The tiny bundle of joy bounced in her seat, happily bobbing her head up and down in agreement. “Yeah, you make Demi’s face all red.”
I choked on my own saliva. My cheeks immediately felt the burn of Renee’s comment and I was pretty sure my entire face turned beet red the second the sound of Rhyzel’s amused laughter filled the room.
“I have never seen her get that red in front of a boy before.”
I seriously wanted to escape from the awkwardness but Rhyzel was in my way.
“She’s very perceptive, isn’t she?”
Unwilling to meet his gaze, I opted for staring at Renee instead. If she had been able to understand her statement I would have called her out on it, but being that she was only a small child pointing out an observation I had no choice but to keep my embarrassment to myself.
Lucky for me our waiter friend, Mary, decided to make an appearance just then and save me from the mortification of being stuck in a very awkward scenario.
“Hey, girls.” She greeted us with her usual grin and then added, “Sorry for the wait. I’m super busy today.” Imitating my infamous roll of the eyes, Mary fished a tiny notepad from her apron’s pocket and searched the other one for a writing utensil.
I smiled back. “We can see that.”
Unable to locate the pen in her other pocket, she reached back for the one she kept stabbed through the top of her bun before addressing all three of us. “What will it be today?”
“The usual for us,” I was quick to answer.
Mary smiled while shaking her head and noted down our usual order of cheeseburger, fries, and a strawberry milkshake. “Of course it is. When have you girls ever ordered anything else?” she teased. “What about your companion here?” She turned her attention to Rhyzel.
“You’re going to have to ask him.” I kept my gaze on Mary the whole time.
“Whatever they’re having is fine.” He relaxed on the seat, sitting up straight with his hands folded on top of the table. At least he was keeping his hands where I could see them.
Mary observed him for a moment, taking in his bad boy image with unmistakable appreciation. Mary was my age and we’d met during our senior year of high school. Although she was a great person, I’d never gotten to know that much about her until I started to frequent Linda’s Café and Grill. Then we began to engage in a friendly relationship.
Though I’d often wondered why I never became friends with her in the first place, I was appreciative of the fact that at least I’d had the opportunity to get to know her better. Unfortunately, due to her work schedule and my babysitting duties, we couldn’t find the time to meet any other time than when Renee and I happened to be in the area and wanted something good to eat.
After perusing my unwanted companion for a full thirty seconds, she turned her attention back to me and tossed a look of what can only be described as approval. That made me even more uncomfortable. The last thing I wanted was for her to get the wrong impression and think Rhyzel and I were dating.
“Cheeseburger, fries, and strawberry shake?” Mary asked Rhyzel.
“Make mine a bacon cheeseburger and a chocolate shake, please,” he responded nonchalantly.
“Okay, I’ll be right back with your orders.” She winked in my direction before sashaying away to greet customers who’d just sat at the table next to our booth.
“I guess I have her stamp of approval, huh?” Rhyzel’s voice sounded low in comparison to the clatter going on around us. As usual, Linda’s Café and Grill was jammed packed with midday traffic and the sounds of people talking, moving plates, and movements filled the room making it difficult for me to make out Rhyzel’s words even as he sat right next to me.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Even though I was aware of his eyes on me, I kept my attention on Renee—who had reverted back to drawing a scene depicting trees, flowers, and a beautiful set of purple and pink butterflies.
“I take it you two know each other.”
“What’s it to you?”
“Just making conversation,” he replied with a shrug of the shoulders.
“Why are you even here? Is there no other place you can sit?” I broke away from Renee’s paper to look around the room.
“I happen to like it here.” He scooted even closer until our thighs touched, sending a shiver down my spine. “You can’t just run away from me like you tend to do.”
I pushed myself against the bags and their contents in order to put some distance between us. Granted, the distance was only about two or three inches, but at least our bodies were no longer touching.
