“Who’s the girl?” Izzy asked as she sat down on the chair in front of Andreas’ desk, her eyes narrowed as she leaned forward.

Andreas sighed as he closed the book he was studying and focused all his attention on the girl. He had almost forgotten just how forward she could be. “Her name is Leita, and she is no concern of yours.”

Izzy sat back in the chair, putting her feet onto it as she continued to stare at him. “She is living here with us, isn’t she? At least for the time being. I have a right to know who she is, don’t I? She could be dangerous.”

Andreas closed his eyes and pulled his fingers through his hair before returning his gaze to the girl. One night and she had already made herself at home. He admired that about her, even though he realized she was going to be a handful.

“She will pose no threat to you, I have made sure of that.”

“What happened to Lana?”

Andreas suck in a ragged breath, surprised at how that question pained him to hear. Izzy didn’t know about Lana’s execution, nor his inability to save her.

“She’s gone and she’s not coming back,” he stated, his voice thick.

Izzy trained her narrowed eyes on him. “She left with Kalen?”

“She left of her own accord.”

Izzy’s nose wrinkled. “Why?”

Andreas tried to keep the onslaught of emotions he was experiencing at bay. He didn’t want to have this conversation with Izzy. Not now, not ever. So he settled for telling her a simple, “I don’t know.”

“But you two seemed so close? I mean, she was obviously dating Kalen, but there was something between you. I sensed the tension. Did you make her angry?” He was trying really hard to keep a grip on his patience.

“Why do you assume that I had been the one to do something wrong?” Andreas challenged, an attempt – weak at best – to change the subject.

The girl shrugged. “She was just always so kind to me. Hard to imagine that she would do anything to upset you… especially since I saw the way you looked at her.”

“At who?” Leita asked as she entered the room. Andreas cursed under his breath. So much for his secret office. His eyes moved past Leita and briefly stopped on the stain that served as the only reminder of the day Lana had saved his life. Could that only have been weeks ago? That one time it had been a good thing his office wasn’t as secretive as he had hoped, but now faced with two interrogates?

“No one.”

“Lana,” Andreas and Izzy said at the same time, respectively. He faced Izzy with a look of betrayal and she glared at him in response. Why couldn’t this girl just be afraid of him like everyone else was?

Leita’s ears perked up as her eyebrows raised. There went Andreas’ chance to change the subject. “And who might this Lana be to garner suck affection from you?”

Andreas rose from his seat and walked out of the room. He ignored both females when they called after him and flashed himself out of his house the moment they started to close the distance between them. He felt secure that Leita had taken his threat about harming Izzy to heart and decided to pay Gynae a visit. He need to take his frustration out on someone and he had a strong suspicion that he would find Raphael there.

He found himself standing in front of a little inn, the name drawing his attention. Something inside the inn was beckoning him, asking him to go closer, but he quickly dismissed the feeling. One thing he had learned from Raphael over the period of time they had been playing cat and mouse was that Raphael avoided inns. That would not be where he would find his enemy. And so he kept walking, letting his instincts guide the way. He didn’t know where he was going or if he’d even find Raphael, but even if this trip ended up being fruitless, at least he was able to clear his head and avoid telling Izzy about Lana’s death, and telling Leita anything about Lana period.

*****

A few hours later Andreas flashed himself back to his room. Leita was spread over the bed, naked. He stalked from the room without sparing her another glance. He had been slightly impulsive when going to Gynae, and as expected, hadn’t found Raphael. Not that he thought he would anyway.

He found Izzy in the library that Lana had favored during her stay. Her book was opened on a table in front of her, concealing the title. She rested her head on both her palms and was so engrossed in her book that Andreas doubted she heard him enter.

Quietly, in order to not startle her, Andreas pulled out the chair opposite hers. Immediately, her attention became all his. She closed the book without committing the page to memory and focused her blue eyes on him. “You have some explaining to do,” she scolded.

Andreas simply raised his eyebrows at her. “Do I now?”

She nodded. “What you did earlier was rude.”

“Fortunately for me, I have never prided myself on being a nice guy,” he answered dryly.

Izzy folded her arms across her chest in a manner that was meant to be stern, but was too child-like in its nature to be intimidating.

“So now you are going to pretend that you aren’t a nice guy?” she demanded.

“I’m terribly sorry if I ever have you the impression that I was.”

She narrowed her gaze on him. “Nice try but no one is that good of an actor. Not nice guys would’ve turned me away at the door the first time they met me, not take me in for a second time.”

“It doesn’t make me nice to give you a place to live.”

“But it does make you nice for letting me get away with how I talk to you! You haven’t snapped at me once…. Most people do… they can’t handle me –“

“Intrusive?” Andreas provided and she stuck out her tongue.

“Fine, intrusive questions. You like me and you are a good guy beneath the façade. You just don’t want to admit that.”

Andreas didn’t reply. He didn’t know how to explain to her that things were way more complicated than that. Instead he just leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes.

“I’m still waiting,” she said stubbornly.

“For what?” he asked, peeking through one eye.

“Your apology for earlier.”

Andreas closed his eye again. “Don’t hold your breath.”

“I know you like me…” Izzy tried.

“Presumptuous, aren’t we?”

“You do… and because you like me, you will apologize for being rude earlier.”

“Again, quite presumptuous, little girl,” Andreas said nonchalantly, although he did feel slightly amused. He felt an odd sense of comfort and familiarity around Izzy that he didn’t feel elsewhere.

“Observant, not presumptuous.”

“How do you figure?”

“I can tell you like me the same way I can tell you didn’t particularly like Kalen and that you liked Lana. It’s all in your facial expressions. Your eyes grew softer every time you saw Lana… and even more so when you see me. And they became harder when you looked at Kalen, and almost deadly when Leita enters a room. So I know you don’t like her… why is she still here?”

Andreas sighed and opened his eyes again, deciding to more actively participate in the conversation. “Fine, I will give it to you. You are quite observant. More so than most, as I am an expert at concealing my true emotions. So truly, I applaud you. As for why Leita is here, I am not discussing that with a thirteen year old.”

“I’m fourteen now.”

Andreas’ eyebrows rose. “Happy belated birthday then.”

“Don’t change the subject.”

Andreas leaned forward, toward the young girl, his expression suddenly deadly serious. “One of these days you are going to have to learn to be less forward. Not everyone is going to let you get away with half as much as I have let you get away with until now. And yes, you are correct in assuming that I like you, nut at one point I am going to lose my patience. Some topics are off limits and it will do you well to learn not to push me. It hasn’t turned out well for people in the past.”

For the first time since he had known her, Izzy actually looked frightened of him. He must’ve been more assertive than he meant. He got up and left before he did something else he might regret.

But Izzy was persistent and followed him regardless. “Disappear again and I’m going to be really mad at you.”

“You don’t give up, do you?”

She stopped in front of him. “Something happened and it has you in a bad mood. What really happened to Lana? She didn’t just leave, did she?”

Andreas opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out at first.

“No, she didn’t just leave,” he finally said, his voice soft and husky.

“What happened?”

He locked eyes with her again, the sense of familiarity overwhelming him now. But even so, he could bare to crush her hope. She had just lost her mother. She didn’t need this death right now either. He kissed Izzy on her forehead. “I’m sorry.” And disappeared.