It took every scrap of combat training and emotional control she had to will her body and face to hide her surprise and convince her brain to keep working in order to speak. Her voice came out much steadier than she felt as she said, “Well, I was considering more along the lines of great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great niece three times removed, but I'm guessing that’s too far off after the obnoxious speech you just gave about being able to smell things better than a werehound.”
Alyson was gaping so hard that her bottom lip was practically on the floor and Xylas looked like he could see right through her façade of pretending to be calm and collected. How could she possibly be okay with any of this? But now wasn’t the time for her to spiral down that hole. She needed more answers.
“How could I be the daughter of Anzel when the Asai disappeared thousands of years ago?” Xylas rubbed his chin. “Disappearing isn’t the same as dying and I’m not sure what events transpired to make this happen, but I’m ninety-nine percent sure that you’re the first in Anzel’s line of direct descendants thanks to my werehound sense of smell. Plus, the golden specks in your eyes are the mark of the Asai. It’s the only thing that allows them to be recognized in their human forms.”
She was officially reeling. She was spiraling and she couldn’t speak as she drifted down toward a pit at the very bottom of herself. She was Anzel’s daughter, and not only that, but the Asai had human forms. Xylas was still speaking while she was steadily spiraling and the next time she looked at him, he seemed so far away from the pit she was now sitting in. When she was finally able to hear him again, he sounded almost like an echo, but she willed herself to listen and comprehend.
“Viri, do you have any powers that confirm your lineage?” She was still settling back into the present, but she understood the question. “Are you genuinely asking, or do you already know the answer?” Xylas responded, “I already know the answer and in hindsight I realize that asking you may have seemed condescending, so I apologize if it felt that way.” His apology seemed genuine, so she just gave a quick nod of understanding as he went on. “You smell like fire, but not like my fire or the fire that I've smelled from other wielders and sorcerers. Yours smells ancient and all-powerful.”
He stopped talking abruptly and put his hand on hers. “Are you okay? You look sick.” Even his touch did nothing to soothe her, so she didn’t fake her answer. “I honestly might vomit soon. This is a lot to process.”
Xylas stood and picked up the kettle. “I’ll fix us some more tea and we can take a break from the whole lineage conversation.” He walked into the kitchen, and she turned to face Alyson. “How long have you known that you’re related to Anzel,” she whispered. Viri shrugged. She was afraid that she really would throw up if she moved too much. “I found a book while we were at the resort that suggested that I might be related to the Asai, but I didn’t have much else to go on and I was too afraid to discuss it. I didn’t know what I'd do if it was confirmed and now that it is, I still don’t know what I plan to do or even what I’m feeling aside from shock and like I'm recovering from the worst hangover.” She expected Alyson to be upset but Aly only nodded with understanding. She didn’t mention her life-long dreams about Anzel’s eyes because that’d be way too much to unpack, and she had a feeling Anzel didn’t want the dreams to be public knowledge. Why else would show up in such a secret place?
Xylas came back to the table after a few minutes with three cups and handed her one. “So, what do you plan to do now regarding the jewel?” She took a sip of her tea and took a deep breath. “Honestly, I feel like I have to get near it now just to confirm everything. I trust you, but I just need that final one percent of doubt negated. Beyond that, I have no clue. I can’t remember much about the meeting with the client. Whenever I try to remember specific details about her, it just makes me feel like I'm looking through this golden, murky haze, but I was struggling to survive a hangover and a bad batch of coffee. She’s returning in two weeks, which is maybe now closer to one week, so I'll have to get my answers about why she wanted the stone then.”
Alyson threw her hands in the air, exasperated. “I cannot believe you went to that trash coffee shop down the street. I’ve told you how crappy that stuff is for you!” Both Viri and Xylas just looked at Alyson and she blushed, “You’re right. This isn’t the time. We’ll table that for later.” Viri smiled at the little outburst. It was the most normal part of this conversation since it began.
Viri looked at Xylas who was deep in thought. He finally looked back at her and asked, “Do your hangovers normally lead to golden, murky hazes?” She was confused by his question but opted to answer truthfully instead of sarcastically. “No. But what other explanation is there? Temporary amnesia? Food poisoning?” He folded his hands under his chin, inadvertently leaning closer to her, and now that she was calmer, his smell intoxicated her again. Gods, she had to get away from this man. It was hard enough to focus through this conversation without him adding to it. He spoke and she willed herself to pay attention. “Viri, it sounds like you’ve been glamoured. Glamouring wills you to do whatever the caster wants and makes you forget what’s been done or said. The memory takes on a tint that’s similar to the likeness of the person that glamoured you.”
