Page 71 of Crucible
“Beans.”
“Beans and what?”
“Mice.”
“Excuse me?”
“Mice.” The practiced smile is back, and it’s creepy as fuck. “I found some caught in your traps and thought, why not, you know? It was kind of tricky because they smell god-awful, and I’m pretty sure they’re diseased and don’t taste very well. Plus, there was no recipe for mice stew in those books you left for me. Thank you for that, by the way. Real helpful. Anyway, I managed. Bon appétit, boys.”
Before any of us can think of what to say to her, Aurelia turns and flounces off back to wherever she came from.
This girl is fucking crazier than I thought.
“Do you think mice are a rich person’s delicacy where she comes from?” Seth asks once she’s gone. “Like caviar? Oh, shit. I think I see an eyeball.” Seth points it out, and sure enough, there’s a fucking mouse eye staring back at us.
I gag while Thorin swears and grabs the plates. He tosses them in the trash along with our “dinner.”
But he doesn’t stop there.
Thorin yanks the bag out of the bin and storms out the side door to toss it in the barrel, where we burn whatever we can’t compost or recycle. I can see him pour lighter fluid over it before grabbing the matches. The flames roar to life and chase away the night until I can see his hard profile clearly through the window. The ticking muscles in his jaw tell me he’s thinking about his next move and resisting it even harder.
Whatever he decides, Seth and I have his back. Well, I do. Seth is still a wildcard.
When Thorin finally steps back inside, we lock gazes. “I think it’s safe to say we gave our guest every chance to get with the program, don’t you?”
“Yeah…” My smile is slow to come, but it grows from anticipation of the night ahead. “I’d say so. She’s basically calling us out at this point. Seth?”
“Can I go first?” He jumps right to the point.
“No. You’re the reason she tried to feed us rodents for dinner.”
“That’s debatable,” Seth says petulantly.
“It’s really not,” I return as we leave the kitchen.
Aurelia’s clearly still pissed about last night. Seth took away the only hope she had because he was desensitized to human emotion.
We find Aurelia downstairs in the laundry room.
Thorin and Seth hang back while I block her only exit. Aurelia’s humming and bouncing to some tune only she can hear while hanging Thorin’s flannel that she’d been wearing on the clothesline. I know I don’t make a sound, but she must feel me watching her because the song in her head ends abruptly, and she turns around.
I’m standing in the doorway, leaning a shoulder against the jamb as I watch her. “How’s it going?”
“Fantastic!” Her voice is light and airy and fucking weird as shit. I already know she’s messing with us, but it feels like a performance she’s done before. She’s too good at it. I almost believe she likes taking care of us.
“I see you finally decided to do the laundry.”
“It’s good exercise.” Aurelia grips the washing stick with both hands and makes circling motions while moving her hips. “Chugga-chugga! Chugga-chugga! Chugga-chugga! Chugga-chugga! Chugga-chugga! And whoosh!” She spins around once with her hands in the air.
Unfortunately, I get theStepford Wivesreference, so I know she’s being sarcastic.
“Then I’m almost sorry for ruining your fun.”
“Don’t be sorry.” She shrugs and bends to grab what looks like a pair of Seth’s boxers from the metal bin. My eyes automatically travel to her round ass. “Just go away.”
The hem of that obscenely pornographic peasant dress rises up her thigh just shy of showing us the bottom curve of her ass. Thorin and Seth hover silently behind me, but she doesn’t see them because she’s too busy trying to piss me off.
It’s not going to work. I’m too hungry for her.
