“Ask who, Notto?” Rainer says, turning in his tracks to face my surly friend. I grin as he crosses his arms. “My dead family? The two little kids that also survived? Ask the colonies who were already fighting beasts and losing? Ask the neighboring monsters when it was monsters who’d just killed my entire family? Please, tell me which of those seems like a viable option.”
Ohhhh… I like this human! Keary is practically giddy at his side as he stares down our Vodun god. It’s sexy as all hell. Tingles course through my body as I wait to see what’s going to happen.
What happens is that we’ve apparently walked far too close to a beast, and with Rainer’s raised voice, we now sound like prey. The only thing I hear is the flapping of wings before a massive gust of misplaced air comes hurtling toward us hard enough that we’re sent sideways by a few steps.
The thing drops from the sky at an angle, diving down with its massive claws out. Fucking carnivores. Seriously. Just mind your own damn business.
Rainer is the first to drop his bag, his new blade in hand, but Keary yanks him to the ground just as talons the size of a car pass through the air where we’d been standing a moment ago.
It screams its annoyance at having missed its kill.
“Time to show you how you’re supposed to fight a beast,” Keary says, and his body shimmers like a disco ball.
A ray of sun shifts across the sky, burning a dark scar into the ground as it cuts through the path the beast is taking, causing it to abruptly abort its trajectory back toward us. It lets out another furious squawk.
“Should we play with our meal for a while?” Keary asks as it comes back.
More rays of sunlight move around us, burning the ground as they chase the beast who refuses to give up its seemingly easy prey.
Rainer watches the beast warily, blade in hand. I have to give it to him, his stance is pretty good. I bet he’d get a clean shot in. It’s on the tip of my tongue to suggest we let him try when Notto jumps into the air and grabs hold of the beast’s massive claw.
We watch him climb his way up the thing’s body as the beast tries to shake him off, screaming in fury.
“Show off!” I yell, grinning.
There isn’t time to say much else before blood rains over us as Notto takes off the beast’s head. He rides the beast like a missile until it slams into the ground with an echoingthud. Everything around us shakes. It’s such an impressive impact that I can feel it in my bones.
Rainer stares with huge eyes as Notto walks back toward us, not a scratch on his body.
Keary huffs. “Why do you always have to ruin my fun, Notto?”
“Remember those ten minutes we weren’t covered in blood?” I ask, laughing. “That didn’t last long.”
“Good thing we had the foresight to bring changes of clothing,” Keary says, shoving Rainer playfully.
While I didn’t get a chance to actually do anything, I’m all amped up from the death of a massive beast. One less in the world. That’s a win.
I know my lack of involvement in anything that requires me to fight is by design. If I’m involved in it, it’s like an instant trigger to my childhood. Such colorful, bloody, painful days they were.
When Rainer is back on his feet, I reach for him. Just to see what he does. How is he with physical contact? Does he crave it like I do?
He’s stiff in my hold, but he doesn’t fight me when I pull him close. There’s wariness in his eyes as he studies my face. Oh. Would he let me kiss him? Do humans like to kiss? I think about the ones on base and wonder if kissing is something they learned from monsters.
Keary wants to keep this human, so I think it’s time to see just where he stands. I grip a fistful of his hair, bring his face to mine, and lock my mouth over his. I feel Rainer’s sudden intake of breath. Because he doesn’t know what kissing is? Does he like it?
His fingers dig into my chest when I lick his lips, so I think maybe he does, but then he’s wrenched from my hold. Keary stands before me with bright sun-golden eyes that I can’t look into without feeling the burn in my retinas. I flinch away, from both his anger and the heat.
“What the actual fuck, teko! Don’t touch. Why does that always need to be said?” he growls.
Keary roughly grasps Rainer’s arm and drags him in the direction we were headed. Where is he going? I thought we were keeping the beast for food, but now he’s walking away? Wasn’t he keeping the human?
“I guess he doesn’t want to share his toy,” I say sadly.
Notto snorts. “You’re cute. Come on.”
RAINER
Almost every day, Mama told me to only trust what you see, not what you’re told. Your eyes don’t lie, but every living thing does.
