?”
“Hers? Nah. Yours? Yes.” I drummed my fingers on the sides of my face as I peered across the desk at him. “Once upon a time, you would have taken her up on it, wouldn’t you?”
“I’m not that kind of person anymore,” he finally admitted. “Emma’s married and I…learned my lesson the last time something like that happened.”
“What changed?” I felt like a talk show host, salivating for juicy details.
“I dunno, maybe getting my ass shipped up here and then the fucking apocalypse had something to do with it.”
Ahh, there it was. The source of the bitterness and guilt lacing his taste—the part of him that he perceived to be a weakness.
I tilted my head into one hand, gazing at the lines of his face. Classic swarthy Greek features, with a dusting of gray in his hair and beard. Handsome with a jagged edge, in some ways even more jagged than Kais, and with none of Zach’s pretty-boyishness. There was nothing pretty about Stavros, he was all rough masculinity. No wonder married women wanted “private meetings” with him.
“You know, there’s nothing wrong with lusting after pretty women and enjoying sex,” I said matter-of-factly.
“Oh, thanks,” he huffed, cheeks reddening as his voice dripped with sarcasm. “I’ll remember that.”
“If things are so bad at home for poor Emma, you might even be doing her a favor.”
He shook his head. “No, she and her family come to church every weekend. Her husband’s dealing with a bout of depression. It would be all messed up.” His eyes sharpened, focusing on me as if seeing me there for the first time. “That was supposed to be private. I’m not sure why I’m telling you this.”
“It’s nice to have someone to confide in, isn’t it?” I smiled. “To have