Page 14 of Demon Food

Jaxlyn was shaking his head, muttering under his breath, “Am I the only one capable of cleaning around here? I swear.”

I found the soap. It was an oat-colored sliver the size of a cut of radish. See, this was precisely why you had to get here early. “Have you seen Landry hanging around more than usual, by chance?”

“What do you mean?” Jaxlyn asked, tossing a grimy washcloth into a basket. “Define more than usual.”

“Have you seen him near Terrek’s study?”

“Near it? Near it how?”

I was hoping to ask it without having to ask it. “Do you happen to know if he’s visited Terrek?”

The question halted him.

“Perhaps while I’ve been busy with a feeding.”

He didn’t budge. I waited for him to answer, but he just stood in stillness, arching a scrutinizing eyebrow.

“What?” I finally asked when he didn’t utter a word. “What is that look?”

He shook his head, returning to his tidying. “It’s none of my business. I’d rather stay out of it.”

My brows lifted. “Well, that’s obviously not an option.”

He swatted a hand around. “I don’t want to be involved.”

“Involved in what? Is that a yes? You’ve seen him visit Terrek?”

“You know, when you two first got here,” he said, comparing two dirty towels, then folding the one that looked cleaner over the side of the tub for me. “Landry was a boy. He was thirteen and you were rightfully protective. But that was six years ago.”

Again, I blinked, awaiting his point. “And?”

“And he’s not a boy anymore, Feloré.”

“Not a boy? He’s only nineteen.”

“My point.”

“That’s a boy.”

“Is it? How old were you when you started working?”

I sucked my cheeks. I didn’t know specifically, but possibly younger than that. “I’ve always been more mature than him. It’s how I was able to care for him.”

“Okay, so next year when he’s twenty, will you let him make his own decisions then?”

My swallow was a little dry. I dare not say the thing I wanted to say, which was, So long as they’re the right decisions.

“What about when he’s twenty-one? Twenty-two? How long do you control⁠—?”

“I asked you if you happen to know if he’s visited Terrek,” I said, struggling to conceal the bite to my tone. “I didn’t ask if you had advice on fostering him.”

He held up his hands, shifting his attention back to the floor as he bent to pick up a grimy washcloth. “Not that I know of.”

Well. That was a relief. Jaxlyn knew of everything that happened in the brothel.

“But.”

I lifted my gaze back to him as I froze. “But what?”