Vanno had looked into them, but the information he got from reports and from people varied. Seeing Siasha stay by Zig’s bedside as he recovered told him that theirs was no ordinary client-bodyguard relationship. If she was more than a client, she could be Zig’s weakness.
Or so Vanno thought. Zig knew how dangerous he was and how people like him always wanted to be in control. Katia herself had investigated him the other day, leading him to think that the mafia couldn’t help but want dirt on everyone they met.
“Vanno,” he said.
“Yes, sir?”
He didn’t like wasting his time on pointless battles. Especially when his pockets were empty. A simple warning would be enough. If Vanno didn’t catch it, well, that was his problem.
“Look at Siasha’s eyes.”
“Her eyes?” Vanno tried to read between the lines but could tell from his voice that he wasn’t hiding anything. He turned his gaze toward Siasha. Black hair like spilled ink. Flawless pearl white skin. Curves in all the right places, classy without being obscene. The perfect balance between girlish and womanly charms that made her all the more enchanting.
“Hmm…” Yes, she was a looker. No wonder the mercenary fell for her. He had no trouble with women considering his position, but one like this was rare. And her beautiful eyes…
Azure eyes that seemed like bottomless pools. He felt chills run down his spine. It was like those eyes were sucking him in.
More. He wanted to see more. His brain ordered it so, and his body followed. He saw chaos deep within.
“Eh?!”
His body tensed like it was being paralyzed. An instinctual fear took over as realization came over him. Why didn’t he notice sooner? It was like his head had been dunked with cold water. It was too late now. Chills ran down his spine. Alarms were blaring in his head, his instincts screaming.
Why didn’t he notice sooner?
“Vanno?” Katia threw him a puzzled look. He wanted to scream at her, Why aren’t you seeing this?! Divert your eyes! Now!
His body wasn’t following his commands. Suffocation. He tried to breathe but failed.
It was Zig’s voice that saved him.
“Siasha.”
Siasha turned away. “Yes?”
“Gah! Huff… Huff…”
Just like that, he was free. Like a bad dream, the cold and paralysis were gone. However, the pressure he had felt was all too real. Sweat dripped from his forehead down to his chin.
“Now look here, Mister.” Vanno gave out a croak. It sounded like he hadn’t had a sip to drink all day.
He didn’t even care about that now. This thing…
“What the hell did you bring over here?”
This monster!
“I’ll work for anyone and anything if they pay me enough,” Zig said.
Siasha pouted, displeased at the fact that she was being called an “it,” but Vanno didn’t care. He was still sweating, and the room wasn’t even warm. One could only imagine the state of his mind at that point. He tried his best to conceal his rising tone.
“There’s a limit to working for things. The Jinsu-Yah aren’t even close to this thing…!”
Vanno understood perfectly the danger Siasha posed. He had come across many dangerous people due to his line of work. Drug addicts who would randomly lash out at you. Thugs who ended you as soon as you crossed them. Killers who took lives as naturally as breathing, treating people like chattel.
The mercenary before him had the airs of a killer, but even he was on a different level. This man was also something he had never seen before, but he wasn’t very different from someone in the underworld. After all, he was still human.
No matter how much of a loose cannon you were, no matter how insane, even if you behaved like little more than an animal, it didn’t take away from the fact that you were still human.
But the woman before him? She could speak, could think. She wasn’t breathing heavily nor were her pupils dilated. Her hands weren’t shaking, and she was perfectly sane. Yet she didn’t feel the least bit human.
She was like…an insect. An insect that spoke human words and wore human skin to look human. No matter how much it tried to be human, the disguise would never be perfect. His instincts, beyond all reason, rejected her very existence—this thing that looked human yet wasn’t.
If one were to name the emotion he felt toward this unspeakable creature, fear would be the most appropriate.
“Wow… You really are good at judging people.”
Zig was genuinely impressed at Vanno’s assessment. Vanno had been reading people for a long time. All Zig wanted to do was warn him that his life would be in danger if he tried anything with Siasha. Apparently, he saw something much more than that.
“Vanno, what—” Katia began.
