Page 14 of Aberrant Monsters
I ignored him. “It’s my hunger.”
“Yourhunger, not his?”
“Yeah. This is about what my body needs.”
“Because of him,” Nandi said.
“Yeah. I didn’t want to sleep with random guys, so I went to Lothos. He’s been feeding me sexual energy. There’s no physical sex involved, just him passing on what he’s gathered.” Through a kiss. A fucking intense, toe-curling kiss, but there was no need to mention that. “I mean, he can replenish his reserves quickly. It’s not like he’s short on clients.”
“And what did he want in return?”
“Nothing. He owes me.”
She studied me for several beats. “You’re changing.”
“I need to stop.”
She gently grasped my shoulders. “We’ll do it. We have an address, and we can— Fuck!” She slapped her forehead.
What address,Telarion asked.
I ignored him, speaking to Nandi instead. “What is it?”
“I agreed to a meeting with our client later this evening. I completely spaced and forgot that we’re seeing Elina tonight. I’ll call the client and reschedule.”
“No. Don’t. We can’t risk her going to another company. I can see Elina by myself.”
You won’t be alone.
I sighed. “Telarion will come with me.”
“Okay, good. Just make sure he doesn’t scare or eat her. No, actually, if it gets us the info we need, he can scare the shit out of her.”
Archie popped his head round the door. “Package for you, Nandi.”
Nandi followed him out to the main office, leaving me alone with my monstrous tenant.
Tell me who Elina is.
five
Exposing people for who they were, debunking fake hauntings and possessions, the Real Deal had been my life for the last four years, and together Nandi and I had built it into something truly solid. Archie’s arrival had been the icing on the cake. We made decent money, and sure there were months when the client intake was low, but we made do and—
“Focus, tiny human,” Telarion snapped. “You must watch the stops.”
The hum and rattle of the train replaced my thoughts, and I came back to myself, huddled on the seat beside Telarion on the tube with several pairs of wary eyes on us.
He’d drawn himself in, making himself smaller, but even then, he was larger than the largest average supernatural male. Not that there were any supes on the tube tonight.
Still, humans were used to seeing oddities in the city, especially since the New Bloods arrived. Funny how humans were able to accept shifters, gargoyles, vampires, witches, and fae, but when it came to mutants like the New Bloods, creatures who had been born of humans, it was a hard pass.
Maybe it was because mutations were too close to home. It frightened them because it could so easilybethem, or someone they loved. Whatever the reason, the humans on this train were giving Telarion a wide berth.
Just as well, really.
My parasitic monster didn’t like people, not unless they were food.
We were almost at our stop when a ticket inspector approached. “You can’t be on this train.” He spoke directly to Telarion. “No New Bloods.”
