Page 129 of Tempt

twenty-seven

EISSA

I met with Rathyn briefly in his office before heading to the archives. I pleaded with him to help me find a way to dissolve my bond with Luca.

I couldn’t get our moment together out of my head—the way he slipped inside me and brought me nearly to completion—had undone me in a way I did not expect. I nearly spilled breeding seed all over him. My body wanted to release it, wanted to spill it deep inside him and watch him grow fat with my egg.

And that is dangerous. I cannot risk it. Not when I’m so close to forming an alliance with the Tarek. That is the last piece of the puzzle we need, and I cannot afford to lose sight of our goal.

There will be so much time to make it up to my Luca once I free our people from the tyranny of the royal family and the council. And perhaps I will spend his entire span of human life begging him to understand, but it’s the choice I must make.

Which means I need Rathyn’s help because, as of right now, I can only think of one way to put a stop to the risk of losing myself entirely to Luca.

Rathyn cut our conversation short, with the knowledge that his office was not fully secure for such conversations, but he promised to look into it, and we agreed to meet in a safer location later today.

My second shift in the archives was as fruitful as the first, but now that I have Sabik looking into not just the treaties but also a possible alliance, I do not feel the need to try to scour old records that the Vyastil have likely purged.

The only real frustration I have with this assignment is that I know it’s pointless, and so does Jyrion. He has an entire team of trained Vyastil to do this work. His youngest brother—the prince who will never see any sort of power—oversees this department. Prince Vyrian was always the odd child. Quiet to the point that the public questioned whether or not he could speak.

And when he was forced to give a public announcement—in order to prove his abilities and avoid bringing shame to the royal family—he looked as though he wished for the ground to swallow him whole.

I always felt for Vyrian, though he rarely ever looked in my direction.

As I’m making my way back to my office, I pass by Dhoryn’s, and I see the prince himself hovering near the door. He’s got something in his hand that I can’t make out, twisting it between his fingers. He doesn’t so much as twitch as I approach and bow my head, but I know he’s aware I’m standing there.

Glancing to the left, I see that Dhoryn’s office door is closed tightly, but his windows are wide open. He’s at his desk, his back to the door, and Lucie is sitting beside him on a low bench.

“What do you suppose his human is doing with his hands?” Vyrian murmurs very quietly.

I look back over at Lucie, who’s shaping his fingers through…ah. The alphabet. “The humans call it sign language.”

“The purpose?”

“Communication with other humans who lack hearing or have some sort of speech disorder.” I don’t really feel like getting into the specifics. “My human uses it to communicate.”

Vyrian’s eyes cut to me sharply. “Your human?”

I flick my ears. A warmth spreads through me, possessive and intense. I don’t know why, and right now, I don’t have time to think about it. I take a calming breath. “Yes, my human is Deaf. He does not hear and prefers not to use his voice to communicate.”

“Is it a difficult language?”

“No. We have language modules in the system if you wish to learn. But there are at least three hundred. I have chosen American Sign Language. It belongs to the humans that surround the portals on Earth.”

Vyrian glances down at his hands and mimics a few shapes. They’re almost right, but not quite. If rumors are true, he’s always been very good—better than most Vyastil—at picking up things like languages and patterns.

But he has also never been allowed to visit Earth, and as far as I have been aware, he has never been approved to take on a human companion.

“You have a human,” Vyrian repeats slowly. “Do you know what this is?” He holds up the thing he’s been toying with, and I realize it’s a small tube of lip balm.

“Yes. Humans use it to keep moisture on their lips.”

His eyes widen. “They do not produce moisture in their skin?”

“It’s…complicated,” I say. I don’t have time to give a lesson on human anatomy either. There has been a strange tension in the bond between me and Luca today, and I have a feeling it’s from me leaving him so abruptly.

“Forgive me, my prince, but I must go.”

Vyrian tilts his head to the side as he regards me. “You address me with more formality than most.”