24. Aliana
ALIANA
Tesq leaves then—though not without pointedly declaring that the door leading out of his house will remain locked for my “protection.” Of course it will.
Fuck, maybe he’s a more typical monster than I thought.
But whatever. I’m alive. I’ll figure it out. If I have to escape this tongue the way I did Dev, then so be it.
I take the opportunity to race into the bathroom and into the shower. I’m desperate to rinse the sticky blood from my arms and face, to pretend that the last few days never happened. And a private shower beats Dev’s public fountain humiliation any day.
Maybe I shouldn’t compare the two. This monster saved me from poison and let me strip down without his eyes on me. Unless he’s watching through a hole in the wall or something.
Tepid water cascades through the pipe overhead, plastering my hair to my face, as I stand beneath the old showerhead.
I don’t dare take off my nightdress or robe, so instead, I awkwardly wipe at the skin around them.
When I finally get out of the shower, I all but sprint to where a single towel hangs.
I remove my sopping wet robe and wrap the towel around my body, relishing its soft, fluffy texture.
Now…what the fuck am I supposed to do?
I bite down on my lower lip hard enough to draw blood as I open the door a fraction of an inch and peek my head out. The room still appears to be empty—minus the giant tiger sleeping peacefully on the couch—and I stealthily push the door open the rest of the way and step forward on silent feet.
Directly in front of me is what appears to be a dresser, so I run to it and pull open drawers at random until I settle on a too-large green T-shirt. One sniff confirms that it’s clean…though never in a million years did I think I would be smelling a monster’s shirt.
I hurry back into the bathroom and slam the door shut.
Alone, I make quick work of shoving my nightdress off, yanking the shirt over my head, and then dropping the towel once the shirt is secured.
Not once do I flash anything—it’s a skill I learned back at the human camp.
We didn’t really have a time or place for modesty, so it wasn’t unusual for me to see dozens of naked bodies.
However, most of us have developed ways to undress without every person catching a glimpse of the goods.
Especially with perverts like Chase around.
I wonder briefly if that bastard’s dead, but quickly shake off the thought because thinking about him has never been a healthy pastime for me, even before he turned into a coward and somehow got the rest of our team killed.
When I step back out of the bathroom this time, it’s to see that Tesq has returned and is in the process of putting away…groceries. At least, that’s what the brown paper bags look like. Do monsters have grocery stores? Huh.
He doesn’t turn away from his task as he moves expertly around the tiny kitchen, grabbing vegetables and meats out of the bags seemingly at random.
“Making dinner,” he grunts out, as if I had asked him a question.
I pad forward until I’m once again able to reclaim my seat on the couch. The house is so small, my choices are standing close to the strange monster or cuddling with a huge-ass tiger.
I’m taking my chances with the tiger.
Fluffy lifts her head, one eye popping open lazily, but when she sees who it is beside her, she snuggles back down against one of the plump throw pillows with a huge, toothy yawn.
“Humans like…meat and vegetables.” It’s not a question, though it’s not quite a statement either.
I can’t read the inflection lacing Tesq’s tone as he awkwardly places what looks like a carrot on top of a pile of raw chicken on a plate.
“Here.” He grabs his creation and stalks towards me, his feet momentarily stilling when he takes in my appearance.
Mainly, the long, green shirt cascading around me like a dress.
His long, green shirt.
His jaw tightens, and he swallows. It’s hard to tell from behind his red mask, but I swear something akin to heat burns in his eyes, brighter than any flare we have back at the human resistance camp.
I almost believe it’ll be able to melt away the mask obscuring his features from view, turning it to ash.
The warmth it emanates certainly feels palpable. Sweltering.
I wiggle uncomfortably, unsure of how to react, when he jerks his head from side to side roughly, as if to realign his thoughts so they’re no longer scattered.
“Food. Eat.” He shoves the plate into my hands before turning away, and I eye the items warily.
“Um…you trying to kill me here, Tesq?” I’m only half joking.
“What?” He whirls around so fast, I feel a blast of air across my face. His huge, boulder-like arms fold over his chest, the strange, striated lines in his arms visible as his muscles tense and he glowers at me. “What the fuck are you talking about, woman?”
