He laughed and sipped it, blinking.“Not normally so acidic?”
“Correct.That has malic acid.A lot of it.I am drooling.”She put her hand over her mouth.
She blinked.“I am going to get some water.”
She returned to the kiosk and sipped at the water before she left, only to spit it out as well.She looked at the woman behind the counter.“What the actual fuck?”
The girl who was a little older than Aretta said, “Serves you right.You consorts get everything.”
“Mom?”Aretta ran to her and said, “Don’t kill her, Mom.”
The young woman blinked.“Mom?”
Aretta said, “What did she do, Mom?”
“She fucked with the lemonade and water.Malic acid.”
“Oh.Oh, shit.Go sit with Orex, and I will straighten this out.”
Cori was next to Aretta, and Zelda went back to the table, where Orex was standing, looking furious.
“What happened?”
“Humans are under the misconception that life as a consort is easy.She put the sour flavouring in the fruit juice and the water.”
“What is Aretta doing?”
“Explaining that I was a forager.I didn’t have the option for food that I didn’t cook or kill.”
Orex saw something.“A manager is there, and he is looking pale at whatever Aretta is saying.Cori is confirming her words.”
She ate the pizza she hadn’t finished and then said, “We should go.I still want to grab that little bitch and hold her head in the oven.”
“Ah, I am beginning to understand Aretta’s intercession.Did she actually see you kill?”
“Yup.She saw me covered with blood, hauling animal corpses to the doors of the conclave.We were allowed a short hug, and then I had to return to the woods.”
She got up and turned toward the kiosk, walking up to Aretta.“Thank you, baby, but the food was good, even if this kiosk can’t manage lemonade or water.Don’t worry, I have an option that I didn’t have before.”
The manager paled.“What is that?”
“Oh, letting Harwin know that this business is substandard and unable not to poison its clientele.”
The man blinked.“What can I do to make this right?”
“Give me untainted water.”She looked at him.
The girl was shaking.
He nudged his employee.
Zelda said, “Oh, no.Sir, you will get me a glass of water.I don’t trust that snivelling little whiner.”
He reached for a cup, and the girl’s expression grew sly again.He served her a cup, and Zelda said, “Now, you get a fresh cup, pour half of the water into it, and take a sip.”
He nodded and did it.The girl turned grey.He spat the water out and looked at the girl.“How many people have you done this to?”
She paled and cringed.“Not many.”