34 Chapter 34: s Plan (1/2)
SALEM: Elina's eyes changed. Not the color. Something I couldn't quite define. They were blank, but I sensed some kind of determination in those silvery depths.
Anja knocked again. ”Salem, are you there?”
I got up and to open the door. I put my hand on the handle. I was about to open it. But I stopped.
Why did I stop? Something in my gut didn't feel right. An ancient corner of my brain whispered. My heart beat faster.
I glanced behind me. Elina's gaze was trained intently on me. I searched for signs in her expression, anything that could give me a clue as to why I felt uneasy. But she didn't give anything away.
I opened the door. Just a crack.
”Yes?”
Anja stood there, a torch in her hand.
She looked at me, then at the ground. She glanced left and right, her face flushed.
”Uhm...I was just wondering...uhm...”
”Yes?”
”Uhm...would you like to take a walk with me?”
She wasn't wearing the dress she wore earlier. She had changed into a nightgown. Her hair was loose, illuminated by the torch she was holding.
She smiled slightly.
”Oh, uhm...”
She said, ”Tomorrow you are going to leave and I...”
Her words trailed off.
”You what?”
”I...I wanted to spend more time with you.”
In the glow of the fire, her gown was a little transparent. I could see her waist, her legs.
I felt Elina's eyes on by back. Intense, stoic, all-seeing.
”I'm sorry, but I think I'll stay in tonight,” I said. ”My wife needs me.”
A look of surprise on her face. Then a flash of emotion I couldn't quite catch. Because she erased it immediately. She nodded, turned and left. I closed the door.
Elina laughed and fell to her side.
”What?” I said.
She laughed until she had to wipe tears from her face.
”Your wife needs you?”
I shrugged.
”Your WIFE needs you?”
I said nothing.
She calmed down. ”I thought that you were completely smitten with that girl. But it seems like you are smarter than you look.”
”I just felt there was some danger. I'm not sure what it is. It's better to stay in until I figure out what it is.”