He woke again in the middle of the night and needed to go see Molun.
He really was messing up his sleep schedule, wasn’t he?
He lay there for another couple of minutes to see if he could just fall back asleep, but he quickly determined that wasn’t going to happen.
He pulled on sleep trousers and slipped out of the sitting room, closing the door and turning and… almost walking right into Cormal.
Perian leaped back, hand clapped to his chest.
“Fire and water, you scared me.”
“Where are you going?”
The words were short and sharp, and it was maybe a little much to be demanding like that, but itwasthe middle of the night. And it wasn’t like it was a secret.
“Just going to see Molun,” Periantold him.
Cormal’s bright green eyes were hard, and there was something that Perian had never seen in them before, or maybe it was just a layer unmasked, Cormal’s dislike of him laid bare, but there was a fierce edge to it. Hatred?
Cormal asked, “Is it easier when they’re injured?”
“What are you talking about?” Perian wanted to know. “Iswhateasier?”
“Feeding.”
Perian squinted at him, utterly confused. “We’re not… eating?”
Cormal’s lips curled up in a sneer. “What was last night, then?”
“Whoa,” Perian said, “were you watching me? This is starting to get a little creepy, Cormal.”
Like, unacceptable levels of creepy, no matter that he was Brannal’s friend.
“I’ve been watching you,” Cormal said, confirming that this had definitely gone way beyond what was all right. “I know you’ve seduced everyone with your unnaturally alluring self, but you haven’t seduced me!”
“I’m not trying to seduce anyone,” Perian said cautiously, feeling like he’d been dropped in a conversation he didn’t understand.
The sneer deepened. “No? You just happened to throw yourself at Brannal and worm your way into his bed? As if he’d ever actually like someone like you!”
Perian tried to brush this off. “Hedoeslike me.”
“Oh, yes?” Cormal said, eyes narrowed and sharp. “What about when you turn that seduction off? How does he feel when you’re not trapping him and sucking him dry?”
Perian gaped at him, and couldn’t quite decide whether he was offended or found that hilarious. His sense of humor came to the rescue.
“He, uh, actually really likes it when I suck him dry?”
Cormal lunged forward, and Perian scuttled back, feeling the first jolt of actual fear twine through him.
“I’m not going to let you hurt him,” Cormal snarled.
Perian raised his hands, placating. “I don’t know what’s gotten into you, Cormal, but I’m not trying to hurt anyone. I would never hurt Brannal.”
“You’re hurting him right now,” Cormal said through gritted teeth. “I know he’s figured it out. I heard him telling Arvus about feeding you. I don’t know if he’s just too blinded by lust to stop it, or if he thinks that he can control you, but I won’t let this happen again. I won’t!”
Perian stared at Cormal in genuine shock, not having any idea what he was talking about and starting to genuinely worry for his safety.
“All right, look,” Perian said slowly. “I’m going to go back to Brannal’s room. We can… we can talk in the morning, all right?”
