Still, she hesitated.
The corner of my mouth tipped up in a lopsided smile. “Spit it out.”
Dorothy chuckled at my candor. “Now, it’s none of my business.” She held a hand out to halt anything forthcoming from me. Shaking her head, she pursed her lips. “I knew Kehl would be a hard sell but he’d seemed so interested in you, possessive even, I’d had the highest hopes for you two. I really did. After bein’ run off stoppin’ by, you know, why I’d been so happy for you, honey, to this,” her hand lifted to gesture around us, “to this now in short order! Well, I just can’t imagine what goes through that boy’s mind! He’s a stubborn one, that’s for sure.”
My eyebrows winged upward at that one. He didn’t look younger than her. If anything I’d guess it was the other way around.
“I’m older than I look,” Dorothy admitted with a grin.
I didn’t even question it at this point. Too many things that shouldn’t make sense were— they just were.
“Sometimes things just don’t work out,” I said simply. Wanting to add something more without giving anything away, I murmured, “It’s probably for the best.”
“If you’re both serious about your separation, well, I’m sure we can find you a nice male around here-” she started to say, but I shook my head.
“I’d like to leave things as they are, hope the portal opens so I can get home to my people waiting for me back there. I’m not interested in meeting anyone else, to be perfectly honest.” It was a stretch confidently assuming Cy would wait for me let alone look for me. There was a very real possibility he might think I’d jilted him, skipped town, god knows what all. Nevertheless, it was all I really had to hold on to and I was grabbing on to that hope with both hands.
“Your males back home.” Dorothy gave a short nod. “In that case, I’ll help you beat any beasts sniffing around off with a stick.”
My smile felt genuine. It hurt my cheeks. “I’d appreciate it.”
Dorothy laughed and said her good-byes. Right before she closed the door, she turned and pointed to the knob. “Lock this thing behind you. Bia forgot to give you this,” rummaging in her basket, she produced a fat metal key and held it out to me. “We added it after the door needed to be replaced.” She paused there as if debating before adding, “From time to time we get no-goods coming up, trying to sneak into the village. It’s been a minute since and I don’t want to scare you but there was a campof Krampus stalking a woman here not so long ago. It’s a long story. It got handled but believe you me they are a special kind of nasty you don’t want to tangle with.”
“I’ll be careful,” I promised.
Krampus were the bad actors of the Lo denaii world.
Kehl had told me as much and Dorothy drove the point home. I understood that but still. Kehlor was not bad. Even in his Krampus form he was so careful with me it wasn’t even funny. If Krampus were the assholes of Yetidom, Kehlor was the exception. His Lo denaii side beat out any Krampus in him. From what I could tell, the only hint of his sordid heritage was his sudden shift while we were intimate.
Kehl just needed to believe he was one of the good ones.
How I would or could convince him of that, I had no idea. If it was even possible. He seemed pretty set thinking he was some kind of monster.
“Are you alright?” Dorothy paused, eyeing me.
“Didn’t sleep well,” I muttered, then scrubbed a hand down my face.
“You look a little pale,” she admitted after some deliberation. Frowning, she offered, “Why don’t you eat and rest up, and we’ll give it a few days. Kehl came over this morning all fired up, asking Mosoau if I’d be willing to help you get acclimated to village life. There was a lot of back and forth in their own tongue after that and that’s all I really caught. My Mosoau asked if I’d come check in on you, and here I am.”
“Thanks. Appreciated.” Running a hand down my face, the weight of the last few days really starting to creep in on me, I agreed, “I think I need a few days.”
“I know the circumstances of you coming here aren’t ideal and things aren’t the best right now but I do hope everything works out for you in the end,” she murmured kindly.
“I hope so too.” It felt impossible to return her smile as hopelessness began to creep in.
“How long has it been since the portal last closed and opened?”
Dorothy glanced away, her gaze drifting to a spot over my shoulder when it finally returned to me. She was going to lie to me, whatever she said. “You know, it’s been a minute since but I’m sure it’ll open again,” she rushed out.
“I’m sure it will,” I bullshitted right along with her. I must have proved convincing enough. She smiled my way one last time, said her good-byes, and left me to my thoughts.
My thoughts were awful. My ongoing inner monologue was frightful company.
Soon, so was my mood.
Chapter 11
The next three days were spent holed up in the hut I was using. The idea of stepping out and facing this new world sounded dreadful.
