"DAMN," ROARKE COMPLAINED, sighing again. He looked up at the girl, who was still staring at him. "What did you say your name was?" he asked, putting on a thick layer of sweet talk.
"I didn't." The girl still stared at him. An eerie silence followed her sharp words, which echoed out and down the quiet street.
Roarke sat patiently; girls always gave into things like these.
Eventually, the girl let out the breath she seemed to be holding. "Fine," she said. Roarke smiled at her; the way she pouted intrigued him. "I'm Cyrilla." She looked down.
"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Roarke's smile broadened when Cyrilla frowned openly at him. "Quite a mouthful though, isn't it?"
"Not really. Most normal people can say it without any trouble," she retorted.
"Normal? That's saying things. You're not even normal," Roarke continued taunting.
"Well, jackass, if you can't say it, most people call me Ciri anyways."
"Okay, Ciri. Whatever you say, Ciri." Roarke looked intently at the girl, who couldn't have been more than sixteen. She dropped her gaze and played with the hem of her shirt. "And don't worry about me. I know exactly what you are, so you don't have to worry yourself with telling me." His voice lowered considerably, and he asked, "You're a Sight Demon, aren't you?" Ciri gave a small nod. Roarke continued talking, almost to himself. "Amazing Demons. I've only ever come across two before, including you," he smiled ruefully at Ciri. "Extremely rare."
"And what about you, Shifter? You're pretty rare yourself. Most who can Shift only have it as their Secondary Ability. And even then, they're not close to how powerful you are." She looked pointedly at Roarke.
"Sure. I mean, I'm the only one for generations in my family. Last Shifter I knew about was my great, great, great, gre—"
"I get the point."
"Whatever." Roarke looked down the alleyway, bored. "But you didn't ask my name."
"Who said I wanted to know?"
Roarke looked back at her, only swiveling his head around against the wall. "I say so. Because I can feel it. I sense your curiosity." Ciri let out an annoyed huff. "I'm Roarke."
"Okay, Roarke. Whatever you say, Roarke," Ciri said, finally smiling at him. "So," she said, not hiding her curiosity anymore, "What's your Born Animal?" She made it sound like it was a new piece of news, just waiting to be gossiped about.
"Oh. Just an eagle." Roarke took the interrogation patiently. He'd always wanted a sibling. Thinking of siblings naturally made him think of Abby, who he liked to call his 'adoptive' sister.
"Just an eagle! What are you, crazy?"
"No..."
"Eagles like, own!" Ciri didn't disappoint Roarke's image of a high school cheerleader.
"Yeah, I guess they do." He grinned suddenly. "You wanna see?"
A slow, shy smile crept over the younger girl's face. "Er, sure," she said politely.
Roarke easily slid into his Eagle, melting away until he felt the familiar rush of heightened senses. Ciri squealed a bit, and Roarke rolled his golden eyes. "Oh, that's why your eyes are golden! And why your hair has that white streak in it!" Ciri sounded like a schoolgirl on a fieldtrip. He quickly shifted back and said, "Yeah, I think so."
Standing up abruptly, Roarke walked off, out into the street. "Hey!" Ciri called, running to catch up. "Oh, Ace must've moved out of range." Roarke continued walking, letting his feet take him on the well-known walk home. "Hey!" Ciri called again, "Where are you going?"
"Home," Roarke replied, throwing a wave over his shoulder. He wanted to get rid of all that had happened that night. And he hadn't even finished one of his Alcopops. He wasn't even slightly drunk either, not helping in his quest to forget; a quest to stay sane.
"Where's home, exactly?" Ciri asked cautiously.
"Out by the cliffs, exactly," came Roarke's witty reply.
"The cliffs? But that's- that's miles away!"
"Not by the bird's fly," Roarke said, loosing his control. "Look, okay, nice meeting you, another Demon and all, but I'm sick of this night. And I didn't even get drunk. Okay? So just leave me alone."
"What's your problem? Some girl ditch you? Parents divorced?"
"Kind of. You have no idea."
"Well, tell me." Ciri's voice had become quiet, slightly soothing.
"Father died when I was sixteen; last year; never knew my mother. I'm an only child. I live by myself and sometimes my best friend stays over. She's a Healer." Roarke looked over his shoulder to see her reaction, which went from surprise at his openness, to shock at his blunt story. "Go home, Cyrilla."
With that, Roarke turned and strode down the road, heading out of town.
"Wait! Wait! Bitch…" Ciri's insult was comical.
"I told you," Roarke seethed, "to go home."
"I'm not going home; you can't make me. We have to go after Ace; you of all people should know that." Ciri's voice was rising with agitation.
"Whoever this Ace person is, I have nothing to do with him. He's not my problem right now."
"Ace happens to be a Deflector. You figured that much, right? And, he just so happens to be on the run."
"On the run from what?" Roarke had to know. He had been the town's permanent Demon for five years now, and it made him responsible for the coming and going of other Demons. All Demons not living somewhere permanently had to report their whereabouts regularly.
"The Council. I work for them. I'm just following orders." Ciri looked on as Roarke digested this. She sighed, jumping to her feet. "We need to get going."
"We?" Roarke said incredulously.
"I wasn't the one who engaged him in a fight."
"No, you were the one who seduced him in an attempt to put a knife in his guts."
"First of all, it's a sword," she said, anger growing in her tone. "Second of all, seduction is a better technique than coming head-on. Finally, I almost succeeded!"
"Almost," Roarke said, emphasizing the word. "Almost. But you didn't."
"Because of you!"
"Uh-uh!"
"Uh-huh! And you know it. You're coming whether you want to or not."
"You can't make me," he shot back with a smirk.
"Do you really want to test a Sight Demon?" She leaned down into his face, baring a sinister smile. "I can make you live your worst nightmare, pup."
Roarke glared at her. "Oh, yeah?"
"Oh, hell, yeah. Now, are you coming with me or not?"
