I raise a brow at him. “Are you…able to help?”
“I don’t know how much my parents will listen to me, but I can try.” Quilliyn sighs softly. “I hate going back there.”
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t even be putting this on you.” I bite my lip and feel guilt rush through me. I need to stop having people do my dirty work. If it weren’t for me, Cielo would still be here. And I don’t think I could live with myself if something happened to Quilliyn, too.
“It’s fine,” he says, waving his hand at me. “At most, I’ll be ignored, but there are still a few strings I can pull.”
I swallow heavily and ask the question I’m a little terrified to ask. “What’s going to happen to him?”
Quilliyn glances away from me, and his long tongue wets his lips. “At worst, he’ll be beaten and sent to work in the mines. His family will lose what little land they have.”
“For fuck’s sake!”
He shakes his head sadly. “At best, I can probably convince them to banish him. Most of the Vyastil think being forced to live among humans is a far worse punishment than death.”
“Wow. Dicks.”
Quilliyn smirks. “Tell me about it. We don’t even have porn.”
I almost choke on my own tongue. “Oh my god. You know about porn? Youlikeporn?”
He rolls his eyes. “I’ve been living on Earth for nearly ten years, Everest. I know about porn.”
I don’t ask for more. I don’t want to know. “So…so he could come live here, then? We could find him an apartment and teach him to—well, not speak. But sign?” I think about Dante, and I have a feeling the adorable sex shop guy wouldn’t be mad about seeing more of Cielo.
Quilliyn gives me a look, then says, “There are definitely ways to help him communicate. But I don’t know how much I’ll be able to help his family.”
I let out a breath. “We can worry about that later.”
“We?” he asks with a smile.
“Or me. Whatever. I owe him, you know? And he’s my friend. He saved my life, and you know, even if he hadn’t, he doesn’t deserve this.”
Quilliyn studies me for a long moment. “Rathyn has no idea how lucky he is, does he?”
“Trust me, I’m not all that great.”
Quilliyn shakes his head sadly. “I’m sorry you believe that. Now, let me drive you back to your adorably angry friend’s place so I can go find a portal.”
Adorable, huh? I file that away for later and simply allow myself to feel some measure of relief that, although I can’t solve Rathyn’s epic bullshit problem, at least I might be able to save Cielo.
And if that’s all I’ll get, I’m going to call it a win.
twenty-seven
EVEREST
Zane blessedly doesn’t say anything about me hanging out at his place more often. I know he wants to tell me he told me so, but he holds his tongue. He knows I’m fucking miserable.
“You can always get a job back at the hot dog stand,” he says as he pulls two shots from his espresso machine. The sight makes my eyes sting. It reminds me of Cielo and his love for lattes.
It’s only been two days, but I feel despondent with the lack of information. Quilliyn still isn’t back yet, and Rathyn hasn’t given me any updates. I don’t even know if he knows Quilliyn is going to speak on Cielo’s behalf.
I feel numb and disconnected.
Mostly because I’m not with Rathyn like I want to be. When I go to his place to sleep at night, I let him use me. And that’s all. It’s nothing more than an exchange of fluids, despite Rathyn trying to show me it’s not. He takes his time with me, forcing me to look at him as he swallows me down.
And when he’s done, he tries to pull me in for a kiss, for a hug, but I turn away from him, and pretend to be too tired. Ican feel his hurt from my bedroom, where I toss and turn on the plush mattress, missing the heat of my monster beside me.
