Page 6 of My Date is a Polymorph (Blind Date Corporation #20)

The lift was crowded, and she elbowed her way in, heading to the main floor.

A few of the other office folks looked surprised, but she remained fixed as they headed down to the main floor and exited with a long stride.

Worro was getting attention with his hair in a thick braid down his back and a smile that turned into a stunned expression as he caught sight of her.

He was wearing a dark suit, and he looked delightful.

He was cradling a bouquet of irises and pink roses.

He walked past the ladies who were flocking to him and walked up to her. “You look gorgeous, Keera.”

“I look like I was crunching numbers.”

He slid his arm around her and pulled her against him, kissing her softly. “You look gorgeous. There is something different.” He looked at the flowers. “Are they still your favourite?”

“They are. Thank you for remembering.”

His arm went around her, and they walked toward the front door. “Your friends are meeting us there. Khassi has ordered food for us.”

“Good. Khytten came in today, and the scars are now gone. They were properly recorded first, based on my sister’s recommendation.”

“I will ask to see them one day.”

“Maybe, but you don’t deserve to have to live with them any more than I do.”

“What?”

“They would make you angry and guilty, and I don’t need to relive it constantly, nor do you.”

He looked at her and nodded. “You are right. I want to move forward with you, not remain in the past.”

He held the door to a vehicle with a driver, and they headed off into the bustle of noon traffic.

“So, how do you know Khassi?”

“Easy. She’s my cousin. Most of the family doesn’t talk to her, but I have no trouble with her and her twin.”

“Khasta.”

Worro kissed her left hand. “Correct. She’s an award-winning photographer.”

“So, why doesn’t your family talk to her?”

“The twins denied arranged matches. They had better things to do with their time, so they told their suitors to fuck themselves, and the ladies set out to make their way in the world.”

She smiled. “I look forward to meeting them.”

“The feeling is mutual. The ladies are very excited to meet you as well.”

“Why?”

“Because they were there for me when I was dating you and had to listen to my silly flights of fantasy. They are aware of the situation that happened after.”

“Well, I don’t have to watch what I say, so that’s good.” She smiled.

“They will enjoy working with you.” He paused. “Did you really get healing today?”

“Yes. Hever was shocked that I hadn’t gotten it earlier.”

“You mentioned the restrictions?”

“Yeah, paperwork is a pain, and I was too well-employed for assistance but too poor to pay for it on my own. A sucky place to be.”

“Your sister couldn’t help?”

“She just got back to town six months ago, and she’s very pregnant, so I didn’t want to bother her. Her funds were for her baby.”

“What about the father?”

“Oh, she has told him to fuck off in no uncertain terms. He didn’t tell her he was engaged, and we both have a pathological fear of being a mistress.”

“Your parents?”

“I have told you this already.”

“I know. Tell me again. Each mention draws a bit of venom.”

“My mom was working for a wealthy Sethir family when my father visited from Hyreno and took a liking to her. He seduced her, and when she was kicked out of the household and returned to her family, they kicked her out as well. He watched like all good predators do, and he took her with him. She thought she was going to Hyreno, but he installed her in a strange stone bubble with a beach and rooms. She lived there with occasional visits from him until I was born, and he sighed in disgust. Girls weren’t what he was after.

So, he didn’t return until he was in rut again, and that was when I was three.

It was just me and my mom. She was a low-grade intuition active, and with just me and her together, she became a psychic.

One day, he came back, and Mom told me to hide.

When he left, she was pregnant again, and that was the last time I saw him.

She got weaker, and I started spending more and more time underwater.

I activated sometime between three and four, and Mom taught me shapes from books in the library in our prison.

I noticed the air was getting really thin and kept swimming and hunting for her, but when Cloud was born, there was almost nothing left.

She was lying and gasping as she held her.

Cloud’s breathing was weak. Mom told me what we needed, so I swam to the mainland and stole what I needed.

I broke into businesses and houses, stealing what I needed.

I took care of Cloud until I couldn’t. Mom died, and I took Cloud, got a plexi bubble from the Sethir mainland, and put her in it.

I floated her over to Aksalla and screamed for help.

Help came, and we were brought into Aksalla and the foster system. ”

She exhaled slowly. “So, the idea of being with a man and not having some kind of legal recourse is not something I could do.”

“Then I am very glad I proposed.”

“Me, too. Otherwise, things would have played out differently.”

“What happened to your father?”

“Cloud has recently offered him a chance for absolution. Hah, just kidding. She went to Hyreno and sentenced him to four years of suffocation. Then it turns out, his family did that to other women. They rescued a few of them and gave them medical treatment. Meanwhile, my father and his relations are suffering. The king thinks it’s cruel, but it is no more than he did to our mother.

He might even survive this. He just feels like he’s suffocating. ”

“Remind me not to mess with your family.”

“You already did, and I didn’t mind.” She leaned over and kissed him.

He chuckled and smiled. “Ah, we are here.”

She turned and saw a polite storefront with the word Seamstress over it. “Khassi doesn’t advertise?”

“She picks her clients.”

“Right.”

He helped her out of the car and held her hand as they walked to the door. It flew open, and a woman, with the same blood-red hair as Worro, grinned. “Worro, you are looking more yourself. Come in, so I can hug you and your fiancée.”

They entered the building, and the subtle grace and style of the interior made Keera gasp. “This place is lovely. So relaxing.”

Another woman, who looked nearly identical to the one who opened the door, came from the back with a smile. “Worro, please introduce us.”

Worro smiled. “Keera, pulse of my body and light of my heart, this is my cousin Khassi, and this is my cousin Khasta.”

Keera smiled. “That is a lot of K names.”

Worro grinned. “It is.”

