Warm water is the only thing that seems to help, so I let it. I allow the water to wash away all the anxiety, fear, and thoughts of my cousin’s death. I hope the bitch in the shower next to mine drowns.
There arewaytoomany people at the dinner table as Reina escorts me inside the hall. It’s buzzing with life. Gemma is sitting on Draven’s lap, Governor Raph and Una are talking with a few others, and Leo is quietly solving a crossword puzzle.
Reina stops in front of the long table. “Good evening, everyone. Meet Tempest, Yasmeena’s fiancé.”
I hit my fist against my chest, trying to dispel whatever emotion is seeping through my cavity.
“Would you like me to go down the line or alphabetically?” Absinthe asks, jumping up to greet me. “As you probably recall, I’m Absinthe! So I believe I’d be first!” She is bubbly, her clothes made of different pastel fabrics sewn together, her pink and blue hair just as vibrant.
“Down the line is fine,” I answer, trying not to portray any emotion in my voice or features. Outside of my mission, Absinthe and Reina are top of my shit list, but I think I’m better off keeping that a surprise, if I can manage it.
“Suit yourself. This is Taryn. She has to stay in her tank or she’ll die,” Absinthe states, very matter-of-fact, yet cheerful as she points to a beautiful mermaid.
“I figured.”
I don’t get much of a look before Absinthe grabs my hand and drags me closer to the table. “This is Raph. He’s our ringleader and governor, but don’t worry, he’s super nice.”
The demon gives me a wide smile, but Absinthe drags me along before I can truly acknowledge it. Luckily I’ve already metthe governor, and I’m more curious about the other carnies anyway.
“That’s Gemma and Draven, you already know them, so no need for introductions. Oh! In the center is Robyn and Una. You two have met—I heard you were really mean to her. That’s not very nice of you,” Absinthe says. Her eyes twitch, her face remaining a smile as she mimes like she’s swinging a bat. “Don’t do it again, or I’ll have to hurt you.”
“Rowan, Quinn, and little Po are in the kitchen finishing up dinner. They’ll be in shortly. Rowan is part orc, so he’s pretty hard to miss.”
“That’s Leo, he doesn’t really like you yet,” she says. “There’s Reina, her boyfriend Khalid, who is also Yasmeena’s brother.”
Khalid looks a lot like Yasmeena, but a little more youthful. He has two sets of ears—one human-like, and one felion, something I’ve never seen before. I try not to stare as I study them.
“Then we have Yasmeena of course, and then Lilian and Baelor. Have you met Lilian and Baelor? They’re married and just the cutest couple. They’re even trying for?—”
Absinthe continues to speak, her mouth moving a thousand times a minute, and it’s impossible to keep up. I’m distracted anyway, completely enwrapped in Yasmeena, who no longer dons her earlier workout fit. Instead, she’s in a black skin-tight bodysuit with metallic sparkles exaggerating the curves of her chest and ass.
Baelor—a scary-looking clown—stands up and takes my paw, bringing it to his lips for a kiss. My entire body is instantly covered in goosebumps, and not the good kind.
I can feel it in my nose and in every strand of fur that there’s something wrong with this guy, but I keep it to myself.
“Lastly we have Aida. She’s the oldest member of the carnival. She hails from the dunes of Arabia on Earth,” Absinthe explains.
“Earth like… the planet?”
Aida nods, and her serpent tail curls up onto her lap.
“You’ve been to another planet?” All our ancestors, with theexception of full-blooded demons, come from other planets, but this is rare. Interplanetary travel is almost unheard of.
The most famous case, of course, being Gemma herself.
“I was born there,” Aida states. “The Convergence brought me to Hel.”
It feels like my head is going to explode. The Convergence is the biggest event in all of history—it is the reason my species, among many others, even exists. A massive black hole caused multiple planets and galaxies to collide, resulting in bits and pieces and entire continents moving locations. My wolven ancestors wound up on Hel, got frisky with some demons, and created the lupion. Boom, bang, now I’m here. But that was all thousands of years ago. To think someone lived through that and is still here to tell the tale is unfathomable.
“That’s… wow.” I’m at a loss for words.
“Hello, hello everybody,” a loud, booming voice comes from the kitchen. “Dinner is served.”
He’s broad and muscular, tall and strong as he stands before us with a giant tray of food. Tusks peek out from his bottom lip.
Rowan.Another person and a child follow shortly behind him, who I assume are Quinn and Po. Now that I’m looking at all of them, it’s an interesting family dynamic. Una looks like Robyn and Quinn, Po looks like Quinn and Rowan. It’s cute; they’re a little family.
My eyes wander over to Lilian and Baelor, who look like they want to fuck each other over the table, and I realize I have no clue how any of these different species' reproduction differs from lupion.
