“Oh wow. Awesome.” He handed me my coffee, then picked up his and edged out from the table. “What time?”

“Just four ’til seven. Mani said it will give me time to get the hang of things but also let her see how I handle the start of the evening rush.”

“You’ll handle it fine,” Greid said with utter confidence as we started heading home. “Do you have to wear all black or something? Seems like the kind of place to make you do that.”

I laughed. “Yes, actually. Luckily I have some black clothes that should be fine.”

“Do you, um…” Greid ducked his head. “Do you want me to come and meet you at the end of your shift? To walk back, I mean. It’ll be dark by then.”

“Yes, please,” I said quickly, then grinned up at him. “We could get dinner on the way home.”

He perked up. “Ooh, yeah. There’s a really good Japanese place down the street that doesn’t deliver. I’m always too lazy to come pick it up, so I don’t get it very often.”

I laughed. “Sounds good. Um… hey, if you’ve finished work by four, could you… Do you mind maybe walking me there as well? Just so I’m not silently panicking the whole way before I even get there.”

“Yeah, of course,” he rushed out. “No problem. But you’ll be great, Beryl. If anyone can handle drunk assholes, it’s you. Just look at them the way you looked at me that day at the compound.”

I burst out laughing, memories of last night rushing to the surface and making my chest grow warm. “Like I would tear your balls off if you came near me?”

Greid cleared his throat. “Yeah. Uh-huh. That way. It’s effective.”

Grinning, I sipped my coffee. “Better try and tame my hair so it looks somewhat presentable.”

He glanced over, yellow eyes running over my wild frizz as his ears fluttered. “Looks fine to me.” Lifting his cup, he mumbled, “Looks nice.”

Warmth flooded my cheeks as I remembered him saying last night that he liked my hair. I didn’t dislike my hair, but it wasn’t a beautiful red or auburn that magically fell into perfect curls. It was more like a pale, washed-out orange that tended to stick out in a frizzy mess unless I tamed it with a lot of time and product.

But Greid liked it.

He glanced down at me as we turned onto our street. “Excited?”

“Yeah, but nervous. I think I might work out today to try and burn off some of this anxious energy.”

He grunted, lip curling. “Have fun with that.”

I laughed. “I actually miss it. It’s been nice having a break over the last couple of weeks, but I can feel myself getting antsy. I’m not used to being so sedentary.”

“Being sedentary is the best,” Greid declared. “It’s my mission in life to be as sedentary as possible.”

I grinned up at him wryly. “The mission seems to be going swimmingly.”

“I try my best. I’ve put a lot of hours in.” He gestured for me to go first up the porch steps as we reached the house. “But I should probably start work.”

“Sorry for taking up your morning,” I said ruefully as I unlocked the door.

“Nah, it’s all good. Might lodge a complaint with my usual coffee delivery person though, seeing as I had to actually leave the house and go get it myself this morning.” He nudged the back of my head as he followed me inside. “Unacceptable.”

I snorted as I unbuttoned my coat. “Your complaint has been noted.”

Greid toed off his boots, revealing bright green socks. “Gonna go get changed then start work.”

“Okay.” I headed for the stairs. “See you later.”

He stopped outside his bedroom door, fiddling with his coffee cup. “If you get bored later, after your workout, you could—Um, you’re welcome to come and mess around on the computer upstairs. If you want.”

I grinned at him. “Sure. I might even bring you lunch.”

His eyes brightened. “I won’t let you in if you don’t. Are you gonna make eggs?”

I snorted, putting one foot on the bottom step. “I should probably learn to make something else.”

“I like your eggs.” He blinked. “That sounded weirder than I thought it would.”

Laughing, I started heading upstairs. “See you later, Greid.”

“Later, berry,” he said slyly, but I was too far up the stairs to poke my head down and shoot him a mock glare.

Once in my room, I quickly got changed into my workout clothes from the compound and tied my hair back in a high ponytail. Heading back downstairs, I went into the kitchen and began searching the cabinets for a bottle I could use. While I was in there, I heard Greid leave his bedroom and shuffle upstairs to start work.

The basement was cold, making my bare arms prickle as I descended the stairs. Stepping onto the treadmill, I turned on the TV after spotting the remote sticking out of the machine’s cupholder and replacing it with my water bottle.

As I stared up at the huge wall-mounted TV, I smiled to myself as I imagined Greid down here half-heartedly cycling on the bike, more interested in what he was watching than actually exercising. Probably eating something at the same time.

I felt a little sluggish as I started a slow jog to warm up. After a few ads for a fancy perfume, a sugar-laden cereal designed to look like dirt and gemstones for demiurgus kids, and a trailer for a sappy romantic comedy being released soon, the channel’s logo appeared on the screen.

A smooth, chirpy voice said, “Coming up later, the case of a human woman who risked it all to travel to Deep Earth, and claims she actually managed to get there, in our exclusive docuseries, What I Saw Beneath the Surface. But first, back to our all-day marathon of the cult classic drama series, Gloom Falls.”

The screen went black before shaky eighties footage of a sprawling demiurgus mansion appeared with the words Gloom Falls overlaid in big blocky letters. It cut to a demiurgus couple with puffed-up hair, dressed in jackets with big lapels and wide shoulder pads, gazing at each other adoringly. I blinked when it then showed the same demiurgus female throwing a glass at the male before collapsing dramatically onto a couch. Then a different demiurgus female peered worriedly out of a window, before a male came up behind her with a solemn expression and rested his hand on her shoulder.

I was already interested. I bet Greid has watched this, I thought as I cranked up the treadmill.

An hour later, I was dripping in sweat and fully invested in Gloom Falls. The glamorous demiurgus Ashi was having a sordid affair with her best friend’s lifemate—and neighbour—Golir, who owned a chain of successful “demiurgus gentlemen’s clubs” with his brother and was a bit of a bad boy. I could see why Ashi was attracted to him. Her own lifemate Huna was an asshole who drank too much and was having his own affair with the demiurgus across the street, a female called Loty whose lifemate Marish had recently died under mysterious circumstances.

I was desperate to ask Greid if he’d watched it and if Loty and Huna had conspired to kill Marish so they could collect his life insurance and be together. Hopping off the treadmill, I gulped down the rest of my water as the episode finished on a wicked cliffhanger—with Loty walking in on Ashi and Golir in a very friendly embrace and blackmailing them with the threat of telling their lifemates.

Reluctantly turning off the TV, I raced upstairs and burst into the kitchen to find Greid standing at the fridge, guzzling straight from a carton of juice. It was the kind I didn’t like, so I didn’t care.

When he saw me, he inhaled sharply then started coughing and spluttering, spraying juice everywhere.

I laughed, pushing damp tendrils of hair off my sweaty forehead. “Went down the wrong way?”

“Uh—huh,” he got out between coughs, gasping for breath. He didn’t seem to know where to look, eyes darting frantically as he fumbled to screw the lid back onto the carton.

I walked over to grab some paper towels from the counter and heard him suck in another fast breath and start coughing again. He held his hand out for the towels, eyes watering as he coughed into the crook of his elbow, but I knelt down to wipe up the juice droplets for him instead.