Page 55 of Tempt

The Foundry. Where all the other high-ranking Vyastil live. I don’t know that I want to be there, but I also don’t know what choice I have.

“Okay. Okay, yeah. Send me the address. We’ll be right there. Yeah, alright. No, you go ahead and call Rath and Everest. Thanks again. See you in a few.”

The call ends, and Eissa sinks down beside me. I feel him shifting closer, and though I can’t open my eyes, I can almost sense his expression of worry and fear. Then his forehead touches mine, and I feel something else—affection.

Relief that I’m okay.

A desperate desire to stay near me because staying away only ended with me being hurt.

I want to tell him I’m okay, but I can’t seem to lift my hands or make a sound, so I push that thought from my head to his.

His sigh wafts across my face, his breath sweet. My Luca. You are in danger.

I know.

He sends me images of his place at the Foundry, along with the feeling that it’s the last place in the world he wants to be. But at the moment, I’m safer with the Vyastil, with Eissa, than I am with humans.

eleven

EISSA

Fury burns through me, a foreign feeling that has long been suppressed. But seeing Luca injured, feeling the pain he went through, something inside of me unraveled. I feel like the Ryvek, the untamed, hybrid nomadic group who travels around Erethar. Long ago, when the Vorthex first opened portals to steal humans, their giant Zyeli ancestors snuck into the human villages and stole them for breeding.

The hybrids now exist, somewhere between humans and monsters. They show so much emotion it makes us twitch with discomfort. They do not hold back; they rage and cry and laugh. They have been exiled to the farthest places for generations.

Not even the mines can contain them, though their population now is so small I sometimes wonder whether or not they’ve gone extinct.

But I feel emotions like theirs now. That bubbling feeling inside my core, the way my skin feels hot, the way my ears twitch in anger.

I am unhappy. Deeply so.

No, it’s more than that.

I am angry.

I want to burn this world down as I watch Luca twitch and hear him moan in pain. They did this to him. Those violent, vicious human rebels. His skin is torn, bones broken, blood leaking from his body, threatening to take his life.

I will not let that happen—I will not let him die. But I also cannot stop his pain. I can only think ahead to ensure this will never happen again.

I want evidence so I can bring it to the council and there can be retribution. So someone can burn. But the thought is irrational. Humans have done this to him. What will the Vyastil council care for one single human hurt by his own kind?

Luca’s life does not matter. He does not contribute cum. He is considered defective and useless to our kind, and it doesn’t matter if the people who hurt him will be looking for him to finish the job.

I cannot let the council know what he is to me—what he could be—so my hands are tied. I am impotent when it comes to protecting him.

Except…

It only takes me a second to realize I do have one method to protect him. It’s going to ruin what little progress I’ve made in keeping away, because in order to save him, I must protect him from humans. I can allow him safety amongst my people where he can roam as free as possible…but there is only one role he can play, and I’m not sure he will like it.

A contract will be simple enough. It is my job to oversee them. It’s my job to enforce them. No one will question if I take one for myself. My punishment for Kori has long since passed, and my choice to not have a companion and to not visit the clinic has been my own.

Prince Jyrion might look at me sideways, but it won’t matter. I still have power, and I will use it for as long as I am able. Yes, if I can convince him, I can protect him from the other humans who wish him harm.

The only thing I need to do now is find out who attempted to harm Luca and why.

He is not involved in politics, but he is close to several Vyastil. I have a feeling I know who’s behind it. I just need confirmation. Luckily, I have many human contacts on Earth who can assist me.

I pull out my phone, and with extended claws, I try to punch in a number. It is difficult. I try to breathe, to retract them, but it is no use. I cannot help how I feel.