Page 51 of Tempt

I’ve known people like him.

People who got to know my brother and realized he was good and kind, and still ended up throwing slurs around like they meant nothing. They didn’t give a shit when hearing them broke Dante’s heart.

‘I don’t trust him. I don’t want anyone to get hurt.’

‘I don’t think he’s capable of hurting anyone.’ Quilliyn looks concerned, though, and I appreciate he’s not completely dismissing me.

‘I don’t know. I just…’ I tap my stomach with bent fingers. ‘A gut feeling.’

Quilliyn lifts his hands, then lets them fall to the top of the counter. ‘I’ll keep an eye on him. I promise. No one will get hurt.’

I think he will keep his promise, but realizing Quilliyn might possibly feel the same way about Zane as I do about Eissa tells me that he might not be the most helpful in protecting the people I love.

After leaving the gym, I head over to the café to check on Hepyn and to apologize for being such a messy drunk the last time we talked, but he’s not in.

Zinni’s behind the counter, smiling and chatting with Syl about something I can’t quite read off his lips. When he twists around, I take notice of his missing tail. Zinni wears long, thin, opaque linen robes most of the time, and now I understand why.

I can see the round stump of what he’s hiding. A shame on Erethar, but not something people would care about here. I still can’t believe he was sent to the mines for something so fucking superficial. It makes me want to track down Eissa and demand to know what the hell is wrong with their people.

But I don’t want to see him right now.

Hell, I couldn’t find him even if I wanted to. I don’t even know where he is, and I’m not going to humiliate myself by knocking on his door at the Foundry. That odd connection I can’t explain between us is eerily silent too, and that makes me feel worse than ever every time I think about it.

‘You okay? You want order?’ Zinni asks with quick fingers.

I shake my head. ‘Hepyn here?’

Zinni’s face falls, but I can’t totally read his expression. ‘No. Sorry. Not feeling well today. I can call him in if you need him.’

‘No, thank you,’ I sign quickly. I cast a quick glance at Syl, who has positioned himself almost between me and Zinni, as though I’m some kind of threat. I fight back a sigh. ‘Tell him I will talk with him later.’

Zinni frowns. ‘Will do. Want drink to go?’

I shake my head again. ‘No. But here.’ I dig into my pocket and use my Deaf gain to ignore Zinni’s protests as I shove a wad of cash into the tip jar, then turn and head back in the direction of the gym. I probably need to stop spending every waking hour there, but without conversation with Hepyn to distract me, my mind keeps wandering back to Zane, and I can’t shake off the feeling something bad is going to happen.

Logic tells me I need to stay out of it, but I’ve never really been great at listening to reason when I think people are in trouble. And Zane is someone who can and will cause trouble. I knew guys like him at school, and they always grow up exactly the way you think.

Slipping through the side door, I wander down an employees-only hall, keeping an eye out for anyone. It’s empty for a moment, but then I come to a stop when I see Cielo in the gym café with Tyler, Chadwick, Brody…and fuck…Zane’s hovering a few feet away.

My favorite gym bros are being sweet to Cielo, and Zane is watching them intently. I narrow my gaze and lean forward. No, he’s not watching them. His attention is focused solely on Cielo. There’s an expression on his face—something I don’t like. Something that sends my hackles up.

Zane’s eyes cut toward the door, and I duck away before I’m caught. There aren’t many places for me to go, but I push into a supply closet. Leaving it cracked open, I shove my eye into the open space, and as predicted, Zane appears a second later, his phone pressed to his ear.

I squint, trying to catch words on his lips.

“…in a second…place…alone.”

He’s moving too quickly to notice me spying on him. And the moment his back is turned toward me, I open the door and do my best to sneak after him. I’m either being much quieter than usual, or he’s too distracted to notice me behind him, but either way, I manage to follow him to the room with all the water massage beds.

I give him a moment to slip inside, then I peer through the half-open door. He’s standing in the doorway of the first room with his back to me, so I sneak behind the welcome desk and crouch down. It’s empty right now because the massage area doesn’t open until three, which gives me enough time to try to figure out who he’s talking to.

I can’t see what he’s saying. Not entirely. Only something does catch my eye.

“…portal key…”

It’s not enough for me to go on, but there are no human portals, so clearly I was right about him being suspicious.

With trembling hands, I pull out my phone and hit record, then lift it so the lens is above the desk. I hold my breath as I zoom in, squinting as I try to understand what he’s saying. I don’t have enough context for most of it, but I catch, “Eight o’clock…car…if we can.”