“I must speak with a few of my subordinates. You will wait for me,” he says, commanding.
I shiver. I don’t always like it when he talks to me that way, but sometimes I really, really do.
His fingers thread with mine as he pulls me inside. We skip putting on shoes because they don’t seem to wear shoes at all, and I squeeze his hand gently as we walk down the familiar path from the apartment to the portal.
It’s easier to cross through this time. The world shimmers and my stomach feels like it’s being pulled up through my throat, but then I’m on solid land again, the air thick and sweet.
His hands find me, making sure I’m steady before he trails a touch over the chain between my nipples. It’s over the shirt, but I can still feel every passing of his fingers.
Blinking, I glance around and realize we’re not in the same place as before. Fuck, I wish I knew how this whole portal thing works. Can you just, like, put an address in somewhere andwhoosh, you go wherever you want?
I open my mouth to ask, but realize that’s probably not a good idea. There are Vyastil here, staring at both of us, and I realize a second later, there are no human companions anywhere.
I feel very…seen.
“Uh…”
“You will wait here,” Rathyn says. He beckons over a Vyastil that looks a lot like Cielo, only this one’s hair is a very rich pink and much shorter, falling in a braid just below the shoulders.
Rathyn speaks to him for a long moment, then he takes my wrist and guides me to a plush-looking chair beside a window. “I will be a while. Do not leave this building.”
Like somehow I’m going to take my life into my hands and wander around Erethar without Rathyn to guide me? I’m a littleannoyed at the babysitter, though. The pink-haired monster is standing a few feet away from me, stealing occasional glances at me, then looking at Rathyn like he’s terrified he’s going to rip his arms off.
Which, apparently, is a real threat.
I’m not going to let that happen, of course. But I’m not going to poke the bear—or the monster—as it is. Not today, anyway.
Rathyn stares down at me, then drags a quick touch against my jaw before spinning on his heel and marching out of the room. Three of the six Vyastil follow him, and I’m left with the pink-haired one and two very stiff-shouldered Vyastil with various shades of blue hair tied back in severe buns.
“So…” I say aloud.
The pink-haired one jumps.
“Do you have a name? Sorry, wait. Do you speak my language? I know not everyone does, and I don’t mean to assume.”
Pink guy swallows thickly, and his gaze darts in the direction Rathyn left.
“Relax. He’s not going to tear out your tongue for talking to me.”Probably.
I offer my most winning smile, and the pink-haired Vyastil sucks in a breath, taking a step back. Okay, maybe not the right move. “Well, anyway. I’m Everest. I’m Rathyn’s companion. Sorry, I don’t know if he has some title I’m supposed to use, or?—”
“Rathyn,” the blue-haired one on the left says, then he says a word in his language I can’t even hope to pronounce. He takes a step closer and eyes me from head to toe. I don’t love that. “In your world, it would mean?—”
“Commander?” I supply. I knew that already. He’s not the leader of the whole Vyastil military, but he’s very high-ranking.
He tilts his head to the side, then looks over at the other Vyastil. “Not as primitive as some of the other companions.”
I suck in a breath to tell this fucker off because if any of us seem primitive, it’s because they like to drug us into compliance until we’re dick-suck-zombies.
But saying that won’t help human-monster relations. “Anyway,” I say again, “he’s my…companion. Or whatever.”
Blue hair flicks a gaze down to my nipples, then to my cock, then back up to me. There’s a glint in his eyes that makes me feel…weird. “He’s made that abundantly clear.”
Yeah, I don’t like this one.
“So,” I say to the pink-haired Vyastil, “you’re?—”
“He won’t speak to you. He’s a guard from Outerlands.”
