"Next to the bed. I retrieved them while you slept." He turns and glances down at me. "You're welcome."
I resist the urge to make a rude gesture and glance over. Sure enough, there's my pile of quartz jewelry. Thank goodness. I immediately start putting them on, looking over at Kassam as he watches the window. "What are you looking for?"
"Just looking at the moon," he says. "It is nothing but a tiny slice in the sky. Did you know it's white here? And so small, too."
Interesting. "What color is the moon in your world?"
He gestures with his arms, indicating size. "Very big, very red. Quite magnificent. But I suppose everything is bigger and prouder in my world." The look he gives me is lascivious, and I know he's thinking of his cock.
I roll my eyes. "Not everything is about sex, Kassam."
"It is when you're Hedonism. I could be having an orgy right now." He lets out a wistful sigh. "I truly would like a good orgy, actually. They really do take the edge off."
"Feel free to have one," I say sweetly, slipping the last bit of jewelry onto my wrist. "And feel free to release me from our agreement."
"You know I cannot do that, my little light." He moves to the bed and sits down across from me. "So here I will stay, orgy-less and sad."
I ignore that, glancing at the clock. It's late. I scrub a hand down my face, and my belly rumbles. I'm starving, and I'm sticky, and I'm curiously exhausted. "How about I clean up and change, and then we'll find an all-night restaurant somewhere, okay? We'll get you pancakes. You like pancakes, don't you?"
That gets his attention. "What is a pancake?"
"Oh, you'll love it. Come on. I'm going to shower, and you're going to tell me all about the plans you made with Seth."
"While you shower?" His silver eyes gleam with anticipation. "Can I wash you?"
"Nope." I climb out of bed, making sure to keep the covers over my vibrator before he figures out how it works and decides he wants to use it on me. My pussy clenches at the thought, but she's been working hard lately so I guess I can't blame her for reacting. "You've done enough to me today. But you can talk to me."
I head into the bathroom, undressing as I walk. I'm past all shyness with Kassam at this point. Dude just fucked me in front of a stranger. I have no modesty left. I consider my jewelry, but leave it on. I don't care if it's weird to take a shower with a necklace and a bunch of bracelets on—if it keeps me in my right mind, I'm all for it. He groans and grabs at my ass as I climb into the tub, but I bat his hands away. If he's suffering for a minute…well, good. Payback's a bitch. "You are so beautiful," Kassam groans as I bend over to turn on the taps. "You should let me wash you."
"Here," I say. "Hold this." I hand him one of the new bottles of shampoo, the fruity-smelling ones. He immediately flicks the cap and sniffs it, closing his eyes. "Now, tell me about Seth and don't skip any details."
Kassam inhales deeply, then leans against the wall, watching me as I shower. "He says that he is from an old, old time and that no one worships him any longer. Is that truth?"
I wash my hair, considering. "Pretty much. Out of all the names he listed, I only recognized one and that's from medieval times. Most of the religions I'm familiar with focus on a single god, though I admit I only know of a couple religions. Most people in this part of the world are some branch of Christian, Jewish, or Muslim, I think. I'm sure there are other religions but those are the big ones I know of, and those all worship only one god. All of the religions he mentioned are old-old." I pause. "Lachesis is from an old-old religion, too."
Kassam is quiet. Too quiet.
I glance over at him, and when he remains silent, I hold my hand out for the shampoo. He squeezes a dollop into my hand—a huge dollop—and sighs. "I worry that if I return to my world, that will be my fate, as well. No one will worship me. I will be powerless and forgotten."
Feeling a twinge of sympathy, I shrug. "You'll just have to do something dramatic to remind them all that you've returned.
He chuckles, his mood turning sunny again. "An excellent idea. As for Seth, he says the moon will be new tomorrow night. That will be our time to step between worlds. He says that Lachesis owes him a favor from old, so he is going to approach her. When the moon is gone, he says the connection between our worlds is greater. That it will be easy for Lachesis to tug my thread back to the appropriate spot, and easy for her to slide his over to our web as well." He watches me as I shampoo my hair. "I do not know if I believe him entirely, but it is worth a try. He is most desperate to leave this realm."
"And you think it's a good idea to take him with us?"
"A good idea? I did not say that. But it is an option. If I must choose between a god who is beholden to me or a goddess who seeks to destroy me since I will not have her, I will take the trickster."
Okay, that's fair. If he can make an ally and get rid of an enemy, I can see how Kassam would be all for this. I still think it's because Seth is in a situation that Kassam fears he'll be in—lost and forgotten—and so it hits him hard.
He understands Seth.
22
I rinse my hair, pushing water out of my eyes. "Okay, so tomorrow night, full moon, what do you have to do to get ready? Anything?"
"Seth says Lachesis will pull the appropriate threads. We will not have to do anything." He takes another long sniff of the shampoo, his eyes closing with delight. "Just…a blink and all will be well again."
I frown. It seems there is a lot more involved than just “a blink” but what do I know? I'm just a dumbass mortal, good only for being a fucktoy. "And I'm tied to you, right? Where does that put me?"
Kassam shrugs. "At my side, I assume."
Uh. This is something we haven't really discussed in length, and I'm pretty sure I have feelings about it. "In your world?"
"If all goes well, yes."
Yup, I definitely have feelings about this. I stare at him through the shower of water. "To die?"
Kassam hands me shampoo again. "Not to die. I told you, I would protect you. Seth assures me that you will be safe. That to get back to my world, we are circumventing the usual rules. It should not have an effect on your mortality."
"But when you get back home, you're still Hedonism, right? Still stuck on the mortal plane? So you need me to die for you to go fully home." I pick up a bar of soap and my loofah, scrubbing the soap into the sponge. I have to do something with my hands, because this conversation is making me too nervous. "Where is your home, anyway?"
"It is the Great Endless Forest," Kassam says softly. "I miss it like I miss air…or the red moon. I feel as if I have been gone forever, and I wonder how it has fared in my absence."
Poor Kassam. I feel a hint of guilt at his words, but I'm still worried. "So that part of the plan hasn't changed. We get you home, and if I'm with you, I still die." At his silence, I scowl in his direction. "At least be honest with me, unless you plan on taking up the mantle of trickster god, as well."