“Where did the Door open up in your world?” Riley asks.
“Right in the middle of a populated city.”
“We’re surrounded by city,” he says before stopping abruptly. “What about somewhere with a high concentration of people, which would mean a high concentration of magic? Even though we’re in a big city with a lot of people, many of them are in buildings or dispersed throughout the city, not concentrated all in one spot.”
The door to the building opens and Imani and Vinny come out.
“Riley, I’m so sorry. I’ve been trying to reason with her, but you know how hard it is to reason with that woman!” Imani growls out.
“It’s fine. Actually, I really enjoyed watching Torin boss her around, so then we made out for a bit before Mickey interrupted us,” Riley says.
Imani’s eyes narrow. “I… was fighting for you, thinking you’d be distraught, and instead you’re over there getting fucking turned on by it?”
He shrugs. “I’m a simple man, Imani. After that, we were just talking about this Door… is there a large gathering of people anywhere?”
“Today?” she asks while Vinny pulls out his phone.
“A couple of small things,” Vinny says before hesitating. “Wait, the state fair is going on about forty minutes from here, and the headliner is a pretty big musician who’s playing tonight… in twenty minutes.”
Imani shifts on her feet for a moment before glancing back at the department. “Fuck it, let’s go.”
“You sure? We’re going to be forty minutes away if we’re wrong,” Riley says.
“Do you know how many thousands of people go there? It’d be the perfect place to siphon magic to create a Door,” Imani replies. “She can fire my ass if we’re wrong.”
The four of us head toward Imani’s car where I grudgingly get in and she begins driving. Riley chokes me a bit with the bondage strap before clicking it into place.
“You really should be able to start putting your own seat belt on.” He gives me a look that I find wildly sexy.
“I like it when you choke me with it just a little,” I tell him.
“You two need to get a room,” Imani says.
“I already have a room. A magnificent one with a bed where I can pile my lovers,” I declare. “I just haven’t had time to acquire them all yet, so I’m playing favorites with Riley.”
I notice Imani giving Riley a look in the rearview mirror, but he pretends he doesn’t notice.
I’m just playing with Riley until I find more to play with. That’s right. Then why do I feel strange? And why do I keep wanting to look at Riley to see what expression he wears? And why do I want to take back everything I just said? I don’t want to trick him. I’ve had others fall in love with me before, so I’ve learned to be very transparent that monogamous love is not what I’m looking for. I’m a god. And gods are not devoted creatures.
So then why…
Suddenly, Riley presses something against me and I turn, curious whether he’s going to be upset, but he looks perfectly fine. Maybe I’m really just something fun for him.
And if I am… why does that bother me? Did I want Riley to be upset? That sounds quite evil and concerning. Why would IwantRiley upset over what I said?
“I have no idea what’s going on with your face, but read this out loud while I think.”
“In English?” I ask.
“Preferably. We’ll see if the others can understand anything that’s being said. I marked where we were.”
I start to read, but it isn’t long before Imani stops me. “This is gibberish. Is there a code to it? Are certain words swapped?”
Riley opens his eyes. “I guess there could be. It’s in some odd language, so I didn’t know if I was just struggling to comprehend how the language works, but maybe you’re right. Maybe there’s some kind of code to it.”
Riley and Kit lean over to stare at the book. “I’m not smart enough for this.”
“There are no pictures of dicks in it,” I complain.
