There was a flash of bright light, a puff of smoke, and then Kai felt the boundary ease.
He was free.
He let out a joyful cry, stepping out in one long stride and sweeping the human up, tossing him in the air. “It’s done!” he crowed, catching him as he fell.
There was no reply.
He looked down to find Sascha limp in his arms.
The human had fainted.
It took only a brief search—thehuman a negligible weight in his arms in the meantime—for Kai to find the only bedroom in the house with a made bed, presumably where the human slept.
He set Sascha down gently on top of the covers. He found himself strangely reluctant to let go—it had been so long since he’d had any sort of touch at all, and it was oddly soothing to have that warm bundle in his hold.
But Sascha would no doubt sleep for a while yet—the act of sealing a contract tended to take it out of a human, even those who weren’t squeamish at the sight of blood.
It was almost beyond comprehension: Kaisyir summoned by one who fainted at bloodshed.
What possible enemies could such a slip of a thing have?
Opportunists, perhaps? Aggressors looking to take advantage of his slight build and frail disposition? A hot surge of anger rose in Kai’s chest at the thought of it. He ran his tongue thoughtfully over sharp incisors.
Whoever they were, they had another thing coming, didn’t they?
The pup had protection now.
The contract had seen to that, as it always did. Kai could feel it, deep in his chest—that kernel of Sascha’s essence he had taken. A warm weight just as soft and sweet as the feel of Sascha in his arms had been.
Strange. Kai had never enjoyed the feel of a soul piece before. Nor the taste of one. But Sascha’s…
Delicious.
Kai watched that sleeping form a moment longer, his gaze focused on the gentle, steady rise and fall of Sascha’s chest. There was a sliver of pale skin where his shirt had ridden up—Kai could tell, just from looking, that it would be like silk to the touch.
He wasn’t boring, this human. Even in his sleep, he wasn’t boring, his face contorting into little frowns, his hands clenching and unclenching. Bad dreams? Nightmare could have had quite a feast with him, if so.
But it wasn’t Nightmare who’d been summoned, was it?
Just the thought of it sent a strange wave of possessiveness through Kai. He shrugged it off—the beginning of a contract always left one a bit unsettled—studying the rest of the human, from top to toe. The fingernails of his left hand were painted blue. But only the one hand. A strange custom, that. It brought to mind what he might look like with other embellishments. And his clothing was oddly drab—it didn’t fit the essence of him at all. He’d be better suited to bright colors and soft silks, surely. Perhaps fine jewelry as well.
Kai had once seen a man with a gold chain around his middle, one end of it dangling down, dipping low, all the way to…
He shook his head, purging such thoughts. He was becoming just as bad as the incubus. This was not about physical desire. It was a bargain—one boon for another.
Kai did not fuck his bargains.
Although, he’d never had a bargain like Sascha before…
No.It was past time to leave this room. Too long in the Void had left him susceptible to weakness of the flesh; that was all. Best to occupy his mind with other things. Perhaps a search of the house would give him a clue to Sascha’s predicament. The faster Kai could deal with it, the faster he would be free to return to his own world.
And then what?
Kai shook the thought away. If nothing else, a cursory look through the house might help orient him to this time. He’d seen the centuries pass, more or less, from looking through the portal.He knew in his mind the human world had changed. But being immersed in the reality of it was another matter, wasn’t it?
All the plastic doodads, for one. Technology, as they called it. Like the little handheld devices that allowed humans to speak to someone a world away. Or the Internet, however that damned thing worked.
Why hadn’t Kai asked the others to teach him better?