“What do you want?” I gritted my teeth as I gazed straight at him. “You know I don’t trust you any more than I do any other de—” I stopped my retort short when I recalled we weren’t alone. Taking a moment to allow myself a glimpse of my charge, I noted her scrunched up face and realized she was too concentrated on her newest masterpiece to pay attention to us.
“Boy?” he finished.
“Right. I don’t trust boys. You, especially.”
He actually grinned. “I take it boys, like subtlety, are not your strong suit.”
I made a face at him. “I’m not discussing my love life with you.”
“What are you willing to discuss?” He reached up with his left hand to remove a lock of my hair blocking his peripheral vision, causing me to flinch. Truth was I didn’t want him to touch me again. He obviously thought my reaction was due to fear, not how he affected me. “Easy, there. I’m not going to hurt you.”
I scoffed loud enough to momentarily gain Renee’s attention. “You’re no match for me.”
“We’re just going to have to see then.”
“Let’s get something straight here; we are anything but on friendly terms, so when it comes to my personal life, I’m not open to discuss anything with you. And as for my warning, which you appeared to have brushed off easily, you’ll know just how dangerous I am if you mess up in any way.” My statement didn’t appear to have any effect on him whatsoever.
“I got that.” He shifted on the seat so he sat facing me. “I really don’t know what has you so upset, but I haven’t done anything to warrant your distrust. I may be a de—” he stopped to spare a glance in Renee’s direction, which I also did. Noting she wasn’t paying attention, he continued by adding, “Boy, but I’ve never hurt anyone.”
I opened my mouth to respond, but Mary showed up with our food just as I thought of a hundred ways to retort. I would have loved to tell him off, but the timing was off. Not only were we in a crowded place where our conversation could easily be overheard, but Renee was sitting literally three feet away.
After presenting us with our orders, Mary excused herself and walked away to attend a customer waving a hand back and forth to get her attention.
“Your word means nothing to me,” I finally said. “Boys lie.”
Rhyzel stared at me—I mean really stared as if he was trying to look beyond what he could see and read what was hidden underneath. If he could see the doubt that assailed me he would know how confused I actually was. He was half human. That should have accounted for something, but his demon side was evil. I knew that for a fact because no demon in the history of demonic existence had ever been anything but pure, unadulterated evil. Therefore Rhyzel—at least one part of him— had to be, too. I only wondered how often he fought that side and how many times he’d lost.
It was more than curiosity that forced me to ponder over and over again the possibilities that he could be hiding more than a few secrets. And even though I’d cast a truth spell and had interrogated him, there was still a small chance that my magic had been ineffective to some degree. After all, my ring should have been able to detect his presence, seeing as he was at least half demon, but it never vibrated, changed colors or temperatures when he was around, which was more than a little confusing.
For all I knew he could have found a way to bypass my magic somehow. I had no clue if anything he’d said s
o far was true or not. He could be feeding me lies and maybe, once I’d let my guard down, he’d take what he wanted. Demons were experts at manipulating, lying, and planning.
One thing I was absolutely sure of though, having him near didn’t help me at all. For some reason whenever he was around I felt vulnerable, something I’d never experienced before. I was used to being in control and these mixed feelings were new to me.
Looking away from the intensity behind those unusually colored eyes of his, I proceeded to cut Renee’s cheeseburger into four equal portions to allow for easy consumption. Once that was done, I poured some ketchup on her fries and said, “Eat up, Renee.” I slid the plate in front of her and rewarded her with a smile which she immediately returned.
“Yum.” She grinned. “I’m starving.”
I removed the box of crayons and paper, setting them aside before digging into my own food. It wasn’t until I took that first bite of burger that I realized just how hungry I really was. It had been a long morning and as midday rolled by, I was beginning to feel the brunt of it.
An awkward silence fell as we ate. Normally, Renee would try to make conversation even with her tiny mouth stuffed with food, but even she was quiet. I knew she could feel the tension between Rhyzel and I.
Once her burger was gone, and most of her fries, she looked up at Rhyzel and asked, “You go to school with Demi and my sister, Mina?”
