Aurora was pushing the buttons on a blender when Esha appeared in the kitchen. She turned it off and looked up. “That smells great.”
“Yeah, it is. That’s a blender, by the way. It chops stuff up.”
They spent the next twenty minutes eating pizza and drinking beer while Esha pointed out the various appliances in the kitchen. She had to guess about some, but for the most part, it was really nice to sit with her sister and just be… normal.
“So, I know all about these gadgets. Tell me about yourself,” Aurora said.
“All right. I’m a mercenary.”
“For souls?”
Esha winced. Did she mean, steal them? “No. I kill rogue Mytheans for money.”
“Rogues?”
“Yeah. Like demons who get out of one of the hells through portals that shouldn’t be open. They either aren’t clever enough to run under the radar of mortals or they don’t care. Either way, they’ve done something to earn a hit on their heads, and I’m the one who does it.”
“My sister is a badass. I’m no’ surprised.”
Esha suppressed a grin. “Anyway, I live at the university.”
“Why? With those assholes?”
“It’s not so bad. There are a ton of Mytheans to draw power from. And they pay me. Works out well.”
“Yeah, right.”
“It’s really not as bad as it was when you went to prison. I mean, the witches hate me. They don’t try to hurt me, but they sure do hate me.” She frowned.
“Eh, doona worry about it. Of course they’re jealous. We can manifest our wishes with the flick of a hand. We’re superior to them in every way. They need their stupid books and potions and crows’ feet or whatever. But they work at the university too?”
Esha laughed—she couldn’t help it. “Yes. In their own department. Lots of Mytheans work there. It’s not just for classes and teaching. The university plays a bigger role in Mythean society than it ever did in the past. We’re more civilized now. Mostly. The university sees to it that we keep law and order so that we stay under the radar of mortals.”
“Fucking mortals, always causing problems. Sheeple. Spook them, and they all start running in one direction, bleating their hearts out.”
Esha shrugged, not really agreeing since she liked mortals well enough. “How’d you learn all this slang? You speak almost like someone from this century.”
“TV. I love this century. And some magic to help. Doona want to sound out of date. Weakness.”
Esha nodded. Her sister took strength seriously. Aurora was one hard bitch, with a steel strength behind her eyes. They could twinkle and joke as quickly as they could turn ice cold and ruthless. Ruthless. It was the perfect word to describe her sister. She’d do whatever it took to have her way, and fuck everyone else.
But it was a survival instinct, not evil. At least, not pure evil. Esha could recognize it in herself as easily as she could in Aurora. Only, once again, Aurora was a more extreme version of herself.
“Anyway.” Aurora turned to her excitedly. A quick mood swing. “Give me all the gossip. What’s going on in the twenty-first century? Mortals still doona know we exist, I got that. But what’s going on with our kind? Any species fighting? The Fae were going after the Selkies big time when I was put away. How did that play out?”
“Probably okay, since they get along fine now. I haven’t been in the UK long, so I’m not too up to date on the older conflicts.”
“Ooh, a world traveler!” Her sister was back to being bright and bubbly.
“Have you always been this way? Fun and light sometimes, ruthless the next?”
“Doona forget bloodthirsty!” Then her face turned serious. “And aye. If I were a witch or some other species that wasn’t despised, maybe I’d always be a basket of laughs. But I’m not. I’m a soulceress. I’ll always get my power from other people’s souls, and they’ll always hate me for it. Ruthless is the only way for our kind to survive in this world.”
Would Esha be as ruthless had she been born before the university had established order? She might get nasty looks or comments and be a bitch right back, but at least no one was trying to burn her at the stake.
It was a thought that led to her mother. She hadn’t wanted to jump right in with the questions, but she and Aurora were getting on well now.
“About our mom,” Esha asked. “What was it all like then? Did she take souls like you do?”