Shadowborn

Chapter Eighty-Three: Books and Big Women

Chapter Eighty-Three: Books and Big Women

It had been a long, long time since Rhallani had felt like this. Small. Insignificant. Lesser. Her skin still crawled at the way the guards outside the Amesserian Royal Library had looked at her. The laughter in their eyes that a couple of demi-humans thought they could enter such a prestigious location without a proper escort.

She’d spent so long at Zaren’s side, she’d come to forget how the world usually treated people like her. Living in Zaren’s home, being with everyone else, it felt like she’d gone to an entirely different world. Once where she wasn’t being punished for having the nerve to be born and Arelim. Five minutes with the arrogant humans at the gate of the Library had made that all come crashing back with a vengeance.

Angry tears pricked the backs of her eyes as she and Safina made their way back into the lower quarter with their tails between their legs, but she refused to let them fall. Her only solace was that her skill hadn’t triggered once, so there was a good chance they hadn’t even been in the right place to begin with.

A heavy hand fell on her shoulder. “Hey,” Safina asked, “you alright?”

Rhallani smiled, even though all she felt like doing was curling up and crying. “Great. The royal library was a long shot anyways. If it was there, then our enemies would have already cleared it out.”

Safina didn’t look convinced. For a minute there, Rhallani was certain the Half-dragon was about to tie one of those guards into a knot, but she’d refrained. It made their untouchable attitude sting all the more. Safina squeezed her shoulder, then nodded to herself. “Right. Come with me.”

She wrapped a massive hand around Rhallani’s arm and dragged it to the crook of her own, taking off deeper into the city. “Um, Safina?” Rhallani said uncertainly. “Our next stop is that way.” She pointed over their shoulder.

Safina didn’t even slow down. “We have plenty of time to make a stop since those fuckwits kicked us out.” Then she patted Rhallani’s arm with a warm smile. “You need a pick-me-up.”

More than happy to let the giant woman drag her through the streets, Rhallani didn’t bother fighting her. There was one frightening moment where a group of not-so-nice-looking individuals looked like they might stop them, but then Rhallani summoned a giant red-furred jungle cat that stood nearly as tall as she did while on fours and they wisely decided to seek out easier prey.

Brimming with excitement, Safina led her to a squat building with more spaces for windows than actual windows run down enough to have a slight lean to it. She had to duck and twist a little to fit through the door, and if she didn’t hunch she risked scraping her horns on the ceiling.

“Well, if it isn’t Nona!” A plump woman sidled out of the kitchen area with a platter of pastries, dropping them at a table on her way to the door. “I haven’t seen you in ages!”

“Hey Margie,” Safina said, eyeing the pastries hungrily. “Yeah, it’s been a while. It’s Safina now, by the way. I couldn’t, uh, go by my real name before, but I can now.”

Margie smiled wide. “A lovely name. Now, how much have you scrounged up this time?”

Safina patted the bulging coinpurse at her waist. “I’ve got a home now, and a generous Patron. I’ll take as many as you have ready.”

“Perfect. Go on, grab a seat. I’ve still got that extra sturdy chair in the corner, just for you.”

Safina gave her a small bow, then made her way through the packed room as carefully as she could. Her tail knocked over two chairs before Rhallani grabbed the end and held it up, drawing the most adorable squeak from the giant Half-dragon.

Safina settled into a chair that had several additional slats of wood attached to it. The poor old thing creaked dangerously, but it held up. The table was barely big enough for the two of them, so Rhallani sat down opposite her. “Nona?”

Safina shrugged. “I always got weird looks when I introduced myself as a number.” She looked around the cozy little shop fondly. “Me and Val used to sneak away to Margie’s whenever we got sent on a job in the capital. Got punished for it a time or two, but it was always worth it.”

Rhallani’s gut clenched uncomfortably, but she made sure not to let it show. “Well you won’t have to worry about that ever again. We can single handedly keep Margie in business if that’s what you want.”

In response, Safina’s eyes glittered. She grinned and ducked her head, looking away. “Yeah. I think that’s finally starting to set in.”

“Good,” Rhallani said. "In that case, you should know that you’re welcome in the master bed anytime. I know we haven’t gotten that Half-dragon sized bed in just yet.”