Rhyzel looked up from his plate. “Um, no. I don’t know your sister.”
“He just moved into the area, Renee.” I took her half empty plate and set it aside. “Finish your drink.”
“Okay.” She reached for the glass and pulled it close. “You look familiar.” She looked at Rhyzel.
Alarm bells rang inside my head. “He does?” I spared a look in Rhyzel’s direction but the guy was as cool as a cucumber. Seriously, he didn’t even flinch. I hated that he always seemed so in control of his emotions while I couldn’t even keep myself in check in front of him.
Relinquishing her hold on the glass, Renee tapped her chin with her index finger as she cocked her head to the side. It was a move she normally made whenever she was trying really hard to remember something.
I held my breath as I waited for her to provide any details that would prove me right about his stalking tendencies.
After about a minute though, she shrugged and said, “I think he looks like Mina’s boyfriend.”
Releasing some air, I shoved my plate aside and quickly busied my mouth with absorbing the delicious strawberry shake through the straw. I truly expected her to say she’d seen him before, or knew him from somewhere. Then again, the guy did live in the same apartment building we did.
Once I had my fill of liquid, I set my drink aside and said, “He’s not Mina’s boyfriend anymore.”
Renee merely smiled. “I know.”
To Rhyzel I asked, “So, uh, you don’t know Mina? She lives upstairs.”
He shook his head. “No. I don’t spend a lot of time at home. College and a full time job keeps me plenty busy nowadays.”
“Right, well, we have to leave. I think we’ve been exposed to your…uh, presence for long enough now.” The way his nose wrinkled when I mentioned the word exposed didn’t go unnoticed by me, but I really tried to put it as nicely as I could, considering his origins.
“Gee, thanks,” he practically growled.
“Hey, that was me being nice.” I looked directly at him.
“If that was you being nice I’d like to see what you’re like when you’re pissed.”
“Oh, you don’t want to see that side of me.”
“Oh, I think I do.” He was being dead serious. I could tell by the way he held my gaze. There was no hesitation at all behind his look. “I’m curious about one thing, though.”
“What?”
“You’re so keen on reminding me of what or who I am.” He leaned in closer until I could feel his hot breath caressing my right ear. “But I wonder what would happen if all your friends—all the people you’ve known throughout your life found out who you really are and they weren’t so accepting. What would you do? How would you react? If you were in that position, then and only then would you know what I feel every day of my life.”
Without another word he got up, looked at Renee, and said, “It was nice meeting you, Renee,” before walking off in Mary’s direction.
Stunned, I only sat there and stared at his back as he strolled away with his chin held high. Witch or not, at that moment I felt like the worst person in the world. I had no idea what his life was like. Whether or not he had friends, he did give the impression of being alone—lonely.
A part of me wanted to run to him and apologize for being so rude, but the other knew it was best not to trust him, be friendly, or even acknowledge that some part of him was human. If I wanted to keep those I loved safe then I had to treat him as an enemy.
Walking past the booth without so much as a glance in my direction, Rhyzel stormed out of Linda’s Café and Grill to his neon green and black Yamaha. He put on his helmet, turned on the engine, and drove off in a rush of screeching wheels.
Chapter Twelve
No Answers
It was hard to say if Rhyzel’s attempts at conversation were just his way of being friendly, if his desire to talk to me was a consequence of loneliness, after all, I was only assuming he had no one, but as I watched him drive away my stomach felt tied in knots. I couldn’t shake the guilty feeling that assailed me.
“Why did he leave so fast?” Renee stood up on the seat. “I wanted to see the bike up close.”
I directed my gaze to Renee. “Sit down.” I motioned with my hand for her to take her seat. “I think I might have hurt his feelings,” I confessed.
Renee furrowed her brow. “You? Why?”
I shook my head this time. “I don’t know.” I did know but I couldn’t tell her that. “Let’s just go home, okay?”
