Bringing my hand back to Kaida, I drag it through the feather-fur combination on her shoulder. They continue to cover her body in a strange mixture that shouldn’t work. It should make her look patchy, but there’s a perfect blend.
Finally, I find what I’m looking for and trace the shape. “Feel this?” I ask her. Kaida tilts her head. “Follow my fingers. They’ll be mirrored on the other side. Try to control those muscles specifically.”
Her side twitches, then there’s a ripple under her skin. Her muscles flex.
Quite suddenly, enormous wings unfurl from her sides. Rainer and I are sent backward as she expands in size. I nearly laugh at Kaida’s reaction.
She’s clearly as startled as Rainer is. Her head turns to examine one of her wings, then her eyes roll up as if she’s trying to see what appeared on top of her head. If only she could see the newly lengthened and sharpened canines in her mouth.
“Wow,” Rainer says, grinning. “Look at you, Kaida!”
“I’m afraid I don’t have wings, so I can’t tell you how to use them. But when we stop at Base 6, there are tons of monsters there that can help you learn if you can’t figure them out.”
Rainer ducks his head to look under her wings, and I see what he’s looking at. Her tail has turned strangely scaly, ending in spikes. I’m reminded of a dinosaur.
“Go see what you can do,” I encourage her. “Don’t hurt yourself though.”
There’s no doubt that Kaida gives me a glare. She touches her nose to Rainer and turns, jumping over the fire and pool with an effortless, clean leap before landing lightly on her feet like a cat.
I wrap my arm around Rainer and pull him into my side as we watch Kaida beyond the magical little forest we’re sitting within. He isn’t stiff in my hold, something I find makes my stomach dance and my dick twitch in excitement.
“Is there more about her we don’t know?” he asks.
“Yes. But I know exactly who we can ask when we get to Base 6.”
He sighs. I drag my hand up his back and into his hair. Rainer huffs but doesn’t pull away, so I decide that maybe I’m going to take it one step further. Gripping his hair, I turn his face and bring it to mine where I crush our mouths together.
His lips curl into a smile, and I’m both amused and annoyed that he finds it funny. Small victory—he doesn’t push me away.
Little fucker shouldn’t be laughing though. I tug at his hair hard enough to make him gasp. With his lips parted, I invade his mouth. My entire soul lights up like the sun when he kisses me in return. Enthusiastically. Expertly. Hell yeah.
Oh fuck yeah! He tastes good.
I bring my free hand to his face and down the side of his neck, gently tugging him closer. Tasting him. Devouring him.
“Seriously?” Drystan says, and Rainer jerks away. “You can kiss him, but I can’t?”
I don’t give him an answer. Only smirk smugly at him. Yes, that’s exactly what the rules are.
RAINER
First lesson my mama taught me—if someone is hoarding basic necessities, they’re not good people.
There aren’t any monster compounds by Nyc City, and I’ve been tracking south since my parents were killed. When I lost the trail of blood and belongings, I continued south since that’s the primary direction the trail had led.
In retrospect, I should have known they wouldn’t have dragged their victims to the south of the continent. That seems illogical. There are definitely human settlements all over the continent much closer to home if they originated from the south.
Maybe I continued south for a different reason, one I hadn’t thought about. My home had been destroyed, and there was nothing left there for me anymore.
So I continued to walk. With Kaida at my side, I’m not alone, and I’m not immediate beast food, either. I won’t go so far as to say beasts thought twice about targeting me for an easy meal, but she gave me a fighting chance at survival.
Now, as we walk toward the towering walls of Base 6 that look as if they extend for miles and miles in every direction, I’m questioning whether I truly saw one of these compounds before. In my mind, I have some strange memories, as if I have. Maybe from a distance? Considering we’re now traveling north again, there’s a chance that I saw this exact one.
But I feel like I’d have remembered something this immense in detail, and Idefinitelydon’t remember it.
The walls seem to get taller as we get closer. I can’t even see the top. The hole in the front is wide open, but the massive doors are the size of a damn house, spread wide and… welcoming? Can they be considered welcoming?
“Welcome home, Eriva,” the monster at the gate says. His eyes are on me.
