Page 87 of Alien God

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

Torrance

Less than one full day into our arrangement and I felt like things were already going way off the rails. I thought I’d have more control now. But somehow, even though I was now more free than I’d ever been on this planet, I felt the walls closing in.

And all of those walls were named Wylfrael.

I stared numbly ahead, keeping a phony smile plastered on my face as Wylfrael and Aiko brought out bolt after bolt of fabric in every imaginable texture and colour. Aiko fluttered to-and-fro as Wylfrael growled orders at her about which colour or type of fabric to wrap around me next. Every time Aiko asked if I liked something, I gave perfunctory responses about how much I loved whatever she was holding, even though I could barely tell one item from another by this point. There was just too much of it. The chests were gigantic, enough fabric to clothe an entire army of fake human brides. And there was more coming.

“Torrance?”

“What? Oh,” I said, focusing on Aiko, who was speaking to me. “Yes. It’s lovely.”

“I... I know. You already said that about this one.”

“Oh.” My cheeks got hot. I didn’t mind blowing Wylfrael off, but I didn’t want Aiko to think I was being rude or not listening to her. “I’m sorry, what were you saying?”

It wasn’t Aiko who answered, but Wylfrael, who loomed directly behind me.

“She asked about your wedding clothing.”

My wedding clothing.

“Oh, that. A white gown,” I said.

Shit. I regretted my response instantly. If I’d had more presence of mind, I would have made something up, told them I wanted to wear a bright green jumpsuit, anything to keep this from feeling so alarmingly real. But it was too late now, and Aiko had already turned her bushy tail around to go dig through what was left in the second chest.

“Ah, yes, this one,” she said, straightening, her arms overflowing with material. “This one is just gorgeous.”

Aiko was right. It was silk the ethereal colour of moonlight on snow. Distressingly perfect. So lovely it made my chest hurt. Aiko wasted no time, immediately draping the softly shimmering material around me as I tried desperately not to give in to the sudden, unexpected urge to weep.

“Oh, my lord, come around here and see how beautiful she is.”

No, don’t. I didn’t want him to see my face now. To notice that my mask had slipped, that I was already failing.

Wylfrael breathed in tightly before taking crisp, controlled strides around to my front. He stood behind Aiko, who was currently holding the material up against me, his hands clasped behind his back.

I almost wanted to laugh through my tears. If I thought I was failing in representing my half of our happy couple, then Wylfrael was doing even worse than me. He didn’t look like he was on the verge of tears, like I did. He looked like he felt nothing. Apart from a twitch of tension in his cheek when he saw the unshed tears in my eyes, he showed absolutely no emotion. It was only when Aiko twisted back to look at him questioningly that he finally spoke, uttering five short, commanding words before he turned and swept out of the room, leaving us both staring in his wake.

“She will wear this one.”

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