The Demon in the Pastry Shop

26: A Little Honesty

 A quick succession of things happened after Silus threatened the Fantasmic Demon. The very first being Silus telling Jude to get out of the Land of Captivators or he'd shoot him again (Jude complied). The second being that Silus was so preoccupied with saving Jude's life for Kit that he forgot to unfreeze Kit and when the Blackbirds came to seize him (because he had no intention of fighting arrest; he had a better plan), she was seized as his accomplice and then both of them were taken to a wooden cell in the sheriff's office right outside the auditorium.

The Blackbirds handed Silus and Kit off to the sheriff and Sheriff knew a little bit about Silus and his powers as the Awakened Idol of Myus. He applied his knowledge poorly. Silus was put in chains on his feet and with his hands cuffed behind his back (Sheriff thought this would prevent him from using his magic. The assumption was inaccurate, but it didn't matter. Silus was going to wait to be taken before Lolona anyway). Kit was chained by her ankles as well, on the wall adjacent to his in the cell.

When Sherriff closed the crisscrossed bars on their cell, Silus sighed loudly and looked upward.

He could've easily paralyzed Kit and picked her up himself to steal her out of the Land of Captivators and bring her to the Collector. He wasn't sure why he had to go back to save Jude.

Well, he knew it was because of Kit's big, dumb eyes and the big, dumb way she pulled at him. Even if he knew that now, he was mad about it.

His magic wore off when they were half-way out of the auditorium and now Kit sat with her legs collapsed under her, staring toward the sunlight that beamed in from the front of the office through the bars.

Silus couldn't say what exactly happened to her at the Hollow Realm, but she left there, certainly not dressed to run for her life and it confused him. Though she did have a habit of overdressing for the occasion. With a muted smile, he remembered the way she wore her sophisticated, flouncy dresses and her pearls to play with flour all day. Maybe this was a similar inclination.

Before he knew it (his snakes knew before he did), Kit was looking at him. He was sitting back on his heels with his hands rested on his legs. His shoes didn't make an excellent seat, but any other posture felt too sloppy to Silus.

Kit pressed her hands to the wooden floor and she turned herself to face him. Her skin peeked out from the slit of her dress, presenting her bare thigh quite plainly but Silus was more focused on how she scooted closer to him.

She gave a deep nod. One of gratitude no doubt. Yes, her hands were free, but Sheriff took her notepad and pen along with her pouch just like Sheriff took his jacket with pockets.

"Don't thank me. I regret it," he huffed at her.

A sly smile played at her red lips, and with taunting, squinting eyes, she shook her head. You don't.

"Don't look at me like that. I'm about to murder someone to get us out of here."

At this, Kit shrank. As she should. Silus expected nothing less. It made things simpler for her to understand how much of a demon he was.

His snakes stretched out for her, following her every movement with their gazes. Silus never felt more embarrassed in his life. He gritted his teeth and told them to stop acting like this, but he would have to tell his heart the same and he knew that thing was stubborn as a rock.

Without thinking about it, his eyes went back to Kit. Her hair curled up at the ends to a bob under her chin, so glamorous and playful at the same time. The sunlight couldn't quite reach the part of the cell they sat in, but when Kit sat with her face out toward it, the shallow contours of her face shone like a pretty dinner plate, her cheekbones lifted up from it like gentle curves of a hill on a pleasant walk. Her light colored eyelashes swept out from her brown eyes like angel wings. That green dress sparkled like elegance incarnate resting on her body.