Raven of Water

Chapter 7: Dark Comfort

"Can I come in?"

The voice at the door startled me as I was wiping my eyes and setting my phone on the bedside table. It hadn't been long after I'd fled from my embarrassment that Jackson had called to tear me apart for my reckless disrespect of a demon. Sometimes he and my grandfather were so similar that I questioned why I was even with Jackson. He made me feel so...small.

"Yeah." I mumbled, not really registering who the bearer of that voice was.

When the door opened, revealing the smiling, charming face of the demon Kirroz, I frowned. He was the reason for all of this. That emissary of evil was the source of all this frustration and confusion I felt, but all he did was regard me softly as he spoke.

"Are you upset?"

I just stared at him then sniffed and wiped my eyes. Clearly I was upset...

"It's really alright," he said in a gentle voice that set me off. I didn't need 'gentleness' or his reassurance that my feelings were valid.

"Yes, I'm obviously upset. And I know it's alright to be upset, demon. You don't have to give me permission to be upset..."

"That's not what I meant." The smile didn't leave his face, and something in those eyes told me he was just happy to be...here. And, I couldn't help but find myself unsettled again by the feeling that I knew him. Intimately.

My cheeks were flush as I replied. "Look, I'm not good at this magic diplomacy game, at groveling before you and stuff."

"Really? I hadn't noticed, Lex." The sarcasm dripping from his voice made me bristle as he strode in and took a seat in an overstuffed wing-backed chair next to the large bay window. The man relaxed for a moment, rubbing his hands against his hair, which was shaved close on the sides. It seemed like a gesture someone would do when they were nervous and contemplating things they were having trouble processing. In fact, I knew that's what the demon was doing. That's what the gesture meant for the demon, and the fact that I knew that was what the seemingly innocuous gesture meant unsettled me.

Because knowing something about him implied I knew him.

I knew the demon.

"Seriously.. Do I know you? I swear I know you, my lord. There's something about you that seems so familiar, but I can't place it."

"Kirroz," he corrected me, frowning in my direction as I sat on the edge of the bed with my hands folded in my lap. "And, perhaps you feel as if you know me because your blood is what brought me to this world."

When I glanced at him, I found him offering me a shrug that I knew meant he didn't completely believe the words he was saying. Then I stared at him in confusion as I looked at his face, which was deep in shadow caused by the early morning light filtering in from the window behind him. Even in the semi-darkness, I saw the spark of something in his eyes, the glint of a half-truth in that knowing gaze, but I quickly decided I'd imagined the whole thing.

"I had a good conversation with your grandfather," he said, elaborating no further about my question regarding whether we somehow knew each other, "I stressed to him he should take no action against you for the whole throwing the drink in my face thing. I deserved it."

"Umm. Cool? Thanks, I guess?" I shifted, unsure how to process the now unreadable look the man was giving me as I finally spoke what was on my mind. "But, I should apologize, too. That was out of character for me. Your arrogance didn't warrant that kind of reaction. I just feel out of sorts around you. Not myself. I'm sorry for my overreaction."

The demon paused as he processed my words, faintly smirking to himself then leaning forward in his chair and watching me intently for a few seconds before shrugging again. "Can I tell you a bit of a secret, blood letter?"