“Yeah. Pretty fucked up, thinking about it. So, I guess I’m just a giant wimp.”

“You’re not a wimp,” he said immediately. “You just had a bad start in life. It makes sense you’d want to hold on to what feels safe and comfortable to you. But you seem… You’re… I don’t know.” His shoulders rose in a shy little shrug. “You seem pretty self-assured. Confident.”

That made me grin at him. “Thanks.”

His yellow eyes darted down to my mouth and away, ears fluttering as he shifted nervously.

“You know…” Flustered, he shot me another quick look. “If you did want to leave, experience the real world, we could… You could…”

“I’m not becoming your human sex toy,” I told him flatly, which made him glare at me.

“I told you I didn’t come here for that.”

That made me feel a little bad, because he had told me that. And I believed him. He’d come here for a… companion. Which surely meant he was lonely.

“Sorry,” I said gruffly. “I know. What… what were you going to say?”

And why did I suddenly want to hear it? Why was my belly filling with excited nerves? Talking to him about all this—talking to someone about it properly for the first time in my life—had made me feel… restless.

I imagined him telling the high priest he’d changed his mind and leaving, never coming back. I imagined going back to my nice, airy room, getting into my big bed and waking up tomorrow to work on the vineyards with the same people I’d spent every single day with for years. And I imagined doing it again the next day. And the next. For the rest of my life.

Greid cleared his throat, fiddling with his suit cuff. “Well, I did come here for a roommate or whatever, and you’re the only one who doesn’t creep me the fuck out. If you’re interested, I… You could try it out. See how you like the world outside.”

My lips twitched. I crossed my arms and shot him a suspicious look. “What exactly would being your ‘roommate or whatever’ entail?”

“Not sex,” he said immediately. “That wasn’t what… It would just mean living with me. But my house is pretty big. You’d have your own room, obviously. We’d just…” He shrugged shyly. “I don’t know. Hang out sometimes. Watch TV and smoke some shade, if you’re interested in trying it. Maybe eat together every now and then.”

Damn him. My unfeeling heart was softening. He was clearly lonely and just wanted some company. And what he was offering me… A safe, secure way to experience the world without the stress of immediately having to find a job or somewhere to live.

A legitimate way out of here with none of the worry.

My gut clenched with nerves. What if I hated it, though? What if I couldn’t handle the total culture shock? I’d always told myself I stayed here purely because it was easy, because I was successfully duping everyone for a comfortable life, but now that I was faced with the actual prospect of living outside of this place, I felt… scared. Greid had told me I wasn’t a wimp, but… I felt like one.

The outside world seemed utterly terrifying, now that it was within reach.

“If you hate it, you could come back,” Greid told me, as if he knew what I was thinking. It made me feel painfully exposed, like all my insecurities were written on my skin. “I’d make something up about how it was my fault and you were the perfect mate but I couldn’t keep you.” He snorted, then gave me a pointed look. “I can be a good liar when I need to be.”

I highly doubted that, but I didn’t say anything as my lips curved into a tiny smile. Not that it would matter anyway—Greid could saunter into the compound and tell everyone that he ejaculated dark matter and shat tennis balls, and they’d all lap it up and believe every word without question.

“So… I’d just be, like, your roommate?” I asked cautiously. “Or would I be more like a kept woman, waiting around the house for you to come home?”

He grimaced. “Definitely fucking not. I could help you find a job, if you wanted. And anyway, I work from home.”

For the first time, he shot me a tentative grin. It revealed all his sharp, yellowish-white teeth and made those smile lines crack open wider, as if he could unhinge his lower jaw and have his smile stretch all the way to the sides of his face.

I couldn’t help it—I smiled back. “What do you do? For work, I mean.”

“I make jewellery.”

I felt my eyes spark with interest. “Really? Cool.”

Suddenly, my mind was whirling with all the different things out there. All the different jobs and hobbies and lifestyles. Did I even know what I wanted to do for a job, if I could do anything? I hadn’t ever really thought about it, but now, the prospect of tending to vineyards and making wine for the rest of my life seemed really unappealing.

Now, the thought of watching Greid—my unexpected shot at true freedom—leave alone and going back to the only life I’d ever experienced made me queasy. This was my chance. To be brave, but not so recklessly brave that I left with only the clothes on my back and the desperate hope that I wouldn’t end up homeless and destitute. To experience something new for the first time. To actually live.

Greid stayed silent as my mind churned, waiting for me to make my decision. The dark room had felt creepy before, but now it was kind of soothing, like a peaceful void that allowed me to truly think and come to a firm decision.

“Okay,” I croaked, my fingers twitching with an intense rush of nerves. “Let’s… We could try it.”

Greid’s breath caught, his face spikes fluttering, but he tempered his endearing reaction to give me a sly grin. “See if we don’t want to kill each other within a week.”

I laughed, some of the anxious tension melting away. After a hesitation, I held out my hand to shake on it. “Can we get high and watch shitty TV? We only get a few channels here and they all suck, but not in the good way.”

“You just described my typical evening, so yes. We can definitely do that.” Greid’s fingers flexed before he gently grasped my outstretched hand. His engulfed mine entirely, his fingers impossibly long and topped with those little jewel-green claws.

His skin was warm and dry, and felt slightly tougher than mine. I wondered what his other form looked like—his true form. No two demiurgus looked exactly alike, same as humans.

The enormity of what I’d just agreed to hit me in a rush, but instead of feeling terrified, a bolt of excitement fizzed in my gut. I grinned up at Greid, and after a second he grinned back, and we stood there looking at each other like we were partners in crime who’d just concocted our next heist.

OceanofPDF.com

Chapter Seven

Greid

Why did this humanoid skin sweat so fucking much?

I was drenched by the time I left the compound after arranging to come back for Beryl the next day and speaking to the high priest. I could tell Beryl thought I was a shitty liar—she’d told me as much—but I thought I’d done a pretty good job convincing the old man that I was very pleased with my “new mate”.

Not that I wasn’t, but it wasn’t like she was going to be my mate in any shape or form. Still, Beryl was… interesting.

I liked her red hair. And her green eyes.

And the little freckles covering almost every inch of her face, and the way her cheeks went bright pink when she scowled or felt uncomfortable.

And the fact that she’d been the only one there wearing even a splash of colour. I preferred my surroundings to be dark and sombre and soothing, but I liked colour. I liked the coloured gems I used for my jewellery. I liked bright things.

I’d also gotten a very strange tingly feeling when she’d scowled and glared and stood up to me as if I didn’t tower over her and couldn’t slice her open with my claws or tear her fragile human body limb from limb with barely any effort. Not that I wanted to do any of those things, but witnessing this little human square up to me like she was one hundred percent prepared to take me down—and was confident she’d win—had… done things to me.