CHAPTER 1
I’ve emptied every drawer and searched every compartment. The possessions I’ve accumulated are piled on the bed and I’ve tied my comforter around them in a makeshift bag.
I don’t even want to wait to ask Aoe for something that will work better. I just want out.
Being in here has officially started to make my skin crawl.
Something is wrong, or maybe something is gone, or maybe something is here that shouldn’t be…
I don’t know what, but I know it’s something.
And I don’t want anything to do with it.
The lights flicker and I freeze as a horrific grating sound echoes behind me.
Claws grip the edge of the door, wrenching it open and I take a step back, legs hitting the crossbar beneath my mattress.
A very hairy Ikku looms in the doorway when it’s finally open, and the lights go suddenly full brightness.
He’s male. Female Ikku are even larger.
Big, pink eyes look up at the lights, and he clicks his teeth together.
“You really are stuck in here, aren’t you?” The name tag on his maintenance uniform says “Klemt”
I let out a long sigh and whisper, “Oh thank fuck,” before I say, “Yes,” emphatically.
Klemt laughs and steps aside. “I don’t think it’s big enough in there for the both of us. You wanna give me some room.”
“I’ll give you all the room and time you want.” Gathering up my bundled comforter, I squeeze past him and out into the hall.
“Okay…” he looks confused, but he gets to work right away, and I leave him to it.
The elevator doors open and Sirin smiles at me a moment before his lips twist to a soft frown. “What happened?”
“I’ll tell you when we get home.”
His smile returns and he takes my makeshift bag from me, pulling me into the elevator fully and kissing me so sweet…
His lips barely leave mine when he says, “You called it home.”
“I did.” I grip the front of his uniform a little tighter. “I plan to make it our home.”
But as soon as we’re in his apartment, he sets my things aside and cups my face in his tentacles. “What happened?”
I take a deep breath and try to explain it both quickly and thoroughly.
“This morning, I put in a maintenance request because my apartment has been having electrical problems. And when I just went back to get my things, I thought the tech had been there, because things were moved, but the maintenance tech hadn’t been there yet. He actually just showed up.
“I don’t know who was in there before I got back, but—”
“What was the maintenance tech’s name?”
“Klemt.”
“Good.” He picks up his communicator and taps a few buttons before it connects him to the tech. Whatever he says next, it’s in another language I don’t understand.
I really should try to learn a few more.
I scrub at my face trying to figure out why I thought that. I’m having a hard enough time getting a full grasp on Opodean.
“I asked him to leave everything the way it is.”
“Why?”
“Because if someone was there, I want to make sure we check everything to see if we can figure out what they did.”
“Nothing’s missing. There were just random things… The cup I had to catch leaking water wasn’t in the dispenser anymore, a compartment was open. Small stuff, I might not have thought anything of it, but my door mechanism broke and when the maintenance dispatch said that they hadn’t been there yet…”
I look at my comforter. “I’m going to wash everything.”
My skin crawls at the idea of some random person in my room, possibly on my bed. When I shiver, Sirin strokes my arm and shushes me.
“We’ll get this figured out, and I will take care of whoever it is.” He dips his head and brushes another soft kiss across my lips. “I’do anything required to keep you safe.”