Page 33 of Beyond the Ruby River
Of course Temaj knew his personal business. His mother and sister would have been filling him in on every detail. Daka blew out a defeated sigh. “Everyone else is tired of hearing it.”
Temaj bumped their hips. “All the more reason to tell me.”
Daka led them toward the pubs along the docks where people would be gathered en masse. Easy pickings for an incubus and a vampire. The evening air had cooled, but the coastal breeze brought a sticky humidity along with it.
“I should have been honest with Mahu,” Daka admitted, taking advantage of another willing ear. “I should have told him what I am.”
“That is the last thing you should have done, Dakarai. Not only because it’s against our code and puts you in danger, but because Mahu has not the frame of reference for which to understand it.”
“I could have explained…”
Temaj waited for him to finish. When no words came, he said, “Explained what exactly? He’s been taught that demons, if they do exist, are evil and come to earth merely to curse the living with terrible afflictions. As if none of us have our own lives to manage so we must seek our thrills by vexing theirs. It’s really quite selfish if you think about it.”
Curses were the first thing Mahu had mentioned. “He did think I’d cursed him.”
Temaj tutted. “You have better things to do. Any man worth your spit would know that.”
Daka shook his head. “You’ve got the wrong impression of him. He isn’t selfish at all, and the superstitions aren’t his fault. He’s survived his family and thinks they’ll be reunited in the afterlife. He believes I threaten that.”
“Donkey shit.” Temaj pursed his lips. “You and I both know the afterlife is nothing but nonsense the pharaohs made up to feel important.”
Temaj said the words with certainty, but Daka wasn’t so sure. He’d never died, so who was he to say what happens after? Whether or not Mahu’s beliefs were correct, they were dear to him, and though it was difficult, Daka was trying to respect them.
The two of them—a vampire and an incubus, who need not fear death—debating the afterlife wasn’t useful.
“I scared him,” Daka admitted, frowning. “I feel bad for it. He hates me.”
Temaj stopped them, pulled Daka out of the stream of people, and spun him around face to face. “That is his loss, Daka, not yours. You’re meant for greater things.”
Daka hated that sentiment, but Temaj only meant to help. Sometimes Daka felt his human side needed to be wrangled into obedience, though it would be so much easier if he could simply be himself.
His voice, when it came, sounded small. “I don’t want great things. I want one man. Mahu.”
Temaj wrapped him in a hug. “Ah, to be young and in love.”
Daka laid his head on Temaj’s shoulder. If he wasn’t careful, he’d start crying, and once the tears came, they were impossible to stop. He squeezed his eyes shut.
“I don’t mean to sound condescending”—Temaj patted his back—“but one day you’ll look back on this and realize leaving him was for the best.”
Daka kept his doubts to himself.
“You’re in no mood to hunt, are you?”
“I’m really not.” Daka slunk out of the hug to catch Temaj’s eyes. “But my mother and sister were about to take matters into their own hands, so I don’t have much of a choice.”
“How about you let me do all the work tonight? I’m starved.”
“What do you mean?”
Temaj touched his own chest, his perfectly manicured fingernails gleaming. “I hunt. I’ll find us a great big man to share, and I’ll do all the work. You just close your eyes and fill your belly, yes?”
“That would be great.” A thought occurred to Daka. Temaj only needed blood, but he knew what Daka would need. So what he was offering… “Are you sure Solon wouldn’t mind?”
Temaj’s tinkling laughter floated away on the breeze. “No, dear. Solon and I have an understanding relationship that includes anyone either of us would like to bring into it. I assure you I may fuck whomever I please with his blessing. If he were here, he’d enjoy watching.”
“Perhaps you should be the incubus, and I the vampire.”
One side of Temaj’s plump lips curled to a smile. “Indeed.”
