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him of lush harems from an earlier period of human history, a time before the Great Plague. His
muscles, sore from tending to the fence, finally started to relax.
He picked up what he supposed passed as shampoo for Eoeans that smelled like mint and cotton
and had the consistency of bodywash with little granule scrubbers in it. It felt fantastic on his scalp
and on the rougher parts of his skin. He had the sneaking suspicion he would be begging Elia in the
near future to wash his hair for him. He absolutely loved when people washed his hair. He had loved
going to the hair salon for that very reason.
The swish of the door behind him made him grin. His lover had certainly rushed checking on the
pens down by the beach.
You didn t have to rush on my account, he said, laughter in his voice. Though he was more
than pleased at his lover s eagerness to return to him. He turned to continue but stopped short. He
frowned. What are you doing in here? I thought Elia told you to go to your room and leave us alone.
He suddenly felt very vulnerable.
Task was quiet for a long time, just staring at him. I do not take my orders from Elia anymore.
The sentence seemed off to him somehow, like the guy was a second away from losing it. Time to
get out of the bath. He moved toward the step, and Task came over to block his path.
Don t do something stupid, Alexis warned. The look in the servant s eyes said he was just this
side of dangerous. Come on, Task. I know you re pissed about me being here, but it s Elia s
choice.
You need to hush, human, Task rumbled. I m debating whether to drown you or walk away.
At the moment, I m leaning toward the former.
Alexis swallowed. Why?
Elia s father was just arrested by the authorities for tampering with the lottery. Task dropped
the bomb with vicious efficiency. And though I know logically that you couldn t have known, my
visceral reaction is to eliminate the evidence. He took out something that looked like a small
baseball bat and swung it in a lazy half arc. Alexis s heart skipped a beat.
It won t protect Kranok now, Alexis said, tilting his chin up in defiance. If he was going to
him with that thing, he wasn t going to cringe away from it like a coward.
It s not Kranok that I am concerned about! Task snapped, rage transforming his features into
something black and hateful. His blue skin even darkened a shade like he was flushing. Alexis was
bewildered. The way Task had always behaved favored Kranok and his lifestyle. It just didn t make
any sense that he didn t care about the man s predicament.
Then what? Alexis asked, glaring daggers at the man. Why are you threatening me with that
damn pipe thing?
Elia will be the one to suffer for this. He s going to be the one who loses his first concubine.
He s the one who has thrown off his heritage for you. And now you will be torn from him like the
misplaced property you are. He stared down at Alexis, and his black eyes were the only thing he
saw. If I could spare him the pain of knowing you would belong to another, I would. It s not fair that
you should get another chance when he will be the laughingstock of all of Eoean.
The words sank into his chest like tiny hooks intent on tearing off the muscle surrounding his
heart. I m not going anywhere.
The authorities
Fuck the authorities! Alexis interrupted, uncaring if the guy swung at him at this point. I m
never leaving him.
Task s eyes narrowed. Then you will breed with him? Care for him? Fight for him? Not many
concubines would do so.
That wasn t even a question. You obviously have never met a human in love, man. He s stuck
with me until death do us part. And we ve talked about the kid thing. When the time comes, we ll
make a dozen beautiful babies for him to fawn over. But we ll both be ready for it when it happens.
No matter what happened, he was going to stick by his lover s side. Period.
The servant considered him for a long time, staring at him as if he could read a lie if it were
evident on Alexis s face. Finally, he nodded. I believe you. He sighed. It would ve been easier to
kill you. Then he could ve buried you. I need you to come with me. We have to hide you. Now.
They re probably already on their way from Prince Kranok s.
Alexis s eyes widened. No offense, but I don t trust you as far as I can throw you. I m not going
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