Tenebrous held the orc from the throat.
“No!” I shouted and jumped, hooking my arms around his so I hung off him. “Tene, stop. Please.” I needed something more to get his attention. I kicked, and my toe slammed against his leg.Shit!Was he made out of stone?
I whimpered and my grip loosened. Before I slammed onto my ass, he caught me. I hugged myself to his chest as the lean orc scowled from a few feet away. Tenebrous hissed, but I clapped my hands at his jaw and forced him to look into my eyes. It hurt with his eyes so bright with aggression. He must have realized because they dimmed.
“You can’t do that,” I snapped, exasperated. His eyes narrowed and he flared brightly.
I pressed my palm to his chest, rubbing my thumb in a circle. I needed to put this differently because none of my arguments were clicking.
“You’ll make me sad when you attack others,” I muttered.
His shoulders jerked.
“Sad?”
He said the word, as if rolling it around in his mind. Not like he didn’t know what it meant, more like he never felt it.
“I understand you need to feed, and I accept every part of you, but I need you not to hurt or attack anyone,” I commanded. To my ears, my tone sounded similar to when a child was being scolded, but I leaned into it. His thin mouth curved down at the corners, and he backed away.
Guilt clenched my chest, but I held in my need to touch him. He snorted out a breath and backed up.
Before I gave in, I turned on my heel and rushed through the door, where I slammed into Issa. She grunted, and I caught her arm before she went flying back.
“Finally,” she huffed out. “I was debating coming up to get you, but that demon of yours creeps the fuck out of me. Especially when he crawls around on his hands and feet.”
I frowned, narrowing my eyes. Yeah, it was off-putting, but that was my demon. Issa lifted her hands. “Not that it doesn’t make him hot.”
Scoffing, I shook my head.
“So, what are we doing today?”
“Same deal, but we have another trainee.” She grabbed my arm and yanked me toward the bar. We wove around the slowly moving trunk. “Don’t stare,” she hissed, and I averted my gawking. That creature had attacked me in the woods. Well, not exactly that one, but it was an arbol.
Liam slumped next to the bar.Uh, no. Not him.But it was useless to hope, considering the uniform of long black slacks and a mesh shirt. He perked up when he saw us coming. I lifted an eyebrow.
“Wait here for this next guest. He can be touchy. He knows he can’t get away with it with me, but you’re new meat.” She whispered the last part.
She picked up the tray holding a large glass with golden-brown liquid. The feline male with stripes watched her approach his table with his pointed ears twitching.
His striped tail flicked near her ankle, but it hovered as he smiled with sharp teeth in his mouth.
“Bridge,” Liam said and cleared his throat. I angled a glare at him.
“Don’t speak to me,” I snapped. Before I could say any more, the bartender placed two mugs on a tray.
“Where is Issa?”
“Not here,” I said, and climbed the steps so the bar was at eye level. Considering the monster’s height difference and the height of the bar, they had to place steps for us humans. I leaned my elbows against the wood.
“You take it, then, table three,” Rory, the bartender, said. Tattoos covered every visible surface of his skin, and he had a concentrated expression on his face. He also didn’t talk down to Issa like the other bartender did.
Fortunately, I’d gotten the tables memorized yesterday, so I balanced the tray. I wobbled slightly on the step but dismounted without mishap.
Footsteps pounded after me, and I sighed, shaking my head.
“Bridget,” he muttered. “Why won’t you talk to me?”
The bags under his eyes were dark, and the whites were red-rimmed. I quickened my pace to table three.