Safina’s spine straightened, but she was saved from answering by Margie’s arrival. The plump woman set a platter of pastries covered in a healthy coating of powdered sugar, and she made a point to wait until Safina had devoured one whole before leaving with a satisfied smile. Rhallani tried one as well, and it was life changing. Crispy and flaky, yet it melted in her mouth deliciously. Some kind of fruity filling exploded in her mouth, the flavor so rich her eyes rolled back in her head. She didn’t even realize she’d let out a moan until she looked up to see Safina sitting with a pastry halfway to her mouth.

Rhallani hid a giggle behind her mouth, then finished off the pastry in her hand. The silence stretched until there were only a few pastries left. Safina, halfway through reaching for another pastry, sighed and sat back. “I don’t think it would be a good idea,” she said miserably.

Still riding the sugar high from the pastries, it took a second for Rhallani to remember where their conversation had left off. “Joining the bed? If it makes you uncomfortable, you can always claim a corner. We’ve got so much more room than we need.” For now, she added silently.

Safina chewed the inside of her lip, drawing shapes in the powdered sugar that layered the table. “You know I’ve been working with Mrs. Wan on handling my instincts. She’s taught me so much about why I feel the impulses I do as well as what impulses to expect if I find myself in certain... situations.”

Rhallani leaned her elbows on the table, lacing her fingers together. “Situations like the master bedroom?”

“Yeah.” She drew another picture in the sugar that looked suspiciously like someone riding a dragon. Rhallani did her best not to read too much into that image. “Dragons are hoarders, and they nest in their dens. According to Mrs. Wan, because I spent all my life not allowed to own anything, my instincts tend to see the people I care about as my ‘treasures.’ Not only that, but dragons like to sleep in contact with their...mates.” With the last word, she swiped her hand across the table, obliterating the image she’d been so carefully drawing.

“This is all...” She huffed, sending a poof of the sugar into the air. “I never dreamed things could turn out like this. My life is so much better than I ever could have hoped. I don’t want to do anything to jeopardize that.”

Rhallani waved her hand through the sugar cloud. “Well, for starters, Zaren is never going to hold you responsible for an instinctual reflex. You’d have to try really hard to get on his bad side, so don’t you even worry about that. And hearing all that about your instincts?” Rhallani grinned and snatched up another pastry. “Well now I really want to see what happens if we get you in the big bed.”

Safina hid her own smile behind another pastry, but it fell before long. Rhallani took a stab at the part of Safina’s confession that caught her attention immediately. “So...mates, huh?”

Damn, Safina was gorgeous when she blushed. She aggressively crammed the whole pastry in her hand and swallowed it after three bites. “I...don’t want to intrude on anything. You and Zaren and all the others, you all seem very happy.”

“Doesn’t mean we couldn’t be happier,” Rhallani argued. “Safi, are you attracted to...someone in the harem?”

Safina avoided her eyes. “It doesn’t matter. You’re all Zaren’s.”

“We are,” Rhallani agreed, “which brings me to my next question. Are you attracted to Zaren?”

The Half-dragon shoved another pastry in her mouth. “I... might be.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Rhallani asked softly. “What stays in the pastry shop, stays in the pastry shop. Might help to talk it through with someone who knows him well.”

Her shoulders relaxed, and she leaned forward. “Seriously?” Rhallani nodded, and Safina pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes. “Well, a part of it is my instincts. I think. Dragons like strength, and Zaren

overpowered me the first time we met. Then he took me into his flight—metaphorically speaking—and gave me a task: protecting you.” Then she winced. “A task I enjoy greatly, I would like to add.”

A warm, giddy feeling fluttered in Rhallani’s chest. “And I’ve never felt safer. Go on.”

“Well, he’s definitely strong. Kind, but not patronizing. Takes the injured and the weak under his wing without a second thought. Protective.” She smiled to herself. “Over-protective in some cases, but in ways that really make my dragon purr.” She cleared her throat. “But it doesn’t matter. He isn’t interested in me, clearly.”

Rhallani jerked back. “What gave you that idea?”

“Well, he...” Safina’s brow furrowed, “he keeps his distance. He doesn’t look at me the way he looks at the rest of you. And that’s fine,” she added quickly—and rather unconvincingly, “he’s already given me so much, I can’t expect more than that.”

