As we walk, the tension is very loud. I can feel it as much as hear it crackle between us. No one has spoken in the last hour.
I try not to look at Drystan behind me since it seems to anger Keary even more. Keary, who can control the goddamn sun’s rays! What the actual fuck is that?
Yes, he said that he could do as much, but I could say that I’m a bird. It doesn’t make it true. Maybe even more badass is the way Notto single-handedly took down a thing like eighty-times bigger than him.
With. His. Bare. Hands.
This is shit. This is the fucking shit nightmares are made of.
The sun begins to sink into the horizon, making the shadows long. My hip begins to ache in a way it never has before whilewalking. Uncoincidentally, it’s the same hip that had poison running through it. I really hope this isn’t a thing.
“Are we going to stop for the night somewhere?” Drystan asks.
“No,” Keary answers.
“The human needs to sleep,” Notto says.
Keary looks at me as if he forgot I was there. “Right.”
“We passed a house that looked like it was in reasonable shape ten minutes ago,” Drystan offers.
Keary doesn’t speak as he turns us around. We don’t take the lead this time but follow Notto and Drystan. With them in front of me, I can study them without Keary getting… angry.
I’d half-expected either Keary or Drystan to climb into my bed back at the shelter. The way they flirted and hinted and practically outright said they wanted to fuck just led me to believing it would happen.
I’m going to pretend I wasn’t at all disappointed when I woke up hard every morning with no sign of help getting off.
So I was definitely taken off guard when Drystan suddenly kissed me. I’d barely had time to comprehend what he was doing before Keary practically threw him off me. Now, I’m left wondering if I’d have responded if my brain had caught up with the events of the past few seconds.
My dick was on board. I’m either so horny that any touch is going to do it for me or I find Drystan far more attractive than I realized. Maybe it’s a combination of the two.
The house that Drystan points out is in far better shape than the vast majority of buildings I’ve been around. Houses weren’t meant to last a hundred years without upkeep. Nature takes the land back, and houses become collateral.
After checking out the building, Notto determines that it’s less structurally sound than it appears. The garage is safest, sowe set up camp there. Using the last rays of the sun, Keary gets a fire going using debris we gather from around the yard.
I help him since he seems rather put out by the idea of me remaining close to Drystan. I’m primarily amused by the situation. He’s not exactly treating me like a possession, which I’m definitely being mindful of. That’s not a future I’m willing to allow myself to get caught up in.
I think it’s… jealousy I’m seeing. That’s confirmed when Notto sits beside me, far closer than he’s been over the last week, and asks Keary, “Am I allowed to sit beside your human pet?”
Almost visibly, Keary’s hackles rise. “Keep your hands to yourself, and I won’t care.”
Notto does keep his hands to himself… for a while. Then there are little touches—I’d call them innocent—as he passes me a canteen of freshly gathered water or some jerky from his bag. Our fingers brush. He leans in close, right in my space.
Keary’s hackles rise again, and he’s practically growling.
I think it’s about to come to a head when I hear it—the sound I’ve been waiting for. A low hum-clicking sound. I’m not the only one who takes notice of it, though. The entire group falls silent, so the only sounds are the crackling of the fire and the beast.
Grinning, I shift to my knees and turn in the direction I think it’s coming from.
Her head pokes around the side of the house. Notto is on his feet a second before anyone else, something gleaming in his hands. Threatening.
“Don’t touch her,” I say as I get to my feet and pass them. Kaida’s ears drop as she leaps toward me. It’s elegant, exciting, and even almost magical as she hovers a beat too long with each bounce.
She barrels into me, sending me backward, and lies across my chest and stomach to lick my face with her crazy long tongue.I laugh, trying to avoid said tongue getting in my mouth, and wrap her tightly in my arms.
“What took you so long?” I ask, not expecting an answer. Beasts don’t talk, after all.
A shadow stands over us, and Kaida’s wiggly excitement stops as she glares up at the three monsters hovering over us. I feel the way her body tenses, ready for an attack. Recognizing the threat that they are, she’s prepared for retaliation.
