Page 15 of The Good Char (Soul Taker)

DZIK

She was acting more peculiar today.

Despite her constant smiles, something was lacking. I should be celebrating the fact that her obnoxious sunshine attitude was toned down but a new disturbance curled in my gut, one that wouldn’t leave me alone.

“Kimmy, man the fryer. I need to grab something from the back,” I commanded.

Her soft brown eyes widened into saucers as she startled and then gave me a weird little salute.

Grumbling to myself about strange human behavior, I rummaged through some of the supplies when I heard a screech. My feet led me out before my mind could decide whether I truly cared.

Back home, I was known to be one of the least remorseful demons around.

So I was flummoxed when I found myself grabbing my little employee and carrying her to the sink where I promptly shot her arm full of high pressure cold water.

The spray of liquid hit us both in various ways but my body moved instinctively as I quickly grabbed a towel and wrapped her forearm which was reddening as the seconds ticked by.

“What in the blazes have you done?” I barked out louder than I probably should.

Her whimper tore at something inside of me and I turned off the neon sign and pulled her into the back room, sitting her on stacks of flour as I begrudgingly rummaged through the human first aid supplies.

“I’m so sorry, Mr. Dzik. I don’t know what happened. I mean, it happened so fast, I can’t remember how I slipp?—”

“For the love of hellfires, stop prattling and sit still!” I growled as I stomped my way toward her, slamming the first aid kit beside her hip and pulled out whatever this antibiotic ointment was and then wrapped her arm until I ran out of the material.

I had the need to kill someone but kept my hands occupied as I grabbed some of the premade ice, placed it in a towel and stomped back beside her, placing the wretched thing on top of her injury.

Movement caught my eye and I snapped my head up to see her bottom lip trembling. Her comically large eyes were shining, telling me she wanted to talk but couldn’t because I commanded her not to.

Was it wrong of me to feel a bit of satisfaction at that fact? I very much liked her not jabbering my ear off.

But when a wayward tear escaped her left eye, I scowled.

Why was she still crying? Haven’t I already fixed the problem?

My eyes shot to her arm and then back to her face, then back to her arm.

What in the blazes was wrong with this human?

Has she malfunctioned because of a fryer burn?

How in the world did she manage to splash herself when the curated flesh was contained with a metal basket before one even dipped it into its vat of torture?

Her lip trembled once more as the bottom of her eyes began to rim red. Then she hung her head in silence. My chest constricted uncomfortably as if I was having the worst case of heartburn after devouring a foul sprite.

“What?” I roared. “What is it?!”

She shook her head and I was about to explode out of my flesh suit from sheer frustration. Why wasn’t she saying anything? How hard was it to answer the damn question?!

“I-I should have been more careful when I dropped th-the basket. Please, don’t be mad at me, Mr. Dzik. I can still work the rest of the shift, I swe?—”

I slapped my hand over her mouth and curled my lip. “If you can’t manage the fryer, all you had to do was say so!”

Her eyes shone again against the light but the atmosphere shifted. A new scent invaded the air, cloaking the room with a mixture of fear and… feminine musk.

My nostrils flared as I continued to stare at her, wondering what kind of witchcraft she was spinning this time. The more I inhaled her scent, the more my true skin prickled into spikes, wanting to burst free from its confines in more ways than one.

I could mentally feel my tail swishing back and forth, grateful I couldn’t hear it physically knocking over supplies in this room.

I slowly sat down beside her, staring in suspicion as I inched my hand away from her mouth a bit at a time.

Before I could fully remove my fingers, I leaned in and took a deep whiff behind her ear.

Her sharp inhale made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end, anticipating an attack—or the master jumping out and cutting my head off with his scythe for entertainment.

When Kimmy bit her bottom lip, I growled but didn’t get another word in when she bolted to her feet and ran out the room, leaving me sitting there dumbfounded. It was as if she vacuumed the scent out with her and it made me irrationally angry.

Getting to my feet, I quietly put the first aid supplies away and exited the room, watching her every movement as she busied herself with the customers, waving her injured arm like a war trophy.

Snarling at her pointed ignoring of me, I grabbed a handful of human flesh on a stick, dunked them into the batter and threw them into the fryer to watch them burn. Glaring at the ignorance of the humans around us, I mentally willed her to look at me.

Her back tensed but she quickly straightened and took the next order, avoiding my gaze as she fulfilled it on her own like a little fairy—repulsive little things akin to sprites—floating around the shop.

Ten customers in and I could feel steam coming off my skin. And no, it wasn’t from the oil burns I sustained keeping my eyes on Kimmy’s back, waiting for her to acknowledge me.

During the next temporary lull, she deftly maneuvered her dark mane in strange patterns until it was tied up in a messy pile on top of her head.

The only problem was, the moment she fanned herself with one of our menus, that same feminine musk hit my nose and embedded itself into my pores, refusing to let me go.

“Enough!” I growled, stomping beside her and slamming the ‘Sorry, we’re closed’ sign on the counter before turning off the neon lights once again. I lowered my face to hers, took a long inhale and gritted out, “meet me in the back in the next two minutes.”

She gulped and nodded her head before scrambling to take off her little apron.

Refusing to give her the satisfaction of knowing that I was practically preening at her attention, I breathed through my mouth as I waited for her in the back with my arms crossed, ready to verbally tear her limb from limb.

The only problem was, when she entered, she also took off her outer top layer, showcasing her glistening globes under my scrutiny.

Running a frustrated hand down my face, I debated whether I should just throw her into the grill’s vortex to be rid of her or run my tongue down the valleys that taunted me, shining with perspiration from the work day.

“What the blasted hell is wrong with you today? Why are you acting differently? Is there something I need to know? Something you need to—” I narrowed my eyes once again in suspicion, still unconvinced the master didn’t plant her here for my destruction. “—tell me.”

“I-I don’t know what you mean. I’m just working as hard as I always do, Mr. Dzik.

I promise. If I’m failing at something, just let me know and I’ll rectify it.

Did you see how happy our customers were?

We’re such a great team. I bet we’ll sell out all of our prepared supplies today, don’t you think? All in a good day's work, right?”

She laughed awkwardly and averted her gaze to something behind me. I turned and saw nothing that would interest her, leaving me baffled as to what exactly was transpiring.

I leaned in, trying to stare into her soul to see if I could force the truth out of her. “I don’t like what’s going on, Kimmy. I’m going to ask you to leave work early today and return when you get your head back on straight,” I threatened.

Only, she didn’t see it the same way.

“Really?” she gasped, clasping her hands in front of her with a hidden smile I couldn’t decipher.

“You are always so kind to me, Mr. Dzik. I am feeling a bit frazzled today because I just got this new place and there’s been some complications.

I’m just trying to get control of everything that's happened in my life and I guess I’m not in control as I thought I was.

I mean, I don’t know exactly how to explain it but I can’t give up, you know?

And every time you’re kind to me like this, my heart just wants to explode.

You don’t know how much it means to me to be able to have a few moments to slip away and…

sort things out. Even if it's just in my mind. I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you but I promise I will.

Thank you. Thank you for being there for me. ”

My mind was still trying to catch up with her rapid fire words when she caught me by surprise, pressing her soft lips to the flesh of my cheek.

I froze, confused, befuddled, angry, irritated, then furious as I straightened…

only to catch a glimpse of her mess of a mane and her back as she left me standing there alone once again unsure of what just transpired.