His tail slipped from mine, and I felt my soul shatter. I had messed up. I hadn’t intended to. “Wyn—”
“I am not here for your money, Monqilcolnen, nor your status.”
“I know that.”
“When I get a cat, and I will get one, it’ll be because I bought one with my own money. Not because you or Seth purchased me one.”
“I didn’t mean to insinuate anything.”
He looked at me, his shoulders straight and his gaze locked on mine. “You know what people are going to assume, though, don’t you?”
“Yes,” I replied. Wyn was from a far lower station than I was, and people would talk about the two of us, especially since Wyn was so lovely and he’d worked as my assistant for a time. But, at the same time, my soul would make them whisper even more. Why was I in space? If I had joined the ranks would I have chosen someone else?
Why couldn’t we just be together without any questions about why we liked one another?
“I don’t need you to add more power to their words.”
I struggled to find the right words to soothe Wyn’s concerns. I had none. There was a matter of truth to his words that couldn’t be talked away. I brushed his arm again. “My apologies.”
“Accepted.”
“Well, well, well, if it’s not Monqilcolnen and Wyn,” a voice said that made me swallow a snarl. My tail coiled around Wyn’s in a possessive claim.
Wyn gave me a slight smile that said he wasn’t unaware of my claim and was amused by it. He faced the newcomers, Camden and Noxlyn.
Camden had his elbow cocked on Noxlyn’s shoulder, and he watched us with a wide grin. He shook his free arm, making the very fine bracelet wiggle. “I have to thank you for letting me win the bet.”
Noxlyn glared at his friend, but he didn’t comment.
“What bet?” Wyn asked.
“Nox here didn’t think the two of you would get together, and I did. I won this cool bracelet as well as his digital catalog because you did,” he said. “So thanks.”
“You’re welcome,” Wyn said slowly and glanced in my direction. I lifted my palms in response. Who knew how the minds of humans worked? They were odd creatures, and Camden, like all of his race, was just as confusing.
“What are you two planning to do today?” Camden asked, wiggling his sculpted eyebrows. “Something romantic?”
I fought the urge to growl. I wished I could claim I didn’t know why this particular human annoyed me, but I did. It was because of the very tenuous claim he’d placed on Wyn—though from how Camden acted, he didn’t care for Wyn as I did, which was a good thing for everyone involved. I would never allow anyone to take Wyn from me now that I had him. If I was honest, I wouldn’t have allowed anyone to lay permanent claim to Wyn before I’d succeeded in claiming a small portion of his affections. If someone had tried, there would’ve been blood.
Wyn smiled at his friend. “We’re going to get some food.”
My mask was perfectly affixed, but internally I was daring the attractive human to try and ask to join us.
Camden didn’t. He just gave Noxlyn a smirk, shaking the bracelet again, and the other drakcol shook his head, crossing his arms. The two of them were an odd pair, but their friendshiprang with true authenticity, even though Noxlyn had a seeker’s obsession with studying humans.
“We’re off to try and entice the other humans into a game night with us,” Camden said, then leaned closer. “I’m hoping Teddy and Seth might help me convince the Cohort to bring my brother on board. I can’t leave him on Earth. So game night. Perfect time to schmooze the powers that be.”
I glanced at Wyn to see if he understood the human terms of “game night” and “schmooze” any more than I did. I knew what games were, but I didn’t know what games had to do with nighttime. NAID suppliedfriendly manipulationfor schmooze, which confused me. Wyn’s wide eyes told me he didn’t understand Camden any more than I did.
“What is a game night?” Wyn asked.
“I asked him the very same thing,” Noxlyn said. “Not all of their games are like ours.”
That was hardly surprising. Most Drakcon games were physical and usually involved some sort of mock violence. Humans, or the ones that I knew well, were not of the sort to play Drakcon games, though Bartholomew did run and play with Serlotminden. And in truth, it was a bit much for me to judge the whole of humanity on the handful of humans I actually knew. I had done no research into their species, so I truly couldn’t say.
“What sort of games do you play?” I asked in an attempt to be more friendly with Camden. The human hadn’t truly done anything to warrant my animosity, but being nice to him was like being shot with a blaster.
“Me personally? Mainly card or drinking games, but there are many different types,” Camden said. “Tonight we’re going to play poker.”
