How to Save a Hero [ManxMan]

Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Picture

~Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Picture~

It is not until five minutes after Veles' sudden departure from my living room that I remember receiving a text from Aldis. Still, even though I immediately want to check my phone for messages, I wait until after I finish doing the dishes, since soapy hands do not go well with electronics. That does not mean I do not spend every second thinking about what might be in the text, ranging from some important new information to him telling me to run.

When I finally do read it, though, it feels a bit anti-climactic.

-What did he want to know?

I text him back with an apology for the late reply, letting him know that Veles is gone and telling him what the god told me about his search. A search which, in hindsight, should have been more suspicious than it was. Originally, I had just thought it was kind of Veles to take time out of his busy schedule to help me find my dad.

Now that Aldis has put the idea of the perpetrator possibly being Veles in my head, though, I cannot stop seeing facts that further confirm the idea. For example, Veles put himself into a place of power in searching for my dad, allowing him to control how far the search goes and how close it gets to finding my dad. He is also a god and could easily hide my dad from me, magic-wise. Plus, no vampire would stand a chance against Veles alone.

Though, that does not explain why the vampires smelled a human. Don't gods smell, I don't know, not human?

I have no idea what Veles smells like, but it would not make sense for him to smell ungodly, whatever that means. If it had been Lyford, I would have been more understanding, since a witch's scent can be vague enough that it could be mistaken for a human's without scent changers on the rare occasion. I doubt the same could be said about a god, but I do not know enough about them to actually say that for certain.

Can gods change their scents?

It is not until after I take a shower that I receive a reply.

-Let's talk tomorrow. I'll pick you up after work?

I text back an affirmative before opening a different text chat and sending the picture of Veles with nothing but the god's name. There is no response, but I was not really expecting one, either. I just hope the demons do not immediately start distributing the picture; it was clearly taken in my kitchen.

But then again, I suppose if Veles went so far as to kidnap my dad, that means he probably already knows and further proof that I am a spy would likely not surprise him.

Doesn't mean I want to test it, though...

Despite all the facts that point towards Veles knowing, what does not make sense is how he would know. Like with Lyford, there is no logical reason for him to know unless Miranda said something to Lyford, who undoubtedly told everything to Veles. Still, since she did not know I was a spy, what could she have possibly told Lyford that would warrant Veles' suspicion?

Unless they were already suspicious and that is why Lyford went to talk to a vampire from my coven.

Which, again, begs the question of why. I was under the illusion that I have been doing pretty well at keeping my secret a secret. I have never been followed to my meetings with the demons – at least as far as I know – and I have always been careful with what I say around Veles and Lyford. There were a couple of times where it seemed like Veles might have been suspicious, but that seemed more like a lack of trust towards a relative stranger than a reasonable suspicion towards a possible suspect. And Lyford is just a jerk one hundred and twenty percent of the time, so I have no idea with him.