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Raea stared at the closed door as tears ran down her face. She had done it again, frightened Cory away. Would there be a day when the harpy would be fed up with her? When the harpy would decide to never come back? The flames surrounding Raea died down as she sniffled, her anger replaced by sadness. The basket of mushrooms had been reduced to a pile of ash by Raea’s feet, staining her bed white. She wasn’t sure how much time had passed when the familiar sound of the door screeching open caused her to raise her head. Her body stiffened before she wiped away her tears with the back of her hands. “Andrea?” Why was it her?
Andrea hesitated outside the room before taking a step inside. She hugged her bag tighter to her chest as she bit her lower lip. “Can I talk to you?” she asked, trying to ignore the wisps of green smoke trailing out of Raea’s wings.
Raea was about to retort, but she recalled Palan’s words. Was she really going to argue with a child? It wasn’t Andrea’s fault Palan was paying so much attention to his sister. It was Palan’s fault. Raea’s eyes narrowed as the soles of her feet warmed up. She looked down and smothered the flames leaking out of her with her hands before smiling at Andrea. “Have a seat.”
Andrea stiffened before nodding. She flinched when the door automatically closed behind her. Thankfully, there was a button that let her leave as long as no one pressed the button on the other side within two hours. She had interrogated Pyre, the creator of the room, before making up her mind. The chair was a metal one, and it was uncomfortable to sit in. Raea had to sleep on this material? “Hi,” Andrea said and chewed on her lips as she placed her bag on top of the table.
“Hello.”
The two sat in silence as they stared at each other. Andrea averted her gaze first as she cleared her throat. “Do you hate me?” she asked, keeping her gaze on Raea’s bed. At least she’d be able to tell if the flames were coming even if she didn’t look directly at Raea.
“Do I hate you?” Raea asked and furrowed her brow. She muttered, “I don’t hate many things. Maybe just myself…” She shook her head, causing strands of hair to fall in front of her face, before slapping both of her own cheeks with her hands. She rubbed her eyes and fixed her hair before exhaling. “I don’t hate you.”
“Really?” Andrea asked. “I thought you did. I can see it in your eyes.” She had always been more receptive than other demons when it came to reading facial expressions. Or maybe other demons just didn’t care about reading emotions. There wasn’t a place for considering others’ feelings in Eljiam.
“What do you see?” Raea asked and tilted her head.
“You don’t like me,” Andrea said. “And when I’m with Palan, you look like you want to kill me.” She unconsciously placed her hand on her belt even though Pyre had told her normal powers wouldn’t work inside the room. If they did, she’d be holding an orb of cowardice behind her back to escape at any time. It went against Palan’s teachings to confront an enemy far stronger than her with no chance of winning, but she wasn’t here to win. She just had to feed Raea a cookie.
“That’s true,” Raea said, nodding her head once. “Sometimes, I do feel that way, but it isn’t hate. I’m a bit jealous of you and a bit angry at Palan.” Her fingers curled into fists, and she hid them behind her calves as she brought her knees to her chest.
“Oh,” Andrea said, her eyes sneaking a glance at the exit. She had expected Raea to deny wanting to kill her. Maybe she should leave? But she might never get a chance like this again. Palan was going to take Raea with him to confront the floating cube once Pyre’s contract destruction machine was completed. “You’re jealous? Of me?” Did Raea want to be Palan’s sister too? There was no way she was going to share her brother with someone else.
“Mm.” Raea shrugged. She didn’t like acknowledging her envy in normal circumstances, but something about Palan’s sister disarmed her. Her gut told her she wouldn’t be judged by the little demon girl. “I am.”
“Oh,” Andrea said again and squirmed in her seat. She wasn’t good at talking to strangers.
“Was that all you came here for?” Raea asked, raising an eyebrow. “Palan didn’t send you?”
“No,” Andrea said and shook her head. “I … wanted to get along better with you. Palan doesn’t know I’m here. Other than my brother and the snack dispenser, I don’t really know anyone else. And the people I’ve asked said you were the closest to my brother.”
Raea stood up, causing Andrea to flinch. She knocked the pile of ash off of her bed and approached the table, taking a seat across from Andrea. “I’ve actually been feeling lonely myself,” she said and sighed. “Only Cory, Cleo, and Palan visit me. Everyone else is too afraid.” On return to Div’Nya, she had burnt down a city on accident once. She hadn’t meant to … it just happened. That’s when she requested for Pyre to construct a room that she could live in without hurting anyone. She smiled at Andrea and reached out to pet the demon girl’s head.
Andrea stiffened but allowed Raea to do as she pleased. It wouldn’t be good if the angel got angry now. Not when she was so close. Only Palan had ever petted her like this before; it made her feel strange.
“Are you scared of me?” Raea asked as she withdrew her hand. “Be honest.”
“A little,” Andrea said and pursed her lips. Raea’s face fell, and Andrea paled. It was obvious the angel had disapproved of her answer. “But I brought you cookies!” She pushed the bag forward. “Pyre helped me make them.”
Raea’s eyes lit up. Then she felt bad. Andrea hadn’t done anything, yet Raea had wanted to kill her for the sake of having Palan’s affection all to herself. She couldn’t let that continue, not when Andrea was making so much effort to be friends. It was obvious the child was uncomfortable, but she endured to give her a gift. “Thank you,” Raea said and smiled as she reached inside the bag, taking out an oatmeal raisin cookie. It smelled heavenly.
“Try it,” Andrea said and swallowed. Here it was—the moment of truth. She had seen it break apart a contract in Pyre’s lab, but there was always the chance it wouldn’t work.
Raea bit into the cookie. The texture was a lot softer than she expected. There was a strange flavor that she couldn’t identify. She swallowed and furrowed her brow. The cookie seemed to heat up as it traveled to her stomach, warming up her belly. The sound of a chair being pulled back caused her to look up.
“I have to use the bathroom,” Andrea said and scurried to the door.
Raea pursed her lips before turning her attention back to the cookie. She salivated just by looking at it, and she quickly stuffed the rest of it into her mouth. It seemed like she had really done Andrea an injustice by being hostile. Palan’s sister wasn’t a bad person. Raea sighed and batted away the golden smoke drifting out of her mouth. Her eyes widened. Golden smoke?
The door screeched shut.