"Why do you insist on buying that stuff? Those bottles are really wasteful you know," Melissa said as she frowned at the case of spring water in my arms.

I frowned back as I struggled to lift it into the shopping cart, "What do you mean? They go in the recycling bin. And anyways, they're no more wasteful than your cans of soda."

She rolled her eyes, "Yeah but you can get water for free out of the tap. If there was a tap that gave me free cola I wouldn't be wasting more money buying it in cans."

"Ugh," I scowled, "Have you tried the tap water in our apartment? It tastes like ass."

Melissa gave me a look, "I have tried the water, and it doesn't taste anything like ass."

She added with a quiet smirk, "Don't ask me how I know that."

I blushed, "Fine, I withdraw my earlier statement. The water in our apartment tastes like lead and rusty pipes."

"On that I can agree," she said with a grin. "Now let's keep going. I'm hungry and the sooner we finish shopping the sooner we can have dinner."

It was Wednesday evening, and instead of going straight home after classes the two of us came over to the mall first to get groceries. It was kind of a weekly thing, we'd do our shopping together and we'd sort of bicker and tease each other, but it was more of a game than any kind of real conflict.

As we went down the next aisle I asked, "Since you're so hungry, what do you feel like tonight? Want me to try and cook up something fancy? Or do you want to just grab some frozen heat-n-eat stuff?"

Melissa shrugged, "Or we could order in?"

"We're right here in the grocery store," I stated as I frowned at her. "Surrounded by food. It's literally quicker and cheaper to buy something here and make it ourselves, than it would be to get anything delivered."

She pouted, "Fine. But I want pizza and I don't like the frozen ones."

I rolled my eyes as we continued shopping. We ended up getting a frozen pizza anyways, along with some chicken wings and a box of nugs.

When we got to the far end of the store where the real food was kept, I stocked up on a few things so I could do some actual cooking later. Then we made our way to the checkout.

As we waited, I asked "Do you have any plans for this weekend? I was thinking it might be nice to go see my mom again, like just to make sure she's still doing ok?"

"I don't have anything planned yet," Melissa replied. "I'll leave Saturday night open though. How's your mom doing, you're still talking to her every night right?"

I nodded "Yeah, almost every night. Honestly she sounds like she's doing a lot better now? But after what happened, I'm still a bit worried about her, you know?"

"I get it," she replied with a sigh. "That was too close, and it feels like things have been too quiet since then. Like I keep wondering when Solitare will strike next. And who she'll go after."

That brought a dark frown to my face, "Yeah. Same here, and it scares me. Especially knowing she could go after mom again if she wanted."

The conversation went on hold as we did the check-out thing with the groceries, then loaded them into Melissa's car. It was only a short hop across the street to the apartment, then we hauled everything out of the car and into the elevator.

We stopped at the lobby to grab our mail, and in addition to the usual junk mail and stuff, I found a strange courier envelope addressed to me. I stuffed it in one of the grocery bags for now.

Up in the apartment me and Melissa got all the food put away, and the frozen pizza went into the oven. Then while we waited for dinner, I finally had a closer look at the courier envelope.

I frowned at it, "Weird, it's from Italy."

"Did you order anything lately?" Melissa asked. "Or do you know anyone in Italy?"

I shook my head, but before I could open it Lily took over and I found myself in the back seat.

"Melissa would you mind opening this for us please?" she asked as she held the envelope out to my best friend. "It may be nothing, but considering Verothilas is still at large, I'd rather not take the chance of letting Mara open it. Just incase it is something targeting either her or myself."

She nodded, "Oh uh, ok sure."

Melissa took the envelope and sort of carefully looked it over. I wasn't very happy about Lily getting my best friend to do it. If it was something dangerous I didn't want Melissa hurt any more than I wanted me hurt. But where I was at the moment I couldn't intervene or even comment, I could only watch.

She carefully pulled the cardboard tab and tore open the side of the envelope, then cautiously looked inside.

"Huh," Melissa said as she tipped the envelope over to dump the contents out on the kitchen table.

There was no letter, not even a note. Instead what came out was something small and metallic. It took me a moment to realize we were looking at some sort of gold necklace.

Melissa got a fork from the cutlery drawer rather than touch the necklace herself. She carefully pushed it around the table till it was easier to see the details. There was a fine gold chain, with a simple-looking gold clasp holding it together. A small round gold charm was strung on the chain. It was about a half inch in diameter and thin, like a small coin. There was a sort of crude engraving on the charm. I wasn't sure but I thought it was meant to be the head of a deer, with antlers and things.

Lily had a close look at it then let out an angry sigh, and suddenly I was in charge again.

"Uh Lily?" I asked. "What is it? Is it safe?"

She replied "It's another taunt, from Verothilas. You and Melissa may have it if you wish, it's harmless."

"She said it's harmless," I relayed to my friend as I picked it up. As I held it I commented, "Oh huh, it's heavier than I expected."

Lily explained, "It's solid gold. It's Roman, about two thousand years old."

