I stare up at him. How does this vast creature know about me? How can he possibly know I nearly let go of my bladder because…
“Why do you care?” I blurt out.
He takes a step back, as if I’ve shot him, his finger instantly removed.
“I…don’t,” he rasps, uncertainty flitting across his face, which is, now I can see it better, quite handsome in its dirty way. “I don’t care.”
“Thought so.” I fold my arms.
He had his chance to eat me, and he didn’t. Not that I trust him, but in this moment, it would appear I have won a reprieve.
I doubt it will last long.
“You are my captive,” he says, with more force than before.
“No shit.”
“No, there is no shit.” His eyebrows crease together. “You will have access to a sanitary area.”
“Good. Then I need to go.” I glare at him.
“You cannot go. You are my captive,” he growls.
“I mean I need to goto the sanitary area.” I glare at him until I remember how big he is and how little I am. “I need to urinate.”
“A little scrap like you needs to piss?” He glares back at me. “You are too small to piss.”
“Pardon me?” I can’t quite believe I’m having this conversation. “Everything needs to piss…urinate.”
“Spaceworms don’t.”
“How do you know?”
He inclines his head. “I just know.”
“Bet they do.” I push myself slowly up the wall. “And I do too.”
He blinks at me. Not a clearing of the eyeballs but a pressing together of the eyelids in such a way I wonder if it’s to do with his brain resetting. His lips lift to reveal incredibly sharp fangs. I attempt to push down the fear rising inside me with the knowledge if he wanted to eat me, he’d have turned into a dragon long before now.
“So unless you want me to urinate here, I suggest you let me use thesanitary facilities.”
I’m not sure, but I think he might be contemplating it. Possibly just to see if I do, actually, piss.
“This way,” he says roughly.
My legs are like a newborn deer as I attempt to stride past him with some confidence. I have zero confidence. I’m surprised I can even stand. In fact, I’m surprised I haven’t wet myself with fear.
Once I’ve passed him, he follows me, almost as if I know where I’m going.
But this place we’re in, I’ve never seen it before. It’s comfortably furnished, looking like a modern living room, not a cave or anything, which he would look more at home in. One wall is made of glass, or the Sarkarnii equivalent, and it looks out over a lush valley, the likes of which I haven’t seen since we got to Vorostor.
I look back over my shoulder at the dark Sarkarnii.
“What is this place?”
DEUS
I smelt her fear. A waft of bitterness which I could also taste.
