Page 114 of The Shade of Things
Pyotr took one sip and spit it out. “Poison!” He clutched his throat.
Scared I’d induced some weird chemical reaction between his type of stone and lactose, I grabbed my phone to call…who? But then he stuck his tongue out, his eyes bulging, and I shook my head. Overkill, buddy. “Are you allergic to milk?” I asked in the same voice I’d use on a toddler.
“Yes.” He nodded vigorously. “Cure is make chocolate.” Yup. Just as I’d figured.
I grabbed some sweetened cocoa powder and stirred it into his drink. “How do you know about chocolate milk?”
“Malorie gave me.” Off my blank stare, he added, “My other friend.”
“Spending a lot of time with her, are you?”
“Yes. Malorie is bestie.”
Obviously, I wasn’t jealous. Any woman who had a gargoyle for a best friend didn’t have much of a life.
Pyotr made a sad face. “Fern is dead, but soon I will have new plant friend.”
“That’s too bad. What did you do with it?”
“Ate it.” He shook his head, his brows furrowed like I was missing a basic concept of plant death, and poked the box that I’d left on the table. “What this?”
“A puzzle box. It might have a demon artifact inside so be gentle with it.” I set the brownies on the table.
At the sight of the treats, Pyotr lost all interest in the puzzle box. He picked up a brownie, gingerly licked it, and a curious look came over his face. He nibbled a corner and a tiny moan escaped him, then he stuffed the entire thing in his mouth, chewing with a look of bliss. His eyes rolled back, making the sound of marbles jingling.
“What are the rules around you leaving the KH?” I said. “Do you live there?”
“You think I am Gollum living in cave with My Precious?”
“How do you know Lord of the Rings?” I narrowed my eyes. I’d never shown it to him.
“Malorie gave me book. Says books better than movies.”
“That’s usually true.” So, she had one redeeming feature. Big deal. She was still probably an oddball. “How nice of her.” I pulled the bakery box closer and selected a brownie.
“I live in Moscow,” he said, returning to my earlier question. He reached for another brownie, hesitating at the last second, his eyes flicking to mine.
I sighed. Those puppy dog eyes of his would be the death of me. “Go ahead.”
He crammed that one in his mouth as well.
“Is there a large gargoyle community there?”
“Family. Always feels like too much.” He sprayed crumbs everywhere.
“Chew with your mouth closed. And take bites.” As a responsible adult, it was my duty to model good eating habits, so I bit into my snack, making sure to chew thoroughly and swallow before asking my next question. “Were you working today? Are you allowed out during work?”
Pyotr modeled my behavior. “I’m on break before filing complaint.” He rattled the paper at me again, but there was considerably less heat in his action.
“I’ll miss you, but I had to get rid of that man, and sending him there was the fastest way. He was a bad person.”
Pyotr licked chocolate off his face. “How bad?”
“He was going to kill me and my family, and he was part of a group attempting to turn Sapiens into dybbuk hosts.” Had Jason lived he would have continued to facilitate Ohrists profiting off the human suffering in the game.
Pyotr gasped then banged his fist on the table. “Then I’m glad boss tore his head off.”
I choked on my brownie. Once I’d stopped coughing, I forced myself to visualize the grisly image. I could justify my actions because of the life or death situation, but I refused to deceive myself. I’d known—no, I’d counted on Jason meeting a violent end.
