Megan is still screaming about us being lovers. She paces back and forth, stopping every so often to point a finger at me, and then resuming her pacing to mutter under her breath. I sit down on the chair, though it creaks beneath my weight. This inn is on the poor side. It is to be expected. Few travelers around these parts. Most stick to the capital.

Less beasts and all.

“And another thing. You and me.” She points to herself and then to me. “We will never be lovers. Not happening. Go down there and fix this.”

I pull a dagger out and set it on the table. Megan’s breath hitches. The smell of her fear is intoxicating. My gut tightens. How annoying. “You saw the box the innkeeper offered to me. It was not a gift for you, but a drug to be used on you. Now I can walk back down, declare you free game for every demon down there, or you can keep your mouth shut as agreed upon.”

She rears back.

Is this all it takes to keep her silent? I pick up the dagger. It’s a small one, nothing special. A simple black hilt and a blade that stabs all the same. Megan takes a step back, her legs hit the bed.

“You know I’ve been thinking,” she starts.

“A first.”

Megan’s right eye twitches. “I’ve been thinking that you and I have gotten off on the wrong foot.”

I stalk forward. She moves back and falls onto the bed. “Your sayings are strange.”

“It means that we had a less than pleasant meeting. We don’t have to be at each other’s necks like this. Or point daggers at one another.” She smiles, but it’s tight. Forced. Her eyes dart to the dagger and then to my face. She is afraid but continues to put on a front of being strong.

“Take it.” I flip the dagger and hold the hilt out to her.

“Is this a trick?”

“I don’t need schemes to kill you if I so please. Take it.” Are all humans like her? Perhaps I should have spent more time studying her kind. “You have nothing to defend yourself with. No claws. No fangs. You cannot use magic. And your body is unbelievably weak.”

Footsteps.

I lean over her and press the dagger into her hands. Her eyes widen. “Relax,” I command, brushing my lips against her ear. The footsteps are closer now. There is a knock on the door. Megan jumps and wraps her fingers around the hilt. “Come in,” I say.

“Sorry!” the female squeaks, carrying the tray of soup and bread. “I’ll set these on the table.” For one so scared, this worker moves awfully slow. She hesitates as she pours the liquid into the cups. I sniff. Alcohol. 

“I didn’t order alcohol.” I push off the bed and block Megan from view. “Return with water and extra portions of meat.”

The female jumps. “We don’t have any other portions to spare.” She hunches her shoulders together, clutching the tray and pitcher to her small chest. Her skin is pink, but her ears and eyes are that of an elf. Her hair is a shaggy mess of silver. A half-breed then. “Food is scarce.” She averts her eyes. “Sorry, I will see what I can do.”

“What? No. We cannot take from them,” Megan speaks up.

I want to shake her. What part of not speaking does she not understand?

“We are paying customers,” I remind her.

“But they don’t have food to be giving away. Is it something we could help with?” Megan stands and tries to walk over to the half-breed. I stick my arm out. This human has no survival skills.

“I’m afraid not. But I thank you.” The female dips her head. “It’s a beast that none can slay. What spare food we have, we give to it, so it does not attack the town.”

“No one can slay it?” Megan sounds disappointed. Or is that sadness in her voice? “But if this beast were slain, you would be able to hunt for food?”

The female nods. “We give most of our crops to it, and it only allows us to hunt a beast every fortnight.”

Megan tugs on my shirt. “Roharu.”

“No.”

“These people are starving.”

“Let them starve. They have capable hands and yet they do nothing but cower from a mere beast.” I crack my neck. This explains the undernourishment of these civilians. The female smiles, but her eyes droop. She excuses herself out of the room. I cross my arms. Surely Megan will have much to complain about now. “Out with it.”

“We should help them. Couldn’t you take it down? You took care of that care-a-thing.”

“Klarvak.” I turn and regard her. “What are you prepared to do to have me act?”

“Besides answering your questions, what is it you want?” She crosses her arms and tilts her head to the side. “Once the beast is taken care of, there should be more food to go around. I’m sure I can convince them to let me use the kitchen to whip something up. But other than that, I don’t think the cash I have on me exchanges with the coin here.”

Is she from another country, perhaps? There are seven heavens. It is a possibility. “For now, I want my questions answered.” I motion to the meal on the table. “Eat and we will set off in the morning.”

“But...”

“I’m not hunting a beast at night when I do not know the layout of the land.” I pick up the dagger she left on the bed and push it into her hands. “Do not let this out of your sight.”

“You really think they would try something?” She takes the dagger and clutches it to her chest. “There’s nothing special about me.”

“Are you fishing for compliments?”

“No, I’m being serious.” Megan huffs. “Going after me seems silly unless you think they want me for meat.” Her eyes widen. “Do they want to eat me?” She glances at the soup and bread. “They’re trying to fatten me up, so they have more meat to eat.”

“That’s... not it,” I sigh. “I’m sure plenty of them would love to eat you, but not in the context that you are thinking. It’s more that they would sooner sell you off for coin, so they can have more food in their bellies.”

Megan lets out a breath. “Oh, that is way less scary than getting eaten. Not that I want to work for someone.” She sits down at the table and crosses one leg over the other. The dagger rests in her lap. “Though still. The only work I could possibly do is cook. Wouldn’t be good for anything else. Can’t even read the language here,” she mumbles the last part.

