There has been more than one group of humans—some angry, though most of them just curious—that has tried to sneak past the guards and go into the monsters’ world.
It never ends well for them.
Rumor has it they’re never seen again, but I don’t know if that’s just anti-monster propaganda or not.
Whatever the case, it’s a small production to get in this time. The guard scans the driver’s ID badge, then the monster’s, then he takes my name, social, address, and birthdate.
“Does he want my blood type with all that shit?” I mutter as he finally waves us past.
Rathyn makes a curious hum in the back of his throat. “What is a blood type?”
“It’s uh…” I don’t actually know the science behind it. I spent most of biology getting stoned in the supply closet and paying off a couple of nerdy guys in class to do my homework for me so I could pass. “It’s a human thing. It’s not important.”
He hums again, frowning, but says nothing else as the driver takes us to the front of the building. He opens the door, and Rathyn all but shoves me out onto the pavement, then hauls me upright before taking my hand in a steely grip.
“I know how to walk,” I remind him as I stumble up the stairs on his heels. “I learned when I was ten months old.”
He looks over his shoulder, eyes wide. “It took you ten months to walk?”
“Fuck you, asshole. That’s early.”
He blinks.
“I’m being serious.”
Shaking his head, he turns his gaze back to the doors and grips the heavy iron handle, wrenching it open. “Itisa wonder humans survived, but it isnowonder at all that you die before you turn one hundred.”
“Really?” I snark as we head to security. He’s not wearing anything but his sheer pants, and he carries nothing on him, so he breezes past the metal detector while I shove my phone and earbuds into the little scanning tray and step through. “How long do Vyastil live?”
He shrugs as I collect my things. “In your measurement of time,” his gaze turns up to the cavernous ceiling as he thinks,“five hundred years for breeding females. Slightly less for those who do not breed. Males live about one hundred years less than that.”
I come to a skidding halt. “You have females?”
He cocks his head slightly and shrugs. “Of course we do.”
He says it like this is just common knowledge, but it most certainly fucking isn’t. They have females. Breeding females. Which means they breed. Which means they do have some kind of sex act. I mean, they have to, right?
And holy fuck, what do the females even look like? Is there a difference between the genders? Will I ever meet one? Do they come to the clinic, too?
“They are similar to us,” he says, clearly reading my thoughts, which is really fucking invasive. “There are differences between us, but they’re unnecessary to explain to you now. You will likely never meet one. They are rare.”
His tone tells me I should probably shut up. Like maybe this is taboo.
“Taboo,” he repeats like he’s testing the word on his tongue.
“Something you’re not supposed to talk about,” I explain as he leads me to the elevators. He hits the button, and it immediately dings, the doors sliding open. “It’s not exactly illegal, but it’s, you know, like against the rules of polite society or whatever.”
He nods. “This is a good word. The Vyastil have many…taboo.”
I don’t really have time to think about that because the doors open and he walks faster. I have to almost run to keep up with him, and I wonder if I made us late by demanding to be fed in the bath.
When we turn a corner, the hallway opens up to a waiting room, and it’s definitely not empty. There are a couple Vyastillooking uncomfortable and uncertain, but most of the chairs are filled by humans who keep stealing glances at them.
I don’t think most of them are here for dick-sucking contracts, though I could be wrong.
“Damn, this place is busy,” I murmur where only Rathyn can hear. “What are they here for?”
“Many reasons.” He doesn’t elaborate, and his tone tells me not to ask. He moves to the front of the line with a confidence I don’t possess, and he doesn’t stop when I try to pull him back because there are at least seven people who have looks on their faces like they’ve been waiting for quite a while.
