24. Aliana #2
Silence settles between the two of us as I open up the sandwich and pick out all the carrots. Once they’re gone, I press the slices of bread back together and take a huge bite. The bread may be stale and slightly moldy, but the peanut butter counters that somewhat pungent taste.
“What did you mean when you said you don’t know what to do with me?” I dare to question.
While the silence from before hasn’t been uncomfortable, I have too many thoughts percolating in my head to remain quiet. I’m desperate for answers, practically ravenous for them, and I know Tesq is the only one who can curb my growing curiosity.
“What I said.” He twists around to face me, placing his palms behind him on the countertop and accidentally dislodging an old newspaper that had been resting there. “Don’t know.”
I fight the eye roll. “ Why don’t you know?”
“Don’t want you here. Don’t want you with the Devourer. Don’t want you home.” The words seem to slip past his lips unbidden, and when his mouth twists into a scowl, I realize that he gave away more to me than he would’ve liked.
What does he mean by all of that?
“Then why did you save my life?” I can’t seem to let that question go. It feels as if I’m looking at a half-completed puzzle but am unable to decipher the final image. If I were to gather a few more pieces though…
Tesq gives me a look that causes me to severely question my sanity. “Couldn’t let you die.”
“Why couldn’t you—”
My words are interrupted by a roar echoing throughout the tiny room.
I jump to my feet automatically, twisting to see the doorway the same second it’s thrown off its hinges.
A squeal escapes me, and Tesq is there a second later, pushing me behind him.
Fluffy stands as well, a growl escaping her, and only Tesq’s hand in her flank keeps her from attacking the intruder.
“Holy fuck,” I breathe in horror, my eyes zeroing in on the Devourer now standing in the broken doorway of Tesq’s home.
Only…
He’s not the Devourer I’ve come to know and hate.
Fur covers every bare inch of his skin, and his lips and nose have elongated into a snout. Ears poke through the disheveled mess of black hair on his head, and his tail swishes across the floor as he focuses his pure red eyes onto us. No…onto me , my head just barely visible over Tesq’s shoulder.
“Let. Her. Go.”
I don’t recognize the voice that leaves the Devourer’s muzzle. It’s almost…animalistic, an eerie combination of a wolf snarling, a snake hissing, a coyote laughing, and a bear roaring. Fear grips my heart in a chokehold as terror shoots down my spine.
“Dev.” Tesq’s voice is, surprisingly, calm, devoid of any fear I know he must feel. Or maybe… Maybe he truly isn’t afraid of the huge, towering monster glaring down at us both.
“Grotesque,” the Devourer bites out, and it seems as if that one word causes him immense pain to say. His hideous, monstrous features twist and tighten.
Grotesque?
As in…the Grotesque?
As in…another one of the Terrors?
As in…another Ten?
As in…another monster that has destroyed my world?
Fuck. Oh…fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
How am I not dead? I stared into his eyes, for fuck’s sake, and didn’t feel even a smidgen of pain. Didn’t Filia say that one look from him can kill you?
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
“You’re a Terror?” I can barely speak above a whisper, but my words are loud enough to snap the Devourer’s head in my direction.
Tesq doesn’t peel his attention off of the wolf-like man, though his shoulders stiffen, reaching up to touch his ears.
“What did you do to her?” the Devourer roars, and I swear the entire room seems to shake and vibrate at the force of it.
“Saved her life,” Tesq snaps back in a scathing tone. “You want her to die?”
“Let. Her. Go!”
Even I jump a foot into the air at his bellow, though I’d been expecting it. The Devourer reminds me of a fuse just waiting to be lit, and this moment… This moment might be the flame descending.
Tesq, like before, remains unperturbed, not even flinching as the bobbleheads beside him begin to shake back and forth.
“You know I can’t—” he begins with a heavy sigh.
“SHE’S. MY. MATE!” the Devourer roars.
The confession finally gets a reaction out of Tesq. He freezes, and even from where I still stand behind him, I can see how taut his muscles have become.
The Devourer’s words then register in my brain—inerrant and infallible, larger than life itself.
But…also a lie. I know what soulmates are—everyone does.
They’re two halves of the same soul, the person you’re inexorably tied to, the love of your life—but a monster can’t be mated to a human. Monsters don’t even have souls.
So why is the Devourer lying? Why are his eyes scorching me, the heat emitting from them almost tangible?
Why does my heart race a little faster? Why does fear ball up into a tight knot in the back of my throat?
Why, when Tesq swivels his head around slightly to stare at me, is his expression drenched in apprehension and pain?
I know it’s a lie. An illusion.
It has to be.
I’m not mated to this monster. If they feel a mating bond, shouldn’t I feel one too? A cord connecting his soul to mine and all that bullshit? But all I feel around the Devourer are disgust and hate.
“That’s not true!” I point an accusatory finger in the Devourer’s direction, hating the way it shakes. “That’s not fucking true.”
“She’s my mate!” the Devourer intones, shifting his gaze back to Tesq. He’s still breathing heavily, his huge chest expanding with each inhale and exhale. His hands curl into fists by his sides, his claws no doubt piercing his skin. “She belongs to me.”
“I belong to no one,” I counter immediately.
Tesq wouldn’t make me go back to the Devourer, would he? He just told me that he wouldn’t send me back, that he didn’t want to send me back. He said—
Tesq doesn’t glance in my direction as he slowly steps to the side, his jaw clenched so tightly, I’m surprised he doesn’t break a tooth.
“Fine. Whatever. Have her,” he acquiesces, a muscle in his cheek twitching.
“No!” I hurl daggers at the monster with my eyes. “You goddamn traitor!”
“I didn’t know she was your mate,” Tesq continues in a gruff voice, still not looking my way. His fingers dig into Fluffy’s bright blue fur, and I don’t know if he’s trying to calm the growling tiger or himself. “You can have her.”
Unexplainable pain spears my chest, the emotion accompanied by a tidal wave of anger. How fucking dare he?!
Just as the Devourer takes a step in my direction, I twist my body, diving towards the knife Tesq left on the kitchen counter. Before my fingers can clasp around the hilt, however, a huge, furry arm sweeps beneath my knees, and I find myself dangling over the Devourer’s shoulder.
Like a sack of goddamn potatoes.
Property.
“Let me go, you goddamn asshole!” I pound ineffectually at his back as he turns towards the staircase.
And Tesq? He watches us go with an impassive stare, his eyes carefully blank behind his red mask.
He doesn’t lift a hand to stop us as the Devourer carries me away.