Notes

"Aren't you getting tired? Every minute I spend with your hand in mine, I get a little more of your energy."

"I was already tired."

"But not like you are now. You can barely keep your eyes open."

Defensively, she said, "Your samis made me chase it for days! I've been--

"Leonora." His demeanor shifted, stern and frustrated. Grabbing the same hand he had just released, he said, "Look at me. Look at my eyes." She did, and they were purple again. "I know you can see them change. You know something is happening. Why can't you believe what I tell you?"

She didn't have an answer. He shook his head, slipping his hand from hers. "You've always been so stubborn," he muttered. It wasn't malicious; his comment was one of defeat, and it sent pinpricks through her heart.

Twisting the ring around her finger, she asked, "If I did believe you, what would that mean?"

A beat of silence followed. Then, a long exhale. "Well, you already said it: I'm a fictional creature. I'm not supposed to exist. But I do. And that makes me slanderousShe blinked. Surely he didn't mean the creature that had dragged her around for the past week. Shaking her head, she said, “You mean that huge thing with the four eyes and the wings?”

He nodded. “Xathanael is my samis. I don’t see them very often, only when I'm in some really deep shit."

He was losing it. A samis? Nobody knew anything about them except what a handful of people had recorded hundreds of years ago. One of the best known accounts was by an alchemist whose research endeavors led to the production of toxic potions. Another was a powerful and renowned king who recorded increasingly bizarre sightings the closer he came to death. Neither account was held to much scrutiny, and samis were dismissed as folklore; nothing more than bedtime fairy tales.

She cleared her throat. "So...you're tellin me that samis are real? And that one was protecting you?"

"Well, yeah. That's kind of what they do."

A four-eyed grey creature with talons was his guardian angel. Okay. "Fine. So they're real, I guess. But that doesn't explain what got you here in the first place. Like, why did you need a samis anyways?"

He exhaled heavily. "The people that are around me, their energies were bad. Actually, not all of them were bad, but they weren't good enough, I guess. Some people really gave me nothing but a quick boost, which won't get me very far." He furrowed his brow, searching for words. "I think my parents give me the best energy, but they've been out of town. Well, the best energy besides you. I've always wondered what it was about you..."

Lifting her head, she stared blankly at him. "Malachi, what the actual hell are you talkin about? Nothing you just said makes any typa sense."

Like it was the most obvious thing in the world, he said, "Leo, I'm a julmal."