“She’s a nice girl,” he rumbled. “You don’t let those get away. They are rare these days.”
Before I could even form a defense, Syris swooped in again, dramatically grabbed my shoulders, and spun me around.
He looked me dead in the eyes with the most sincere expression I had ever seen on his face.
“Son,” he whispered carefully, “is it your balls?”
I blinked.
“What?”
His hand flew over his mouth. Pure devastation filled his features.
“Oh gods,” he breathed, facing away from me as he squeezed my shoulders tighter.
“Are your swimmers not swimming?” he asked gently, eyes wide and pleading. “Did the soldier refuse to salute? Did the drawbridge stay down? Is the banana still in the peel? Are the fangs in sleep mode?”
My eye twitched.
Ternin stepped beside him, both of them staring at me with identical pity that I hated it more than anything.
“We’ll find the best medicine,” Syris vowed passionately, nodding in a panicked state.
“The best treatment!” Ternin shouted, pointing up at the ceiling like he was making a declaration. “Don’t you worry, Cal! We’ll get your dick working again!”
“It works!” I barked.
Neither of them listened. “It’s not the end of the world.” He tried to play off like it wasn't a big deal, but I knew it was. He and Ternin exchanged a glance before turning back to me with renewed determination.
“Sure,” Syris continued sympathetically, “your lady might be disappointed in the bedroom, but they have toys now!”
He waved dismissively like erectile dysfunction was just another seasonal allergy. Then suddenly, his eyes widened. “Oh!”
“My stomach dropped.
“Maybe Aniyah can help!”
Absolutely fucking not.
“She’s an expert with these things!” Syris insisted proudly. “She’d love to help, I’m sure.” He pulled out his phone, and words got stuck in my throat. “She might have something like, like…” He couldn’t think of what he was trying to say, thank god, but then fucking Ternin just had to top him.
Ternin loudly snapped his fingers and pointed at me triumphantly. “A dick surrogate!”
My soul literally tried to leave my body. I did not want to have any sort of conversation like that with Aniyah.Hell no! Never!
Syris gasped like Ternin had solved world hunger. “Yes! Brilliant!” Both of them turned toward me with terrifying enthusiasm. “We’ll get you the best surrogate money can buy!”
“We just need to ask your girl what size she likes,” Ternin added helpfully, already pulling out his phone.
“I think Aniyah sent me some examples yesterday.” My entire body locked up in horror. “There was this fascinating one with scales on it?—”
That was it. Absolutely fucking not.Respect your elders be damned.
I tore out of Syris’s grip so fast his fingers slipped off my arm. Fury bloomed dark and hot beneath my skin until I exploded.
“She’s Rack’s Flame!” I roared, shaking the tools hanging on the walls. My breath shook as every single one of them froze, and the second the words left my mouth, everything I’d been choking down for days ripped free with it.
“It doesn’t matter how beautiful she is!” I shouted, pacing away from them before turning right back around again. “It doesn’tmatter that I saw her first. That I was the one who turned her. That I’m hermaker!”
