8 Sun Sickness (1/2)
”What are you doing?” Ash couldn't stop himself from asking.
The woman turned around, showing off eyes that were the same color as her hair. She smiled cheerfully. ”Power washing! It's a nifty skill I developed using my power to shoot water out of my hands. If I control the pressure properly I can get rid of virtually any grime.
”I got the idea from some humans, actually. I saw a commercial a while back about power washers and figured it couldn't be too hard. It took a bit of practice but I got it in the end.” She tilted her head and eyed him curiously. ”Do you live here? I thought this castle belonged to the elf who hired us.”
Ash realized he wasn't wearing his glamour. He would be able to pass for an elf if not for the fact that his eyes were red and his fangs were sticking out. Both races were tall, lean, and had slightly pointed ears.
”No…this place is mine. The elf, uh, works for me.”
It was technically true. According to their deal Ruby would continue making money for him to fix this place up until her wing healed. That sort of made her an employee.
The water fairy raised an eyebrow. ”An elf working for a vampire? I've never heard of such a thing.”
Ash shrugged. ”It's the truth. Where is she anyway? Did you happen to see where she went?”
”Last I saw the elf was outside. Your castle is filthy by the way. How did you even let it get this bad?” the fairy asked accusingly. ”Not that I mind since we're getting paid well. But I can't even imagine living like this.”
He scowled. It wasn't like he wanted to be living like this either. His last castle had been clean and comfortable before it burned down. The general structure should still be intact, if charred, but it wasn't safe there anymore.
”I've only been here a few days. Cleaning this entire place by myself isn't exactly my forte.”
”Oh,” the fairy said disinterestedly before getting back to her power washing.
Ash was seriously questioning her customer service skills before remembering that technically the customer was Ruby, not him. He didn't know what the cleaning rates were these days but this place was large enough to fit a mid-sized coven so it would likely take the fairies days to get it all done.
That couldn't be cheap. What exactly had she done to get the money for this and the exterminators?
He didn't like being awake during daylight hours but there was no going back to sleep now. With a sigh, Ash set off in search of the cause of all this noise. They needed to exchange words.