But what if she wasn’t lying? Could he really let her alone? She seemed pretty convinced that he could help her. On the other hand, if she was lying, it would be a huge waste to not devote more effort to trying to convince Miss Senguine to stay alive.
A lightbulb went off in his head. “Do you know what kind of demons Ria and Miss Senguine are? Ria didn’t seem to want to tell me.”
Annika let out a short laugh. “She’s so squeamish.” She eyed him. “Does this earn me points? Giving you free information?”
“It means you’re useful and honest, so let’s go with yes.”
She shrugged. “Works for me. They’re enqora. I guess you’d think of them as…” She thought hard for a moment. “Succubus’s? Succubi?”
He gaped. “Wait, what?”
“Close enough. They eat male essence almost exclusively. They have some mind and emotional control, but it only really works on female humans and demons.” She eyed him curiously. “What’s up with you?”
She’s a… picky eater. Jared closed his eyes. “Nothing. I was just wondering.”
Annika glanced at her watch and groaned. “It’s way past time for you to go meet Kiara. We should probably get going.”
She stumbled to her feet, and he steadied her. Slowly, they walked out the door.
She was back to her chipper old self, but Jared couldn’t decide if it was an act or not. She walked energized, in total contrast to her previous exhaustion. He was getting a headache over this whole thing.
She led him outside, past the orchard. They walked in complete silence. Up ahead, a figure was working tirelessly in the moonlight.
“Well, good luck with Kiara. I’m heading off. Too tired to deal with this right now.” Annika yawned. “Think about it, okay? I’m telling you, we’ve got a real opportunity here.”
He chuckled. “Alright, I’ll think about it. I’ll let you know soon.”
She suddenly became serious. “Tomorrow. You let me know tomorrow.”
Jared winced. “That soon?”
She nodded gravely. “On Saturday, I have a meeting with a potential… partner. I need to know if I should cancel or not.” She folded her arms. “If I don’t know by then…”
“I get it.” He took a deep breath. “Tomorrow, then. I’ll have my answer.”
“Good.” She turned on her heel and walked away, down towards the front gate.
He turned back to where Kiara was working. After a deep breath, he walked up to her.
She was heaving rocks from the ground into a large wheelbarrow. She was dressed much more sensibly, in jeans, cowboy boots, and a white T-shirt. She was sweating and breathing heavily when he came up to her.
She glanced over to him and gestured at the rocks with her head. He took the signal and started heaving rocks.
It was a nice break from thinking. He had always enjoyed physical labor. It was nice to feel like he was accomplishing something. They quickly filled the wheelbarrow, and he helped her push it over to the barn. They dumped it out on a large rock-pile that was forming and went back.
Soon they fell into a rhythm. He was lifting at nearly double the pace she was, until she finally settled for rolling rocks towards him so he didn’t have to move to get more. It had been a long time since he had had a back-breaking job, and he relished the moment.