Page 27 of Aleko
“Yes, it is. Once again, though, most people overlook that.”
“Oh. Uh...” Lia didn’t know what she was supposed to say.
“Well, that’s great. This will be easier than I thought. What kind of sandwich do you want? We have everything.”
“Peanut butter and jelly?”
“Everything except that. We might have that. Probably not. Mostly we have meat. I will look for jelly. We do like jelly. I know we all like peanut butter. I feel like a bad host.”
“A meat sandwich is fine,” said Lia. She was unprepared for a wolf hospitality meltdown.
“Lamb, turkey, beef, prosciutto, various kinds of ham, but we keep that in a separate fridge in case we have Muslim guests.”
“Isn’t prosciutto also ham?”
“Yes, but if you say it in Italian, most people don’t notice.”
“Lamb or turkey is fine,” said Lia. “I just want to leave. I have work appointments. I think. They’re in my calendar.”
Sebastian looked down at the phone and handed it to her. “I’ll make you a sandwich, and then I’ll take you to your appointment.”
“I’ll take a bus,” said Lia, following him into the kitchen.
It was a cool gray room with marble counters, a large, dark wood center island, open shelves, and cabinetry. It was a strange mix of old and new. There was a large stainless fridge, but the range was a cheerful turquoise enamel beast straight from the fifties. It was a welcoming room.
“We’re kind out a ways from town,” said Sebastian going to the fridge. “None of the buses make it out here. I can take you.”
“You’ll take me?” she asked nervously. “Alekos said...”
“Alex is having a moment. He’s wound tight because of some stuff, and that Egyptian chick did not help any. Look, let’s just talk and eat, and then we’ll figure out what you’re doing next.”
His head was buried in the fridge, so Lia couldn’t see his face, but she didn’t believe him. Nervously, she perched one of the chairs at the center island and pushed the power button on thenew phone. She was surprised when it opened with her passcode and came up with all of her presets.
“Wheat or rye?” asked Sebastian pulling ingredients onto the counter.
“Either is fine.”
“Super great that you were there last night, though. We would have been up shit creek if you hadn’t been able to talk to Anuket. When did you find out that you were a polyglot?”
“What’s a polyglot?”
“Someone who can speak any language. You’re not a polyglot?”
“I don’t speak every language.”
“Well, how many do you know? Let’s see... Sergio was Italian, there’s English, Latin for the Egyptian chick, your sign said French, and Greek, there were the Russians at the club. The Greens said you spoke Welsh. Not sure if Australian counts as a separate language, but it feels like it should.”
“It’s a dialect.”
“So that’s six. Are there others?”
“Um, German, and some Mandarin, Icelandic, and Dutch.”
“Ten. And?”
“I don’t... Spanish and maybe some Urdu. Languages aren’t that hard to learn once you figure out how.”
“Oh, OK. By the way, we’re not werewolves. We’re just wolves. Werewolves are humans who have become Shifters. Not that we can do that anymore. But once upon a time, it was a thing wolves could do. The Greens are Selkies.”