To give herself a second to choose her words carefully, Rhallani nibbled on her pastry. “Something you have to understand about Zaren is that his mind doesn’t work like anyone you’ve ever met,” she said slowly. Safina hung on her every word. “Zaren spent a long time putting his own wants and needs aside to take care of everyone around him. Even now, it’s second nature to him. I won’t say whether he does or doesn’t, but it would be very in character for Zaren to suppress his affections for your sake.”

Safina frowned. “So, what then? He thinks I’m weak?” The hurt in her voice was palpable, and it didn’t take a leap in logic for Rhallani to understand why. If strength was a big deal to dragons, being considered weak by the object of her affections would suck.

“No!” Rhallani said quickly. “Not at all. It’s less about you than about him. Zaren told you he wore a collar, right?”

“Yeah,” Safina said uncertainly.

“Well, it took him a long time to recover from what happened to him. Some days, he’s still recovering. He doesn’t know what happened to you while you wore that collar, and he’ll never ask, but he’ll also never pressure you into anything like a relationship if he even suspects you’re still on your path to recovery.”

Rhallani ceased her struggling, but she didn’t look away as Seven’s living tattoo threw her to the ground in front of the man. Ano’s grandfather made a whimpering sound. “Please, I’m trying everything I can. I don’t know what else I can do to prove to you that this book doesn’t exist.”

The man clicked his tongue, then put his boot between Ano’s shoulder blades and leaned forward. “Wrong answer. Again. Consider this your last warning, Serali. Find me that journal or your girl gets to experience life in the Pens. Always a treat when a Nephelim comes through, especially if I put a hold on her purchase. I think a few months in there will be a great motivator, don’t you?”

Ano whimpered in fear, but she didn’t try to push herself up. Her limbs trembled, but her eyes were fixed on where Rhallani and Safina were hiding. Pleading silently for them to remain hidden. She whimpered again when the man dug his heel into her back, and it took everything Rhallani had to keep from summoning Fang. She had to trust Safina’s judgment here, even if it felt like it was going to kill her.

“I’ll try again, please. If it exists, I’ll find it,” the old man said, falling to his knees. “Just give me a little more time.”

“Hmm, I dunno,” the man said in a sing-song voice. “My boss isn’t the biggest when it comes to patience.

Maybe I’ll let her get a taste first. A week now, then if you don’t have my book by the end of the month, she gets to go on an extended vacation. How’s that sound?”

Rhallani missed the grandfather’s reply thanks to the low growl in Safina’s chest. The message was clear. They’d stay hidden as long as they could, but this guy wasn’t leaving the shop with Ano. Unfortunately, the Tiefling’s ears were sharp enough to have caught it as well. Her head tilted just enough to catch her boss’s attention.

He looked back in their direction, but his gaze passed over their hiding spot. “Four, go make sure we’re alone.”

Her face neutral, Four started heading straight for them. Safina cursed under her breath, then ducked through the shelves towards the wall. “Sorry about this,” she said.

“Sorry about wha—mmmf!”

Rhallani’s body locked up as Safina’s lips crashed down over her own. Her back hit a shelf and some books came tumbling down, but they all bounced off Safina’s frame. Her legs hooked around Safina’s waist like they had a mind of their own and one of Safina’s hands grabbed a handful of Rhallani’s ass at the same time her thick, powerful tongue invaded Rhallani’s mouth.

Safina’s hands were so large she could easily palm Rhallani’s cheek and have enough finger left over to toy with the plug in her ass. Rhallani’s moan was swallowed by the Half-dragon as she twisted the plug in slow circles, sending waves of pleasure thanks to her skill boosting the pleasure.

“Focus,” Safina said between kisses, then Rhallani was dragging her back down by the horn with her other hand clutching the ancient book pinned between their bodies.

Safina mussed Rhallani’s hair as best she could while also holding the Arelim up, but Rhallani had just enough wherewithal to activate [Filled Focus]. Time seemed to slow while her thoughts sped up. Between how aroused she was and how fucking good it felt for Safina to toy with her plug, her focused state was strong.

She was vaguely aware of a sharp intake of breath as they were caught. Safina pulled away only to trail her way down Rhallani’s jaw, nibbling at her throat and hiding her face from the intruder in the crook of Rhallani’s neck.

Four stood with her jaw hanging open, watching the show. “Four!” the man barked from the front. “What the fuck is taking so long? Who’s there? Answer me!”

