Page 54 of Starlight

BigFootBoone [admin]: Did you fall out of a tree?

MothAkai: No.

He’d walked up to a human, which was much more careless. How was it possible that their fates were so badly tangled that they were mates? He shouldn’t have started licking him…or kissing him. Fucking him had definitely been a bad idea.

Would avoiding him have made a difference?

Not that he’d ever been able to avoid Cole. Not seven years ago, and not three years ago, when Akai had first seen him on the land where he’d eventually built the cabin.

BigFootBoone [admin]: Were you drunk flying and crashed into a tree?

MothAkai: No. That happened one time.

Stupid spiked fruit punch.

BigFootBoone [admin]: Did you get into a fight with a wolf?

MothAkai: What? No.

BigFootBoone [admin]: Were you attacked by crows for stealing their shiny stuff?

MothAkai: Are you okay? Has someone hacked your account?

Did he know? Boone didn’t tease, nor was he chatty. Was he drunk? A drunk bigfoot could be messy.

BigFootBoone [admin]: I’m fine. Just wondering why you’re being so cagey.

MothAkai: It’s embarrassing, that’s why.

That wasn’t a lie.

MothAkai: I’m kind of busy, down a mine.

BigFootBoone [admin]: Copper?

MothAkai: No. But if I find some I can bring it…but you’ll owe me.

He was not giving away any more for free. Sure he wanted to keep the network running but he didn’t want to leach off Cole.

BigFootBoone [admin]: A mine collapsed and you had to dig your way out.

MothAkai: You’re enjoying my pain too much. I’m putting you on mute.

He did exactly that before Boone could reply and put the phone back in his pocket before reaching for a few more baskets to see what else was in the workshop. Two were empty, the third was full of red gems. At first glance they were either ruby or garnet. He picked one up and licked it. Ruby.

The taste of them hit hard, like his chest was collapsing. They had been his sister’s. She’d been planning on setting them in silver, but at the time, they hadn’t had enough. They’d been working in an old copper mine and making a lot of money. Humans paid very well for copper. Boone said it was his contribution to keeping everything running.

He hadn’t worked a copper mine since.

He really should as it was easy money, and he had friends who passed for human which made the selling easy. And now he had Cole, who was human.

He also had plenty of silver for setting the rubies the way his sister had wanted. He gathered the baskets of silver and gold and the rubies and put them in the bag to carry back to the cabin along with a few small tools for cutting and polishing the gems.

As much as he wanted to show Cole these hidden places, he wasn’t ready yet. Which meant maybe Bob was right, and he shouldn’t be bringing his human to solstice. Even he thought of Cole as his human.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Akai wasn’t waiting outside for Cole when he pulled up, the way he had last weekend, but the lights were on in the house which meant he was there. Or at least Cole hoped that’s what it meant. After the week he’d had—the arguments first with his father and then his mother—Akai had better be there. Otherwise, all the aggravation was for nothing.