”I’m going to keep reading,” she said calmly, looking at Evony. ”You should rest.”

”Oh come on,” Evony teased gently. ”I thought we were talking.”

Lauren scoffed. ”Yeah, talking.”

”Sit down, please.” Evony shifted over on the couch and gestured at the open space there, her eyes sparkling. ”It’s lonely over here.”

Lauren’s eyes darted to the couch and then back to the Morrigan’s face. She backed up a few steps, sitting on the chair again. They stared at each other for a few long minutes and Evony waited for her to give in. A few brief moments of intense silence, a smirk on her lips, a promise in her eye, and they all would begin to crumble. They always did. The Morrigan expected Lauren to get up and leave again and she wouldn’t stop her this time. The crack of wills was enough of a victory for her.

But Lauren didn’t do either of those things. She sat, deep in the chair, waiting for Evony to make the first move.

The Morrigan tsked in frustration. She should have known better by now: Lauren wasn’t your typical human. ”Fine,” she said dramatically, ending the silence. ”I can feign interest until Bo gets back. Why doesn’t she feed from you?”

Lauren smirked. ”Why do you even ask if you don’t care?”

”Because I like making myself sick by talking about you, humour me.” Evony sighed. ”God, you act like I’m the one who stripped you of your powers by seducing you into bed.” The stoic expression that fell over Lauren’s face was exactly what the Morrigan hoped for.

”I’m more to her than food.” The answer was simple and direct. The least amount of words to express as much as she could. Evony commended her for her talent for it.

”Ugh,” Evony stuck her tongue out and rolled her eyes. ”The answer really was as disgusting as I thought it’d be.” She settled into the corner of the couch and tucked the blanket around her.

Lauren shook her head. ”And you said humans were hard to understand.”

”Humans are foul, treacherous creatures that-”

”Make you feel like a virgin again?” Lauren interrupted.

Evony glared at her with fire in her eyes. Oh if only she could, the smug doctor would be a puddle of her former self. Her hate for humans increased tenfold when Lauren turned her and revenge boiled under the surface of Evony’s skin. She would get there. But until then, Evony smirked slyly. ”I figured I’d give your temporary existence some confidence,” she started. ”But now I’m not feeling so charitable. I faked the whole paint-peeling experience, sweetie.”