That shocked me and I had a closer look at it. "Seriously? It must be worth a fortune!"

Lily just sighed, "I don't want to see it anymore, it upsets me. We can talk later."

She went quiet and I had the feeling she went to bed or was off hiding or something. I still didn't know where she went when she wasn't near the window.

I handed it to Melissa, "Lily said it upset her, but it's safe. She said it's from Rome?"

"Damn," Melissa had a closer look at it now too. "Did she say why it bothered her?"

I shook my head, "No. But she said it was another taunt from Verothilas? I'm guessing it's something from Lily's past."

The oven timer beeped to announce dinner was ready, and I got the pizza out and cut it into slices. Melissa left the necklace on the table for now, and the two of us went into the living-room to sit on the sofa with our dinner.

As we started eating, I asked "Have you had any luck with your research? Any more clues about Verothilas's name?"

Melissa set her plate aside and fished her fake glasses out of her purse then slipped them on. She was still working on that gag at college and I honestly had a hard time keeping a straight face about it now and then.

Glasses in place she had another bite of pizza then started talking. She sounded a little like a prof giving a lecture, apart from the occasional pauses to eat.

"I haven't come any closer to deciphering her name," Melissa explained. "But I have found some new information, and figured some things out. For instance her user-name was Solitare dash six-one-nine-nine? I'm pretty sure that refers to the year she was born. Or when she came to Earth. I don't know if demons are born or where they come from."

She continued, "Lily said our adversary was over eight thousand years old, and if we read the dash as a minus-sign, then the number is negative six thousand, one hundred, and ninety-nine. Or almost sixty-two hundred years B.C.E. Which would put Verothilas's age at just over eighty-two hundred years. And that falls perfectly into the age-range that Lily provided."

I frowned, "Ok? So you know when she was born, does that help get you her name?"

"I honestly don't know yet," Melissa replied with a shrug. "But right now I think every little bit helps."

She went on with part two of her lecture, "Another thing I came across was regarding her being in the British Isles. Right around the time she appeared on Earth, scientists speculate a mega-tsunami washed through what's now the North Sea and created the English Channel. Prior to that, the British Isles weren't actually islands, they were connected to mainland Europe. It seems like an interesting coincidence that the birth or arrival of a demon happened at almost exactly the same time as a cataclysmic geological event."

"Ok that is kind of interesting?" I replied, though I was still frowning. "If it doesn't get us her name though, I'm not sure how helpful it is."

Melissa replied, "Be patient. This is something that's been kept secret for over eight thousand years. It's going to take me more than a couple afternoons to solve. And even though what I've uncovered so far may seem irrelevant, the more information we have about Verothilas the better. Please let Lily know, I won't give up. I'm going to solve this, for her and for you."

I sighed, "Thanks Melissa. Sorry if I sounded impatient."

She slipped off the glasses and grinned, "No worries Mara. I know how important this is."

The pizza wasn't very big and between the two of us we managed to eat the whole thing. I washed the dishes afterwards while Melissa went into her room to continue her research. When I was done in the kitchen I went into my own room and flopped on the bed.

I was a little worried about my demon friend, and as I lay there staring at the ceiling I asked quietly "Lily? Are you there? Do you want to talk?"

After a few seconds she replied in a quiet, upset voice.

"Maybe."

I closed my eyes and did the 'step back' thing, and joined her in her apartment. Doing that while laying down was a weird sensation. It's like you expect to wind up on your back, or that her apartment should be sideways, but her place was always right-side-up no matter what position our head or body was. And I was always on my feet, standing by the window when I appeared in there.

Lily was sitting curled up on the end of the sofa, hugging her knees to her chest. She looked sad and vulnerable, despite being an eight and a half foot tall blue demon.

I sat down next to her and leaned against her as I wrapped one arm around her as best I could. She was a little big for me to hug, especially with her wings folded up on her back, but I did my best.

"What's wrong? Do you want to tell me about it?"

She sighed, "It's that necklace. The last time I saw it, it was around the neck of the human who betrayed me. The human who led the twelve families to have me imprisoned in the amulet."

"Damn," I frowned. She'd mentioned before about the twelve families who imprisoned her, but I didn't remember her ever specifically saying she was betrayed. "So sending you the necklace was to remind you of that betrayal? Or do you think it was a warning or something? Or maybe meant to drive us apart, like maybe she's suggesting I'll betray you?"

Lily shook her head, "I know you won't betray me Mara. Neither will Melissa. It was meant to remind me of my downfall. It may also be an admission? I don't know how Verothilas got her hands on it, but now I'm left wondering if she played a part in my imprisonment. Perhaps she even orchestrated it."

"Oh shit." That made me feel very uneasy. "So you're saying maybe she got you imprisoned in the first place? And maybe she wants to do that again? Maybe she's not a friend after all."

My demon friend sighed again, then responded in a sad worried voice "Which means what I thought was a game, may well be a serious threat after all."

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