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“Are you sure?” I asked quickly, picking up my drink to guzzle it down. Usually I’d refuse, wanting to be the hardworking and conscientious employee, but I was desperate to get home as soon as possible.
“Yep. I’ll drag Ron away from the game if we get a sudden rush of yuppies.” Mani chuckled, tipping back her own beer. “You’ve got a shift tomorrow, right?”
“Yeah, I’m in tomorrow.” I put down my empty bottle and picked up my phone, fiddling with it anxiously as I stood. “Am I… am I in trouble for arguing with Agma at the bar?”
Mani laughed, standing up and collecting our empty bottles. “Hell no. Sounds like she deserved it.”
“Do you think she’s still down there?”
“Could be, but I don’t think she’ll be making any effort to pick your conversation back up,” Mani said dryly. “I think you put her in her place.”
I flushed. “I promise I wasn’t all that rude—”
“Babe, we’ve had staff start full-on brawls with customers before.” Mani opened the door and gestured for me to head through. “Couple of years ago, some douche hit on Kayr’s girlfriend while she was waiting for him to finish his shift. Kayr vaulted across the bar to punch him in the face.”
“Kayr?” I gawked at her. “Seriously?”
“Oh yeah. Quiet dude, but he has a hair trigger when it comes to Jesi. They’re engaged now.” Mani nudged me as we made our way down the stairs. “I think she liked it. Couldn’t drag him home fast enough.”
I laughed. “Well, that’s certainly in-keeping with what you hear about demiurgus.”
“Yeah, we can be an aggressive bunch. Sounds like your Greid is a sweetheart, though.”
“He is.” He was perfect. My sweet, kind, generous demiurgus, who didn’t have an aggressive bone in his body.
And it was time for me to tell him that I was in love with him.
Chapter Forty-Seven
Greid
“Don’t team up with him, you idiot!” I yelled at the TV around the joint between my lips. “He’s already formed an alliance with that other dude! They’re gonna double cross you!”
I was watching a reality show where humans were taken to an underground cave network and competed to survive like the Deep Earth demiurgus ancestors. They had to forage for food, build safe nests, and try and work out where these big artificial jewels were buried to receive rewards. They all had demiurgus mentors on hand, and had to take part in challenges like hanging from stalactites for as long as possible, or eating bugs.
I was a little addicted to it.
Sliding lower on the couch, I stretched an arm out to reach for the last egg roll on the coffee table and stuffed it into my mouth. I was in my true demiurgus form, which meant my snout was long enough for me to leave the joint between my lips and eat at the same time.
I rolled my eyes when one of the humans on screen retched as she watched her fellow competitor stuff a fat grub into his mouth with a grimace.
“Come on, dude,” I told her around my mouthful. “It’s just protein.”
My siblings and I used to dare each other to eat all kinds of shit we came across while playing outside. Well, usually it was Nuni daring me and calling me a wimp if I said no, but my sister Daga would come to my defence and call him a wimp if he didn’t do it too. I had fond memories of his mouth swelling up after he ate a wasp one time, because it’d made it hard for him to talk for the rest of the day.
I jumped when I heard the front door being unlocked and slammed shut a few seconds later. I fumbled with my phone, suddenly worried that I’d lost track of time and been late meeting Beryl after her shift, but it was only nine. She wasn’t meant to finish for another few hours.
My face screwed up when I saw I had a text from Agma. What the hell did she want?
Just as I was deciding whether or not to open it, Beryl appeared in the living room doorway, still in her coat and boots with a strange look on her face.
“Hey.” I struggled upright, shoving back my messy hair. “Are you okay? How come you’re home earl—”
“I need to tell you something.”
My gut shrivelled up with apprehension. What could be so important that she’d left work early to tell me?
Had she been fired for some reason? I couldn’t see how that would be possible. Fuck, did she want to move out?
