As I turned to Dachev, I found him studying me, not with the insolent leer from earlier, but an academic stare, accompanied by a slight frown.
"We have met, have we not?" he said. "You appear familiar… and yet…" His frown flipped into a broad grin. "I'm quite certain I wouldn't forget such an angel. So much prettier than the other one they sent. He wasn't my type at all."
"We've never met," I said. "The last time you were topside, I hadn't even been born."
He gave me another once-over, pausing at my eyes, his confusion obvious. He recognized something there… just wasn't sure what it was. Too bad. If he didn't know I was a witch, I wasn't enlightening him about that, any more than I was letting him know I wasn't an angel.
"Do you have a name, pretty one?" he asked.
"Everyone does."
He waited. When I said nothing, his lips tweaked in a smile.
"The exchange of names is the first part of any polite conversation," he said.
"Yep," I said. "It is."
When I didn't continue, he laughed. "Not even going to humor me, are you? The other one did. He was very polite. Very… understanding. And most companionable. I think he wanted to be my friend."
"I'm sure he did."
Dachev's brows lifted as he tried to suppress a grin. "You doubt his sincerity? Oh, but he was so sincere.
He didn't make me stand in this meadow. He accepted my invitation, came right to my house, to prove how much he trusted me. Don't you trust me?"
"No."
Another barely contained grin. "You should. It makes things so much more pleasant. The other angel sat right at my table and told me he understood that I'd been tempted and succumbed. After all, I was human… just as he'd been, so he understood temptation. What the Fates did to me was wrong, putting this poor sinner in such a situation, into contact with one such as the Nix. She tempted me, and I fell from grace."
"Uh-huh. Moving right along. You know why I'm here, so—"
"See? Now you're being rude. Katsuo was so much nicer. He wasn't in a hurry. He listened to me, listened most intently as I confessed my sins and told him what the Nix and I had done. Then I told him what I wished I'd done… in beautiful, intricate detail, everything I wished I could have done to those women, if only it had been me in those killers' bodies. I described every cut I would have made, every degradation I would have inflicted." Dachev's face gathered in a mock frown. "That's when he left. Left without even saying good-bye." He looked over at me. "Do you think Katsuo remembers me? Perhaps in his dreams?" He flashed a wide smile. "I hope so."
I said nothing.
"Do angels dream?" he said. "Can they have nightmares? Or are they all dreams like this?" He waved a dismissive hand around the meadow. "Visions of wildflowers and sunny skies. We dream, you know.
When we sleep, the cracks in our memory open, just enough to let out a flash here, a glimpse there. And there are no wildflowers and sunny skies in our dreams. Sometimes I hear the others screaming. They keep me awake at night."
"Damned shame."
A shark-toothed smile. "A damned shame indeed. You aren't even going to feign sympathy, are you?"
"If you want sympathy, I'll send Katsuo. If you want to cut a deal, you're stuck with me."
"A deal? I do like the sound of that. Let me see… what should I ask for? Well, first, of course, I want out of here."
I laughed.
"Oh, not permanently. Just a visit, under escort, of course. I—"
"No. I couldn't arrange it even if I wanted to."
"Pictures, then."
"Huh?"
"When I was out there, with the Nix, whenever we killed someone, the police took so many pictures.
Click, click, click. Every angle, every close-up." He closed his eyes and sighed. "Such attention to detail.
Even I was impressed."
"You want those photos?" I said.
"No, no. Those I remember. And they weren't truly mine. I want mine—the ones I don't remember. I found newspaper clippings of what I'd done, but there were no pictures. So disappointing."
"Cops didn't take crime photos back then," I lied.
"No?"
I looked him in the eye. "No."
"I see. In that case, I will settle for descriptions. Those who reported on my case were most stingy with the details. Not so much as a single word about precisely what I did, only the broadest hints. I want—"
"Detail," I said. "I get it. But you won't get it, because I don't know the details, and the only offer on the table here is one I can provide."
"Use your imagination, then. Tell me what you think I did to those girls. Or, perhaps, I'll tell you what I think I did, what I see when I close my eyes."
"Sure, let's do that. You tell me what you think you might have done, and I'll listen. You have an hour. At the end of that, if I'm still here, haven't tossed my cookies or bolted out the door, you'll tell me how you caught the Nix. And you'll tell me while I'm casting a lie-detection spell."
Disappointment seeped into his face, then hardened into a petulant scowl as he realized this deal wouldn't be nearly as rewarding as he'd hoped. I might not want to hear his sadistic fantasies, but I'd listen, and I'd listen without giving him the reaction he craved. After all, they were just words, words unrelated to me, words not even grounded in fact, just the fantasies of a sick fuck who'd never have an opportunity to enact them.
"Never mind that," he said at last. "I have something better. A game for two."
"Let me guess. Hide-and-seek. And I don't get to be 'it.'"
A glimmer of confusion, then he smiled. "Yes, hide-and-seek, as you say. You will run. When I catch you…" His gaze slithered down me, eyes darkening. "I may do as I wish. And then I will tell you what you want to know."
"Uh-uh. If you catch me, fine, we'll do it your way. But if you don't, you forfeit and tell me how to catch the Nix."
He shook his head. "If that's how you wish to play, then if I catch you, you forfeit. You allow me to do as I wish, and I tell you nothing."
