“Is it as nice as this car? Or is it too small for you?”
His ears flutter as the car turns right down another street. The movement has me sliding into him, and his tail tightens around me, making me shiver again.
“The living quarters are…” He hesitates on the last word. “Suitable, but small.”
“Suitable? We’re moving into the nicest part of town.”
Rathyn says nothing as we near a large, looming building I recognize on sight. A place I never thought I’d go.
“Oh, hell no, you live at The Foundry. Come the fuck on.”
The Foundry was a project that the city funded after the monsters arrived and things got better. It’s an old industrial building that has been remodeled into luxury lofts. The exterior still has the original brickwork, and the iron-framed windows stretch from floor to ceiling.
Rathyn glances at me. “Why do you say it like that? Is it significant?”
I roll my eyes as we pull into the large driveway. “Like you don’t know,” I mutter. But I realize, at his continued confusion, maybe he doesn’t.
I see the doormen waiting near the large wooden doors, and as soon as the car comes to a stop, they move toward us.
“This place is basically for the super wealthy,” I tell him. “When it first went up, it was priced way above the rest of the market. But considering your people think houses are a basic necessity, maybe you all don’t do expensive real estate.”
He hums but says nothing as the door opens for him, and his tail slips from my calf and twines around his leg as he slides out. I wonder if I just insulted him without realizing it.
I know I can be mouthy, but I’m not trying to be a dick. At least, not right now.
As I follow him in, my heart jumps in my chest, knowing what’s coming just past those doors, and we reach his livingspace. But as nervous as I am, I’m also excited to see the inside of this place.
I’ve been wondering about it since it was built, and I’m so curious that I forget about dick sucking for a moment.
As we step into the lobby, he leads me to a set of blackened steel elevators where another doorman waits, sliding the elevator gate open for us. Once we’re inside, Rathyn reaches a long finger out and presses number five, and then we’re shooting upward, the dim glow illuminating the dark space.
There’s a gulf between us. Not literally, but he’s not standing pressed against me anymore, and he’s not in my head. It feels…empty.
My chest aches with it as we reach his floor, and it takes me a moment to remember how to breathe properly. Rathyn parts the doors and steps out without looking back, leaving me to follow.
The hallway ahead of us is lit with sleek brass wall sconces that give the place an almost ageless aesthetic. It’s beautiful and strange, just like the Vyastil.
Just like Rathyn.
He stops in front of a door with a gold 612 adorning the wood and pulls out a keycard. There’s a little black box just like at the clinic, and when he scans it, the door lock clicks.
My breath comes out in a rush as we step inside. The air is cool and fragrant, floral but unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. I take a deep breath as I move further in, staring around with huge eyes.
The ceilings are high with exposed beams and massive warehouse windows, giving me a view of the city below. My gaze swivels to the custom cabinets and the stone countertops in the kitchen.
“Fuck you,” I say with a loud laugh. “Too small my ass.”
Rathyn steps up next to me. “You don’t like it?”
“I don’t likeyou. You’re a damn snob.” My eyes flick up to his, and his lips turn down. I saw him smile earlier, and now I’m seeing him frown. “I just mean, you have no idea how good you have it. I would kill for something like this.”
His tail tightens around his thigh, and his ears flutter. He almost seems ashamed, and my heart clenches in my chest at how harsh I was with my words. “There is no need to take a life over envy. If you want something like this, I will give it to you.”
“Yeah, anyway,” I begin, wanting to change the subject. I don’t need another lecture about how he can build me shelter, or whatever. If this is his idea of slumming it, god only knows what he had in mind to give me. “Am I the first human to be invited to this complex?”
Rathyn doesn’t move his gaze from me. “You are not the first, no. There are other humans and other Vyastil living here.”
“Am Iyourfirst human?” I ask, needing to know. For some reason. It has nothing to do with jealousy. Not at all.
