Lake Silence

CHAPTER 62

Vicki

Thaisday, Sumor 6

I had ignored the increasingly sharp hunger pangs—brought on, in part, by skipping breakfast that morning—until Julian set a plate in front of me that had the sandwich special from Come and Get It, along with thick-cut fries. The sandwich—corned beef and sauerkraut with Helen’s special sauce on toasted rye bread—was one of my favorites. So were the diner’s thick-cut fries. Julian had just uncovered his own plate when he heard the store’s screen door close with enough sound to be deliberate.

“Stay here,” Julian said quietly. He left the office break room, moving swiftly. Within moments I heard him say, “Oh. Hi. I was just about to close for lunch, but you can browse.”

Someone he knew.

I relaxed and took a big bite of my sandwich. All right, too big a bite. My cheeks resembled a chipmunk’s when it was gathering food for its winter stockpile.

Of course, that was when my yummy attorney walked into the room. He stopped in the doorway, looking startled. Then he walked up to the table and studied the paperback near my elbow.

Ilya smiled. “Feeling Wolfish?”

“Mrph.”

“Chew, don’t choke.”

I felt like a fool, burning up with embarrassment. Stuffing my face like that wasn’t my usual way of eating, but hunger had overcome good sense and any nod to manners.

I chewed . . . and chewed . . . and chewed before I finally swallowed.

“Sorry,” I said.

His smile was still there, but it had an edge now. “Don’t you have food at the cabin?”

“Plenty.” Did the Sanguinati ever binge eat because of stress? Probably a question I didn’t want to ask. “I was going to have breakfast after taking a walk, and then I met Aiden and . . .”

“And?”

I put the sandwich down and wiped my fingers on the napkin to give myself time to figure out a safe way to explain. “I’m grateful for Aiden’s help in getting a fire started in the stove last night. But this morning, when I realized who he was . . . I felt intimidated.”

“Why?”

“Because he’s Fire. An Elemental.”

“The Lady of the Lake is also an Elemental. Does she intimidate you?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

Huh. Good question.

“Is it because Aiden is male?” Ilya asked.

Ooooooooooh, trick question coming from my male attorney. And I hadn’t been afraid of being around Aiden when I thought he was Julian’s friend or Ineke’s.

If Fire mates with Water, are the children called Steam?

Focus, Vicki.

“It seems silly to be scared of someone who has minnows swimming around in her tummy. But Aiden . . . When he asked me if I was all right this morning, I was afraid of what he might do to Julian, who was with me. I was afraid of saying the wrong thing.”

“You’re often afraid of saying the wrong thing to men.”

It wasn’t quite a question, so I didn’t feel obliged to answer.

“While both are Elementals, the Lady of the Lake’s domain has boundaries,” Ilya said as if there hadn’t been an awkward beat of silence. “Fire does not. That makes him more dangerous. In that, you are correct. But he bears you no ill will. Please keep that in mind.”

I nodded. “Was that what you came to tell me?”

Some subtle change of expression. “No. I came to tell you that Yorick Dane’s new guests have come to The Jumble with guns and other weapons, and you need to stay away.”

“Aggie.”

“Don’t worry about the Crowgard. The terra indigene who live around the northern end of the lake will help keep watch over The Jumble.”

The sandwich didn’t taste as good after Ilya left, but I ate it and the fries. I couldn’t say if I was trying to store energy or was using food to pack down stress, but I ate everything in order to get ready for whatever was coming.