Pretty Lies

Mia felt nervous as he looked around curiously. Her granny's house was old and the terrace was a bit untidy and overgrown, since no one lived there over the year.

"Would you like some tea?" she asked politely.

"No, thank you. May I have a fig?"

"Of course. Whatever you like."

He picked a few, and she went into the kitchen to make a coffee.

"Who builds a kitchen outside the house?" he asked curiously, leaning against the doorframe.

"It's because it's too hot in the summer to cook inside, and this house didn't have air conditioning when it was built."

"Did you live here when you were little?"

"No. It was my grandmother's," she said, turning the handle of her granny's old coffee grinder.

He seemed to want to ask something, then apparently changed his mind and just said, "Coffee really smells good for something that tastes disgusting."

"It's at least not as tasteless as green tea," she replied and put a spoon of freshly ground powder into the boiling water.

"Aren't you at least going to filter it?"

"Stop giving running commentary from the door and go sit down like a normal guest!"

"But that is barbarian! The whole sediment will cement your stomach. It's like boiling tea leaves and then eating them!"

Mia removed the small coffee pot from the fire and turned to him.

"I think I liked you better when you were all supercilious cold businessman."

"No, you didn't. You almost strangled me for being patronising!"

"You're still being patronising! Here, if you can't be a proper guest, then make your own tea," she said and threw a tea packet at him.

"I said I don't want…" he began, then cocked his head and had a closer look. "You have such good tea and you'd still rather drink that disgusting slurry?"

"A friend of mine keeps giving it to me in the hope that I'll give up on coffee and cold sparkly water and do something for my health and inner balance or whatever."

"You should."

"I don't want inner balance. Also, I'm healthier than he is, thank you very much," she said and left him to it to at least comb her hair.

She looked at her flushed face in the mirror and for a moment wondered if she had caught sunburn. No, it was that damned man. She hadn't really felt attracted to one for a very long time, so the suddenness and intensity hit her like a brick. What was she even doing, allowing him to stick to her like a nettle even though she knew he was not up to any good?

Maybe Amira was right and she really did not know how to deal with men. At least not with those she was attracted to.

Amira also kept saying that having only had one lover at the age of twenty-five was a disgrace in this day and age, and that she should 'broaden her experiences'. Mia didn't agree in general, but she suddenly saw her point. But there was no way she could allow herself to give in to it with this one.

She got some cookies and went out. He was already ordering her coffee and his tea, set neatly on the table. For a moment, she was distracted by the movement of his hands. Slender but strong-looking, with long fingers and visible veins, as well as perfectly manicured oval fingernails.

What the hell was wrong with her?

She put the sweets on the table, and he picked them up, placing the platter exactly equidistant between their cups.

"You are insufferably neat," she told him, and he actually pouted.

She sat across from him and sipped her coffee.

"Why can't you at least drain the grounds away?" he asked with a grimace.

"Because it's better like this. Also, when you're done, you can turn the cup around and read fortunes."

He raised his eyebrows. "How?"

"You just interpret the figures you see and give them meaning."

"Like what?"

"Like whatever you imagine and whatever you think the person would like to hear. It's just for fun. If you really want to, I can tell you pretty lies from tea stains that remain in the cup."

"Are you good at telling pretty lies?" he asked.

"As long as you play along. Otherwise, I don't lie much or well."

"That is of course what a consummate Miar would like an opponent to believe."

She shrugged and smiled, hiding the fact that his reminder of their being opponents shook her a little.

He drained his cup, then offered it to her.

"Tell me pretty lies," he said with a strangely seductive smile

She was just about to make up something outlandish when her phone rang from inside the house.

"In a moment," she said and went to answer it.

"I'm on my way to the airport and we'll be home tomorrow morning. How did it go?" Julien asked.

"Uh… all right?" she said.

"Why do you make it sound like a question? Has he attacked you?"

"No."

"Is he still in Split?"

"He's here."

"In your house?"

"More like… outside of it."

"Are you out of your bloody mind?" Julien shouted into the phone.

Mia held it away from her ear.

"I am not. Everything is all right. He is just drinking tea."

"You cannot trust him!"

"Do you think I am an idiot?"

"No, but he left a trail of dead witches all over Singapore and Malaysia. It is rumoured that he can absorb other witches' powers even during an attack."

She froze. "But not even Marius can do that!"

"Something strange is happening. Can you get away from there?"

"Don't be ridiculous. If he wanted to kill me, he would have done so by now, and if he is out for my powers, he could have provoked me to attack him. He really just seems to want that sword."

"I'll call Amadeo…"

"You will not! Not just because I don't want him sweeping in here, but also because Uncle Gio doesn't want others to know about this. Especially the Benevento."

"Fine. Jass can't have gotten far though…"

"Jass is busy hunting those Albanians. Leave him be. I have the Sidhe bracelets."

"But you don't know if that works on him."

"That water demon Jass and I used them on wasn't human either and it worked on her. But I really don't think it is necessary."

"You can apologise later. Or leave it to Uncle Gio to do so in your name. Mia, I cannot risk losing you, too."

"That's just emotional blackmail."

"Maybe, but it is true nonetheless. He is too dangerous and will kill without any qualms."

"Those witches he killed - were they from that mercenary army the Indian warlock mentioned?"

"Yes. It may be good riddance to them, but it doesn't mean that he doesn't just mean to take over."

"All right."

"Do not ask him about it or make him suspicious."

She promised she wouldn't, then braced herself before she returned to the terrace outside.

 Tian Yi seemed to be nodding off in his chair, his face lifted to the few rays of sunshine that fought their way through the thick crown of the old fig tree and vines, his legs stretched in front of him. He sat upright again as he heard her approach.

"I'm sorry. It is just so peaceful here and I didn't sleep last night."

She forced herself to smile. "Why were you in such a hurry to find me?"

"Maybe I just wanted to see you because you are so beautiful. And I like dangerous women."

"Tons of them in Split. Most of them much more dangerous than I am, in their own way."

"All women are dangerous in one way or another. But I like being with you because you know what I am, and you're not afraid, and I don't have to pretend."

"Why don't you tell me what you are, so I can check if I really know?"

"Come closer and I'll tell you."

She suppressed her fear as best she could and kept smiling. There was still no danger emanating from him, and no signs of magic use, but if he wanted to syphon off her powers, this was going downhill fast. Still, there was no going back now.

Once she came closer, he extended his hand, and she put hers into it. To her surprise, he led it to his lips and pressed a soft kiss on the inside of her wrist. It was like her whole body lit up, and fear mixed with desire made her dizzy.

He looked up at her and pulled her closer. She freed her hands and cupped his face gently, leaning in as if for a kiss.

She doubted he even noticed when a sliver of green magic blocked his carotids. 

"You asked for pretty lies," she said regretfully as his limp body sank back into the chair.