Page 92 of Alien God

“Are you quite finished with your examination?” Wylfrael asked through his teeth, a certain raggedness in his breath.

“No!” I said. “Now I’m looking for Earth.”

I found it. At least, I found the milky way galaxy, on the back of his left hand. There was something oddly thrilling in the discovery, and I held his hand with both of mine, bending so close my nose brushed his knuckles.

“Here! Here it is!”

He grunted.

“It’s on my star map, then. Good. Not every world is. I suppose you’ll want me to take you back there when this is all through. You and your friends.”

“No,” I said, my excitement fading. “I don’t think Earth will ever be safe for us now. We’ll have to figure that out, as a condition of our arrangement. Think about where the other women and I can live to be safe.”

His fingers twitched against mine. He said, in a monotone voice, as if he were controlling every word, every syllable, “I suppose I could grant you and the others safe haven here.”

I stilled, the stars turning into a meaningless blue blur.

“Stay with you?” I asked.

“Well, no, not really,” he said. “I’d be at Heofonraed as part of the council. But there’s room enough for you all in the castle, and then even without me, you’d all be protected by the Riverdark spell.”

“You care if we’re protected? All us humans whom not long ago you were so mad about invading your world?” I asked, confused enough to finally look up from his hand.

“I care about making sure you go through with our deal,” he said quickly. Too quickly. “If that means housing a bunch of human women as insolent as you, I suppose I’ll do it. I won’t be here to be annoyed by you all. I’ll be too busy on the council.”

“I’ll... I’ll think about it,” I said. In some ways, it was an ideal solution. Human forces would be loath to come back here ever again after Wylfrael’s rampage. We could breathe the atmosphere, the native Sionnachans were kind and generous, and our home base in Wylfrael’s castle would always be protected. It would be a lot easier than trying to find another world that would be safe.

“Hey,” I said, something suddenly occurring to me. “Do you think other stone sky gods have ever visited Earth?”

I thought of stories. Legends of angels and demons and gods. Sublime, winged beings from the sky. I wondered if that was all based in something alien rather than celestial.

“It is possible. I had not heard of your kind before now, but that doesn’t mean another stone sky god has not travelled to your world at some point. Perhaps to claim his mate.”

“Hmm. How many stone sky gods are there?”

“When I was last awake, dozens.”

“That few?” I said, surprised. I assumed they’d be like humans – billions of them out there.

Wylfrael’s wings twitched, like they wanted to expand in the tube.

“We can only reproduce with our fated mates. When we starburn, we grow the knot that can bring forth children, but not before then.”

“What the hell is a knot?”

He gave me a flat look.

“Something you do not need to concern yourself with. I do not have one, because I have not starburned.”

It was obviously some weird alien bit of anatomy related to sex and fertility. Starburning almost sounded like some kind of second puberty.

I relaxed a little bit.

“So, you’re impotent, then? Without this knot?” There was relief in the statement, but the nature of the relief surprised me, made me ashamed. It wasn’t relief that he’d make good on his word not to require sex of me. It was relief that I wouldn’t ever be tempted.

Tempted! To have sex with Wylfrael!

It was ridiculous. And it made me feel like I’d gone off the deep fucking end. But when I remembered the hot suck of his mouth on my wrist, I-

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