The Short Demon King

Chapter 39

"Well hello dear neighbors!" I recognized that fakely enthusiastic voice. Eiling. "I was hoping I could join you all for dinner tonight. I even brought sandwiches!"

She held up a plate of four meatball sandwiches and smiled at Kevin, waiting for him to let her in. I appeared behind him and glared at Eiling, warning her to leave with my expression alone.

She completely ignored me, still smiling at Kevin until he reluctantly stepped aside to let her in. Why did he have to be such a people pleaser?

I pulled him to the side and frantically searched his eyes for a reason, desperate to convince him to kick her out. But he seemed as concerned and pained as I did. We had no polite excuse to refuse her, so he had to let her in.

But why did she have to come again? We just kicked her out yesterday! I braced myself for the worst and followed closely behind the evil angel.

Eiling placed the plate of sandwiches on the counter before whipping around to face us, her gray hair nearly smacking me in the face. She clasped her hands together enthusiastically.

"I really do hope you don't mind me inviting myself over like this. It's just so rare to meet people like me around here and I thought we could really be just the greatest of friends!"

I felt sick to my stomach. "Friends?" I parroted back.

"Of course! Didn't I already say we could really help each other? If you stop being so stubborn about this, it'll be a lot easier for the both of us to get back home. You know you can't do this without me."

"Sure, I can. I've already made plenty of progress without you."

She snickered. "Like getting rid of the horn? That's kind of the opposite of what we're trying to achieve here."

"There is no we!" I shouted back, fully bracing myself to attack her.

"Hold on, let's all calm down for a sec here!" Kevin jumped in between us to keep a fight from breaking out. "Why don't you two sit down and try to talk this out instead?"

I hated the idea. I hated her even being here! But I also didn't want to seem like more of a monster to them by beating up a seemingly helpless old lady. I grumbled softly to myself before sitting at a stool and staring Eiling down. I'd watch her and make sure she didn't hurt anyone.

"Fine," I acquiesced, keeping my gaze fixated on her. "So why did you actually show up uninvited again?"

She leaned against the counter to think for a moment. Kevin and Maya stood across from her on the other edge of the counter, curious to her reasoning as well.

Eiling finally explained, "I wanted to share some food with you all! I've been teaching myself how to cook this human food for a little while now, so I might as well share some!"

"Uhuh..."

No one would believe that obvious lie. She clearly had something planned, but what could she be trying to accomplish?

All three of us stared intently at her, a heavy silence weighing on the room. She shifted her weight uncomfortably and her smile dropped slightly.

When the silence grew too much for her to bear she suggested, "Why don't we eat now? That will show you that I really am here just to deliver sandwiches!"

I glanced over at the two humans with an eyebrow raised, but they didn't understand what was happening either. They shrugged before accepting the meatball sandwich that was essentially shoved into their hands.

I was about to go over and investigate their sandwiches when Eiling threw one at me, completely diverting my attention. I caught it easily, making sure to prevent it from spilling and making a mess, thenlooked over at her annoyedly. What the hell?