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Swimming had become a surprise therapy for me in the past several days. Athletics and I had never gotten along, but strangely enough, I’d actually developed a semi-fondness for swimming laps. I was a more-than-decent swimmer, yet also ridiculously self-conscious; I detested swimming laps at the gym or any other public pool. Here, I had the pool to myself more often than not, and there was usually no one but demons to see me. I could have swum naked if I’d so desired, but in the interest of not traumatizing Idris, I had the zrila make up a bathing suit for me. Actually, I asked for one simple bathing suit, but by the next day I had close to a dozen varying styles in my wardrobe. Apparently the zrila really enjoyed a crafting challenge.
I’d started swimming laps as a spur of the moment, Gee-let’s-see-if-I-can-actually-still-swim-a-few-laps sort of thing, but I soon discovered that when I swam I could forget. I could lose myself in the rhythm of the strokes and the feel of the water, and for that time I wasn’t Kara the demon summoner, or Kara the traumatized survivor of torture. I was simply Kara.
But today, I actually thought about summoning while I swam. None of the three demons bearing my letters had been summoned during this full moon, and I forced myself to control the selfish ache. Faruk had seemed nervous, perhaps even frightened before her summoning, but that could easily have been because she was so seldom summoned. Or was there more to it? It had hurt to be summoned when Idris brought me through, like being dragged through broken glass. And from what I’d seen, it had hurt Katashi as well. Yet I had a feeling it wasn’t anything that Idris was specifically doing or not doing. Even the times I’d summoned Rhyzkahl it had seemed to take him a few seconds to gather himself, to recover.
I finished my laps and propped myself up along the edge of the pool. I cast my gaze up at the rocks to see if any demons were around. There were usually a few here and there, but this time the only one I saw was Gestamar, perched on the diving ledge. As I looked up at him he made a graceful bound down to a rock closer to me, as if sensing I had a question for him.
“Does it hurt for y’all to be summoned?” I asked him.
He snorted. “Always. Sometimes more than others, depending on the skill of the summoner and the degree of conjunction.”
“Then why do it?” I asked, brow creased. “Why put up with it? I mean surely it’s not simply for coffee and popcorn and books?”
“We like coffee and popcorn and books,” Gestamar replied.
I laughed. “Okay, I suppose I could see doing it for coffee.” I tilted my head and peered at him. “Is there some other reason you tolerate it?”
The reyza spread his wings wide. “Kri,” he said, then settled his wings in close and bared his teeth.
I waited, then rolled my eyes. “Well, will you tell me?”
Gestamar bared his teeth wider. “Dahn.”
Laughing, I splashed at him. He leaped into the air, nimbly avoiding most of the water, then ca
I gri
“They miss having humans around.”
I yelped and turned at the resonant voice. Vahl leaned against the wall of the corridor, arms folded, eyes on me. His skin glistened dark and with vibrant health as though salt scrubs, mud baths, and Mega Vitamins for Skin and Hair were the norm. His casual pose reminded me of a mountain lion, sleek and powerful, beautiful and dangerous.
“Lord Vahl,” I said, and tried not to think about the fact that I was wearing a tank-style bathing suit and nothing else. “You’ve been, ah, watching?”
He gave a nod, smiling a little. “They love to play,” he said with a glance toward the demons. “And they love the different rules needed to play with humans.”
“I’ve noticed that they do love games.” I paused, regarded him. “Michelle says you treat her very well.”
He shrugged. “I value her. We all miss humans, though some will not admit it, and the reasons vary.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “She had a really shit life on Earth. Don’t fuck her up.”
He uncrossed his arms and pushed off the wall. “I’ve no reason to do so.”
“Please keep it that way,” I said, well aware that I had zero authority to back up my little mandate.
Vahl snorted softly. “And what of you and Mzatal?” His eyes dropped to the partial sigils visible on my upper chest, then returned to my face.
“What of us?” I responded, shrugging. “I’m in an agreement with him.”
Vahl tilted his head and smiled. “There are agreements and agreements.”
I chuckled low in my throat. “And why do you care?”
“Simple curiosity.” His smile widened.
I snorted. What a line of shit. But Vahl wasn’t being pushy or obnoxious in any way. He was simply testing the waters. “We don’t fuck,” I told him. “Is that what you wanted to know?”
He dipped his head in a small nod. “It will serve.”
“Okaaaay,” I drawled. I glanced back to see how the water war was progressing, surprised to see that it seemed to be finished. Not a demon in sight anywhere. Where the hell had they all disappeared to so quickly?
“They have a tendency to do that,” Vahl said. I looked back at him to see his gaze on the pool area as well. “They are here and then not.”
It took me a second to realize he’d read my mental wondering about the demons. “Shit,” I breathed, a
One eyebrow lifted as Vahl noted the fogging. “That makes everything more interesting,” he murmured, stepping closer, exuding natural sexiness. “Though reading can make everything very…very satisfying.”
I retreated half a step to find the corridor wall at my back. The man was pretty damn hot, and Michelle definitely had a good thing going on in that regard. I also knew that Mzatal wouldn’t blink twice about me sleeping with Vahl as long it was my own choice to do so. “I like keeping my thoughts to myself,” I muttered.
Vahl smiled and closed the distance between us. He lifted a hand and pushed a wet tendril of hair from my face. “As I said…interesting.” My pulse sped as he traced his fingers lightly along my jaw. His eyes stayed on mine while I gulped softly and wondered whether he was really about to kiss me, wondered if I wanted it, if it was a good idea, and if he was a good kisser.
He leaned down and lightly brushed my lips with his, then kissed me for real, a curl-my-toes kiss, and I lost myself for several heartbeats before remembering both myself and the devious nature of the lords. Yeah, this would probably be good—great— sex, but I’d had that with Rhyzkahl and look where that got me. And not that there was a damn thing wrong with casual sex, but right now, I wanted sex to mean something.
I placed my hand in the center of his chest and lightly pushed, breaking the kiss. “That was most enjoyable, Lord Vahl,” I said, breath coming a teensy bit raggedly. “But I think that will have to do.”
He stepped back without protest, inclined his head in acknowledgment with perhaps just a bit of it’s-your-loss thrown in. “Perhaps another time will be more opportune.”
I gave him a smile and a nod, but inside I was thinking, Don’t hold your breath. I turned away, exited the corridor, then headed back through the atrium. Mzatal was on the mezzanine, and when I lifted my eyes to his he gave me a warm smile that touched me down to my toes. He’d been monitoring, I realized, and would have interceded in a heartbeat if Vahl had chosen to press his advance past where I wanted.