"Don't rush off, honey," I said innocently.
She stopped at the kitchen door and glared at me. "I guess I know when I'm being kidded!"
"But," said Ashe in his cold, dry purr, "I'm not kidding."
It seemed to me the joke had gone far enough. "Don't tell me," I said sarcastically, "that you're a missionary to Earth!"
"No," he admitted. "I'm here because I was banished."
"Oh. A sort of fallen angel!"
"Exactly."
Another chill scurried along my spine. It was his tone of voice more than anything. But then, too, his eyes had a dull, black humorlessness about them.
Nan returned to the table and sat down. I noticed a band of perspiration mustaching her upper lip. Indeed, I seemed to have grown much hotter myself.
Irritably, I said, "Ashe, it's too damn warm for games. If you don't want to explain what happened this evening, that's your privilege. But, as you know, the story means a lot to me. And I did stick my neck out for you!"