Huh. Does she truly have no idea of her beauty? Megan continues to have a one-sided conversation with herself as she dips the bread into the soup. Something along the lines of softening it up so it is not as hard as stone.

“You would be sold for pleasure, not for labor,” I interrupt as I sit across from her. “I thought you to be a runaway concubine, but your mouth is far too foul and you truly know nothing of the world. Not even basics.” I drum my claws on the table. That female has yet to return with the water I requested.

How annoying. The female must have gotten caught up in something. She trembled like a smivack. Weak. Small. Useless.

Leaving Megan alone is unwise. She is likely to get herself into trouble somehow. Be it simply slipping in the tub and banging her head or hurting herself in a poor attempt to escape. But dragging her along is also not an option. I work best alone. In the shadows. Megan shines like the sun.

“Me?” She points to herself. “That’s...” she wiggles her nose. “I suppose men don’t care when it comes down to it.”

I pause. She isn’t fazed by this? “I thought you’d be more upset, but you seem to not care.”

“You wouldn’t let it happen, so I’m not gonna worry about it for now.” She dips the bread in her soup and takes a bite. “I mean, if you try it, then I’ll just cut your dick off and call it even.”

“A charmer,” I deadpan. “And it’s cocks. Does your kind only have one?”

“Why on earth would you need two?” She shakes her head and then reaches for the cup filled to the brim with alcohol. “What the hell?” Megan grimaces. “That is strong. Holy shit.”

“For orgies.”

She coughs and pounds her chest with a fist. “I’m sorry, what?” Megan coughs again. “Holy cow, this stuff is foul.”

“Orgies. You know when—”

“I know what an orgy is!” She sets the cup down, stares at it, and then chugs more of her drink. “You’re fucking with me.”

I shrug. What do I care if she believes me or not? “Where did you come from?”

“What?” She rubs her forehead. “Uh... Earth? The US. I was in Chicago.”

“A portal transported you into the forest of the undead. You knowingly chose to be transported there? Why not the capital? There are more humans in the capital.” Though crime is higher. More under-the-table deals, but someone would have taken her in for a price.

“I fell in.” She pushes her bowl to the side and then looks at mine. “Are you not going to eat?”

“No.” I push the bowl and bread to her. “I will be fine. How did you fall in?”

Megan presses her lips together and picks up the spoon. “Well, I was getting chased by some bad men. They wanted the cash I had on me, and they probably wanted to rough me up some, too. It was late, and I knew I shouldn’t have worked that shift, but I needed the extra cash.” She shrugs one shoulder. “I ran and fell into the portal. I didn’t know there was a portal there. It was like I was running and then I was on the back of that... creature.”

“Klarvak,” I reply absentmindedly. This leaves me with more questions. What is a Chicago or this Earth? There are no such things in this world. Or of the other worlds. Perhaps one that has not been discovered? “You fell. And yet someone knew you would be there.” I drum my claws on the table.

Why would someone send her to the undead? Why would they send a cupcake assassin after her when that kind is most effective in towns, not forests? And how strong is this human’s tolerance that she is unfazed by the cheap alcohol in her drink?

“I’m just as lost as you. I don’t have any enemies.” She frowns. “Except for Carol. Ugh, she was a bitch to work with. But I don’t think she had so much of a hate boner to send killers after me. That’s like mafia-type shit.”

“... What?”

“Bad guys.” She waves a hand in the air. “Point is, I don’t have enemies. This was like a freak accident, but maybe there is a way to send me back?”

“The half-breed has yet to return.” I stand. This is bothersome. When I request something, I expect for follow through.

“I’m sorry. What did you just call her?”

“A half-breed. She is clearly half demon and elf.”

“Just say the employee.” Megan’s brows furrow together. She places the dagger on the table and stacks the empty bowls. “That sounds derogatory.”

“If given the chance, she would sell you in a heartbeat and yet you defend her?”

“You don’t know that,” she stresses. “And if you’re constantly trying to up someone, you’ll just end up living a life where you constantly have to look over your shoulders. Isn’t that stressful?” She runs a hand down her face. “I don’t get it. You say you have two cocks for orgies, but in the same breath, you’re constantly putting down others. Shouldn’t you be a little more liberal?”

I yawn. “It is not an insult. It is simply what she is. Half.”

She grumbles under her breath. “It sounds awful. Just say employee or ask her name.” Megan glances at the bathing area, where the wooden tub sits off to the side, with a view of the window. “Are you going to leave?”

“No.”

“I want to bathe.”

“Then do so.” I yawn again, exaggerating the motion. Megan’s fists shake at her sides. “You have nothing I want and nothing I haven’t seen before.”

“That’s not the... Ugh!” She turns around and fiddles with the knobs until water comes out of the faucet. “Just don’t look over here until I tell you.”

I roll my eyes and toss my shirt over my head. “You seem to think you will be bathing alone.”

She freezes and her eyes are so big, the green is nearly blown. “You can’t be serious...”

I kick my pants off. Nudity doesn’t bother me. I refuse to allow the hot water to be used completely. “There is only so much hot water in these establishments.” I tilt my head. Her mouth is open, but no words come forth. “Human?”

“There’s no way.” She covers her mouth. “You really have two.”

Ah, she thought me to be a liar.

“And tattoos? That’s uh,” she chuckles nervously. “Okay, wow.” Megan pinches herself. “Still not dreaming.”

Tat-toos? I glance down at cocks. My heart stops. My blood freezes.

Shit.