51. The Hot Guy Makes a Promise
51
The Hot Guy Makes a Promise
You
You wake to the feeling of a gentle kiss.
Is this a dream?
A dream that Ziros is back, pinning you down on the bed as his kiss deepens, tongue working perfectly against yours.
What a nice dream.
Wait .
You bolt upright in bed as the dream fades away, remembering everything that happened—just in time to see Ziros sliding open your window and stepping one boot up onto the sill.
“Hey!” you yell, leaping out of bed. “Oh, no you don’t! You just got here. I’m not letting you escape again!”
Before your half-asleep brain can process what’s happening, you tackle him, dragging him backward. He lands on top of you with a heavy grunt.
“ Human ,” he mutters, sliding easily out of your grasp as he flips over, straddling you. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“Stopping you from leaving,” you reply, the answer even more obvious as you come back to your senses. “Clearly.”
“I can see that,” he says with a laugh, shaking his head as he scrubs one hand over his face. “You really are a wild, crazy human, you know that?”
“I’ll take that as a compliment. Now don’t you dare think about escaping again.”
“Ha! Fine, if you insist,” he says more dramatically than is probably necessary, and you can’t help but notice how much he sways as he stands, leaning against the window as he shuts it.
“Hang on.” You fold your arms, watching him. “Are you drunk?”
“I’m not drunk, human,” he says, but he pinches the bridge of his nose, grumbling. “Not drunk . It’s that damn bastard’s poison.”
Your heart races, and not in a good way. “Are you okay? Is there anything I can get for you?”
“I’m fine,” he insists, lying back on your bed with his feet still on the floor. “I just need to sleep it off is all.”
“Says the one who was about to flee through my window.”
“Because it’s dangerous for me to stay here, human.”
“Dangerous for who?”
“For you ,” he says like it’s obvious, letting out a low, frustrated growl.
“You don’t seem dangerous.” You walk around to his side, perching on the edge of the bed. “Dangerous how? Are you going to bite me again?”
He looks at you, eyes flashing. “Don’t tempt me, human.”
“Maybe I want to tempt you.”
He laughs, sitting up and pulling you into his arms.
“Fine. I won’t leave tonight. But I’m not staying.”
You flinch.
His words hit like a punch to the gut, and you stiffen in his arms, staring up into the deep, steel blue of his eyes.
“What do you mean, you’re not staying?” you choke out, trying—and failing—not to let the emotion show in your voice.
“Not forever , human.”
“Oh,” you whisper, turning away.
Maybe you got ahead of yourself.
Your feelings for him are deep, deeper than you’d like to admit, and you’d started to think maybe somehow he felt the same way.
But now…
“ Human ,” he growls, voice a low rasp at your ear. “I think you’re getting the wrong idea. I mean, I’m not gonna stay away forever, got it? I’ll be back. So you just stay here and out of trouble while I sort things out, then I’ll be back.”
A spark of hope sizzles in your stomach. “You’re not leaving me?”
He stares into your eyes, holding your jaw with one hand. “No. No, my wild, crazy, beautiful, amazing human. I’m not leaving you. So don’t get any extra-crazy ideas or do anything stupid while I’m away, got it?”
You nod, throat dry, heart racing. Is he for real?
Maybe it’s the poison making him speak his mind, but something about how he’s talking feels so honest.
You lean forward against his hand that pins your jaw, pressing your lips to his.
“ Deal ,” you whisper. “I won’t look for you. But you better not be gone long.”
“Just give me a couple weeks,” he says. “Can you wait that long?”
“Weeks are a long time.” You frown, shaking your head. “If I say no, will you take me with you, wherever you’re going?”
“If it wasn’t dangerous, I would. If I wasn’t dangerous. But you’ve gotta understand. I’m full of centuries of power, my sorceress. Centuries . It’s gonna keep coming back until I purge it all. I’m a storm god. I’m energy. I am the wind and thunder and lightning. A god of calamity.”
“I thought it was just wind.”
He shakes his head. “Not just. But even so, that’s enough. Wind is powerful. That’s why I gotta go far away. Far away, where I can’t hurt anyone.”
“Can’t you at least, like…get a phone?”
He laughs. “I’d only break it. But I’ll stay with you tonight. I’m too intoxicated to leave, anyway.”
“I thought you said you weren’t drunk.”
“Not drunk, just poisoned. And…” he pulls back, eyes dark, voice lowering. “ Damn . I want more of your blood. I want it so bad.”
“Then take it,” you say without even thinking.
“I refuse,” he growls, pinning you down. Pressing the points of his fangs to the base of your neck. “ I refuse ,” he says, louder, his hands at your wrists as he pushes you back on the bed, straddling you.
“Dammit, human,” he murmurs, groaning as the points of his fangs pierce your skin, making you gasp softly, a sound that melts into a moan. He pulls away only long enough to say, “Who the hell am I kidding? I can’t refuse you.”
Heat rushes through your body as you curve against him, relishing the sharp, delicious feeling of his fangs as he leans in deeper, the feeling of being needed and enjoyed.
It’s a strange, amazing pleasure, and it spreads through every inch of you.
He rakes one hand behind your head, through your hair, down the curve of your body before finally pulling away from your neck, groaning hard.
