I thought,«What nonsense I’m talking.»
Mentally berating herself for being naive, she went to kuh-
nu for a drink.
– I don’t get drunk at all!» A voice answered
as Reana entered the kitchen. «Alcohol just
calms me down. A little bit.
When she returned with a shot glass, she saw that the guest had already
settled into a chair, his feet propped up on the coffee table,
right on the white lace napkins, sipping cognac
from his throat. He took the proffered glass and set
it on the table beside him. Then he patted his chest.
«Holy shit, I lost my phone,» he said, and smiled.
She forced a smile in return:
27
– Can I give you mine? If you need
to make a phone call somewhere…
– Not yet, thank you. I need to think about it,»
the visitor said, and took another swig from the bottle.
28
CHAPTER 7. AT BREAKFAST
Birds were singing in the garden. Dawn began to break.
Reana made herself a cheese sandwich and
sat down in the chair opposite. She offered a boo-
terbrod to her guest, who declined and sat lost
in thought.
Deciding not to press him with questions, she simply
watched, hoping that something might become clearer.
Who is sitting in front of her with their booted feet unceremoniously propped up
on her coffee table?
The stranger’s hair was tousled, as if he
had been in a strong wind. His black eyes
were fixed on a single point, and he held his hand thoughtfully
near his cheek, where a light stubble was growing on it.
An expensive watch glinted from under the sleeve of his white shirt, which was torn and stained
in several places.
Probably, dear ones. Reana didn’t know much about it, but the cha-
si caught her eye, and they looked interesting,
inside, there were many mechanisms that
constantly spun, and all this resembled a kaleidoscope
of parts, arrows and gears. On the belt of his trousers, she
noticed a metal buckle with a picture of the head of
an angry bull, which, as it seemed to
her, did not match the classic trousers.
29
The guest had already finished the rest of his brandy. Indeed, it
looked as if he hadn’t been drunk at all. His eyes
remained focused.
He swirled the empty bottle in his hand, set it
on the table, and finally looked at Reana. She had already finished her bread
and was also looking at him in silence.
«I didn’t introduce myself,» he said suddenly. «My name is
Keijigen.
«Nice to meet you, and I’m Reana.»
– I know…
She pointed
to the pool of blood that had dripped from the sofa to the floor when they
had taken out the arrow.
– Yes, of course…
«It’s a pity, the sofa is light,» Reana said, wiping
the floor, «I’ll probably have to take it to the dry cleaners,»
and again she thought to herself that she had said something stupid or at
least something inappropriate. – Are you sure we
don’t need to take him to the hospital?» She asked about
the other one.
The man seemed to hear, stirred, gave a heavy gasp, and
opened his eyes, startling Reana.
The second guest turned out to be quite different from the first:
large curls of blond hair falling almost to
his shoulders, a manly face with expressive eyebrows
and a strong chin, blue eyes. He probably
would have looked like a movie star if he hadn’t been wearing a strange baggy
hoodie that had once been white,
but was now completely rumpled and dirty, giving him the
appearance of a ragamuffin.
he felt the
spot where the arrow used to stick out, then looked at Reana
and smiled a snow-white smile. – I had no doubt
you could do it!» He exclaimed happily, and snatched it up.
Reanu in his arms.
31
She tried to pull away from him, but
it was absolutely impossible. After a few seconds, he
released her himself, got up from the couch, and looked around.
«So that’s what it’s like to be a mortal! – What is it? «he shouted loudly
.«Stand up, demon, when he’s talking to you…
«You’ll be fine,» Keijigen interrupted. «You
owe me one, light one. If it wasn’t for me, black arrow would have already killed you.
finished it off, «he muttered in a disgruntled voice.
– I’m not that easy to kill!» – raising a finger up,
the blonde retorted. – Even in a human body,
as it turns out, I’m incredibly resilient and strong! —
he concluded. Then he added – " I don’t feel very well… I
can’t understand… it’s like something’s missing… my mouth is
too dry…
Reana poured him some water from a decanter and handed him a glass.
«Here, take this, please.
He gently took the glass from her.
– What’s that?“ – What is it? „he asked softly.
«It’s water, you drink it,» Keiji —
kyung explained with a sigh and covered his face with his hand.
«Drinking?» Oh, yes, of course! Since I am now a mortal,
enjoy all the delights of being human. So? and he
gulped down the water, spilling the rest out of carelessness. – From-
in person! Invigorates!
– Maybe you’re hungry.» Ryo-
ana asked quietly.
– I want