Khassi said, “We are expecting four more?”

“Yes, my sister, my half-sister, my friend Hever, and her assistant and wedding planner, Dex.”

“Nice. I have a food order coming, so that should be enough.”

“My sister is six months pregnant. She can have my food if necessary.”

Khassi grinned. “If she lets me touch her belly, she can have Khasta’s food.”

“Hey!” Khasta grinned.

Khassi walked forward and hugged Keera. “Welcome to the family, Keera. It’s about time.”

Keera returned the hug. Khasta was next, and then she was hugged, and she admired Keera’s cheekbones. “You are going to look lovely in your wedding pictures. Vaika is going to shit herself.”

“Huh. My image has the oddest effect on my soon-to-be sister-in-law.”

Khasta snorted. “Right. Go to the back and get naked. Khassi is going to work on you from the skin out.”

Worro smiled and said, “You are in good hands. Go.”

She walked over to him, went up on her toes, and kissed him. “Cross your fingers.”

Khassi laughed. “You are in good hands. Come on. I have designed a blank for you that we are going to build on.”

Keera was urged to the back of the shop, and a gauzy curtain was pulled between Keera and the watchers.

Keera looked at Khassi. “So, why the curtain?”

“So that when he sees you tomorrow, he will have his breath taken away and feel like the luckiest bastard in the world.” Khassi grinned.

Worro chuckled. “I already do.”

Keera focused on what Khassi wanted her to do as she put on the underdress, the overdress, and the outer two dresses.

“Well, I feel warm.”

Khassi laughed. “When I finish the decoration, it will be cooler and heavier. You have a lovely figure, by the way.”

“Thank you, and thank you for doing this.”

“It is fun to do this for family. Worro was so different when they took you from him. He had been full of joy and hope, and then he turned into a humourless bastard.” Khassi drew lines on the outer gown with her fingers, and where she touched, gold beading showed up.

Keera heard the others arrive at some point, but Khassi chuckled and said, “Focus on me.”

“Fine, but I will be hungry eventually.”

“I will cover you with a drape, and Khasta or one of your friends can come help you.”

“Can they see me?”

Hever laughed. “Sort of. Khasta is letting us peek around the corner. We have to keep Worro from looking. That’s our job as well.”

Keera chuckled. “Has he tried?”

Dex snickered. “Twice.”

Khassi chuckled. “They always try. Well, I have the base now, so I am going to give you some of the family jewellery, and then Khasta will take the first picture. The dress will be ready for you tomorrow, and I will come to your workplace to dress you before the wedding. Khasta will take photos, and then we all will head to city hall.”

Keera said softly, “Will there be a problem for him that we are doing this officially?”

“No. It is becoming fashionable. Since the Sethir are having to look far and wide for omegas, the others who find mates in the human population need to wed their partners legally. The legal first and celebration later is taking off.”

Keera nodded. “Thank you for doing this.”

Khassi looked up at her from where gold was appearing on the skirt of the outer dress. “I wanted to do this years ago. He was close to asking then. He could not see his life without you, and then they took you away. How did you two find each other?”

Keera smiled. “He saw me covered in blood. He was there to find me as Hever’s friend had been kidnapped—me—and Krix wanted to make a good impression, and Worro could find a specific grain of dirt in a mud pile.

So, I was the grain of dirt, and he found Hever’s friend.

Then he saw me and started barfing and grabbing his head. ”

Worro said, “Every time I had seen you hit my head at the same time, including the blood-soaked last time. I felt everything I had felt then, and it burned me.”

Dex asked, “Keera, were you injured?”

“No, but my werewolf had a workout. It does not attack neatly.”

Worro snorted. “It does not.”

Khassi chuckled and went to a stand covered with boxes. She grinned and said, “Can I get someone in here used to dressing a bride?”

Dex popped around the corner of the curtain. “Oh, Keera, you are stunning.”

“Just wait. Great-grandma had some really nice shit.” Khassi cackled.

Khassi handed the jewel boxes over, Dex opened them, and Khassi worked on her head while Dex weighed down her arms. Khassi dove under the layers, and her ankles and feet were covered in gold chains and gemstones.

She smiled, and Khassi said softly, “Tomorrow, we will put on eye makeup, and then Khasta takes a ton of pictures before you cry and get it all runny.”

Khasta eased into the space and took some pictures, chuckling. “You look lovely, Keera. Welcome to the family.”

There was a moment while Khassi draped and fluttered the gown around until it was to its best advantage. The photos were taken, and there was more conflict on the other side of the curtain, but Keera ignored it.

Cloud came around the corner and gasped. “Oh, Keeks, you look amazing.”

“Thank you. I feel pretty and really expensive.”

Khassi laughed. “Our great-grandfather brought his wife something home after every trip away. Over the years, it added up. It was given to their daughter, and she spread it through her grandkids. It skipped her children, and that drove them nuts.”

“Why?”

“Greed. Status. Appearances. It’s where Vaika gets it from. She is constantly obsessed with appearances. It’s why she had such a visceral reaction to you. Not only are you adopted, but you are also not wealthy. She doesn’t know you are an omega, or it would have kept her mouth shut a little.”

“Is she?”

“Oh. No. It’s her eternal shame. Human to the bone. No pheromones and no extra glands.”

“That always sounds so gross.”

Khassi chuckled. “Deal with it.”

Khassi stepped back, and then the photo shoot started. She took pictures with Cloud, Hever, and Yahtana before standing with her sisters only.

When the photos were done and Dex was sitting next to Worro, Keera got back into her work clothes, grabbed a pack of food, and helped her fiancé to his feet.

She kissed Khassi and Khasta on the cheeks and smiled that she would see them tomorrow.