“I almost feel like I might be hungry later,” she says with a smile. “You are right though. A nap is probably what I need.”
Seri starts to close her eyes, but Solo jumps up on the bed, meowing his displeasure at being left out. She holds her hand out for him, and he rubs up against her before he curls up in a ball on her chest.
“Solo needs a nap, too.”
“Solo sleeps all the time,” I reply. “His biggest concern in life is where to take his next nap.”
“And the bark on the floor,” Seri says. “He’s very concerned with keeping us safe from stray bark.”
Seri closes her eyes, and I hold her close as her breathing regulates. My own eyes droop, and soon I succumb to sleep though it doesn’t last long.
One of the logs on the fire drops to the side, sending sparks everywhere. Nothing is in danger of catching fire, but it’s enough to pull me out of my slumber and causes Solo to jump off the bed to investigate. I watch him nose around at the debris on the floor before he wanders into the bathroom.
I close my eyes again, but additional sleep isn’t in the plan. Instead, while holding Seri in my arms, I ponder what I should do to get more information about the man in Whatì.
When she wakes, I tell Seri to just relax while I cook up fish, rice, and some carrots. Solo is very interested in the fish, and I give him a few small pieces. He plays with them for a while before snarfing them down, then prances up to Seri for more.
I watch Seri closely while she eats, waiting for a sign that she’s become someone else, but nothing happens. After the meal is through, Seri insists on doing the dishes while I attempt to come up with a way to get a hold of Netti or Iris.
Iris is the one I need to talk to, but I don’t know how to cause her to come out. I try to form a mental checklist of all the times she has appeared to me. The first time I saw her was at the gas station when she called me an asshole. The next time was when Seri felt threatened by me, and she pulled out a knife. After that, Iris appeared only when she was horny.
Hmm.
I glance over at Seri in the kitchen where she’s finishing the dishes. She seems relatively distracted, so I walk over to the fire and poke at the coals. I add a few logs and the heat cranks up. Taking another quick look at her, I remove my shirt.
I stand in front of the fire, casually warming my hands. I stand up a little straighter, turn from side to side and stretch, flexing my muscles in a way I hope doesn’t look ridiculous.
I don’t have to wait long.
“My, my, my. You are a sight, aren’t you?”
Iris sashays over to me and runs her hands over my bare stomach.
“God, I love your body.” She grins that maniacal grin right before she leans in to lick one of my nipples.
I take her by the wrists and hold her away from me.
“Not now,” I say determinedly. “Right now, we need to talk.”
“Talk?” Iris takes a half step back and glares. “Talk about what?”
“I want you to tell me who is looking for you.”
“Fuck you.” Her eyes go dark, and she grits her teeth as she pulls her arms out of my grip.
“You can curse at me all you want,” I tell her, “but I still need an answer. I saw him in Whatì. He’s close, and he’s not alone. You have to tell me everything about him, and I’m not taking no for an answer. I need to know who he is so I can protect you.”
Chapter 21
“Do you have any more of those damn cigarettes?” Iris flops down on the bearskin rug and waves her hand at me.
“Yeah, sure.” So, Iris smokes, too. I definitely should have found myself some paper and a pen to take notes on all of the differences, but it’s probably a little late for that now.
I put my shirt back on—no reason to keep tempting her—and light a cigarette. I hand it to her, and she takes a long drag, coughs once, and then takes another puff. I light one for myself and then lean back against the chair, eyeing her.
“You’re just going to fucking stare at me until you get your answers, aren’t you?”
“Yep.” I smile and raise my eyebrows at her.