Zakee is a teko who shut himself up in the library eons ago. I’m told he’s a very sweet monster, but all I’ve seen is a reclusive, somewhat angry, distrusting, and otherwise suspicious monster who doesn’t like that we’ve been hanging out here for the past week as we thoroughly explore the area in search of my cousins.
He reminds me of something I saw in a book once. He’s incredibly fascinating. Little more than a shadow most of the time.
“Want to weigh in on us having babies, Zakee?” Drystan asks.
“Not here,” Zakee answers. “Tell your damn animals to stay off the exterior of the building.” He turns, shutting the door. The entire room shudders at his exit.
Secretly, I think the library is an extension of Zakee. He feels and knows and sees everything. There are doors that won’t open unless he opens them, too. No keys. No locks. Just Zakee and the library.
“You can all breed me,” Drystan says. “All at once. All taking turns. Just think about it.”
“We can do that without babies happening,” Keary points out.
Drystan climbs over Notto, who makes an oomph, and lands on top of us, forcing Keary to look at him. His horns are short today, no more than two or three inches, with blunted points. His eyes, still deep red, look concerned. Earnest. Worried. “Do you really not want babies, Keary? I’ll look so sexy with a belly. Don’t you think?”
Keary sighs. I rest my hand over Drystan’s stomach, smiling. Keary’s hand joins mine. “Why are you in a hurry, Drys? Tell me.”
“I’m not in a hurry. I’ve waited forever. You made us chase you, and now I have baby fever!”
“He’s not wrong,” Notto points out.
“Compromise with me. One year, Drys. Let’s be baby free for a year. Then?—”
“Then we start pumping out babies!” he exclaims, face lighting up. “You hear that, beasts? We’ll have babies!”
The entire building shudders again, but the chorus of what had once been threatening sounds that filled my nightmares and forced me to sleep with an eye open now makes me grin hugely.
“Keary!” Zakee’s disembodied voice fills the room with a growling warning.
“Why is he yelling at me?” Keary says, laughing. “They’re not even my pets.”
“They’re all of our pets,” Drystan says. He leans forward, framing Keary’s face in his hands. “One year? Then we’ll have babies? You’ll let me have your babies?”
“Drys,” Keary murmurs, a note of sadness in his voice. “You know it’s unlikely you’d have my babies, right? Please don’t get your hopes set on that.”
Ah. I think I understand why Keary is so hesitant to agree. He once said that gods have an incredibly difficult time procreating. Getting your hopes up, only to be disappointed over and over again, can be hard.
I pull him a little closer. Notto must have heard what I did because he drags himself closer and wraps around the three of us too.
“Maybe,” Drystan agrees. “But you haven’t tried withme. I’m not a regular monster, Keary. I can be whatever I want to be, including the exact kind of womb that’s most hospitable to conceive a divine child.” He looks smug.
Hell, even I can feel hope gathering in my chest at his declaration. Keary doesn’t want to feel it though.
“How about this,” Notto says, brushing Drystan’s long hair over his shoulder. “Over this next year, we have two missions. One, we’re going to find Rainer’s cousins. Second, we’re going to figure out exactly what a ‘hospitable’ womb is for a god’s seed to take root. In a year, even if Keary doesn’t want to try for his own, you have me and Rainer to make you fat with our offspring. Okay?”
Drystan’s smile glows. “Yes. I agree to that. Rainer?”
I nod. “Yep. I love this plan.”
“Keary?” Drystan asks.
Keary sighs. “Yeah. I agree. In the meantime, we can faux breed you, love.”
“Oh, definitely. We’ll take turns. I really love how you all fall apart when I breed you at the same time. It feels like I’m being torn in three different, delicious directions. The sexiest thing I’ve ever done.”
“You think the beast of the library has information on breeding a god?” I ask.
“Maybe we can add a third objective to this year. Let’s ask all the monsters we come across to tell us in great detail what their favorite positions are, and we can try them all,” Drystan says excitedly.
