Page 16 of Rifted Hearts
He took a leash and collar out of one of the saddle bags, and Lyall came running up to him, vibrating with pleasure as the vet assistant snapped them into place. The dog gave Remi a wink.
Lyall was such a horny little bastard.
“I’m going to take Lyall for a walk to see the old military base.” Kat’s perky expression faded into bewilderment again. Remi could almost hear his internal confusion—why do I want to go there?
Lyall pulled at the leash, tugging the cute vet assistant in the direction of the abandoned military installation. Remi had a brief flash of anxiety. If there was any danger in the monstertown, Lyall wouldn’t be close if Remi needed help.
On the other hand, the dog wouldn’t be close to Kaveh. Remi had never thought the surly hellhound would be competition, but Kaveh was a special case.
“The perimeter should be safe during the day, but don’t get too close.” Kaveh gestured toward the gray walls in the distance, about halfway to the glimmering light of the Saguaro Rift. “The dog may get too alarmed for you to get anywhere near the outer fence anyway. Earth animals are terrified of the phantoms’ scent. As they should be.”
Phantoms? More Riftworld mons Remi had never heard of. Maybe they were the source of the rumors Lyall had been talking about. Anything deadly enough to worry a hellhound wasn’t the kind of trouble Remi was looking for.He considered asking Kaveh about the phantoms, but the vet had turned to walk to the monstertown.
Remi hurried to catch up. He fell into step beside the vet, who was, yet again, aloof and unreachable. The strong and silent routine was getting old.
“Riding Amanita went well.” Remi edged closer to the veterinarian as they walked toward the monstertown front gates. He smelled like leather and spring rain, and it was all Remi could do not to sniff him. “I take it she’s the mother of that baby demon unicorn in the petting zoo.”
“Amanita made a connection with you.” Kaveh gave him a sidelong glance. “I thought the two of you might have something in common, and it seems I was right.”
He didn’t put any challenge in the words, but Remi was once again left wondering if the man suspected his true identity or was merely a terrible conversationalist.
Fuck it. Remi couldn’t take this anymore. He gave up on his seduction magic and snapped back, “Like killer looks, a great body, and a charming personality?”
Kaveh chuckled, which Remi hadn’t expected at all. “Two out of three maybe. Amanita has quite the temper.”
“I never get angry,” Remi said. “I get even.”
That provoked a full laugh from the veterinarian, which was a hell of a lot better than anything Remi had achieved with his compulsion abilities.
They stopped in front of the gates, the late morning sun hot and yellow overhead. Kaveh bowed to the male dog lion then turned and gave a deeper bow to the female.
“Greetings, Dr. Salehi.” The female dog lion turned her head, her stone-like skin wrinkling as she did so. “We see you have a guest.”
“Remi Gatti. Nice to meet you.” Remi didn’t have to feign surprise at the discovery that the statues were livingguardians. He had met a few Riftworld creatures with a similar gargoyle-like appearance, but these two were much more impressive. They looked like they could do a lot of damage to anyone trying to attack the town.
The gates swung open, and he and Kaveh stepped off the dirt road that led into the town and onto the paved surface of Main Street, Cactus Flower Estates.
Otherwise known as the Saguaro Rift monstertown.
The town looked like its history—part suburban housing development, part recycled military junk, and the remainder total bizarreness. Some of the inhabitants had tried to recreate Riftworld architecture, including one house-like structure with walls covered in scales that rippled from the muscles underneath and a roof covered in tufts of coarse hair.
“The farmers’ market is in the main square.” Kaveh gestured down the street to a central park.
There was a buzz of noise from that direction, and as they walked, a bicyclist with bright pink hair under a helmet decorated with dragon scales zoomed past them in the direction of the square. Remi couldn’t tell if the person was Riftworld or human.
“It’s early, so they’ll be setting up,” Kaveh said, “but I’m sure you’ll get some great interviews.”
Remi wanted to hear that laugh again, deep and joyful, but he had no idea what had brought that side of Kaveh out. Remi had acted like himself, which was so not the way to get a man. Still, Kaveh seemed to appreciate bluntness.
“What do the townies here think about the drakones?” Remi tried to slow down to match Kaveh’s steady pace as they walked. They were close to the same height, but the vet’s gait seemed deliberately slow, as if he didn’t want to rush bringing Remi into the heart of the monstertown. “I’dthink they’d be unhappy about having giant dragon overlords.”
“The drakone clan would only intervene if there was a serious threat to the town’s inhabitants.” Kaveh answered his question with a solid finality. He was a loyal minion, that much was clear. “This monstertown abides by local laws and ordinances for the most part.”
“That sounds like a big caveat.” Remi wondered what information Lyall might bring back from his jaunt with Kat to the military base. He had better be focused on getting good intel and not on the twink who was walking him on a leash. Their cover would certainly be blown if Lyall transformed into his human form—or worse, his hellhound manifestation.
“With the exception of the clans who live inside the base, who have a limited understanding of human society, everyone here is interested in coexisting peacefully with their neighbors.” Kaveh paused at the entrance to the park, where a mixed group of humans and rift people were setting up stands for the Saturday market.
Amidst carts for selling desert art and cactus fruit drinks, Remi spotted Riftworld displays featuring foods not likely to be appreciated or even digestible by human palates, along with textiles, furniture, and body decoration entirely alien to Earth. Remi preferred to keep himself as fully in the human world as possible, but shopping excursions that included these type of items didn’t come along every day. He had been banned for life from the closest spot to Boston, the Witch City monstertown.
