“Kayr?” I gawked at her. “Seriously?”
“Oh yeah. Quiet dude, but he has a hair trigger when it comes to Jesi. They’re engaged now.” Mani nudged me as we made our way down the stairs. “I think she liked it. Couldn’t drag him home fast enough.”
I laughed. “Well, that’s certainly in-keeping with what you hear about demiurgus.”
“Yeah, we can be an aggressive bunch. Sounds like your Greid is a sweetheart, though.”
“He is.” He was perfect. My sweet, kind, generous demiurgus, who didn’t have an aggressive bone in his body.
And it was time for me to tell him that I was in love with him.
Chapter Forty-Seven
Greid
“Don’t team up with him, you idiot!” I yelled at the TV around the joint between my lips. “He’s already formed an alliance with that other dude! They’re gonna double cross you!”
I was watching a reality show where humans were taken to an underground cave network and competed to survive like the Deep Earth demiurgus ancestors. They had to forage for food, build safe nests, and try and work out where these big artificial jewels were buried to receive rewards. They all had demiurgus mentors on hand, and had to take part in challenges like hanging from stalactites for as long as possible, or eating bugs.
I was a little addicted to it.
Sliding lower on the couch, I stretched an arm out to reach for the last egg roll on the coffee table and stuffed it into my mouth. I was in my true demiurgus form, which meant my snout was long enough for me to leave the joint between my lips and eat at the same time.
I rolled my eyes when one of the humans on screen retched as she watched her fellow competitor stuff a fat grub into his mouth with a grimace.
“Come on, dude,” I told her around my mouthful. “It’s just protein.”
My siblings and I used to dare each other to eat all kinds of shit we came across while playing outside. Well, usually it was Nuni daring me and calling me a wimp if I said no, but my sister Daga would come to my defence and call him a wimp if he didn’t do it too. I had fond memories of his mouth swelling up after he ate a wasp one time, because it’d made it hard for him to talk for the rest of the day.
I jumped when I heard the front door being unlocked and slammed shut a few seconds later. I fumbled with my phone, suddenly worried that I’d lost track of time and been late meeting Beryl after her shift, but it was only nine. She wasn’t meant to finish for another few hours.
My face screwed up when I saw I had a text from Agma. What the hell did she want?
Just as I was deciding whether or not to open it, Beryl appeared in the living room doorway, still in her coat and boots with a strange look on her face.
“Hey.” I struggled upright, shoving back my messy hair. “Are you okay? How come you’re home earl—”
“I need to tell you something.”
My gut shrivelled up with apprehension. What could be so important that she’d left work early to tell me?
Had she been fired for some reason? I couldn’t see how that would be possible. Fuck, did she want to move out?
“Okay.” I swallowed, stubbing out my joint and muting the TV.
Beryl’s face went pink as she shifted anxiously from foot to foot. Her mouth opened, then closed, then opened again.
“I love you,” she blurted a second later, hands screwing up into fists at her sides. “I’m in love with you. I have no idea if there’s some rule I don’t know about that says you have to wait a certain amount of time before saying that, or if it’s weird to feel that way about you when it hasn’t been all that long, but… I wanted to tell you. I had to tell you.”
I was staring at her in shock, my mouth hanging open, my hearts already thudding hard in my chest.
Oh fuck, this was it. The big dramatic scene in every human romcom, the heartfelt confession where they declared their undying love for each other. I wasn’t prepared! There was sweet and sour sauce on the front of my onesie, for fuck’s sake. I wasn’t wearing any pants!
I looked around in wild panic as if I was expecting to see a production crew waiting in the wings to tell me what to do. I almost fell flat on my face as I rolled off the couch in my haste to get up, then accidentally slammed my shin into the coffee table.
“Ow, fuck.” I reached down and rubbed it as I hobbled over to Beryl. Her face had darkened in colour, and she was frozen in place, only her eyes moving as she tracked my approach.
“I’m sorry if I’ve freaked you out,” she croaked. “We can just forget I said it if—”
“I love you too,” I blurted, my ears and hairline spikes going crazy. “I’m… I-I love you too, berry.”
She let out a slow breath, a wide grin spreading across her beautiful, freckled face. “You do? Not just little old ladies?”
I cringed. “Okay, yeah, that wasn’t exactly subtle.”
Taking a deep breath, I reached for her and realised I was still in my true form when I saw the long, curving claws tipping my fingers. I wouldn’t be able to kiss her like this, and I planned on kissing the hell out of her very, very soon, so I shifted before sidling closer to cup her face.
“I think I fell a little bit in love with you the first moment I saw you,” I admitted, then swallowed nervously. “But now I… I love you so much, Beryl. I was worried that it… that it might be too much for you, or make you feel trapped—”
“I don’t feel trapped, Greid.” She reached up and clasped my wrist, a contented smile on her face. “Not with you. Never with you.”
“You… you make me really happy,” I mumbled. “It’s not even about the sex stuff. That’s just a bonus. It’s just you, berry. You’re so… I don’t ever want to…”
I broke off, wanting to squirm with nerves, aware I wasn’t being all that coherent or eloquent. Beryl waited patiently for me to continue, still smiling, her green eyes shining in the candlelight.
“I don’t ever want you to move out,” I blurted.
She huffed. “I wasn’t planning to.”
“And I want you to move into my room. Permanently.” I wasn’t used to taking charge like this, and it was equal parts invigorating and terrifying. I couldn’t help but add, “If you want to. You don’t have to.”
“I want to, Greid.” She took my hand and pressed a kiss to my palm. “I really want to.”
“Okay,” I said shakily, trying to think of anything else I could loftily demand while I was feeling brave.
There wasn’t anything. I just wanted her.
“Greid…” She threaded our fingers together. “You make me happy too. So happy. You make life fun, and I never realised how little fun had been in my life before. You’re my best friend.” She grinned up at me, cheeks still flushed. “You’re my favourite.”
“You’re my favourite too.” I ducked my head to kiss her.
Wanting to retain just a smidgen of dignity during such a life-altering moment, I lifted her into my arms so I wasn’t hunched over like an awkward, lanky goblin. She wrapped her legs around my waist, fingers in my hair as she kissed me back hard and deep, her soft tongue moving languidly against mine.
I took the opportunity to process what had just happened. My hearts were pounding. I felt a little sweaty. My limbs tingled with restless energy, tail flicking wildly against the backs of my legs.