“Silver?”
My head bobs up and down as I quickly nod. “To put in her food. Not all demons react negatively to silver, but a good handful do.”
“What if she’s just allergic to silver in general, as a regular human?”
“I’ll slyly slip a silver bracelet around her wrist when she’s not looking.”
Keith gives me a dubious look. “Since you’re such a great pickpocket I’m sure that’ll go unnoticed.”
“Right. The easiest thing would be to put a few drops of truth potion in her drink and ask some questions. Starting with asking if she’s here to hurt my brother or myself.”
“And if she says no, how long will the truth potion last?”
“Depends on how much I slip in her drink, but a few hours at minimum.”
“Please tell me you’re joking?” Keith says.
“I’m not, and I still have some truth potion I made when I had to see if Nik was who he said he was. I wonder how long it stays good for?” I muse out loud. “I can make a new batch. And polish the real silver teaspoons I found in the attic. I’ll serve tea, of course, so she’ll have to pick up the spoon and then drink the truth potioned tea!” I smile triumphantly. “Or maybe I’ll start by asking if she’s using my brother for the money.”
“Does he have a lot of money?”
“Eh, he makes a really good salary but like I said, he hasn’t made the best choices and lives a rather lavish lifestyle. Which is yet another reason he needs me to look out for him.”
“Anora,” Keith starts, pursing his lips slightly. “You’re starting to sound a little crazy.”
“Crazy not to let another demon into my house?”
“The chances of your brother dating two demons in a row has to be statistically low, right?”
“I suppose.”
“Then you’ve just giving truth potion to a woman your brother has newly fallen for. All sorts of things could be said that should stay unsaid.”
He’s right, dammit. “Those things have a way of coming out eventually and if they’re serious, it should be brought up.”
“I see some of your point, but what if this girl says she’s dying to get married and start popping out babies and it freaks your brother out so he breaks up with her but really they were meant to be all along? And if she hadn’t taken the truth potion, she wouldn’t have brought it up for, say—I don’t know—another six months and by that time your brother is emotionally ready to think longer term and might have even gone and looked at rings?”
“If they were meant to be then it shouldn’t have mattered.”
Keith hikes an eyebrow. “Okay, well then imagine Ethan telling you on your second date that he’s in love with you and wants to move into to the big-ass house you just inherited, benefiting from the money youalsojust inherited because you both live a very comfortable life, and you have plenty of money to basically do what you want.” He holds up his hand to keep me from talking. “Which isn’t true, we all know that Ethan didn’t get with you for your inheritance. But before you got to know him, it would be hard to trust he was genuine.”
“Fine,” I relent. “It’s not so much that I’m worried the girl is a demon than I am pissed that he didn’t tell me about her.”
“Pissed?” Keith prods, elbowing me. I sigh, wishing Keith wasn’t so right.
“No. Hurt. He’s my twin. We don’t really keep secrets from each other. And I know,” I rush out. “You’re going to ask if I told him about the witch and demon stuff right away and I didn’t. I needed to sort things out myself and didn’t know how to present all that stuff without sounding completely insane.”
“I wasn’t going to ask, but I can’t imagine that was an easy conversation.”
“It really wasn’t that bad,” I recall with a shrug. “I did a simple spell and then promptly got attacked by a demon. I killed it but not before I almost burned down my garage. And that was how my brother and best friend saw me use my pyrokinesis for the first time.” A breeze rustles my hair. “Thanks. You’re a good friend for talking me off a ledge.”
“Brutal honesty is my forte. And I spent years lying to myself and others around me. I won’t do that anymore.”
“I’m sorry you had to.”
He shrugs. “The past is in the past, right?”
“Yeah, but the past can still hurt.” Our eyes meet for a moment and we both sigh. “I should get going before I’m late. I told Nik I’d pick something up for dessert and honestly, I think we could use some more wine to get through tonight.”