Chapter Seven
Rache smiled during the conversation. This many people interested in dance usually ended up demonstrating at one time or another.
Narro waited until Eden and Haravin concluded their earnest chat, and then he went to his partner and asked, “May I have this dance?”
Haravin blushed and nodded, sliding her fingers along his.
A soft waltz began to play, and they moved together gracefully.
Rache chuckled. “Every time dance people get together.”
Xeti got up and held his hand out to her. “Will you dance?”
Rache nodded and let him pull her up. She thudded against him, and he grinned, walking her to an open area, and then they began to move together. It was effortless. His hands on her felt like they were supposed to be there.
They moved around the available space, and then a new hand took hers and pulled her into his arms via a spin. “I thought that I wasn’t your type, Terus.”
He looked embarrassed as they moved smoothly. “I may have been mistaken about that. Actually, I know I was mistaken about that. I was waiting for a sign that didn’t come when I touched you, but Xeti sets it off.”
“I think it is a cumulative effort. I wasn’t going to flicker until I had met both of you.”
He nodded. “Watching you and him, I confess to jealousy, and when he demanded your number, I had to admit that I didn’t have it.”
“And I had you blocked on all the email accounts we used.”
“Yeah, that was a good call on your part. I just thought there would be sparks or a trumpet or a cherub with a laptop that said what was what.”
Rache smiled. “That would have been helpful for you.”
“For me?”
“Oh, sure. I knew. I knew it in my bones the moment we went on that first excursion.”
“You didn’t say anything.”
“We went on outing after outing, and there was no touch, no kiss, no warm smile. I thought you preferred men.”
He froze, and in Terus’s shock, Xeti took over and grinned. “That is hilarious.”
“Why?”
“Because he is very, definitely, interested in women.”
“Just not me.” She felt the tingling of magic under her palm, and he grew several inches. So did she.
Xeti grinned as they continued to move around the space. “You look spectacular.”
“I am just glad the clothes are large enough to manage.”
He laughed, and they moved with more energy.
Terus recovered from his shock and stepped in again, moving with her, and he said softly, “I prefer women.”
She chuckled. “So, it is just me then?”
“No. I... I didn’t feel what I am feeling now. The energy that you put out was lost on me.”
She nodded. “I talked to someone on Emerald, and they mentioned that if a pair loses a member, a single elf takes his place. Did that happen with Xeti?”
Terus stared at her in surprise. “How did you know?”
“If I am calibrated for spiders, you might not have been able to hear me.”
He stopped the dance with his eyes wide. “I think you have nailed it.”
She nodded and leaned in. “The important thing is, can you hear me now?”
Terus smiled and nodded. “I definitely can.”
“Great.”
Xeti took over and spun her away again. He murmured, “So, you know I need to show you my beast.”
She snorted. “Whatever you want to call it.”
He laughed.
“I am not afraid of spiders or scorpions, no matter how big.” She looked at him. “Just don’t make any moves with multiple legs or those stinging hairs.”
He stroked her neck as they moved gracefully in the open space. “I agree. While I might want to pick you up and haul you into my burrow, sex under those circumstances would be out of the question. No shenanigans in our other forms. Defense only.”
“Make sure Terus agrees, and we are good. You can whip out your beast as soon as I am not staying with Eden. That might be a step too far for her.”
“Will you let us take you into the jungle and show you?”
Terus was at her back. “Yes, can we show you?”
She looked from one dark face to the other. “Sure. Let’s just get it over with so you don’t need to be twitchy anymore.”
They each kissed a side of her neck and then walked with her out of the palace and into the shadows beyond.
They found their way down to the beach, and it gave them privacy without confinement. She sat on a rock and said, “Either of you can go first. I would suggest full beast and then walking it back a little.”
Xeti nodded. “Fair enough. Here we go.”
The moonlight and starlight showed her the twelve-foot-high tarantula, followed by the fourteen-foot-long scorpion, which moved toward her, using their mouthparts to confirm her identity. “Okay, back off. Now for the messed-up centaurs.”
The arachnids backed up, and Xeti was perched on a thorax with six legs, his arms completing the set of eight. Terus reared up, wearing quite a bit of insect armour down his arms, chest, and back.
“Wow, Terus. How far can your tail reach?”
The tail reached over him and slammed six feet in front of him.
She looked at the dripping stinger as it lifted out of the sand. “Noted.”
She looked at Xeti. “And you have venomous fangs in your mouth.”
