Raging Storm {book 2 in SOSfanfic series} [ON HOLD]

Mad Smiles

Rikkard froze. He didn't breath. He couldn't breath. Reyna smiled when she noticed. A sort of smile that promises you death by the end of the hour. A smile that steals away hope.
And Rikkard knew. He knew when she saw that man, she smiled the same smile.
There was so much pain in her that she used it like a poisoned fruit. She would put it in her cupped hands and offer it as if it were water to a blind man in the desert. Her smile would say: here it is. Do you want to taste it.

And she surely knew even a lick could kill any man. Only heaven knew if she still had the capability to become human.

"And then I threw the knife I found. My first throw. I didn't miss."

"You killed him." Rikkard finished with a hoarse voice.

She looked down to where she was playing with the blades of the grass and shook her head slowly.

"I just heard him scream. And I realised that I loved that sound. So I tied him up until he couldn't move. And then I used my bare hands to dig into his chest and pull out his beating heart." She finished softly.

The cicadas were quiet. The water had shut off. There was just the wind, centuries old.

Rikkard felt bile rise up in the back if his throat. His eyes pricked painfully.

"Ifrit." His voice cracked.

And she looked up as if it was her name.

Ifrit.
Ifrit's Den.
The Devil.

It was her name.

Rikkard felt his heart miss a beat as a chill went down his spine.

As if Reyna could understand what was happening to him, she smiled again. This smile was like a bouquet of roses given to a lover on her funeral, it reeked of pity and regret.
No matter from which hell she crawled out from, Rikkard would always love her smiles.

She swung her legs back and folded them till she was kneeling on his side. She was sure-footed, as if she wasn't drunk at all. She leaned forward and put her hand on his, which was resting on his knees. The other she used to cradle his jaw till he turned his head to face her.

No one knew in whose eyes the tears were but the stars grew a little brighter as the night became a little darker.

Then she leaned forward and kissed him softly. A human kiss with no sorcery. Just a broken man and a broken girl shouted out from their hearts as their lips met in silence.

Rikkard didn't know whether to pull her and kiss her harder or to laugh in relief or to let his heart stop till he was dead. He certainly didn't feel dead as he sat still.

She broke of when the kiss grew salty with someone's tears. Then she put her head down in his lap and went to sleep.

-*-

They all gathered around the table at dawn for breakfast. Koeyla was bearly-eyed and Karim was a little tense. Mr. Ambrose more so. Reyna woke up and stumbled her way out of her room. Koeyla almost cracked a smile but chose wisely not to when she saw Reyna's scowl.

Reyna sat down gingerly and raised a steaming cup to her nose.

"Did you make this infernal herbal thing?" Reyna eyed the cup first and then Koeyla.

Mr. Ambrose tried to ignore how groggy Reyna's voice was when she woke up early with a hangover. It was deep, adorable, cracked, and so godamned low that Mr. Ambrose wanted to shift in his seat to find a comfortable position to sit in.

Koeyla looked up and shrugged. Grunting in disgust, Reyna put her cup down. Then she eyed Mr. Ambrose's steaming cup of coffee.

As revenge, Mr. Ambrose finished his drink in one go and set the cup down, purposely close to the person who looked like an ifrit. When Reyna peered in to see it was empty she scowled at him.

"Would you like some tea?" Koeyla asked Karim who looked surprised and then nodded briskly. As if that would convince everyone that his ears weren't flaming red under that huge turban of his.

Reyna snorted, then shook her head and narrowed her eyes at Koeyla. She was too cheery this morning to not be up to something.

Karim returned back to packing while Reyna saw Koeyla slip salt instead of sugar into his drink. Way to much salt.

The girls grinned at each other. The devil's job was not a part-time one.

Reyna hid her grin behind her hand as Koeyla sweetly gave the tea to Karim. He gave her a small smile.
Ah, the irony.

Koeyla stuffed her fist in front of her face as well as they both expectantly watched Karim take a small sip.

First, his eyes widened. The he grimaced. Then he threw a look at Koeyla to see both of the girls staring back at him with such sweet smiles that could make a kitten sick.

Reyna bit her lip to stop laughing so hard that she felt he akin break. Koeyla used her other hand to push her fist against her mouth to avoid and chuckle to slip out. Mr. Ambrose was blissfully unaware.

Then.
Then Karim looked Koeyla straight in the eye and didn't break the eye contact till he drank the entire cup. He put the cup down, folded his arms and glared at Koeyla while imposing his height on her.

For a minute there was a stunned silence.

Then Koeyla and Reyna burst into laughter. It was so loud that Mr. Ambrose dripped whatever he was holding and the pigeons in the courtyard flew away in a loud flutter.

The girls laughed like dying seals because they could breath. They held their stomach and banged their heads against the table. The moment they would slow down for the pain to subside and to breath for a second, they would either look at each other or at Karim and burst out laughing again.

Both the men glared at them. They only laughed harder.

Between the laughs, Reyna winked at the usual glaring Mr. Ambrose.

Even the devil has to have a little bit of fun.