Page 37 of My Orc Billionaire
When the door slammed behind him, I slumped in relief, and my brother began to chuckle.
“It’s a shame to rushbkarn, but I’ll pack leftovers for you. Thanks for enduring the chaos with us. I thought tonight might be a good time to introduce you to Eastshore.”
Cautiously, I edged back toward the table, where he’d begun to saw off large pieces of dripping meat and push them toward me. “Why?”
He glanced up briefly, his expression hidden when he bent back over his task. “Because the whole town goes all out for Halloween, but it’ll be dark.”
Ah. “And no one will be able to see my scars and run off screaming?” I remembered what I’d learnedabout the holiday in the past years. “Or they’ll think I’m wearing a terrifying Halloween mask?”
“No, you ass.” My brother handed me a plate, exasperation in his eyes. “Because you’ll blend in with the rest of us. Eat up.”
Blend in with the rest of us.
Because Eastshore was now filled with orcs. Mybrothers. Males I knew and trusted, males who’d chosen this place as their home. Males who had found happiness and Mates andpeacehere.
This place wasn’t like other human towns, was it? It wasn’t even like Bramblewood, our sanctuary from the humans. Because Eastshoredidhave humans…and they’d accepted orcs. They didn’t think we were evil or to be feared, did they?
Not all of us are like that.
Riven had said that.
My little human had been opening my mind since the moment I’d met her, but I hadn’t realized it. Was she the reason I was here tonight with Aswan’s family, tentatively willing to immerse myself in Eastshore? I remembered her pride as she gave me that tour the other night—the tour which had promptly been overshadowed by the storm and that kiss.
That kiss…andmore.
Was that why I was here?
Thoughtfully, I bit into thebkarn, and didn’t bother hiding my groan of satisfaction.
Riven was a brilliant chef, but my brother still made the best traditional recipes. And since he wasusing the meat as a bribe to get me surrounded by Eastshore tonight, then I might as well enjoy it.
Abydos
I suspectedI needed to learn to stop being surprised by Eastshore, but I couldn’t help it.
In the ten years I’d spent living near Bramblewood Bluff, I’d become used to small-town life with different species living together. But there were only a handful of humans there, and plenty of hulking orc males.
Eastshore was the opposite. And yet…
Everyone moved fluidly. Everyone greeted each other, everyone was friendly and accepting. Maybe it was just because it was a holiday?
I have to admit, Halloween in Eastshore was fuckingcozy.
Each shop along Main Street was decorated. Some had fake spider webs and electronic ghosts that wriggled as you passed by and played spooky music. Some had scarecrows and corn husks tied together. There were a lot more orange and purple string lights than I’d ever remembered seeing in one place…
And everywhere, there were children.
Shrieking children, laughing children, children hyped up on too much sugar and losing their ever-loving minds as they ran from one store to the next.
Oh, because each of these shops? Not only were they decorated, but the proprietors were giving out candy. Some, like the bakery, invited everyone inside to get their candy—Cairo’s Mate was also offering spiked cider and hot chocolate for sale. Others, like the jewelry store, had very carefully set up their booth in the doorway, to prevent children from rushing inside.
“Look, Mom!” Ben called, screeching to a halt in front of us as we strolled down the sidewalk. “Full-sized candy bars!Score!”
“Mrs. Albee set up her trunk to look like it’s underwater!” Tova cried, grabbing her mother’s arm and tugging. “Comeon, yougottasee it!”
Oh yeah, that was another thing; it wasn’t just the shops that were decorated. All up and down Main Street, residents had parked their cars and popped their trunks, and decorated the hell out of them. They stood beside—orin—their creations and handed out more candy. I saw one that looked like a mummy’s tomb, one that was clearly a kids’ movie I didn’t understand with a bunch of little yellow round creatures wearing overalls, and several that looked like fairy tale forests.
This was…odd.
