Page 177 of Tempt

epilogue

SYL

I’m not really a gym guy, but it’s become a great place to work out my frustration. And okay, maybe I only last ten minutes on the treadmill and fifteen minutes with light weights, but for an entomology nerd who doesn’t get out much and is paler than Michigan in winter, it’s something.

At least I’m sweating. It’s going to curb some of my frustrations before I have to make my way to the café.

I don’t mind my job. Granted, it’s not what I envisioned myself doing after walking the stage for my biology bachelor’s, but jobs are scarce as fuck around here, and I will die before I take a job at the middle school teaching smart-mouthed little cretins who refuse to pay attention and have some AI program write all their homework.

But right now, things are weird around here, and it’s hard to think of anything else. Seven months ago, there was a series of explosions all over town. Then a sudden flurry of portal activity, which the news attempted to report on, though the information seemed like bullshit.

Then, suddenly, in the middle of the night, all the portals abruptly went dead. There was widespread panic as all the humans and Vyastil tried to get them to function again, but it’s been months now, and there’s been no communication from the other side.

The clinic is still functional, and the Vyastil trapped here are still going to their appointments, along with keeping the factory operational, but I’ve been starting to wonder if maybe this is it.

Maybe the Vyastil on the other side got their fill and shut it all down. Maybe they got freaked out by the anti-monster resistance trying to blow them up and decided cum wasn’t worth it.

Or hell, maybe they found another species that fulfilled their needs.

All I know is that things are different. My bosses don’t care, of course. They’re from Erethar, but neither of them ever planned on going back. Just like the blue-haired monster in the tight gym tank top and short shorts I’m staring at now.

Quilliyn owns the gym, and he hasn’t seemed to care that he can’t get back to Erethar. He’s been his usual, smiling self. He even grins at me as I walk through the door. Makes me wonder what he wants, but then I shake that off.

I can be an asshole sometimes.

I need to be nicer.

I’m working on it.

I send up a wave as I walk up to Quilliyn, who’s leaning on the counter, and then my eyes settle on the guy who owns the space my bosses rent. Luca’s a good guy, a Deaf guy, but nice. Doesn’t help that my signing skills are pathetic and extend to the alphabet—at least, most of it; I always fuck up X and R—and a handful of basic conversation signs.

But Luca has never made me feel like shit about it, which makes me feel like shit for not trying hard enough. Fuck it. I’m signing up for a class this summer. It’s not like I don’t have the time. The café pays me a stupid amount of money for bare minimum hours, and I’m hoping that’s not going to change in the future.

Luca jerks his chin up at me and drags his finger up his chest. ‘What’s up?’

‘Nothing,’ I sign back. One of the dozen words I know. He knows that’s about where my lexicon ends, and I see his eyes narrow on my mouth. “Busy today?”

Quilliyn shrugs and signs as he speaks. “It’s not bad. I’m surprised to see you here twice in one week.”

I scan my badge and try to will my cheeks back to their normal pale color instead of the hot, prickling blush they’re displaying. Don’t know why this monster needs to wear nipple shirts. It’s…distracting.

“The joys of being constantly pissed off.”

Luca makes a worried noise in the back of his throat. ‘Wrong?’

I know that tap on his chin means what’s wrong. “Work bullshit. Anyway, I don’t mean to interrupt.”

Luca shakes his head as Quilliyn leans over the counter. “You’re fine. We were just talking about Brody and his friends.”

The name sounds weirdly familiar, and it takes me a second to remember something I’d seen going around social media. A few articles were written about three guys who went missing in the middle of the night. They’d gone out to a bonfire near the lake, and all that was left behind were a pair of yellow Crocs, a blue glass bong shaped like an elephant, and a zucchini.

Everyone was wondering about the presence of the vegetable more than the missing dudes.

The story took hold for a little while, but it was eclipsed by the portals closing, so I hadn’t even realized those guys were never found.

“You know them?”

Luca’s face falls as Quilliyn nods. “They basically lived here. Good guys. A couple people have been looking into their disappearance, but they weren’t the type of guys to just wander off without saying anything.”