Demon Possession by Kiersten Fay

though his smile slowly fel , his eyes became heated.
    “Your eyes are turning color.” He said.
    Turning color?His statement brought her back to her senses. “What do you mean?”
    He continued his intense gaze, the honey gold of his eyes melting, oozing with unspoken promises. She shivered. He shook his head. “They’re normal again, but they almost looked silver a second ago.”
    “I saw it too,” Marik said. “When she was looking at you.”
    Analia didn’t know what they were talking about. Her eyes don’t change colors.Do they?
    “It could be a trait of her kind.” Marik turned to her. “Is that true?”
    “I don’t know of my kind. As far as I know, I’m al that’s left.” The thought that she might be the last of her people always saddened her. “My mother died when I was stil young and after that …” she trailed off. “I was alone after that.”
    Marik gave her a look of compassion. “This is not important now. We have work to do, and as it seems, I have a lot of training to do.” He nodded his dismissal to Sebastian. Analia was slightly stunned at that.The captain being dismissed by the cook?But Sebastian merely nodded in return,and turned to leave without another word or look in her direction. Her heart sank slightly as he disappeared. Why? She didn’t know. What was she expecting? A,good luckordon’t screw this upmaybe. Was she disappointed?
    “Do you like to be cal ed Anya or Analia?” Marik asked.
    Analia gave pause. She didn’t dislike it when Sebastian cal ed her Anya. It made her feel more connected in some way to her new life.A new name for a fresh start. But her mother, or possibly her father, had named her Analia. “Either is fine,” She said, undecided.
    With no more questions, Marik started by showing her how to wash a dish. It wasn’t difficult to catch on. Wash in warm water with soap, rinse, let dry.
    Easy. Leaving her to it Marik walked to the other side of the gal ey to begin cooking. Analia washed every dish til it gleamed. The work was satisfying even though her hands were getting pruned. As she scrubbed, she could hear people ordering through the large countertop window that connected thesalonwith the gal ey. Resisting the urge, she wanted to peek around her corner by the sink to see al the new faces.
    When Analiafinished al the dishes she waited for Marik’s approval. Randomly he picked up and examined many dishes—looking for mistakes she assumed—final y, he commended her work,and then showed her around the rest of the gal ey. After demonstrating where everything belonged he showed her the walk-in cooler where the perishable foods were kept, the walk-in cupboard where canned and dried foods lined the shelves, and the cooking area where she was never to go near unless he told her otherwise. Analia clung to his every word,not wanting to make a mistake.
    Just then someone yel ed across the counterfor something cal edrake stew. Marik cringed. “The one thing I can’t stand is being ordered at,” he commented for her ears only, while fil ing a bowl with a chunky liquid that tingled deliciously in Analia’s nostrils. He handed the bowl to the man who had ordered it,and came back to her with a smile playing on his lips. “That’s why you are about to start your real job.”
    Analia looked at him sideways.
    “When someone comes in,you’re going to go out there and take their order, then bring it back to me.I’l cook it and plate it and you’l bring it to them. Can you do that?”
    It sounded simple enough and the thought of being able to meet people up close, talking with them, was exhilarating. “I can do that.”
    Heshooed her towards the door, “Go on then.”
    With a little too much excitement, she walkedthroughthe door that led to the salon. Looking around she saw most of the tables were empty. One table was occupied by three people, a woman and two males. At another table there were two males. Their dress was distinctly individual and their races