Page 363 of Evil Hearts

With a firm slap on my ass, Rune nodded at the stairs. “Go on then.”

I narrowed my eyes at them, shaking my head. “Oh, ho, ho. I’m going to fucking destroy you, shadow.”

They smirked. “Promises, promises.”

When I got to the roof, it was raining outside, so at least there was that. I stepped out into the open air, letting the storm drench me. It felt amazing to have the cold water slip between my scales. I released a deep breath, which created a barely noticeable fluffy cloud in front of my face.

“Who—Who’s there?” Aki’s voice broke the somewhat silence of the rooftop, and I looked over to my left, where she was curled up against a pillar near the singular overhang that could protect her from the rain.

It wasn’t doing an outstanding job, though. Akirako was drenched, the fabric of her pale gray tank clinging to her slight body. She was shivering, the short locks of her dark hair hanging in wet clumps around her face. It reminded me of kelp, and I had to shake away the desire to walk right up to her and touch it.

It was stupid because I just should. I should just haul Aki’s ass down the stairs, throwing her over my shoulder if necessary. But for some stupid fucking reason, I was being…patient.

“It’s Baltzehier. The others want you to come back downstairs.”

She stood up, her black leggings shiny for the amount of water they’d absorbed. “The others. The other monsters, you mean?”

I shrugged.

Aki scoffed, shaking her head and folding her arms as she shivered. I noticed then that the tips of her hair, cut into an asymmetrical bob, were grey. She also had an undercut, the buzzed section near her ear, keeping the hair on that side from getting in her face.

“That’s it? That’s all you’re going to do? Shrug at me?” She shook her head again, a habit of hers, and then suddenly jabbed a finger in my direction. “You said you were going to eat me. Why the fuck would I want to volunteer for that?”

“Depends on the type of eating, I suppose.” The words were out of my mouth before I could think better of them, and I groaned to myself, roughly clearing my throat as I mirrored her arm-cross. “It’s warmer inside. Humans like warm, don’t they?”

She narrowed her eyes at me. “Humans? You say it like we’re some weird species or something. You’re the walking-talking octopus unicorn man.”

I laughed, unable to stop myself, and it appeared to surprise the hell out of both of us. “Octopus unicorn man? The fuck does that mean?”

Aki rolled her eyes, and I tracked the motion as she leaned back into her rear foot. She was…interesting, and I could hardly deny that she was attractive.

Her parents were Japanese, first-generation, and she’d been brought up in the city her entire life. Her mother was an alcoholic, and it took a significant turn for the worst when her father died of cancer, and there was no one there to help rein her mother in. Aki was also a chronically ill child with ED issues, and the woman liked the attention she got whenever she brought her daughter to the doctor.

Yeah, I knew about her. I’d read the shit that Rune brought up, and we’d all been “around” in the background while she was growing up.Monstershave the benefit of living much longer, it seemed, and I could still remember her spotting me in my lesshuman form when she was camping in the woods near the lake. She’d been about six.

Called me a pretty boy. Ha.

As far as humans went, Akirako was different, it seemed. She took the hand she’d been dealt and did her best to live with it. She worked hard, did her best to manage her condition, and didn’t let any of it keep her from doing things that she wanted, whether that was getting a tattoo or piercings, playing her favorite games, or becoming one of the top researchers in her office.

Interesting, indeed.

“Umm, how is that not clear? You have a horn, you have,” Aki cocked her head, studying my appendages as they moved, “tentacles and apparently a tail, and you’re covered in scales and fins. Oh, and you’re blue. Unicorn octopus, with some fish thrown in.”

Fighting back a grin, I just stared at her. The silence stretched between us, and I couldn’t keep myself from running my gaze down her body. She was a tiny thing, probably five-two max, and very sleek. She was cold, given that her nipples were about to cut through her shirt, and her full lips trembled.

“Will you come downstairs?” I raised my brows.

“Why? Why would I do that? I’m not looking to hurry up on my way toward death.”

She stood straight as an arrow despite how the cold was forcing her to shake slightly. Raindrops dripped off the ends of her hair and nose, and Aki flicked her head, throwing them to the ground.

“I will not kill you, Aki. No one here will.” I was straightforward; there was little reason to do anything else. “We’ve been keeping an eye on you for your entire life. Stepping in where necessary. This last time…well, we were forced to reveal ourselves.”

Glaring at me, Aki’s anger and frustration boiled over, mixing with the fear in her blood to create an astringent scent that burned my nostrils.

“How can you expect me to believe that?”

“It’s the truth. I may be a ‘monster,’ but I don’t have any reason to lie. As you said, I could just eat you. But I haven’t.”

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