Damaged Gods

“I would give anything to be able to go out to eat right now,” Pie says.

“You can.” I blow on my soup and then take a bite. “You don’t need to worry about me. Regardless of how I came off that first day, I can take care of myself.”

“I don’t want to go alone. And before you take that the wrong way, I didn’t go out to eat before I came here, either. Pia and I would just get something from a drive-through. Eat it in the car. But it would be nice to sit down at a restaurant and have someone serve me, ya know?” She blows on her soup too, then slurps it down.

I think about her statement. How nice it feels to be taken care of. I don’t disagree. I like being fed. I liked the horn massage she did. And when she took it to my back, fuck. I wanted to die, it felt so good.

“One day,” Pie says, “I’m gonna take you out to eat.”

“Shouldn’t it be the other way around?”

“OK. You can take me.”

“We will have to wait a whole year for that. Next Halloween. When people might accept the idea that a satyr chimera is eating in the booth next to them.”

“Or I can just learn that spell. You know, the one to make you look human. The way Grant did.”

I don’t say anything to that. I can’t blame her for wanting me to be a certain way. It’s not her fault.

I mean, I want her a certain way as well.

I want her to be my wood nymph. I want to take her back upstairs and get lost in that forest with her forever. I want her to have horns, and hooves, and fur.

I want her to be like me, the same way she wants me to be like her.

“What are you thinking about?” she asks.

When I glance over at her, she’s smiling. Big. Happy. Rejuvenated, I think. Maybe it was the hot spring? Maybe it was the soup? “Our day.” The words come out as a sigh.

“It was definitely one for the books. And I’m super worried that the sheriff will come back tonight. Isn’t there anything we can do?”

“Not the sheriff. I don’t care much about the sheriff. I’m talking about earlier.”

“Should I apologize for kissing Tomas? You did dare me.”

“Not that, Pie. I’m not talking about that. I don’t care about the kiss.”

“Was it hot?” She waggles her eyebrows at me. “Did you like watching?”

I smile. Can’t help it. But I’m getting frustrated. “No. I mean, yes. I did like it. It was hot. I’m sure Tomas will never forget that kiss. But that’s not what I’m talking about, Pie. I’m talking about us.”

She nods solemnly.

I can tell this isn’t the time for this talk. I can read a room. I just usually end up not caring. But I can’t let this go. I can’t stop thinking about it. “Why didn’t you just leave?”

“Leave?”

“You had that sheriff right where you needed him. All you had to do was drop the ring and walk out. And it would be over for you.”

“Yeah.” She sighs. “Yeah, I know.”

“So. Why didn’t you?”

She shakes her head at me. “I have nowhere to go, Pell. And I’m not just saying that. I don’t have anywhere to go. I don’t have a single relative—”

“Well, that’s debatable,” I cut her off. “Since the good sheriff of Granite Springs seems to be your kin, as they say around these parts.”

“Maybe.” And now she is really sending me I-do-not-want-to-talk-about-this signals.

“There’s no maybe. If he can come through the door, he is bloodline. And we already know you’re bloodline. So.” I shrug. “There it is. He, and whoever he has in that town, those are your people. But all that bloodline stuff aside, do you have an answer for me?”

“About why I stayed?”

I nod.

She looks away from me. “I mean, I think I already said it. I don’t know what you’re looking for here, Pell. I don’t have anywhere to go. My bird, my Pia—she’s still here. I can’t just walk out and forget she ever existed.” She must read the disappointment on my face, because she continues. “It’s nothing against you. You know that, right? I like you. A lot. You’re not a bad boss.”

Boss? Did she just call me her boss?

“And yes, I’m staying because of you. And Tomas. This whole place, really. I feel like I belong here. With you, of course.”

“And Tomas,” I add.

“And Tomas. Yes.”

I don’t know what I expected her to admit to after one romp in the hallways. Well, to be fair to myself, it was two romps. But. Whatever. I just expected… more.

And for whatever reason, she’s not going to give me what I want. Not tonight, at least. So I decide to drop it. “Do you want to know what we’ll need to do in order to ward this place again?”