The trays looked fabulous, and glad now I'd said yes to dinner, I took up my chopsticks, pleased I didn't have to break them apart to use them. They looked expensive. All we had at home were the ones we saved from takeout.
I watched Ivy handle her sticks with the fluency of a native language, the extensions of her fingers taking three different sashimi and several rolls with cream cheese and what looked like tuna. Remembering our first disastrous dinner as roommates, I kept my eyes down and put a few bites on my plate followed by lots of ginger. Jenks hovered over an amber sauce, and I put some on my plate, making sure he knew it was for him by pointing at him with the sticks—though how he was going to get it home was beyond me.
Cormel was still fussing with the sauces by the time Ivy and I had retreated with full plates. "I'm so pleased you stayed," he said as he moved with that eerie vampire speed and put all of three bites on his plate. "Sushi alone is not the same. You never get the variety."
Ivy was smiling, but the display of vampiric speed had me on edge. I didn't need the reminder that he was stronger than me. And he didn't need to eat. Why he was sort of bothered me.
"I love sushi," I said, not wanting him to guess he had unnerved me. "Since I was a kid."
"Really." Cormel put a bite into his mouth and chewed. "I'm surprised."
"I was eight," I said, taking a slice of ginger and enjoying the sweet zing. "I thought I was dying. Well, I was, but I didn't know I was going to get better. My brother went on this big push for me to do everything. Made it his goal one summer."
My fumbling for a roll slowed as I thought about the girl in the hospital and the look in her eyes. I should go back and tell her the chance was real. If I survived, then she had a chance. I didn't even know her name.
"You still are, you know," Cormel said, startling me.
"Dying?" I blurted, and he laughed. Ivy smiled thinly, not appreciating the joke.
"I suppose," he said, eyes on his second roll. "I'm the only one here not performing that particular trick anymore, but what I meant was, you're still pushing to try new things."
My eyes flicked to Ivy. "No, I'm not."
Ivy shifted uncomfortably between us. Determined to not back down, I took one of the more mundane crunchy pieces of fried shrimp and ate it with a great deal of noise.
Cormel smiled and set his plate aside, having eaten only one roll. "You're in a tight spot, Rachel, and I'm curious as to what your plan is for getting out."
Jenks clattered his wings in warning, and the tension went up. "I'll get the AMA whether you help me or not—" I started, and he cut me off.
"I promised you your form, and you will have it," he said, sounding insulted. "That's short-term survival, and I'm talking progress. Moving forward. Establishing yourself in a safe, long-term situation." He took his glass and sipped from it. "You have been seen consorting with demons. You were refused traditional treatment on the witch floors because of your demon scars. What do you think that means?"
"It means they're idiots." My chin rose, and I set the plate of sushi down. "Human medicine worked fine."
"Humans don't like demons any more than anyone else," he said. "Less. If you continue dealing with them openly, you will be silenced. Probably by witches."
I laughed at that. "Whoa, whoa, whoa," I said, waving my sticks about. "I don't know where you're getting your info, but witches don't do that to each other. They never have."
"And you know that how?" he asked. "Even so, you're acting out of character, and that will force them to do the same."
I made a scoffing sound, and returned to eating. Why do they make these rolls so darn big? I look like a freaking squirrel.
"Be cautious, Rachel," Cormel said, and I ignored him, continuing to try to chew a wad of rice and seaweed too big for my mouth. "Humans are vicious when cornered. That's why they survive and we don't. They came first, and they will probably persist long after we're gone. Rats, cockroaches, and humans."
Ivy rolled her eyes and ate a glob of the green stuff. Seeing her disbelief, Cormel smiled. "Ivy disagrees," he said, "but I've had to speak favorably for you more than once."
My motion to dip my last cucumber roll hesitated. "I never asked you to do that."
"It wasn't your place to give me permission," he said. "I'm not telling you this so you feel you owe me a debt, but to let you know your situation. If the witches don't react to you openly trafficking with demons, then the vampires will be pressed into it for another reason."
I set my sticks down, feeling sick. I had no choice but to traffic with demons, having bought Trent's freedom from them with a promise to be Al's student. "If you're not upset about the demons, then what's bothering you?" I asked, feeling trapped and angry.
"What you're doing to help the elves, of course."