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She stared at him for so long that Alyson let out an uncomfortable cough. She could tell she looked visibly pissed. The thought of having her free will taken away made her more pissed than she’d ever been before. She realized she was close to willing fire, so she took a deep breath before speaking again. “So, I was glamoured to agree to take the jewel?” Xylas put his hands up. “I’m not in the business of becoming fried tonight, so you need to calm down before we continue talking.” She wanted to protest that she was calm, but she was still eerily close to burning this cottage down, so, she took a few more deep breaths and forced a smile. “Better?” Xylas winked at her and gave a mock bow. “Thank you, and I bet your smile is stunning when you’re not faking it.” Her heart rate sped up a bit and she knew he heard it by the way he smiled.
She didn’t even want to look in Alyson’s direction because she knew she heard it too. “I don’t think you were glamoured to take the jewel, because if that were the case, the glamour wouldn’t wear off until you had done what was asked and you wouldn’t vividly remember her asking you to get it. You were glamoured for another reason, and by someone powerful. It’s not a skill most magical beings possess, and it also doesn’t work unless you’re close in power to the person that you’re trying to glamour.” Perfect. Just what she needed. She wanted to toss the tea through the nearest window, but she took another sip instead. “So, why was I glamoured?” He shrugged. “Maybe for information, but there’s no way of knowing.”
She was fuming and failing at reigning it in. Her mother would be disappointed at how out of control her emotions currently were but her mother was part of the reason she was in this mess so who cared? “What if I tried rewinding the cameras at the store and watching our interaction? I can’t believe I didn’t think of it before?” She was deep in thought when Xylas spoke, “I hate to interrupt your little brainstorming session, but you haven’t answered my question about what you’re going to do about the jewel. I want to help you out and even though I despise being here, I can’t just disrespect my people by letting you take the jewel.” Viri shook her head. “I don’t want to take the jewel. I never had use for it and I'm not giving it to that glamouring bitch, but I do need to see it and see how it reacts to me. Would you be willing to take me to do that?” Xylas gave her an ear-splitting grin, “You’re too beautiful to say no to.” She couldn’t help her answering smile and prayed to the universe that he couldn’t physically hear the butterflies he caused in her stomach.
“We’re not doing this half-assed though, because you may joke about me being around for a while, but some of those old bastards in that temple are prehistoric and so devoted to Anzel that they wouldn’t let anyone but him in that temple. Not even his wayward child. So tonight, we rest, and tomorrow we start planning.” Viri contemplated what he said before asking, “Why aren’t you like the rest of them? Why are you willing to help his wayward child?” Xylas shrugged. “I wasn’t around back when Anzel frequented the temple, so I never really got the chance to form that undying love that the rest have here.” Viri nodded to herself. “So, how long have you been here? And exactly how old are you?” Xylas winked at her. “I’ve been here long enough and I'm old enough.” Viri was about to roll her eyes when she recalled what he said about resting for the night and blurted out, “Wait, you sleep?” Xylas sighed and she stifled her laugh. He tried to hide his smile as he said, “I don’t require sleep, but my people have become accustomed to resting at night. Don’t worry. You guys can have the sofa bed. I’ll chill outside on the lounge chair.” Viri looked at him. “You do realize that ‘chill’ is the youngest term I’ve heard you use since we began talking.” He laughed and flicked her off as he walked out the door.
She smiled to herself until Alyson moved to sit directly in front of her and raised her brows at her. She folded her arms and asked, “What?” Alyson wiggled her brows. “If I didn’t know any better Viri, I’d say that my heartless little friend seems to have a crush on a certain Ifrit.” She dipped her fingers in her tea and splashed Alyson in the face. Alyson flicked her forehead and they both laughed. “You’re being delusional,” Viri responded as they walked towards the sofa bed. Alyson grinned at her. “The ‘d’ word you’re looking for is denial, but if you want to continue to pretend like I'm not right then I'll continue to bother you. Just not tonight because I'm sure there’s another ‘d’ word that you’re rushing to go to bed and dream about.” Viri gaped and threw a pillow at her. Alyson caught it and laughed. “I hope you get a neck cramp since you don’t seem to need any pillows to sleep with.” She flicked her off and they both unfolded the bed and got under the covers.