"We have met, have we not?" he said. "You appear familiar… and yet…" His frown flipped into a broad grin. "I'm quite certain I wouldn't forget such an angel. So much prettier than the other one they sent. He wasn't my type at all."
"We've never met," I said. "The last time you were topside, I hadn't even been born."
He gave me another once-over, pausing at my eyes, his confusion obvious. He recognized something there… just wasn't sure what it was. Too bad. If he didn't know I was a witch, I wasn't enlightening him about that, any more than I was letting him know I wasn't an angel.
"Do you have a name, pretty one?" he asked.
"Everyone does."
He waited. When I said nothing, his lips tweaked in a smile.
"The exchange of names is the first part of any polite conversation," he said.
"Yep," I said. "It is."
When I didn't continue, he laughed. "Not even going to humor me, are you? The other one did. He was very polite. Very… understanding. And most companionable. I think he wanted to be my friend."
"I'm sure he did."
Dachev's brows lifted as he tried to suppress a grin. "You doubt his sincerity? Oh, but he was so sincere.
He didn't make me stand in this meadow. He accepted my invitation, came right to my house, to prove how much he trusted me. Don't you trust me?"
"No."
Another barely contained grin. "You should. It makes things so much more pleasant. The other angel sat right at my table and told me he understood that I'd been tempted and succumbed. After all, I was human… just as he'd been, so he understood temptation. What the Fates did to me was wrong, putting this poor sinner in such a situation, into contact with one such as the Nix. She tempted me, and I fell from grace."
"Uh-huh. Moving right along. You know why I'm here, so—"
"See? Now you're being rude. Katsuo was so much nicer. He wasn't in a hurry. He listened to me, listened most intently as I confessed my sins and told him what the Nix and I had done. Then I told him what I wished I'd done… in beautiful, intricate detail, everything I wished I could have done to those women, if only it had been me in those killers' bodies. I described every cut I would have made, every degradation I would have inflicted." Dachev's face gathered in a mock frown. "That's when he left. Left without even saying good-bye." He looked over at me. "Do you think Katsuo remembers me? Perhaps in his dreams?" He flashed a wide smile. "I hope so."
I said nothing.
"Do angels dream?" he said. "Can they have nightmares? Or are they all dreams like this?" He waved a dismissive hand around the meadow. "Visions of wildflowers and sunny skies. We dream, you know.
When we sleep, the cracks in our memory open, just enough to let out a flash here, a glimpse there. And there are no wildflowers and sunny skies in our dreams. Sometimes I hear the others screaming. They keep me awake at night."
"Damned shame."
A shark-toothed smile. "A damned shame indeed. You aren't even going to feign sympathy, are you?"
"If you want sympathy, I'll send Katsuo. If you want to cut a deal, you're stuck with me."
"A deal? I do like the sound of that. Let me see… what should I ask for? Well, first, of course, I want out of here."
I laughed.
"Oh, not permanently. Just a visit, under escort, of course. I—"
"No. I couldn't arrange it even if I wanted to."
"Pictures, then."
"Huh?"
"When I was out there, with the Nix, whenever we killed someone, the police took so many pictures.
Click, click, click. Every angle, every close-up." He closed his eyes and sighed. "Such attention to detail.
Even I was impressed."
"You want those photos?" I said.
"No, no. Those I remember. And they weren't truly mine. I want mine—the ones I don't remember. I found newspaper clippings of what I'd done, but there were no pictures. So disappointing."
"Cops didn't take crime photos back then," I lied.
"No?"
I looked him in the eye. "No."
"I see. In that case, I will settle for descriptions. Those who reported on my case were most stingy with the details. Not so much as a single word about precisely what I did, only the broadest hints. I want—"
"Detail," I said. "I get it. But you won't get it, because I don't know the details, and the only offer on the table here is one I can provide."
"Use your imagination, then. Tell me what you think I did to those girls. Or, perhaps, I'll tell you what I think I did, what I see when I close my eyes."
"Sure, let's do that. You tell me what you think you might have done, and I'll listen. You have an hour. At the end of that, if I'm still here, haven't tossed my cookies or bolted out the door, you'll tell me how you caught the Nix. And you'll tell me while I'm casting a lie-detection spell."
Disappointment seeped into his face, then hardened into a petulant scowl as he realized this deal wouldn't be nearly as rewarding as he'd hoped. I might not want to hear his sadistic fantasies, but I'd listen, and I'd listen without giving him the reaction he craved. After all, they were just words, words unrelated to me, words not even grounded in fact, just the fantasies of a sick fuck who'd never have an opportunity to enact them.
"Never mind that," he said at last. "I have something better. A game for two."
"Let me guess. Hide-and-seek. And I don't get to be 'it.'"
A glimmer of confusion, then he smiled. "Yes, hide-and-seek, as you say. You will run. When I catch you…" His gaze slithered down me, eyes darkening. "I may do as I wish. And then I will tell you what you want to know."
"Uh-uh. If you catch me, fine, we'll do it your way. But if you don't, you forfeit and tell me how to catch the Nix."
He shook his head. "If that's how you wish to play, then if I catch you, you forfeit. You allow me to do as I wish, and I tell you nothing."