“Don’t you feel anything with this thing?” Vanno said in a husky voice, ignoring Katia. “You know about it and you’re just walking around with it?”
He would understand if no one noticed. Even he didn’t until he really looked at her. However, this man was different. This man knew about her from the very beginning and always accompanied her on top of that.
Vanno couldn’t believe it. Hanging around with enemies and monstrosities, that he could understand. They were predictable to a point; you knew what was dangerous about them.
“Well?” Zig remained silent and stretched his hand toward Siasha, placing it on top of her head. Siasha, still annoyed at being called a thing, slowly softened, allowing herself to be petted. The scene was heartwarming to anyone else except Vanno, who silently looked at it like something out of a horror novel.
He couldn’t read them. He couldn’t tell what this woman was thinking or what she would do next. He couldn’t read her. He wouldn’t be surprised if she ripped him to shreds the next second. She was inscrutable. And yet this mercenary was petting the head of this human-shaped thing like it was the most obvious thing to do.
“I’ve got no problems with that. Money and work. Those are the only things a mercenary wants.”
“You’re out of your mind,” Vanno said sincerely.
“So, what’ll you do?” Zig answered with a wry smile like he was used to that response. “Personally, I recommend against messing with her.”
“Thank you for the warning.” Vanno stood up. Katia, still confused, followed him.
“I’m a straightforward kinda guy. I can take the advice of other people without complaint.”
“Smart.”
“In exchange…” Vanno turned to him with one hand on the door. “Please, oh please, don’t bring that thing anywhere near us.” With that request made, he was gone.
“What a rude man. Calling me a thing and ‘it.’ But he was quite sharp.”
“Yeah. A lot of the people here are kind of dense, but he’s a special case.”
Other races…
Perhaps the humans here had just gotten used to living with demi-humans. Vanno was different with how fast he realized what Siasha was.
“The people back home called me a witch without me ever saying a word. Happened a lot too. Is it so easy to tell?”
“Kind of. Even if they don’t identify you as a witch properly, they can tell without looking at you that you’re not normal.”
In a sense, she was on a different level in the food chain. As a lamb fears a wolf, so humans were afraid of witches who were much stronger than them.
“Does the same apply to you?” Siasha asked, giving him a worried sideways glance.
Zig thought about how to answer her but decided to be honest.
“I don’t know.”
“Whaaa?” Disappointed as she was, Siasha sounded like she was half relieved. She wanted a more concrete answer, but she could understand if that was Zig’s honest reply.
“Besides, we were at each other’s throats the first time we met,” Zig continued. “I was scared then, sure, but that might have been me being scared of your powerful magic.” A battle against an unknown opponent and the new sensation of smelling magic had been equally confusing. Overcoming them both was Siasha’s powerful magic. “I didn’t have time to be afraid of a witch. I barely won that fight in the end. Why would I be afraid of someone I already beat?”
She nodded, not all the way convinced. “I suppose you have a point…”
Zig remembered what she had said back then—“I’m so tired.” The witch had given up. Even with all her power, her lonely, evanescent smile made her look so small.
“Hmm…”
Sleep began to creep within him. He had used a lot of energy, so his body requested rest so it could get back to healing itself. “Sorry… But I think I’m going to sleep for now.”
“Of course. Good night, Zig. I hope you get well soon.”
“Yeah.”
Zig nodded to her before immediately dozing off. He didn’t fight to stay awake and surrendered to the sweet release of sleep.
“He he.”
Siasha smiled as she watched him sleep. She got up, reached out to him, and put her hand on his cheek.
Zig, who would usually wake up at the mere presence of someone else in the room, showed no sign of waking. Either his slumber was that deep or he allowed himself the luxury of sleep when in her presence.
Siasha hoped it was the latter.
She moved her hand, tracing her fingers along his scars. She caressed them gently with her index finger, making sure they were there. She then brought her finger to her mouth.
Putting it against her cherry blossom lips, she puckered them and licked her finger with a red tongue.
“He he he.”
Siasha giggled to herself and left, closing the door to the room gently so as not to wake him.