Page 57 of Hold my Reins

Rox wasn’t sure if it was because Lynck didn’t want to let him go or out of concern that Rox might freak out about fish again and drown. “Are you sure the others will be okay with me moving into your room?”

“They will not mind. You do not mind sharing a house with monsters?”

“No.” The monsters had been nothing but kind to him. Eventually, they’d find their own place, but for the moment, moving in with Lynck was the right thing to do. It was what hewanted to do. Assuming Thursten and Aski were okay sharing with a human.

Lynck set him down on the shore and wrung out his tail and mane. Rox’s skin pebbled with the cold, and his fingers didn’t want to work as he pulled on his track pants—he was so glad that he hadn’t worn jeans, as they would’ve been impossible to pull on with wet skin. The silver chain fell out of his pocket and landed on the wet sand.

He stared at it, then glanced up at Lynck, who was also looking at the chain.

Rox picked it up. “What do you want to do with this? Is it dangerous? Can it be used to…to catch you again?”

Lynck pulled the disk with Bothvar’s marking off the chain, then tossed it into the lake, where it disappeared without a splash. “I don’t know if the magic is in the chain, the disk, or me, but I have never known another monster who can be bridled.”

“Is it possible to cut the chain into pieces now it’s broken? If I can’t, can we assume there is still magic in the chain, and it needs to be buried at the bottom of the lake.” There didn’t appear to be a clasp on the chain nor a broken link where it had come apart.

Lynck frowned and gave a single nod. He folded Rox’s fingers over the chain. “You removed the bridle, so it is yours. If you want to cut it up and melt it down, you may. If you want me to take it to the bottom of the lake, I will.”

“If it’s dangerous, I don’t want to leave it can be found.”

“Then destroy it.”

“And if I can’t?”

“Let’s do one thing at a time.” He tilted Rox’s chin and kissed him. Lynck’s lips were warm even though he was naked, and his hair was wet.

“Do you want to wear the hoodie?” Or was Lynck not feeling the cold?

“Thank you.” Lynck picked up the hoodie and tied it around his waist, the body of the hoodie over his junk and the arms tied over his tail, leaving the cheeks of his ass bare. That wasn’t how Rox expected him to wear it, but since Lynck deemed it appropriate, that was all that mattered.

Rox tried to imagine living in a village where walking around with his ass out was normal. But he didn’t have a tail, and the tail did conceal a lot.

Lynck offered his hand for the walk back to the truck. “Hopefully Thursten doesn’t think we’ve drowned.”

Rox shoved the chain back into his pocket, vowing to deal with it tomorrow. Tomorrow loomed large as everything rushed back, stealing the peace that had existed when it was only him and Lynck in existence. “Shit.”

“What?”

“My boss is dead. I may not have a job.” He was not leaving Elder Ridge. He’d find another job.

“He left you in charge of the shop?”

Rox frowned. “Yes.”

“So you keep working, and when he doesn’t come back, you tell the humans in charge of the portal, and they will sort it out.”

“They will sell it.”

“Not if he left you in charge and you are meeting the obligations.”

“Yeah, I don’t know what they are.” He was going to have to go through the paperwork. And find bank accounts and lease statements and all kinds of things… He exhaled. One thing at a time. “That might be a problem for another day.”

“I think we’ve done enough for one night, and dawn will be here soon.”

“Ugh.” Rox dragged his feet. “I am so not ready to face a new day.”

Lynck laughed and swept him up. “The world can wait for a couple of hours.”

epilogue

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