“Raw chicken.” I tentatively lift a finger to point at the pink slab of meat beneath the carrot. “It’s…bad for humans.”
I don’t know why I’m speaking so freely with him, but for reasons unknown, he doesn’t scare me. There’s something almost…tender about the way he behaves. He’s gruff and ornery, sure, but unlike the other tongues I’ve come into contact with so far, there’s a vulnerability to him as well. A kindness.
He saved my life, fed me, and so far, hasn’t demanded anything from me I wasn’t willing to give.
Is it possible…that there are nice monsters?
Even as that thought pierces me, I envision Creep’s smirking face. The way his body moved against mine, bringing us both to orgasm.
I think of the ghost in my bedroom. The wine bottle. The flickering lantern.
I even think of the Devourer, though I quickly squash that thought away—he's a brute. But the others?
Maybe the world isn’t as black and white as I initially suspected.
Maybe there are good and evil monsters, just as there are good and evil humans.
Maybe our two species aren’t so different after all.
Who’s to say that monsters are naturally predisposed to violence and hate?
Who’s to say that they’re inherently evil, without a moral compass?
And who’s to say that we, as humans, are the only kind and compassionate beings who roam this ever-changing and ever-morphing world?
“Stop staring,” Tesq barks, twisting around to stalk back into the kitchen.
My eyes automatically dip to the hard curve of his ass bedecked in gray sweatpants before I force them back up.
Had I been staring at him?
“Yes,” he snaps, clueing me in to the fact that I may have spoken out loud. Again. Why the fuck do I keep doing that?
“Sorry,” I murmur, awkwardly placing the plate on the coffee table in front of me.
Tesq grunts something and once again begins preparing me a meal. I want to tell him that he doesn’t have to do that, but to be completely honest…I’m starving. The bread from before my shower was only a bandage on my hunger.
“So…Tesq…” I carefully venture, wondering how I should approach this conversation.
I may feel comfortable talking to Tesq, but I don’t know him and I certainly don’t trust him.
Life has taught me that every action, no matter how innocent or sincere it seems, has massive strings attached to it, and those strings often disappear into dark, shadowy corners.
It’s impossible to see what’s attached to the other end of them, tugging you along.
Nobody can blame me for being wary and cautious.
“What?” he rumbles, the muscles in his huge back stiffening.
Seriously, this man—monster—is massive. I’ve never seen one so large before. He half reminds me of one of those bodybuilders from the before time, but with gray, concrete-like skin.
Out with it, Aliana , I scold myself, realizing my thoughts have run away from me again.
“What do you plan to do with me?” The words escape me on a breathy exhale, and when he tenses even further, lowering his head over the countertop, I worry I damaged whatever precarious bond has been growing between us.
Perhaps my blunt question pushed him over the edge and he’ll inevitably snap and end me once and for all.
It takes him a long moment to speak, his head remaining lowered over the countertop as his fingers tighten around the knife he’s been using to cut up a second carrot.
Before I can take back my question, shove the words into my mouth and sew my lips shut to keep them from escaping again, Tesq speaks.
“I don’t know.” His voice is low, gruff, husky almost. It swirls around me like that acidic mist lining the Devourer’s property.
“You don’t…know?” I cock an eyebrow at him, incredulous.
Tesq murmurs something I can’t quite hear before returning to me once more and dropping a second plate in my lap. This one appears to contain a sandwich made out of the stale bread from before, peanut butter, and chopped-up carrots.
“Thank you,” I whisper, accepting the plate despite the fact I have no intention of eating it the way it currently is.
Still, Tesq’s chest practically puffs out at my praise, and a tiny twinkle manifests in his glittery black gaze.
“You’re welcome.” He reaches around me to pet Fluffy on the head, and his arm unwittingly comes into contact with my own.
I expect his skin to be hard to the touch. Rough, almost. But instead, it’s gloriously soft, reminding me of silk that cascades across my fingertips.
Heat shoots through my body and rises to my cheeks. I pray Tesq can’t see my instinctive reaction to him—a reaction I don’t even understand, if I’m being entirely honest with myself.
Fortunately, he seems more preoccupied with petting his pet tiger, barely sparing me a second glance. When he stands, straightening to his huge, impressive height, he doesn’t offer me even a smidgen of his attention before returning to the kitchen once more.