The collar lit up and Safina tensed. “Give her a truth to say.”

Rhallani fixed her eyes on Four, who had eyes as red as her hair. “Just a couple of horny demi-humans,” she whispered.

Four frowned, visibly fighting the compulsion of the collar, and Rhallani took a risk. She twisted her hand in Safina’s hair, pulling it to the side to reveal her bare neck where there still remained a strip of skin lighter than the rest of her.

Four’s eyes went wide as understanding crashed through her. “Just a couple of horny demi-humans,” she parroted.

Considering how her and Zaren’s relationship had first begun, Rhallani wished she had a moment to appreciate the irony here.

“Will they be a problem?”

Safina chose that moment to squeeze Rhallani’s ass so hard it would surely leave a mark. She fucking loved it. “A little too busy to bother with you,” she said.

Four nodded. “Nah, looks like they’re more than distracted enough. Not worth taking the time on.”

Rhallani brushed her fingers over Safina’s neck, covered only in Zaren’s fabric collar, and nodded meaningfully. Safina shuddered at her touch, and it took every part of Rhallani’s willpower not to lose herself in the Half-dragon’s embrace. Especially when she started sucking on the spot just under Rhallani’s ear.

“Fine, get back up here. We’re leaving for now.” Four left with a nod, and Rhallani just heard him say, “we’ll come back in a week to pick up the little Nephilim here. I need to make some calls to ensure her visit to the Pens is a good learning experience.”

Four’s legs started carrying her away, but not before she whispered, “save her from us. Please.”

Rhallani nodded again, then she was gone. The bell at the door opened, and Rhallani gave Safina one more fierce kiss before patting her arm. “Let me down, hurry.”

Safina dropped her, though it looked like the last thing she wanted to do. Rhallani darted for the door, forcing herself to ignore Ano and her grandfather for now and sprinting for the door.

“Festus!” she called, throwing her hand out. Taking Zaren’s advice, Festus exploded into existence as a silver-feathered raven. He took to the sky, managing to find their quarry in seconds. When she walked in, Safina was easily lifting Ano up and setting her on her feet.

“Festus will track them,” she said quickly. “We can tell Zaren where they go when we get back.”

Safina nodded, her hand still on Ano’s shoulder. The poor Nephilim was still trembling head to toe, tears in her eyes. “What about these two? We can’t just leave them.”

The grandfather opened his mouth to say something, but his eyes fell on the book in Rhallani’s grip. “Where did you find that!?” he demanded. “That book isn’t for sale!”

Rhallani shook her head. “It’s what they’re after, isn’t it?”

Ano’s eyes went wide. “Grandfather?”

He just shook his head. “Please, I have to give it to them. I can’t let them take my granddaughter. Whatever it’s importance...” he trailed off, shaking his head again.

Rhallani clutched the book even tighter. “If they get this book, something really, really bad is going to happen.”

The old man slumped. “I’m no fighter, and neither is Ano. I couldn’t stop you if I tried, but please. I’m begging you. You can have whatever books you wish, just not that one.”

Chewing her lip, Rhallani exchanged a glance with Safina. Her heart was still hammering, and she could taste the Half-dragon’s unique flavor on her lips, and she couldn’t even enjoy it. She entered a focused state, and though it was weaker than the last one, it helped her realize there was only one real option.

“Mr. Serali, sir? On behalf of my Patron, I’d like to purchase your books.”

Confusion became the dominant expression on his face. “Which ones?”

“All of them.” Then her gaze shifted to Ano. “And, once we’ve actually got books, we’ll need a librarian. One that, of course, would have the full protection of House Nocht.”

Once again, thanks to Rhallani’s stupid skill, she was making an executive decision without consulting Zaren. One that involved adding another demi-human to the household and likely drawing the ire of dangerous individuals. But it worked out in the end last time, so hopefully it would work out just as well this time. And not just because the part of her brain that was always sexed up was currently wondering what it would be like to be sandwiched between Ano and Safina while Zaren fucked her.

Whatever the case, she had a feeling Cynthia was going to be pissed. Some of these books looked old, and old meant expensive. She just had to hope that the book in her hands was worth it.

Then, once she’d made sure Ano and her grandfather weren’t in danger, she could take a moment and process how she felt getting pinned to the wall and kissed silly by the seven-and-a-half-foot tall Half-dragon.

What a fucking day.