Page 22 of Tempt
“No. He has a clinic appointment today.”
“I fail to see the problem.” My brow furrows. “Was he harmed there?”
“No, but…” Everest bites his lip, then says, “He hasn’t said anything about it yet, but I’m pretty sure he and Cielo are VySytheh.”
He speaks our word so bluntly, so human. His accent makes it almost impossible to understand, but even garbled with his tongue, the word sends something racing through me.
Hope and fear: an overwhelming combination.
“You’re certain?”
“No, but…” He hesitates. “I swear he was having a conversation with Cielo in his head. And I don’t know, it’s weird, but I can almost sense it on him. I don’t know how to explain it.”
It takes me a moment to process what he’s saying, but it hits me like a bolt of lightning when it does. If Cielo and Dante have bonded fully, then Dante being touched by another Vyastil would destroy them. If the old stories are to be believed, it could put both their lives at risk.
I might normally think that protecting a banished Vyastil and his human is not worth destroying everything we have worked so hard to hide, but Dante is Luca’s brother. He is precious to him, and as much as I wish to deny it, that makes him precious to me.
I hate the feeling. I hate the thought of it.
I cannot be vulnerable again.
But what choice do I have? I have tasted Luca. I have touched him. Kissed him in the human way. He has crawled into my mind, and I have seen into his. Our three hearts beat in sync, and the bond was formed.
When I allow myself rest, I dream of sinking my teeth into his neck and making our bond permanent.
Making him mine forever. For good. Destroying what little chance I have to hide my station as a breeder for my people.
“Eissa,” Everest begs. “Are you still with me?”
I blink and return to him. “Forgive me. I will contact the clinic and see what I can do. It may only lead to a temporary leave of absence for now.”
Everest’s face falls. “Is there anything that can discharge him without, you know, prison or whatever? I mean, it’s fucking bullshit he’s not allowed to quit if he wants to.”
I don’t disagree. The Vyastil and human leaders have painted this service to the public as though everyone has a choice. But they do not. And not every Vyastil is offered what the elite are allowed to consume.
“I will look into it,” I tell him quietly. “His brother—does he have appointments?”
Everest frowns in thought. “I don’t…know, actually. I haven’t really talked to him much. My signing is still kind of crap.”
I would be surprised if Luca does have one. Vyastil view anything outside of the status quo as imperfection, and they loathe imperfection. Luca is perfect to me, but to the others…
“Give me a little while.”
“His appointment is today. You have to do something quick,” Everest begs.
I nod, then end the call and log into the clinic portal. It doesn’t take me long to find Dante’s records. The surname pulls up both him and Luca. As suspected, Luca was immediately discharged from service due to his deafness, but Dante has been serving for several years now.
His appointment is not just today, but now. His Vyastil has not checked in yet, but there are very few minutes left. I immediately cancel the session and put a hold on his name, which means he won’t be booked again for some time.
While we wait, I will do some digging and find a reason to discharge him. If he is touched by another Vyastil, there’s no telling what Cielo will do. He will catch the scent, and it’s very likely his instincts will take over.
He will track down the offender who touched his VySytheh, and he will become feral. Once that happens, the others will look into why he behaved this way, and they might learn the answer. They might realize Vyastil can still bond. That we can still feel.
And that we can do it with humans.
It won’t take long after that for someone in power to realize the relationship between Rathyn and Everest is not what it seems, and it won’t take long after that to trace the deception back to me.
Everything will be in ruins, and if that happens, we will never break free.
