Page 39 of I Dated a Golden Vampire
“Oh, right.”He slumped slightly.“Pria, what we did—”
“You did, and it was nothing, Master Roil.”
“Pria, why are you calling me that.My name is Riro.”
She paused and explained.“When you were Master Roil, I could trust you.You took care of me, and I didn’t worry about what happened next.I would like to reset you to trustworthy status, and that requires a name change.”
He blinked.“You think I betrayed you?”
“I am so frustrated right now, I want to slice this damned boat in half.”
He cleared his throat and said, “I thought you would take care of that yourself.”
“How?”
Shock was on his features.“What?”
“I.Don’t.Know.How.I haven’t done that and don’t know where to start, and starting angry wouldn’t be a good first time.”
“Oh, Pria.I am so sorry.I didn’t know.”
She cocked her head.“Yes, you did.It was in my file.I had four years where I couldn’t move my hands.When did you think I would start to touch myself when I was numb?I can move tons of water with my mind, and you think I wouldn’t lose control on myself?That was told to me more times than I could count by medical teams.”She was rising up in her anger and looked down to see water under her feet.
She looked at him.“Idiot.”She ran and jumped off the ship, was caught by water, and then cruised away slowly, swaying as she skated on the surface.She needed the water more than she needed people.
* * * *
Cabree saw Pria falling, and she gasped when Pria left the area around the ship and headed far down the shoreline.
“Oh, she’s really mad.”
“I thought she danced with water,” Denog murmured.“That is more like a hockey game.”
“That’s only when she’s happy.I don’t think we are going to be seeing that on this visit.”She held Denog’s arm as they walked toward the stunned Riro.
He nodded.
Riro looked back at her and frowned.“How can you be trained for this, and she isn’t?”
“I went for months of escort training, and I was lonely and wanted to understand what would happen at every phase along the way.I know how to bring myself pleasure if Denog gets bored and wanders away, and I also know if he ever leaves me hanging, that is the last time he will see me.She’s a trainee defender who is recovering from a life-threatening injury after she just learned how to walk again.”
Riro blinked.
“But, hey.She isn’t an escort; she is just another active with a strong sex drive and absolutely no outlet.She’s about one more bad experience from becoming a villain.”
“She’s calling me Master Roil now.”
“Of course.She could trust you when she was your apprentice.Now, you have an endgame that she knows about, but when she thinks you are on the path, you stop and veer away.If a female did that to you, what would you have done?”
His gaze flickered, and he groaned, rubbing his hand over his face.“What do you think she will do?”
“If she is just angry, she will go out and run the waves until she’s tired and then probably have to swim home.If she is depressed, she will just go to the ocean because she trusts it, and we will find her body or something will eat her.”Denog was calm.
Riro looked appalled.“She wouldn’t.She fought to live.”
“Then, she will just head out there until she’s tired and then will come home.”
Riro asked, “You are sure?”
