Enemy Mine

Chapter 16

The snow had just started to fall when Rizzo delivered us safely to my apartment, and we camped out in the living room with bowls of leftover chili. Sylvie talked nonstop about living the life of a Manhattanite and all the fun she and I were going to have hitting the clubs.

For his part, Rizzo listened attentively and offered thoughtful advice for surviving life in the big apple. Occasionally, he and I would exchange glances, and I had no trouble reading his shit's getting serious face. Did he want me to bring up the gollum topic now? Was he willing to be party to a potential friend meltdown? Sylvie was already wound tighter than a junkie at a rave.

When Sylvie stood to take her empty bowl to the sink, Rizzo leaned across the couch, speaking conspiratorially into my ear. "I take it you have not told her yet?"

"Nope."

"There is no better time than the present." He raised his eyebrows, which had me raising mine back. Apparently, he was on board.

"So, you haven't heard back from your landlord yet?" Sylvie asked as she resumed her position on the floor and tucked her legs under her.

"That's the third time you've asked in the last hour. Relax, woman. Let's talk about something else. A freaky thing happened to me recently."

Sylvie's eyes widened, signaling her readiness. "You mean more freaky than being snatched out of a living room window by a guy with wings?"

"Hmm, yes. I would classify it as more freaky, but it has something to do with that incident. I haven't been completely forthcoming with you about a few things, and I'm going to change that right now."

"Yikes. That doesn't sound good, but you're my best friend, so I'm going to keep an open mind." She glanced at Rizzo. "You're in on this too, aren't you?"

He offered a guilty shrug. "Oui."

"I want to start off by saying, I'm sorry it took me so long to tell you," I said. "I hope you'll understand after you know the truth."

Sylvie stared at me with those baby blues. "Just get on with it. I know you wouldn't lie to me without due cause."

"Okay. Good to know. Well, I guess the best way to handle this is to start big and work down to the details. The wings are real. The guy who snatched me out of the living room window was not completely human."

"Oh?" she said with a suspicious lift of her brow.

"He shares DNA with humans," Rizzo put in. "Which is why he and his comrades look like us, but they have the ability to change form."

"A shapeshifter? Like a werewolf?" Sylvie said, still looking skeptical.

"Oui, but they are not werewolves. The most common term is demon."

Sylvie broke into a giggling fit, the kind that usually ended up with one or both of us pissing our pants, but she quieted down when she realized Rizzo and I had not joined her. "Are we talking real life, spawned from Satan type demons," she said. "Or are they something less sinister, like gang bangers who went seriously astray? I mean, the guy who kidnapped you didn't take you to hell... did he?"

Sylvie kept me on lockdown with her unflinching gaze, which made it difficult to search for the right words. "They are not from hell, but many of them live underground. They prefer the dark."

"Of course, they do." Sylvie's head bobbed automatically, and I tried to decipher how things were going for her. She had a unique way of processing stress, which usually started out with giggling and proceeded to belligerence. "So, how did you manage to attract demons to your parent's house?" she asked straight-faced.