He grinned as his mom reached behind Jasmyn to drag her thumb down the side of his neck. Her eyes were tired from another long week, but her responding smile was as lovely as ever.
“Well, are we just gonna stand here and stare?” Enfys asked, lower hands on her hips as her upper arms crossed over her flat torso.
She wore a pair of shorts, the zipper and button open to display the bikini bottoms underneath, and a mesh shirt that showed off the matching bikini top. Gem was dressed similarly, although he didn’t wear a shirt to cover his high-neck bikini top. They both had belly button rings, Gem’s a studded jewel, Enfy’s a dangling, sparkly thing that gleamed in the sunlight.
Honestly, they were both hot, but the air of confidence and sex appeal Enfys wore confused Dex’s hormones. On one hand, she was hella intimidating with her dark, compound eyes and sharp, predatory grin. On the other, Dex had a feeling she would rock his shit in ways that would change his life forever.
Or kill him. Probably kill him.
Hips swinging, Enfys strode confidently to the button beside the gate, strappy heels clicking against the pavement, and pushed it. There was a buzz, then the speaker crackled to life with Hemersyn’s voice.
“Vysov residence.”
“Hemersyn, my man!” Dex called before Enfys could speak.
The Avia chuckled, then the speaker fell silent and the gate opened with an electric whirr.
“Do you think this gravel is expensive too?” Dex asked as he carefully stepped onto the driveway.
“I’m pretty sure the air we’re breathing is expensive,” Gem whispered.
“Don’t be judgy,” Dex’s mom scolded them all. “I can’t imagine Cya can help how rich their parents are.”
“And trust me,” Enfys purred with a seductive smile and a playful flip of her black, shoulder-length hair, “with what these rich folk get up to, you stop being intimidated real fast. They’re all freaks.”
Jasmyn giggled, having paid enough attention to read the Lepid’s lips, and Enfys shot her a wink. Then she lifted a hand and signed,“Don’t tell your mom I said that.”
Surprise and delight lit up Jasmyn’s face.“You sign?”
“A little,”Enfys responded as they moved as a group toward the entrance ramp leading to the front double doors made of dark wood.“I have a”—she hesitated, glancing at Dex, then his mom—“friend who is HoH.”
As they walked up the front ramp, the double doors opened, revealing Hemersyn dressed more casually than Dex had ever seen him. He wore a white polo shirt and khaki shorts, the neutral colors offset by the bright reds, yellows, and oranges of his plumage. The tips of the feathers around his face and on his crest were graying out, betraying his age.
“Welcome,” he said with a warm smile. “Please, come in.”
They entered in reverent silence, like they were standing in an ancient cathedral instead of a modern house. Everything was shiny and made of light stone or dark wood. Jeweled chandeliers hung from the ceiling, old oil paintings decorated the walls, and tall, skinny tables lined the halls, displaying vases and sculptures that probably cost more than Dex’s yearly salary.
“Don’t touch anything,”Dex told his sister at the same time his mom signed the same thing.
Jasmyn scowled at them both but, eventually, nodded her agreement.
The grand entry hall was beautiful, but it was cold and echoey. A mausoleum, not a home.
“Oh, hello,” Cya said from the top of the grand staircase—er, rampcase? “How wonderful that you’re here.”
All thoughts of crypts and intimidating wealth and Enfys rocking his shit fled Dex’s mind as Cya slithered down the ramp, jewelry chiming with their graceful movements. They wore a purple sarong fastened in a knot at their left hip, the fabric loose and fluttering, and just the tiniest, stringiest bikini top on their chest.
For the first time, Dex could actually make out their boobs, though they were so small he wondered if he could even call them boobs. They wouldn’t even fill his hands, not that he was imagining cupping their breasts or anything. Definitely not that.
Delicate chains draped their arms from the golden cuffs on their biceps to the bands just under their elbows. Another circled their waist where their bronze skin melted into the first smattering of scales, the links of the chain connected to the emerald gemstone in their belly button. They’d lined theireyes with coal and dusted their lids with glitter, and when they met Dex’s gaze, the crests of their cheeks darkened a shade.
“Hi,” they said, nerves making their voice tremble slightly.
“Hey. Hi. ’Sup… my dude,” Dex said, and a wrinkle formed between Cya’s eyes. “You, uh, you look, like, kaboom”—he pantomimed an explosion—“and your house. It’s, like, whoa! You know?”
They cocked their head. “What?”
“It’s like a museum in here,” he said, pointing to the vases and sculptures. “I’m surprised you don’t have any of those signs, saying, ‘Do Not Touch!’ Ha ha ha.”
