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Easy.
Not.
I’m doomed.
After way too long, Azarius finally returns. He slips into the room with a silver platter in one hand and a goblet in the other, and takes a seat next to me on the bed. My gaze remains trained on the ceiling until a warm, savory smell hits my nose and I look over.
“I figured you’d be hungry,” he says, offering me the plate.
I consider telling him to shove the food up his ass for ditching me the way he did, but my stomach groans in protest. I push myself up and take it from him, my mouth watering as I look over the selection of meat and leafy sides. None of it is familiar, but I couldn’t care less at this point.
“Yeah, the sex helped me work up an appetite.”
I smile at the joke, but Azarius is unfazed. Obviously, he’s still irritable.
I briefly wonder if he’s upset with me, but I can’t fathom why he would be. After all, I did everything he asked.
I played the part.
I kept my mouth shut… for the most part.
Maybe he’s just mad at me for being here in the first place and making him feel obligated to save me.
That’s probably it.
Regardless of why he’s mad, his cold energy toward me stings.
“Thank you,” I say, bringing a piece of meat to my nose to sniff it before taking a tiny bite of the corner. It’s warm and buttery and tastes kind of like chicken.
“Do you want me to tell you what you’re eating?” he asks, one of his brows cocked as he watches me.
I shake my head. “The less I know, the better.”
I’d rather not imagine what kind of creatures they kill to eat here, having seen nothing but grotesque and scary beings since I arrived. I’m probably eating a cyclops squirrel hybrid.
“Fair enough.” He passes me the goblet, which is filled with an opaque red liquid, and my heart drops into my stomach. It looks eerily like blood. The thought makes my stomach turn. But before I can ask, Azarius quickly reassures me. “It’s juice.”
I stare for another second, my heart thrumming against my ribs as I try to find comfort in his words, but it’s still hard to believe him. This stuff looks like a vampire’s smoothie.
“It’s sweet. I promise,” he urges. “I’ve emotionally scarred you enough today. I wouldn’t feed you blood.”
I can tell he’s trying to joke, but his heart still isn’t in it. With a deep breath, I take a swig from the goblet, and a wave of relief swallows me when a sweet honey flavor hits my tongue. It may look like blood, but it tastes like candy. I take another swig.
Why is all this monster food so good? If someone had asked me before jumping through the portal what I thought monsters ate, I wouldn’t have even come close.
I could get used to this.
It’s a fleeting thought, one I never imagined crossing my mind, but it’s there, nevertheless. Besides the power-hungry tyrant downstairs, and almost getting eaten by a Malev, this place isn’t so bad. There are definitely worse places to be stuck.
But there’s no way I can stay here. I have to figure out a way to get home. My entire life is on hold, waiting for me to get back and straighten everything out.
My car is probably getting towed.
Cara is probably worried sick.
And if we don’t make rent on time, we’re going to get evicted.
Now that my life has been spared, my worries are back in full force. So many problems with only one solution, and that solution—me getting the hell out of here—remains just out of reach.
