demon, but I wasn’t going to ask him. I already knew that he wouldn’t tell me anything.
“Are you hungry?” he said instead, which surprised me. So far he hadn’t shown any particular interest in my well-being.
And I realized I was starving. “Yes.”
He nodded, turning toward the door, and I stared at him speculatively. He was tall, maybe six two, and lean, with wiry strength that was oddly elegant. He wasn’t quite as gaunt as he had been the last time I’d seen him—clearly he’d gotten a meal or two in the interim, though he still could have used a few more pounds. I couldn’t rid myself of the peculiar sense that there was something missing when he turned his back on me. It was a strong back, broad shoulders, and muscled arms. But there should have been something else there.
He glanced back. “What are you looking at?” He sounded wary, irritated. The irritation was nothing new, the wariness a small triumph for me when I was feeling weaponless.
“Nothing,” I said. “We going someplace?”
“You said you were hungry, and I’m certainly not about to cook for you. I know a restaurant.”
“We’re eating in a restaurant like normal people?” I scoffed. “Don’t tell me—we’re on our first date.”
“We are not people, demon. Neither of us. You know that, whether you wish to face it or not.”
“ You’re not people,” I shot back. “If anyone’s a demon, it’s you. You swoop down and carry me off to impossible places, places that make no sense. So far I’ve seen nothing to prove I’m anything more than a normal human being who’s attracted a supernatural stalker.”
“Not even when you look in the mirror?”
I’d forgotten about that. The red hair, the warm brown eyes, the secretive set of my mouth, my determined jaw. It still felt strange, even after well over a year, yet oddly familiar. But I wasn’t about to give up without a fight. “I figure that’s you clouding my mind.”
“ ‘Clouding your mind?’” he echoed. “If only it were that simple. Are you coming?” He was holding the door open, and I could see a hallway beyond it.
Maybe he’d be more forthcoming when we were eating. I’d been mocking him about the date, but in fact people tended to relax when they wereeating. With luck, he’d start answering at least a few harmless questions.
Though he hadn’t done so in that diner in the bush, I remembered suddenly. He’d simply made sure I couldn’t talk and proceeded to eat, giving me no choice but to follow suit.
We were on the second floor. I followed him into the formal hallway of what looked like a movie set, down the stairs, through the heavy front door, into the street. Gray cars and trucks drove by; gray-faced people filled the streets, with their gray clothes and their gray souls. Azazel seemed like an absolute rainbow as he walked among them in his stark black, but none of the inhabitants seemed to notice that both of us were different.
I could think of a dozen different movies of people living in black and white in a Technicolor universe, and I tried to remember what they’d done to break the spell. Dorothy had traveled in a house and landed on a witch in Oz. I could only wish a house would fall and splatter bits of Technicolor Azazel over the landscape.
Pleasantville? Hadn’t people fallen in love and broken the black-and-white curse? Unfortunately there was no one for me to fall in love with, only my mortal enemy. Besides, I was pretty certain I’d never been in love in my entire life, even during those vast blank periods that made up most of it.I certainly hadn’t loved Rolf. He’d filled a need, imperfectly, and I’d already let go. I wouldn’t miss him.
I rushed to keep up with Azazel. He was barely paying any attention to me. He must have known escape was pretty much out of the question.
“Do those creatures live here as well?”
That managed to get his attention. He glanced back at me. “Which creatures?”
“You know
“Are you hungry?” he said instead, which surprised me. So far he hadn’t shown any particular interest in my well-being.
And I realized I was starving. “Yes.”
He nodded, turning toward the door, and I stared at him speculatively. He was tall, maybe six two, and lean, with wiry strength that was oddly elegant. He wasn’t quite as gaunt as he had been the last time I’d seen him—clearly he’d gotten a meal or two in the interim, though he still could have used a few more pounds. I couldn’t rid myself of the peculiar sense that there was something missing when he turned his back on me. It was a strong back, broad shoulders, and muscled arms. But there should have been something else there.
He glanced back. “What are you looking at?” He sounded wary, irritated. The irritation was nothing new, the wariness a small triumph for me when I was feeling weaponless.
“Nothing,” I said. “We going someplace?”
“You said you were hungry, and I’m certainly not about to cook for you. I know a restaurant.”
“We’re eating in a restaurant like normal people?” I scoffed. “Don’t tell me—we’re on our first date.”
“We are not people, demon. Neither of us. You know that, whether you wish to face it or not.”
“ You’re not people,” I shot back. “If anyone’s a demon, it’s you. You swoop down and carry me off to impossible places, places that make no sense. So far I’ve seen nothing to prove I’m anything more than a normal human being who’s attracted a supernatural stalker.”
“Not even when you look in the mirror?”
I’d forgotten about that. The red hair, the warm brown eyes, the secretive set of my mouth, my determined jaw. It still felt strange, even after well over a year, yet oddly familiar. But I wasn’t about to give up without a fight. “I figure that’s you clouding my mind.”
“ ‘Clouding your mind?’” he echoed. “If only it were that simple. Are you coming?” He was holding the door open, and I could see a hallway beyond it.
Maybe he’d be more forthcoming when we were eating. I’d been mocking him about the date, but in fact people tended to relax when they wereeating. With luck, he’d start answering at least a few harmless questions.
Though he hadn’t done so in that diner in the bush, I remembered suddenly. He’d simply made sure I couldn’t talk and proceeded to eat, giving me no choice but to follow suit.
We were on the second floor. I followed him into the formal hallway of what looked like a movie set, down the stairs, through the heavy front door, into the street. Gray cars and trucks drove by; gray-faced people filled the streets, with their gray clothes and their gray souls. Azazel seemed like an absolute rainbow as he walked among them in his stark black, but none of the inhabitants seemed to notice that both of us were different.
I could think of a dozen different movies of people living in black and white in a Technicolor universe, and I tried to remember what they’d done to break the spell. Dorothy had traveled in a house and landed on a witch in Oz. I could only wish a house would fall and splatter bits of Technicolor Azazel over the landscape.
Pleasantville? Hadn’t people fallen in love and broken the black-and-white curse? Unfortunately there was no one for me to fall in love with, only my mortal enemy. Besides, I was pretty certain I’d never been in love in my entire life, even during those vast blank periods that made up most of it.I certainly hadn’t loved Rolf. He’d filled a need, imperfectly, and I’d already let go. I wouldn’t miss him.
I rushed to keep up with Azazel. He was barely paying any attention to me. He must have known escape was pretty much out of the question.
“Do those creatures live here as well?”
That managed to get his attention. He glanced back at me. “Which creatures?”
“You know
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