“To be frank, I have them when I am in my alpha shape as well.”
Terus shrugged. “Me, too.”
She snorted. “Yes, I am aware of that.”
Xeti silently moved toward her and picked her up. “Care to go for a ride?”
“Are you offering a choice?”
“I just wanted to hold you. So, where are you staying?”
“At a place Eden rented. Near the town.”
He nodded and looked at Terus. “Invisibility on. Let’s go for a walk.”
Terus grinned. “Fine, but I want to hold her when we are on the pathways.”
“I am not a ball to be handed off.”
Xeti kissed her head. “Of course not, but being able to hold you will soothe something.”
“I don’t want to know what it’s soothing. I have been plastered against you and sweating all night.”
Terus sighed, “Yeah.”
They climbed the rock face without any kind of strain. Rache kept the urge to web herself to safety quiet as Xeti held her carefully against his chest, his soft feet moving silently. Terus rustled slightly.
They got on the pathway, and Terus made a clicking sound. Xeti sighed, kissed her sweetly, and handed her down to Terus. He caught her and rubbed his cheek against hers. He thrummed against her, and she eyed his chest warily. “What is that sound?”
“Happy scorpion who wants to dance with you.”
“He has danced with me.”
Terus chuckled. “He wants to dance with you a little more... fully.”
“I draw the line at tail.”
He laughed, and they continued to walk toward the village.
“So, you two have gone invisible?”
“Yes.”
“Does that include me?”
Terus paused. “It does now.”
“Good. I got a weird look from a drunk.”
Xeti looked at him, and there was a lot of growling and clicking. She saw the rental house and said, “Well, that’s my stop. You two old ladies can bicker elsewhere.”
Terus paused. “Old ladies?”
“Well, all the chittering and clicking sounds like elderly ladies looking over produce.”
Xeti paused and grinned, shrinking down to his dark elf shape.
Terus did the same. They took her by the hands and walked her to the rental house.
The lights glowed inside, so Eden must have been there.
She saw a shadow moving between her and the light, and she said, “Uh, can you come in with me, ready to punch something?”
“Why?”
“Because I think Eden is still at the palace, and that means that there shouldn’t be anyone in the house.”
Terus nodded. “I will go in first. No one needs to see Krossos naked who isn’t mated to him.”
They walked to the house, and Terus eased around the back side of the house. Xeti stayed with her and said, “Stay here.”
Xeti went through the front of the house, and thuds started happening with a few startled shouts.
Rache was about to go in, but a hand gripped her arm. She turned and gasped. “Cain!”
Eden’s brother looked at her with fury. “Where is she? She owes me for that baby.”
Rache pulled herself forward, put her hand over his mouth and nose, and she webbed the hell out of him.
He fell back, clawing at his face, his eyes wide. Rache stood over him as suffocation hit, and he thrashed on the ground. Xeti arrived at her side and flipped Cain to his belly, holding his hands together. “Would you do the honours?”
She webbed his hands, he was rolled over, and Xeti ripped the webbing off. Cain sucked in air with a heavy draw, his body arching.
Narro and a bunch of local peacekeepers arrived. He said, “These are Eden’s brother and his pack?”
Rache looked behind her, and the other five pack members were on the ground. “Shit. They all came?”
“She was worth a lot of money. A healthy Elite child was two million, and she had five of them. These men are child traffickers and will be treated as such.” Narro smiled. “She is now dealing with a better brand of Elite.”
Rache smiled. “What are you going to do with them?”
“Well, their crimes carry a life sentence, and Wonder has a delightful prison island. I believe they will curse their fate, especially when their omega is kept from them during heats.”
Cain was the only one conscious, and he started fighting as he was hauled off.
Xeti held her. “Well done, Rache.”
“Thanks. I am just glad it wasn’t Eden that got here first.” She looked at the guesthouse. “Narro? Is there another guesthouse out here?”
He paused and brought his phone out. “I will check.”
His phone chirped. “No guesthouses, but the new bed and breakfast run by Serin has rooms.”
“Okay. Can you walk us over? I will just get my purse. Oh, and book a room for Eden as well. I will grab her bag.”
Eden’s voice rang out. “Why do we need to go somewhere?” Krossos was at her side.
Rache said, “Cain and his pack were here to try and repossess you. Terus went in the back, Xeti went in the front, and I just realized that it bodes ill for my sex life.”
Eden blinked and snorted before she got serious. “Where are they?”