Monqilcolnen growled.
I pulled away from him. I didn’t need him to protect me.
Monqilcolnen shot me a look, but I didn’t answer his silent question. We weren’t going to have this conversation with a predator circling around us, looking for a weakness to snap Monqilcolnen up.
“As a show of respect Ihavefor him,” Vorjyn said, “allow me to give you a tour.”
“That isn’t necessary,” Monqilcolnen said.
“I insist.” Vorjyn smiled coldly at me. “You don’t mind, do you, Wyn?”
“Of course not,” I said, keeping my voice even.
“Excellent. Then we’ll have a fine day. All together.”
“Perfect,” I bit out.
What was Vorjyn doing? He was making what we’d used to be seem more than what we’d actually been, which was nothing even close to a threat to what Wyn and I were. Wyn wasn’t looking at me or letting me touch him besides holding his tail. I’d tried multiple times to pull him against me as Vorjyn droned on about the architecture and what we could buy at which shops, and Wyn had pulled away each time, so I’d stopped attempting it.
While my expression remained serene, inside I was fuming at Vorjyn. He’d upset Wyn and stolen our outing—both were unforgivable. If he wasn’t careful, I would leave him here to suffer the consequences of his most recent job.
Not really, though. I cared about Vorjyn, as complicated as it was, to leave him in danger.
My eyes flicked to Wyn for what must have been the thousandth time, and still, he wasn’t looking at me. Today was supposed to have been fun. It had started off well. While Wyn hadn’t slept in my quarters, when we’d met, he’d been as excited to see me as I was to see him. And Vorjyn had ruined it.
The lovely architecture, the shops full of unique trinkets, and even a cat shrine—Wyn would’ve loved it all. Now it was alltainted. But Vorjyn, no matter how much I hinted for him to leave, remained against my side, his arm hooked through mine. He had permission to touch me and was using it to his advantage in whatever this scheme was.
Vorjyn was an interesting person. Creative soul, cold, tricky, calculating, and mischievous, which lent him to playing more pranks than was appropriate. This, I assumed, was another prank. Also, his general uncaring nature made him not feel guilty about who he hurt or what damage he left in the wake of his choices. If he derived amusement from it, that was all that mattered.
I wasn’t an expressive person and hearing about my attachment to Wyn had been incentive enough for him to play. He didn’t care for me romantically, as much as he was playing the part at the moment, so this had to be a jest. Or…
I glanced at Vorjyn, who talked in nauseating detail about the panels; he was clinging to my arm, not even glancing in Wyn’s direction. It wasn’t possible for Vorjyn to dislike Wyn. No one disliked Wyn. He was truly the best person. No, this had to be a prank—one I would be severely angry with him for later—or this was him deciding to be horrible, which wouldn’t be out of the ordinary either.
Now, instead of spending the day with Wyn aboard the station, away from everyone we knew, I wished to end this outing as fast as possible to be alone with him. I needed to fix the damage Vorjyn was creating with ease, and most likely enjoyment.
Vorjyn chuckled at something he’d said and drew me closer. Wyn growled in response and yanked me back against his side, arms going around me. I smiled at Wyn, but he didn’t look at me, let alone allow a smile to show, and tears shone in his clear blue eyes. I frowned. I did love him being so obviously jealous over me, but I disliked hurting him.
I shook Vorjyn’s arm off, and he paused in his step. I faced him. I was done being polite. This had gone far enough. If Wyn shed even one tear, I was going to rip Vorjyn apart. “Enough,” I told my old comrade.
“You dislike my lecture on Kanxan architecture?”
“I dislike your presence.”
He rested a hand over his soul as if I’d injured him, something I knew wasn’t possible. Vorjyn was as hard inside as much as I appeared calm outside. Nothing could injure him, let alone me.
“My poor shattered soul,” Vorjyn said in a bland voice. “Oh, the pain. How shall I ever recover from this mortal wound?”
“You have the choice to go to the ship or stay here. Either way, Wyn and I are not spending a moment longer with you.” I didn’t give Vorjyn a chance to speak, but rather, placed an arm around Wyn’s shoulders and walked away. I didn’t know where I was taking him; I simply wished to get some space so I could appropriately apologize to Wyn and comfort him.
I spotted a cave entrance alight with purple flames, and I dragged Wyn toward it. The purple flames signified solitude. It was used for contemplation. The kanxan’si were a very spiritual people. They didn’t believe in a deity, but instead, the spiritual nature of the universe itself, and that required much thought at various times during their day.
Leading Wyn in, I closed the black curtain so no one would disturb us. Instantly, I cupped his face. “Wyn. Peace, there is nothing between Vorjyn and I.”
“But there was. Once.”
“Not as you think or he implied. We were fuck friends.” I pressed my forehead against Wyn’s. “Please do not push me away.”
Wyn hooked an ankle around mine and pushed. I fell to the floor with a grunt and he was on top of me. My soul sped up fromthe aggression. He bent over me, his braid hitting the side of my face, and snarled, “I do not share you.”
