Below us, spread out inside the main entrance hall, were a hundred Titans, maybe more. They raised their glasses.
They were looking at us.
Us.
We.
I gulped.
“To my brother!” Emana said, standing at the foot of the stairs and leading the charge. “May he live forever in honor.”
“In honor,” the guests said, raising their glasses to their lips.
Kal’s grip tightened on my arm. I was supposed to be the nervous one. He was going to be leaning on me as much as I would on him tonight.
He didn’t even want to go down the stairs. He might try to hide it behind his gorgeous purple eyes, but he was scared. Scared to face the people.
His people.
Because he saved their lives.
I hated them for that.
“Shall we?” I said.
He blinked from whatever unpleasant thoughts tormented him and nodded.
We descended that long set of stairs together, and the closer we got to the bottom, the firmer his grip became.
A dozen smiling faces turned to us like hungry sharks.
They descended.
I turned out to be the main topic of conversation. The Titans were interested in where I came from and what I was doing there. Some looked at me with curiosity, others disdain. I couldn’t help but notice the latter were young females and might have had their eye on the lord for themselves.
But they didn’t know the truth about our relationship. We were friends, nothing more.
We hadn’t even kissed.
After what felt like years, I burst through the crowd and found a pocket of emptiness beside the tables piled with food.
“Here, this is for you,” Zes said. “You must need it.”
He handed me a drink and I took it without even glancing at it.
Please be alcohol.
Across the room, surrounded by a swarm of well-wishers, Kal glanced at me and flashed me a look of helplessness.
I smiled and raised the drink Zes handed me. I took a deep pull from it.
It tasted like curdled milk and I had to spit the wire-like hairs out. It smelled even worse.
Kal grinned and struggled to contain his laughter. One of the well-wishers thought he was choking and slapped him on the back.
So much for me enjoying this moment, I thought.
“What is this?” I said, raising the drink he’d handed me.
“Titan ale,” Zes said. “It’ll put hairs on your chest. Oh.”
He glanced at me, then his eyes lowered to my breasts, and then back up to my face again.
“I don’t suppose human females have much hair on their chest… do they?” he said.
I shrugged.
“Some do,” I said. “Most go to the Olympics.”
He frowned at me in confusion. I didn’t care. It was a personal joke and I liked it.
I had no idea what time it was, but I knew I had to be cutting it pretty close.
3 HOURS
That had been the warning.
“Excuse me,” I said. “I need to go to the little girl’s room.”
I handed him the hair-producing ale back and left him with an even more confused expression on his face.
I moved along the table piled with finger food until I reached the meat section. Most of it was big and greasy meat from animals I couldn’t even name. A couple of species might have been made extinct from this party alone.
I found a bowl of what looked and smelled like dried bacon. I scooped up a handful and, checking to make sure no one was watching me, dumped it in my clutch purse as surreptitiously as I could.
Then I dodged between the partiers and well-wishers to the back of the room, keeping my eyes on the deck at all times to avoid conversation.
I passed through the doorway and turned down a long hall. I hung a right and headed directly for Kal’s study.
I came to a stop two yards from the doorway and slowly edged closer. Niik pushed himself up onto his feet. He barely had the strength to do that much. The hair on his back stood up on end and a low growl murmured from his lips. I was beginning to learn that adopting such an appearance wasn’t meant to make him look larger and more fierce. It was to make him look cuter.
These Titan creatures were bizarre.
“Hey there,” I said. “Guess what I’ve got for you…”
I reached into my purse. The instant I withdrew a handful of the dried bacon, Niik immediately lost interest in making noise and instead panted at me, his long tongue almost slapping the floor.
I had found Niik’s Achilles heel…
This was almost too easy.
“There you are!” someone said.
Me and my big stupid mouth.
I tucked my arm behind me and turned to face the voice.
It was Emana. She handed me a mojito and slapped me on the back.
“These are soooo good!” she said, her cheeks already flushing red.
“Mojitos?” I said.
“They’re yummy!” Emana said, taking another slurp. “And they’re brightly colored and so pretty!”
I glanced back at Niik who, now that he had caught the scent of bacon, followed on our heels. He leaped up, suddenly full of energy, and licked at my hand concealing his beloved bacon.
“I thought you didn’t have mojitos here?” I said.
“We didn’t,” Emana said. “Not until Kal told us how to make them. He insisted we have them. It was just about the only thing he cared about with his party.”
My hand was drenched with Niik sputum. He was beginning to drive me insane. I flicked a single piece of bacon from my clenched fist. It never even reached the floor. He must have caught it in midair.
“Niik!” Emana said, chiding him. “It looks like he’s taken a liking to you.”
I smiled shyly.
“You think?” I said.
“Go back to the study!” Emana said. “Go on!”
Niik hung his head and meandered like he was heading for the firing range.
“He’ll be a nuisance if he gets to the party,” Emana said. “He’ll be under everyone’s feet and trip everyone up.”
Emana almost tripped on her own feet. She didn’t need much help in that department.
“We need to get this carpet straightened out!” she said. “You know, I felt a
