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Something heavy falls on my thigh, scratching my skin. I look down at DaiSzek’s heavy mammoth paw resting just above my knee. His fur around his paws and ankles is the same color as the cinnamon in his eyes, like he’s wearing little rain boots.
“See? What does Dessin know? You don’t seem dangerous.” But even I can see how wrong I am. It’s the ghost of a feral demon behind his gaze and the promise of imminent death to whoever crosses him.
I fall back on my bottom to stretch my legs out in front of me. DaiSzek lowers the side of his head to my lap and proceeds to slip between my legs, rolling on his back, belly up. His big head rests on my crotch. I laugh. “Can I help you?”
He grunts and wiggles slowly. I laugh again. “Ohhh, you want me to rub your belly!” He wiggles again. It’s unlikely to see such a gargantuan doglike animal cuddle up to anyone. He feels more like a puppy trying to play than a RottWeilen who can demolish a night dawper. I do as he wishes and rub his chest, belly, and neck with both hands. He lies there, completely mesmerized.
“What did you do to him?” A deep voice dipped in warm butter glides over my skin.
I turn my head in his direction. “Leave us alone,” I snap.
“Look at him; he’s defective!” Dessin carries a laugh in his voice that hasn’t been released yet. He trudges over to us, carrying a dead animal and wood for a fire. “Hey! Flea-Head! I told you to stand guard, not crush Skylenna under your big body!”
I burst into laughter. DaiSzek seems to understand the insults and rolls off of me, galloping into Dessin’s lower abdomen with impressive force. Dessin doubles over with a grunt, wrapping his arms around DaiSzek’s neck. “Hello to you too, lazy boy.”
“Leave him alone; he just needed a break.” I push myself off the dirt and walk up to them, wrestling on the ground.
“What do you think you’re doin’, huh? Rubbing your scent all over my girl?!”
Wait. He said, my girl.
I hold my breath. I could ask him what he means. But we’re friends. Just friends. That’s what we have always been, except for those moments that were far too friendly.
He looks up at me after quelling DaiSzek’s need to play. His dark eyes search mine curiously. I wonder if he realizes what he just said.
“Are you hungry?” He dusts himself off. The muscles in his arms harden as he swiftly gathers the wood and dead animal.
“Yes.” Stop looking at him like that. I look away.
He moves closer to me, tilting his head downward to meet my eyes. “Good, because we’re having a little story time next to the fire tonight.”
~
I chew my food. Somehow watching Dessin put in the work to feed me makes it taste that much better. But I’m careful to not overindulge. Without catching his attention, I take small bites. It’s a toxic habit now. The way my mind rejects the dopamine that fills my body from the delicious flavor.
The restraints of that city still haunt me.
“Please tell me it tastes better than Aurick’s fancy dinners.” He’s lying on his side, propped up by one elbow as he eats by the fire. DaiSzek is passed out behind us.
Aurick. I haven’t thought about him in a while. He has no idea where I am. Am I a terrible person for not thinking of him? We were friends. We lived together. I left and didn’t think twice about him or how this would make him feel.
But he hit me, and for that, I don’t owe him a moment of pity.
“Do you regret leaving him?” Dessin is now looking up at me, his dark-chocolate eyes glowing like hot coals in the orange fire.
I break myself away from the spiral of thought that overtook me. I can tell that he is afraid of my honest answer. “You always knew he’d hurt me. How?”
“Kane’s answer to this question didn’t suffice?”
“Not really. It was vague.”
“He was telling the truth,” he says, taking another bite.
“He was telling half a truth.”
Dessin shrugs, focusing on the sparks popping from the firewood.
I yawn dramatically. “Greystone will probably tell me. He’s an honest man.” I look off to the darkness, waiting for Dessin to react. If Kane seemed annoyed by Greystone’s existence, I could only imagine how Dessin feels about him.
