Page 36

She purposefully pouted, her cheeks rounding out. “Fine. I forgive you.”

Pride in her made his chest feel swollen.She is intuitive, even with a Mavka who cannot show his emotions with flesh.He could tell she was young – she said she was in her early twenties – but she was wise enough to deduce most of what she needed to.

She was willing to try, which he would be forever grateful for. It made his lack of speech not feel so oppressing for him.

He hoped his voice one day returned, if only ever to thank her, or say her name.

Backing away, Nathair gestured towards the lower level of the cave alcove and the sunken ship. She leapt into action, and whether that be from excitement or embarrassment, he didn’t know.

Linh slipped on wetness and a loose rock, and flew into him. The shock of it had him recoiling backwards, which made his tail slip down a boulder, and he fell as well. Unable to get his tail under his own body to catch himself, he wrapped his arms around her so she didn’t crash against the ground.

Her scream echoed while he just patiently waited for them to stop falling. He tucked his head forward to avoid bashing his skull or horns and grunted at the impact.

The moment they halted, he dropped his arms to the ground, and closed his eyes to concentrate on not bursting into a fit of chuckles.This human is rather clumsy. If I or a Demon don’t eat her, she’ll fall to her death.He’d seen her trip four times now since the first day he’d met her.

“Oh my god,” she groaned, covering her face and burying it against his exposed ribs. “That was so embarrassing. I’m so sorry.”

Nathair, finding this rather humorous and wanting to needle her, pushed his tongue forward and let it droop down the side of his open maw. Unmoving, his sight closed, and halting his breath, he waited with his arms splayed.

“Thank you for catching me.” She finally lifted her head. When he didn’t do anything, she asked, “Nathair?”

Five. Four. Three. Two–

“Oh my gosh! Nathair!” She leapt off his body with a gasp, just so she could begin shaking him. “Oh no, I killed him.” Then, for some weird reason, she began kicking his torso with the underside of her foot – albeit softly. “Now who will protect me from Demons? Hmm? You just had to go and die on me, didn’t you?”

With a growl, he opened his sight to his usual orange and lifted his head. He lifted an arm to ask what the hell she was doing.

“Most dead things don’t stick their tongue out when they die.” Her eyes glinted with humour as she leaned over him with her hands on her hips. “Next time, make it more believable.”

Nathair let out a loud chuckle as he twisted to push off on straightened arms, getting his tail to support his weight byshifting it under his heavy torso. Then he pulled himself upright and folded his arms.

Linh merely lifted her chin and walked around the lower level they’d fallen to.

From his spot, he stayed where he was as he watched her with mirth.She is rather funny.

If anything, Nathair was two things: lazy and bored. He found entertainment when it came crawling to him, and he enjoyed collecting things that sparkled because he adored playing with their reflective lights. Things that entertained him within his own spaces were what he coveted, and it made him greedy to keep them.

Linh filled the silence and radiated a beauty he hadn’t truly understood could dazzle him. She was warm, both physically and towards him already. And she was brave enough to not be afraid of him, and he found that commendable.

I liked her weight on top of me.Her heat had instantly bled into his torso, and he yearned to wrap himself around her. He’d like his own personal heat source, one which was soft, smelt sweet, and could glitter if he showered her in sparkly, pretty things.

A shudder rippled down his body at just the thought of how much he knew that would entertain his bored and listless mind.

“Oooh! There are chests here!” she exclaimed from the other side of the pond she’d walked around.

Nathair already knew this, as he’d been the one to dig them out of the ship and had ripped them open with his claws. None of it had gained his interest except for what he’d already taken – a few bits of silver plates and cutlery.

A chest had been so waterlogged that the clothes inside had deteriorated the moment he’d tried to take them from it to cushion his nest. Another had coins and jewellery in it that he’dmanaged to scrape the rust from until their centres gleamed again or gems were revealed.

“There’s a lamp and candles. Oh! And even some torches.”

I’d forgotten about those.They had been in one of the chests that had managed to remain dry until he broke them open.

“Nathair, can you help me?” Her face was bright with cheer, as if the discovery of these ugly trinkets was wondrous. “If we fill that chest, we can light your cave so I can see better. I can use the carry lantern for the tunnels too.”

She wants to change my home?Well, not change it, but add to it?Does that mean... she does not intend to leave it?

A dark emotion rippled down the exposed vertebrae of his spine. That shudder only deepened when she shone a bright and cheerful smile in his direction, and the red rubies dangling from her ears caught the bright sunshine that reflected against the sand.