She stared at him without moving.
Zarek attacked.
Instead of fighting, she turned with a squeak and ran for the back of the cave.
Zarek followed her, intending to stop her before she reached Astrid, but he couldn't.
The demon ran straight for her and to his astonishment she rushed behind Astrid and put her between them. The demon's wings constricted and folded in around her body as if to protect her.
The demon placed a hand on Astrid's shoulder as she eyed him cautiously. "Tell him to leave me alone, Astrid. Else I'll have to barbecue him and make akri angry at me. I don't want to make akri angry."
Astrid covered the demon's hand with hers. "Simi? Is that you?"
"Yes. C'est moi. The little demon with hornays."
Zarek lowered his claws. "You two know each other?"
Astrid frowned as she faced him again. "Don't you know her?"
"She's a demon. Why would I know her?"
"Because she's Acheron's companion."
Completely stunned, Zarek gaped at the small creature who did have odd eyes much like Acheron's. They were pale and glowing, but hers were rimmed with red. "Ash has a companion?"
The demon snorted. She stood up and whispered loudly in Astrid's ear. "Dark-Hunters are cute, but very stupid."
He gave her a peeved glare as Astrid choked back a laugh.
"What are you doing here, Simi?" Astrid asked.
The demon looked around the tunnel and pouted in a way that reminded him of a small child. "Feeling peckish. Is there any food? Something not too heavy. Maybe a cow or two?"
"No, Simi," Astrid said. "No food."
The demon made a rude noise as she stepped away from Astrid. " 'No, Simi. No food,' " she mocked. "You sound like akri. 'Don't eat that, Simi, you'll cause an ecological disaster.' What is an ecological disaster, that's what I want to know? Akri says it's me on hunger binge, but I don't think that's quite right, but that's all he'll say about it."
Disregarding both of them, the demon began searching through his weapons.
She grabbed a grenade and tried to bite into it.
Zarek snatched it away from her. "That's not food."
The demon opened her mouth as if to speak, then snapped it shut. "Why are you in a dark hole, Astrid? Did you fall?"
"We're hiding, Simi."
"Hiding?" She snorted again. "From what?"
"Thanatos."
"Pffft..." The demon rolled her eyes and waved her hand dismissively. "Why you hiding from that loser? He wouldn't even make good barbecue. Barely take the edge off my peckishness. Hmmm... How come there's no food here?" She looked speculatively at Astrid.
Zarek stepped between them.
The demon stuck her tongue out at him and returned to searching his supplies.
"Why are you here?" Zarek asked.