Page 76 of The Music Demon

“If ‘burning down the house’ means the destruction of everything, then yes. That’s what I mean.”

Her nostrils flared just slightly. “You’re serious. You actually think I’m capable of ending it all?” Kellareal’s expression remained studiously blank. “You do, don’t you?” Again, he didn’t react. “Why would I do that?”

“I don’t think you would do it intentionally. You’re actually a very well-balanced person. Which is kind of miraculous considering that you’re a direct descendant of Deliverance.” Rosie gave him a look of warning that said she was firmly against their chat devolving into a recitation of her grandfather’s worst qualities. He wisely decided to shift back to the point. “Elementals are creatures. We’re more powerful than humans, but as you’ve suspected, we’re not flawless.”

“And?”

“There’ve been cases of mental disturbance now and then.”

Her head dropped back as understanding dawned. “Ahhhhh. You keep tabs on me because you think that as long as I’m in control of my mind, I’m in control of my actions.”

“Well put.”

“Something about this isn’t adding up.”

She watched his expression and body language close down even further.

“What do you mean?” he asked with guilelessness that didn’t match his demeanor.

“Only a teeny tiny percentage of humans go bonkers. You watch me like you think it might happen to me any hour now.” He blinked slowly. “That’s it, isn’t it? Female demons are super powerfulandsuper unstable?”

“Rosie…”

She held up a hand, needing to take a minute to process that. At length, she blew out a breath, “Is this elemental folklore or it is verifiable?”

He looked up for a second before meeting her gaze. “Elemental folklore.”

“So, first, you don’t know this for a fact. It’s a rumor from before you were born, which means practically before time?” He nodded. “Second, even if it was true, it would just apply to me and not my hunters. Because they’re, um, artificial. And, third, what about the way you hover around, keeping tabs on me, complies with non-interference?”

“Touche.”

“Touche? That’s all you have to say?”

He chuckled. “That could be the chorus of a hit song. Touche. That’s all you have to say.”

“Do you see there’s a soft spot in your logic?”

“No. What do you mean?”

“Come on. Watch what people do. Not what they say. The non-interference policy is bullshit.”

“Well.” He shuffled awkwardly. “I might be shaving the rules a bit where you’re concerned.”

“Because you don’t want to be caught in a house when it’s burning down.”

“It’s true, but not as selfish as you make it sound. Your female hunters are wild cards at this point. They don’t know what they’re capable of and neither do we. You, on the other hand, come with warning sirens sounding.”

“Nice image.”

“You wanted the facts without veneer.”

“Alright. Let’s say that, at some point, you doubted my mental health. If I’m everything you say, what could you do about it?”

“Maybe nothing. But if I recognized something amiss, I could alert the people you love. The people who love you. Intervention from them might make a difference.” She said nothing. “I’m one of them.”

“One of them?”

“People who love you.”