AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I chuckled again, then sobered. “It was sad saying goodbye to my aunt, but I can visit her.”
“Will you be able to stay in touch?”
“Yeah, once I’ve found a job and saved up for a phone.”
He went to wave a hand, almost nailing me in the side with my suitcase. After mumbling an apology, he cleared his throat and said, “I just upgraded, so you can have my old one. If you want. It’s the last model, so still pretty new.”
“Really?” I looked up at him, noticing how he kept his eyes fixed studiously in front. The fronds on his pointed ear fluttered gently. “I can pay you for it.”
“It’s just sitting in a drawer. You can have it.”
“I… Thank you.” I flushed, not really knowing what to say. “I appreciate it, but I… We probably should’ve discussed this yesterday, but once I have a job I’ll obviously contribute toward bills and stuff.”
He shrugged, then glanced over at me with a sly smile. “You’re one tiny human. I doubt any of my utility bills will go up much.”
I grinned. “How do you know? Maybe I like to take two-hour-long showers. Plus, I like food. And for the first time, I’ll be able to eat whatever I want. I want to eat everything.”
Greid let out a throaty laugh. “I like food too, and trust me, I eat way more than you.”
“Because you’re always high?”
He shot me a weak glare. “I’m not always high. I’m not high right now.”
“Your self-restraint is awe-inspiring,” I deadpanned.
He huffed. “I just like food, okay? Even when I’m not high.”
Smirking a little, I asked, “Do you like to cook?”
“Uh… no,” he admitted sheepishly. “I order takeout a lot.”
“That’s fine with me,” I said eagerly. “I want to try all different kinds of foods. What will we have tonight?”
He glanced over with a tiny smile. “What do you want to try first?”
I thought about it for a second. “Burgers. But, like, with everything you can get on top. Cheese, bacon, pickles…”
“You’ve never had a burger?” He looked back at the compound, now way above us as we descended the hill. His yellow eyes narrowed. “This place is cursed.”
Greid’s car was a tall older-model SUV. In black, obviously. He juggled with my suitcases to open the passenger door for me, which made me smile, then went around to load my luggage into the back.
I realised why he had such a big car when he slid into the driver’s seat beside me and still had to hunch a little, his knees framing the steering wheel. My mouth twitched again as he glanced over sheepishly and pulled on the front of his sweater a few times.
“Sorry. I, uh, got kinda sweaty running up those fucking stairs.” He fumbled to put the keys in the ignition, and once the engine roared to life, he rolled down his window.
“Don’t worry.” Honestly, the car smelled fine, and he smelled… kinda good. There was a hint of clean sweat beneath warmed skin, with a soft, comforting scent drifting from his clothes. I wondered if it was the shade herb he smoked.
Greid cleared his throat, long fingers fidgeting on the steering wheel. “Ready?”
“Yes.” My voice came out a little hoarse, so I repeated, “Yes. I’m ready.”
I refused to look up at the compound as he smoothly pulled away from the side of the road. I was feeling surprisingly calm, but I wondered if it just hadn’t sunk in yet, and I didn’t want to risk a sudden bout of panic if I looked up the hill as we drove away.
Instead, I focused on the park to our right. It was huge and sprawling, lined with trees that eventually melted into the dense forest to the east. I knew that somewhere deep in that forest were the entrances to the place the demiurgus originally came from. They were protected landmarks now, and heavily guarded at all times by a division of the military made up entirely of demiurgus whose sole task was to watch over the areas. Evidently, they didn’t want curious humans going down there, but the demiurgus could come and go as they pleased.
There were several similar landmarks across the world, and when the demiurgus had come to the surface long ago, they’d settled in groups in the nearby land. It meant that some cities and towns didn’t have a single demiurgus citizen, while cities like ours had demiurgus populations so high that specialised businesses and purpose-built homes existed for them.
The global population was still around one demiurgus for every thousand humans, which maybe explained why cults like The Order existed. They were somewhat rare—some humans went their entire lives without ever meeting one in person. If I’d been born anywhere else, that could’ve been the case.
