Serpent's Touch (Serpent's Touch 1)

AMIRA

Istayed with him, and Kyllen told me another one of his stories. He’d been choosing funny ones lately. Maybe he was trying to make me laugh? I never laughed openly. It felt like making too much noise. But he succeeded in making me smile when he told me about his eel fishing.

“The nasty creatures invaded my pants!” His outrage was genuine, which made the story even funnier. “One bit me right in the bollocks!”

“Where?”

“My sack,” he explained pointedly. “Come on, Amira, I know we’re not the same kind, but the male gorgonian equipment down there couldn’t be that different from humans’. Legends say we can mate and even reproduce.”

“Oh.” Heat of blush spread up my face when I finally realized what area of the body he was referring to. I had only a vague idea about the appearance even of the human male “equipment,” having never seen one myself.

“They say the scar is still there if you look closely,” Kyllen revealed. “Not that I’m flexible enough to search for it myself. But if you’re curious—”

“Um, no thank you,” I blurted out. “I’m good. I’ll take you word for it.”

“Suit yourself.” His voice changed, the rasp in it turning more prominent. “But I assure you, you’re missing out on a glorious sight. And I’m not talking just about the scar.”

Was he flirting with me? Was that why my blush flared even hotter, spreading downwards? The sensation was so sudden, and the more aware of it I became, the more intense it grew.

“You’re quiet, Amira,” he stated in that changed voice of his. “What are you thinking about?”

Thinking?

I couldn’t think about anything but him at the moment. My crazy mind was trying hard to conjure a naked image of a man I’d never seen, either in or out of clothes. Warmth tingled in my chest, gathering in the tips of my breast and making me wish for something I couldn’t name.

“Let me guess—”

“No!” I cut him off, afraid he'd actually guess what was happening inside me. “Don’t…I-I was just thinking I could never enjoy the…um, the glorious sight you’re talking about because looking at you would kill me, remember?”

“Right.” He heaved a long breath. “How do I keep forgetting about that? Somehow, you don’t feel like ‘other,’ you know?”

I believed I knew. I didn’t think of Kyllen as a stranger anymore, either. He became closer to me than anyone in the world.

Closer than Radax,I realized.

The thought was alarming, but not that surprising. In the past few days, I’d spent more time with Kyllen than I’d spent with Radax in years. He’d been much more open with me than Radax had ever been. Never in my entire life did Radax’s voice cause the same reaction in me as Kyllen’s did just now.

Radax was family. Kyllen was…something else entirely.

I rested my chin in my hand, giving up on sorting out my feelings for now.

“What happened to the eels?” I asked, going back to a topic that felt much safer to discuss.

“The eels? They ended up in a soup, of course. One of the best soups I’ve ever had because it was seasoned with revenge,” he added with a dramatic flair that made me smile again.

“Did you make the soup?”

“Of course not. My father’s chef did. He’s one of the best in Lorsan.”

That got me thinking. “What other things do people eat in Lorsan? Other than soup?”

He made a clicking sound with his tongue. “Oh no, let us linger on the soup a little longer, shall we? My father’s chef can prepare hundreds of different kinds.”

“Hundreds of kinds of soup? Really?” It made sense, though, as gorgonian bodies required a lot of liquids.

“Yes. There are at least a dozen ways to prepare the cattail root soup alone.”

“Sounds like gorgonians take their soup seriously,” I teased.

“That we do.” He matched my light tone of voice.

“But do you have eggs?” They were my favorite food, maybe because I ate them most often.

“Every possible kind,” he assured me. “Duck eggs, goose eggs, fish eggs, frog eggs—”

“Frog eggs?” I exclaimed in shock. Surely, he was joking. “Do you really eat them?”

“Mmm,” he stretched the humming sound of pleasure. “If pickled just right, they are delicious.”

“So, no chicken eggs then?”

“Well, we can certainly find you some chicken eggs. I am the heir to a High Lord, after all. But trust me, duck eggs are not much different. You wouldn’t even notice.”

I knew what he was doing. He spoke as if I’d already agreed to come with him, planting things in my brain that would make it easier for me to imagine myself in his world. But I drank in his every word like sweet poison.

Deep inside, I wished to go to that magical land. I caught myself fantasizing about finding a home in that far-away place called Lorsan and had to remind myself those were just fantasies, things I couldn’t have and shouldn’t wish for.

I spent that night by Kyllen’s crate, and returned again the following night.

Then, two days later, after cleaning Madame’s trailer, I snuck back to the storage room to say a quick hello to Kyllen between my chores, and found his crate gone.

The sight of the bare ground where it used to stand was like a punch to my stomach. I gaped at it, refusing to believe my eyes.

He was gone…

But where?

And how? How did I miss this? I had slept right there, by that wall that used to be hidden behind his crate. I’d gotten up early to make Madame’s breakfast, like always. Then, I fed the animals and cleaned her trailer. In that time, the crate had disappeared.

Did Madame decide to get rid of him after all?

The thought made me noxious. A sinking feeling hollowed my stomach.

“Where is it?” I didn’t realize I asked out loud until the reply came.

“What?” Leslo stopped behind me, an eyebrow raised. He was carrying a toolbox and appeared to be on his way out of the tents.

“The crate that was just here this morning.” I frantically gestured at the wall that had been a part of my sleeping place.

He gave me a curious look. I must be exposing my connection to Kyllen right now. But panic rose in me, and I couldn’t hide it.

“Do you know where it went?”

He tilted his head. “When in the morning did you see it?”