She nodded. “I’m tired.”
“When we get back I’ll read you a story and you can take a nap. Does that sound good?”
Normally she fussed a bit whenever nap time rolled around, but it was obvious she was tired. “That sounds good. Can I draw after my nap?” Her eyes lit up as she waited for an answer.
“I thought that’s what you were doing now.” I picked up the piece of paper and held it up for her inspection.
She grinned. “Crayons aren’t good for drawing. Pencils are better.”
“Well, you have me there.” Glancing around the room, I spotted Mary standing in front of the counter, talking to her boss. I lifted my hand to get her attention and she excused herself and headed in our direction.
“Hey girls, you done here?” She began stacking plates.
“Can you give us the check please?”
Mary stopped stacking plates and gave me a puzzled look. “What do you mean? The guy you were with just paid for your meals.”
I gasped aloud. “He did what?”
“He even gave me a nice tip.” She winked at me. “Who is he, anyway? My God, he has the most beautiful set of eyes I’ve ever seen. Did you notice how they look like they’re actually greenish red? Does he wear contacts?”
I shrugged. “He’s my neighbor. I don’t really know him that well. We just met.” I grabbed my shopping bags and stood up. “I don’t know if he wears contacts.” I was pretty sure he didn’t, but I thought it better to keep that info to myself. Motioning for Renee to grab her backpack, I waited as she scooted off the seat and to her feet.
“Are you two like an item?”
The shock must have been readable on my face because she cracked a laugh.
“Relax, girl. Geez, you look as if I asked if you were pregnant or something.”
“Um, we have to go. Thanks for everything.”
“No problem.” Mary picked up the piece of paper and box of crayons and handed them to Renee. “Here, this is yours.”
“The crayons, too?”
“It’s on the house. Court
esy of Linda.” Mary gently tugged on one of Renee’s red curls much like I always did.
“Thanks.” The tiny girl beamed at her.
I waited for Renee to fold the piece of paper and slip it inside her backpack along with the box of crayons.
“Sorry I couldn’t sit down and chat with you girls for a while like I always do. It’s super busy today,” Mary said to me.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll call you later.”
“All right then.”
“Bye, Mary.” Renee finally stepped forward and slipped her hand in mine.
Mary waved at her. “I’ll see you again soon.”
“Bye.” I waved too just before strolling out the door.
Although I wanted to pretend the whole scene with Rhyzel hadn’t affected me, deep down it had. And as if his abrupt departure hadn’t been enough of a surprise, now I owed him for our meals. Why had he paid for our lunch orders after the way I’d treated him?
I honestly couldn’t understand the guy. He didn’t make sense to me at all. Nothing about him made sense.
Shaking my head in frustration, I picked up my pace and continued to our apartment complex. Since I didn’t want to think about Rhyzel, I opted to make conversation with my little charge. Being the happy chatterbox she usually was, getting her to engage in conversation took no effort on my part. Renee, in spite of her young age, made for very pleasant company, especially on days like these when my mind tended to get ahead of itself.
As Renee and I walked we spoke about silly little things like what she thought her upcoming school year would be like, what her teacher would look like, to how many drawings she’d doodle after naptime. We even engaged in a few rounds of I Spy with My Little Eye to keep ourselves entertained.
Eventually we made it home and I decided to kill some time by giving Renee a shower, organizing her bookshelf, which had seen better days, and finally by reading her favorite bedtime story. Exhausted from the day’s events she barely made it halfway through before she fell asleep on my lap. By the time I tucked her in it was already three o’clock.
I slipped quietly out of Renee’s bedroom and went in search of Mina again. When we had first arrived we’d found her gone. I assumed she had run out to see her new love interest so I paid it no mind, but when I stepped out of her sister’s room I noted she still wasn’t home. Even though Evan had probably prohibited her from going out because of her snobby attitude, I wondered why she had decided to take off without texting me to let me know she’d be out by the time we got back.
Keeper of the Innocents Page 14
