Page 7 of It Varies
He chuckled.“I do indeed.I also fuck.”
She stared at him as he was gently massaging her ankles.“Uh.Okay.”
“Didn’t experience a hormone surge?”
“That is over with, and my friends got me a whole bunch of rechargeable friends.I am good.”
His expression faltered, and she saw disappointment.
“I feel like I should apologize, but I honestly never thought I would see you again.”
He nodded.“I have been looking for you, but it was difficult to find you.”
“Annika wasn’t forthcoming?”
“When her alpha learned that she had not kept to the agreement, he was furious, and she was given consequences.”
Jennika blinked.“Like what?”
“Her mind was taken back to basics.Her memories are gone, and she is an excellent beta now.”
“Oh.”Jennika smiled.“Excellent.I would have preferred something a bit more painful, but that will do.”
He blinked.“She’s your sister.”
“She drugged me and set me up to be raped...again.”
Xiroth blinked.“She did that before?”
“Yes.When we were teens.She considered her body sacred, but mine was a cheap copy.She used me as currency.”
His eyes flared red.“I am seeing your point about painful.”
“Yup.It’s hard to hate your own reflection, but she made it possible.”
He continued to work at her ankles, and she sighed as the too-tight skin feeling was fading.
Jennika looked at him.“So, are you living in town?”
He nodded.“I have reported to the king and given him a report on all I have learned about your people since he and the others were locked up.”
“Why weren’t you?”It came out before she could stop it.
“My kind do not do well in confinement.The king knew this and ordered us away.There are four of my kind left on this world.I am one of them.”
“What happened to the others?”
“They mated and died with their partners.We don’t survive long without them, so the imperial forces always tried to keep us single or attached to long-lived species.”
“What are you, some kind of mayflies?”
“Pixies.We are pixies of the imperium.”He smiled.“I know your mental image is different, but we drink blood and have six wings.”
“Same size?”
“Same size.We are air reconnaissance and emergency evacuation.”
“Interesting.I could have used that when I was falling.”
