Page 4 of Monster Married
I turned and looked at Inkiri, who seemed pleased by my interaction with Nokim, and realized he wasn’t wearing the black clothes he normally wore, but the ones the hotel had provided; a loose-fitting purple garment with blue petal patterns woven into it. Nokim wore the same. That was odd.
Then I remembered. Inkiri’s clothes had been torn open.
I gasped. “Ink, did you get shot?”
He had been. I knew that, remembered it, but not like a memory of something I’d been part of. This was that different kind of knowing. It had seemed natural when my hands were on the Stone of Destiny, when the Stone had sung and I’d been able to see what was going on all around me.
Now, I wasn’t so sure I could trust that unnatural knowledge, if Inkiri’s black clothes had really been shot to bits. But the knowledge of him getting shot lived right next to the certainty that he was mine—my mate, soul mate, the word didn’t really matter. He was for me and I was for him, like presents we’d exchanged with one another. Strangely enough, I trusted that.
Inkiri tilted his head. “Yes. They were trying to shoot you.” He rubbed my back. “But you don’t need to worry right now.” He cast a meaningful look at Nokim. “Rory is hungry and needs to eat.”
Nokim nodded. “We just ordered breakfast.” He rocked back and forth on his paw-like feet. “I’m excited to see what he likes. It’s the first honkora week here. I say we take him to see it.”
Inkiri frowned. “We decided on a few days of rest, Noki.”
Nokim crossed his arms. “Maybe he will find honkora week restful. Do not be… Oh, is it spillsport, Rory?”
“I think you mean spoilsport.” I shrugged and blinked up at Inkiri. “Sorry, but he asked.”
Inkiri clicked at me. “Nokim and his inquisitive mind. Don’t worry about it, Sadir.”
I cleared my throat. “I can definitely not worry. That’s my specialty. Anyway, what’s honk roar week? Sounds kind of noisy.”
Inkiri bent to lick my neck before he said, “It translates to seed week. It used to be when farmers bought and sold their spring harvest seeds along with that season’s harvest. These days, it’s mostly a street festival with much food and drink.”
“With wine, women, and song!” Nokim turned on the spot like a dancer before going back to his overexcited rocking.
Inkiri put his hand on the small of my back and nudged me forward. “Something to discuss later, Noki.”
“Ah, always so worried.” Nokim fell into step on my other side. “He was worrying also back on Earth when you and Vergis were gone. Then he worried yesterday when you just smiled as if you were high, as Vergis said. I said you were probably happy because you had saved everyone, but Vergis is better at reading human faces.”
I cackled. “High? Well, that’s sanctimonious coming from someone who just randomly chews on flowers.”
“What’s sanctimonious?” Nokim asked.
I waved my hand in front of my face. “Him chewing those flowers to get high and then calling me high despite me never even smoking a joint.”
Inkiri clicked. “He is asking what the word means, Sadir.”
Of course he was. Nokim looked at me and nodded.
I cleared my throat. “It means… It’s like the pot calling the kettle black.”
“Hmm.” Nokim cocked his head. “I’m not sure what that means either. Is it about not lying? If so, Vergis wasn’t saying something that’s not true intentionally. No one was sure what was happening to you.”
I shook my head. “No, that’s not—sanctimonious is…uh…”
I looked at Inkiri, hoping he’d help me out. He did, saying a word in their language to Nokim.
“Ah. I don’t think Vergis meant it like that.” Nokim’s conviction about Vergis’s intentions was admirable; admirably misguided. “I don’t think he knew what was wrong with you, but we all wondered, and he guessed. I don’t think he likes guessing when he isn’t sure what the right answer is, but he was trying to help.”
The porch led past a set of open doors, and a glance inside the room beyond revealed a similar setup to where Inkiri and I had slept; just as nicely decorated inside and distracting enough to make me forget about Vergis and how I was pretty sure helping wasn’t anywhere in his vocabulary.
I pointed at the room. “This is basically a hotel, isn’t it?”
Nokim nodded. “Yes. These rooms are ours.”
That explained why they had heard…what they had heard. I needed to focus on being quieter when I was having sex with my monster boyfriend. I felt my cheeks heat.
