Page 70 of The Fake Divination Offense
“Maywe?” Tem scoffs. “He abducted him!”
“I didnotabduct—”
Fingers press to my bicep.
I turn and Alexo’s staring past me, at Tem, with an odd mix of fear and shame. He put last night’s clothes back on but they’re wrinkled now, his hair still a mess, and he smells like peppermint toothpaste—and me. From sleeping in my clothes and all over my body.
I instantly hook my arm around him and try to put as much of myself in front of him as I can.
“What do you want to do?” I ask Alexo. AllIwant to do is slam the door on Tem’s face, but if he called an adventure party because he thought IabductedAlexo…
Alexo flicks his eyes up to me. “Let them come in. I owe you an explanation.”
Tem chokes. “You sure as helldo not.”
But the woman behind Tem makes a thoughtful noise. “Does he deserve your explanation, Alexo? Even with who his god is?”
The fuck does that have to do with anything? I swear, if Urzoth somehow interferes with helping Alexo right now, I’ll renounce his ass so hard—
But wait a second.
Does Alexo know this woman?
Without looking away from me, Alexo nods. “He’s not his god,” he says to her. To me. “He’s stronger.”
My chest concaves. I’m not entirely sure what’s happening, but I stay alert and back up, keeping Alexo against me as I make room for Tem and the two other people to get inside.
I shut the door, my fingers probably digging bruises into Alexo’s side.
“This wasn’t an abduction,” I say to the elven woman.
The other guy surveys the living room, checking behind the curtains, the couch. He pulls a vial out and does a spell that flutters over the whole room in a wash of shimmering arcane blue before it fades.
“Secure,” he says.
Secure? What the hell is happening?
The elven woman nods. “We know it wasn’t an abduction, Mr. Monroe. My apologies for the abruptness of—”
“Itwasan abduction. He gottaken,” Tem growls, hands fisted. He faces Alexo. “I’ve been out searching for you all night. I called and called, only to discover you left your phone in the room?”
Tem yanks that phone out of his pocket and chucks it at Alexo.
Alexo swings his hands up, but I grab it before it can get anywhere close to him. With that trajectory, it would have hit him in the face.
My glare could shatter rock. I hope it does. I hope Tem feels a tremor in his bones. “Throw something else at him again, and you’ll find that same object shoved down your throat.”
Tem looks ready to blow, waiting,hopingfor me to make the first move.
Normally, that anticipatory look in his eyes would have me dropping into a peaceful resolution.Don’t be what people expect of me; don’t use my size, my Urzoth legacy, in ways that harm or intimidate.
But he threatened Alexo.
And that’s my line, apparently. The gloves-off line, the expectations-be-damned line.
It should scare me. Unsettle me, at the very least; I’m usually so in control.
But I will fuck Temupif he tries to hurt Alexo again.