He wipes his mouth on the back of one hand, shoving off the bed.
“ That’s enough ,” he growls, staggering to his feet. “God damn , you taste so damn good.”
“You don’t have to stop,” you say, but your head spins when you move, and you let out a soft, “ Oh ,” as the darkness pulls you under.
Oops.
You wake an unknown amount of time later, strong arms wrapped around your shoulders and under your legs, rocking you gently against a broad, warm chest.
“Ziros?” You ask groggily, and he lets out a low growl when he sees you’re awake. “How long was I out?”
“Way too damn long,” he says. “More than a minute.”
“That’s all?” You laugh, relief washing over you. That means you’ve still got a lot of the night left.
“Don’t act like it’s no big deal,” he says, tweaking your jaw with two fingers. “You passed out.”
“I suppose that means no more sexy blood-drinking for me tonight?”
“Unfortunately not,” he says, and you’re relieved to see the hint of a smile at one corner of his lips, some of the humor coming back into his eyes. “Let me get you something to eat.”
You lean against the pillows, listening to the pleasant sounds of dishes clinking as he cooks you dinner—or a snack, or whatever kind of meal a person has in the middle of the night like this.
Your body is confused. Groggy, tired. Drained—literally—and yet, yet you’ve never felt happier.
Until you remember what day it is.
And how little time you have to make up for your missing rent before it’s due.
With a groan, you cover your eyes.
“What’s wrong?” Ziros asks as he brings you a bowl of steaming porridge, setting it gently on the bed beside you. “Don’t like oatmeal?”
“Does anybody like oatmeal?”
“Drained, hungry people who need sustenance before they pass out again.”
“Fair enough. But that’s not why I was groaning. I’m sure I’ll like anything you make—but don’t get a big head about it or anything,” you add quickly, and Ziros smiles. “No, I was groaning because I remembered I really need to make some extra money or I can’t pay my rent. And that’s kinda a problem.”
Ziros frowns, sitting down on the edge of the bed next to you.
“You let me handle that, human. Tell me how much you need, and I’ll take care of it.”
“You will? How?”
He tilts your jaw up with two fingers. “You dare question a demigod?”
“…Yes?”
He laughs, kissing you softly.
“Eat your porridge. I’ll handle it. You’ll see.”
Ziros
—A Few Days Later, Somewhere in the Wide Open Prairie—
I’ll handle it.
Sure, right.
That’s what I told her, but I don’t know what the hell I’m doing. I don’t know the first thing about making money in the modern era.
It’s not like the Gold Rush.
That was a good time.
Unless…unless my claim is still there.
Ha! I could ask Sairos about that, but I’m sure my damn brother would sooner kill me than let me know if he maintained my assets while I was trapped in that void all those years.
Tornadoes spawn around me, lightning crackling across the sky as I roar, my powers a furious torrent.
All that built-up energy finally has somewhere to go.
I went home too soon before, and this time I don’t intend to go back until I’ve got rid of it all. I’ve been at it for days, trying to purge centuries of pent-up power so I can finally return to her.
If I don’t, who knows when I might explode.
This is the best way.
The safest way.
My human, my sorceress. Wait for me.
I am the storm, I am wind, I am power.
I am nothing and everything all at once—a demigod on the loose.
Mel (AKA Your Boss)
—In a Certain Cafe Back Home—
Why does this always happen?
As soon as I finally get everything fixed from the last breach, there’s another attack.
“Can’t I just run my cafe in peace!?” I scream into the endless void.
Literally, The Void .
The Void is the center of the fault that runs through the alley behind my shop. It’s a giant cavern between worlds that currently shimmers with black and purple energy as I slam my staff into the ground, muttering a curse—this time the magical kind—as magic runes swirl, sealing the damn fault back up so no more skaddlers can get through.
At least, sealing it up for a little while, anyway.
It’ll open again.
It’s just a matter of time.
And I’d better be here to shut it. Can’t get any damn peace, but this is what I get for being a Gatekeeper.
Not that I ever had a choice in the matter.
I was born into this role.
A Gatekeeper is like a sorceress on steroids, but it’s a magical role you either inherit or you don’t. I’m one of the so-called lucky ones.
And that’s why I hired June the moment she turned in her resume.
I could sense her magic a mile away, sealed and untapped as it was.
I hired her when she appeared in my cafe looking for a job, knowing nothing about magic. It’s part of my role—keep an eye on the balance of the world. Try to keep people out of trouble. Yada, yada.
Sorceresses like her, if they don’t ever unravel their magic, if they don’t discover it, they can go on living happy little lives—providing no one else unravels it for them.
I figured I’d watch over June and keep her safe. And then, bam , one day she shows up with a demigod in tow, and a magical connection to boot.
Never know what to do with that girl.
I shake my head, hands on my hips.
That’s why I gave her the sword. I figured she might need it, and it seems I was right.
I sigh, dusting my hands on my apron.
Maybe I can train her to help me with these damn skaddlers.
Sy
My brother is a goddamn menace. He’s all over the damn news.
Not directly.
Nobody but me knows it’s him.
But it’s gotta be. Nobody else but a newly-freed demigod would cause this much destruction.
And it’s about time someone did something about it.
But…how to catch him? That’s the question.