"I heard you had a lover's spat," Red said as he sauntered over to where Syryn was checking on his healthy plants. Alka's care was apparent in how they thrived so bountifully. The plant mage also had several rare plants that Syryn recognised. Rare and very expensive. If Alka sold them, it would only be at an auction.

"Who told you?" Syryn inquired.

​​

"Nobody. I was listening through the door."

Syryn remembered that he had to get back to the alchemy room to help Salem. The half-elf was handling their entire business by himself and still letting Syryn have half the profits. He had insisted it was alright, and that he would expect Syryn to fill in for him if there was sufficient cause for Salem's absence.

Syryn decided he could spare some time to chat with Red since the boy had come seeking him out.

"Your anti mage was correct to be upset about what you did with Riha."

If the redhead was here to lecture him about the same matter, Syryn was going to start a fire. "He's not my anti mage."

"Whatever."

"You're the last person I expected to side with Rowan on this matter."

"I'm not siding with him," Red said as he picked up Luci's old watering pail. "He's right from an ethical standpoint. Still, that's not how we operate, is it?"

Syryn eyed the cunning redhead. "What are you implying?"

Red poured water over one of Alka's expensive plants. It was stressful to watch considering how much the plant was worth. If Red killed it from overwatering, Syryn was going to name and shame him. In front of Alka.

"Riha likes getting sucked by you. You like sucking him. If Rowan doesn't know, then where's the harm in a little bloodletting? Well, only as long as Riha doesn't die." Red smiled at the brief flicker of hunger that crossed Syryn's eyes. "The consent is mutual between the both of you."

Red made it sound so wrong.

"As long as the danger of death persists, I cannot let it happen again," Syryn replied.

Red dumped the old watering can and reached for a long pair of garden shears. Syryn thought it wasn't wise for the redhead to handle it around Alka's prized plants.

"Then you just have to find a way to control that pesky inner demon. You'd be drinking selkie blood for a lifetime. Too bad you won't fuck Riha. Imagine-"

"Do you intend to do that?" Syryn asked the redhead.

"Me?" Red looked up from the garden shears he was testing on the leaves of Syryn's plant. "It's enticing but I don't really know. I just think it would be hot to- well you know," he smiled wickedly. "I won't elaborate since Luci is listening."

The twin pleasures of indulging in selkie blood and selkie sex, at the same time, that too. Syryn immediately blocked the image from his mind before it could take root and tempt him. He was glad that Rowan could not read minds. It wasn't as if it hadnt crossed his mind when he was in the middle of feeding. But to Syryn, a dalliance wasn't worth losing what he had with Rowan. No amount of good sex was worth losing what he had with Rowan.

"You'd do it wouldn't you? I mean, if you were old enough," Syryn asked. "And stop snipping at my plants."

Red reluctantly lowered the garden shears whose blades were about to snip off a delicate blue bud. "Now that I really think about it, I guess I would. The fact that he's the last selkie left makes it even sweeter, doesn't it?"

Syryn had to concede to that. Riha was delicious but his ultra rarity added a layer of enjoyment that could not be had if selkies were commonly found.

"So did you just come here to air out your dirty selkie fantasy?" Syryn placed a hand on the shears that had gone back up. It was fun cutting plants but this wasn't the place for Red to have fun with it. The redhead made a half-hearted attempt at glaring at him.

"I came here to tell you what you wanted to hear, big brother. Rowan thinks like a human, but you aren't fully human. Live a little, Syryn. Sometimes, it's okay to give in to temptation, especially when you know that it's forbidden."

Syryn stared at the angelic-looking face of Lucien. It was a face that would ensnare and ruin good men in the future. Riaku wouldn't stand a chance against a face like that when it came with such a sweet and wicked tongue that spoke silky tempting words. Even Syryn had succumbed to it. A poisoned apple, that was what Red still was at his core.

"So, Syryn, what are you going to do?" Crimson eyes blinked up at him.

"I'll ponder upon your words, Red. Unlike you, I have more to lose from acting against Rowan's directives." Syryn hated saying those words but he couldn't not say them.

"Rowan really has you eating out of the palm of his hand, Syryn. Is the dick that good?" The redhead curiously asked.

How could Syryn make a comparison when Rowan was the only man he'd ever bedded?

"I'd rather not talk about it."

"Right. Have fun being Rowan's little angel," Red sneered.

Syryn's eyes widened at the sudden change in Red's demeanour. "Why the hell are you getting worked up?"

The redhead laughed, a soft sound of derision.

"You're a real piece of work you know. This is why you can't control your demon. Keep fighting and denying it what it wants. One day, you'll erupt like a volcano and then find yourself surrounded by the corpses of all the people you care about." Red stepped up to the shocked mage, "you won't remember having killed them but you'll certainly regret it so much it'll drive you insane. And you'll know that it was your own fault that did it."

Syryn shook his head, "it won't happen. In my eighteen years with Rowan, I never killed anyone, and my demon never took over me."

"That's because it was fat with the countless lives you'd reaped before Rowan caught you, Syryn. Satisfied, happy, and willing to co-operate. Maybe it would have started to get hungry again in another ten years of isolation."

Syryn had no rebuttal to Red's argument. It was true that he had been suppressing the demon so thoroughly that not a single desire of it was met. In the past, there had been no need for him to fight it. This life had changed his relationship with the demon. But if Red was right, Syryn was in deep trouble.

"Look, all I'm saying is, Riha can solve your problems. A few sips here and there and you'll find that control will come easier to you."

"I'll consider it," Syryn replied. He was already thinking about whether or not to tell Rowan about what Red was predicting.