Spellbound by Marcus Atley Page A

pizza place that Mikhail recommended before they did anything. And Elion just wouldn’t stop talking. As if being stuck in one of the loudest human filled places Stavros had ever been wasn’t bad enough.
    “Please, please stop,” Stavros pleaded as Elion carried on. The elf froze, his neck slowly turning and his eyes as wide as his smile.
    “Manners sound good on you,” he said seriously. Stavros groaned and wished for the earth to swallow him whole. “Seriously though, this place is like a mecca of diversity and fashion, but what you’re wearing… no.”
    “What’s wrong with it?” Stavros whined as Elion looked over him with his nose scrunched.
    “They have public decency laws here and, if you bend over in those pants, you’re going to get arrested,” Elion said, his eyes drifting to the leather pants that sat low on Stavros’ hips. They weren’t anything uncommon in his wardrobe. They were comfortable and no one had ever had a problem with his clothing before. Stavros huffed and folded his arms over his chest. “Whatever, it’s your choice. So what’s first?”
    “I’m going to pick up the reports from the officers here, read the bullshit they provide and then find the bastard,” Stavros said as he kicked off his heavy boots, shrugging when they hit the wall.
    “We,” Elion corrected, neatly folding a shirt from his luggage.
    “What?”
    “We. You said ‘I’ . We will be doing those things. First, I’m starving. Let’s eat.”
    Stavros opened his mouth to protest and for the first time, maybe ever, realized that he was running out of fight.
    ~~
    A short walk in the city gave Stavros a quick reminder of how much he hated the human world. Humans were loud— far too loud. Their air smelled awful and made him want to gag most of the time. They felt the need to always be into everything. They never seemed to just sit down and shut up.
    He had traveled the realms and seen more cultures and traditions than he could count, but the humans, whatever they were doing, it was just strange. Their piercings were meaningless and they tattooed cartoon characters on themselves. They wore animal fur as a fashion statement and ate genetically engineered foods as diet staples, and then wondered why they were dying young. Their young had guns, but same sex relationships were frowned upon. They were constantly at war with each other and-
    “Stop frowning,” Elion whispered. Stavros scowled harder. The younger man sat opposite him in a tiny restaurant a few blocks from their hotel. Stavros had scanned over the menu, but quickly disregarded it. He couldn’t even process half of the options.
    “This is ridiculous. We’re here for-”
    “I know what we’re here for. There’s nothing we can do at this hour of the night and you know it. You might not eat, but I do. Now, stop frowning and-” Elion stopped talking and looked up with a smile when the waitress appeared. Her eyes devoured Stavros and Elion’s smile slipped from his face.
    He shook his head and pressed his fingertips into his thighs. He took an oath to uphold justice and peace and all of the other crap he had nodded along with. Stavros was his partner. They were going to chase down bad guys and say bad ass stuff while doing it; that was it. No heart felt romances would be occurring. 
    After Elion ordered for both of them, silence blanketed them. Stavros glared at everything and everyone while Elion sighed and sipped at his tea. It had been far too long since he was in the human world and he missed it. He enjoyed the mix of flavors that the human world had. Sure, it was loud and chaotic at times, but the humans were so interesting. Obviously Stavros didn’t agree. If not for a bit of self-control, he would have probably torn everyone within reach to shreds already.
    “Why do you hate it here so much?” Elion asked.
    Stavros grimaced. “What’s to like?”
    “Alright then,” Elion mumbled, dropping the topic. He tapped his fingers against the