Chapter 50: Vending Machine

~~~

Thnk.

The spine of a heavy book met the shelf, the sound swallowed by the echoing room. Another followed, the leather brushing against its neighbours as I worked my way along the row.

When the last book settled into place, I stood there for a moment, fingertips resting on its cover. Somewhere between the monotonous task, my brain began to wander, dazing out from whatever I was doing, thinking of how my life had slipped onto a different track.

The people I’d been closest to had slipped out of my days, one after the other. And in their absence, something like an itch had settled deep inside me. A restless, gnawing one, just beneath the skin. I could feel it, the need to scratch it, to tear it out; it just kept taunting me.

As I tried to refocus, a faint prickle crept up my spine. Across the room, a draconic lady with tanned skin sat with the quiet authority of someone who owned the place. Her verdant eyes crawled up my body as it traced my every move.

She gave a warm smile, but it felt anything but comforting. It was Anissa the blightscale, the one who held the biggest threat to my livelihood. I turned my gaze away and busied myself with work, the same way I had for the past few days since getting the job.

Up until now, every job she’d passed my way had been laughably easy, more busywork than anything. But the longer I dwelled on it, the more paranoid I came to be. She was biding her time, waiting… waiting for the right moment to strike.

I was always restless, the itch under my skin, paired with her watchful gaze, like a predator toying with its food, made a recipe for an awful time. It was always there, lingering, at the edge of my thoughts, wearing me down piece by piece.

Even when she said nothing, I could feel the weight of her eyes following me from one end of the room to the other, as if she was cataloguing every movement.

The only relief came when the day’s work was done, when I could step away and finally draw a breath without feeling like I was being measured for something I didn’t understand.

I finally wrapped up everything, more than ready to get out of there. Before leaving, I let my eyes flick back toward Anissa. She met the look with a slow, tugging smile, one that pulled at the corners without ever touching her eyes. Then, with an almost lazy shift of her attention, she turned away to focus on something else.

Taking that as my cue, I slipped out into the hall, my shoulders loosening and a long, quiet breath of relief spilling out now that the heavy air of the room was behind me. My footsteps felt lighter, freer, as if the invisible weight of her gaze had finally slipped from my back.

But relief is a fragile thing.

Just as I let my guard drop, something cold and firm coiled around my waist from the side, an arm. It drew me in, the sudden sensation causing me to flinch.

It was instinct that made me whirl around, heart hammering, ready for confrontation, but then the teal hair and those rat ears registered.

“Kael?” The name slipped out, my voice carrying a thread of unease I hadn’t meant to reveal. A tone that didn't match the careless lilt from the days bygone. One that hadn’t been the same, ever since that kiss stained the passing days.

I tried to steady it, but her fingers kept tracing that slow path, brushing over a spot that sent a prickling itch crawling across my spine.

She smirked, a playful gleam in her eyes, her fingers drumming on my side before digging in the flesh, leaning just close enough to make me wince.

Kael grinned wider. “You looked stressed, Markus. Clearly, it’s time for the world-famous, patented Kael massage.”

I huffed a short, forced laugh. “That’s a thing now? Well, I’m good, really-”

“Oh, it’s always been a thing.” Before I could react, her hand started to wander along my waist in slow, exaggerated circles.

“…Kael?” I said, my voice more hesitant than questioning.

She stopped and turned her head toward me, eyes locking on mine with that unnervingly still look. Her smile was gone now, like it had never been anything but a lie.

The back of my neck prickled. I forced another small laugh. “You’re… too…” The rest of the words withered on my tongue, hanging in the air like they’d lost their way.

Something in her gaze shifted, just barely. “Sorry,” she said at last, the word falling flat, like she was reciting something she’d been told to say. Her hands never leaving.

Before I had a chance of figuring out if she meant it, she straightened and clapped her hands lightly. “Let’s go.”

I blinked at her. “…Go? Where?”

“To do the deal, obviously,” she said, rolling her eyes like it was the most obvious thing in the world, a faint smile forming on her mouth, an anticipation even she couldn’t begin to hide.

My eyes went wide, a stunned beat of silence locking my jaw before the word slipped out. “Here?”

Kael’s smirk deepened, her gaze narrowing in that way that always made it feel like she could see straight through me. “C’mon, Markus. You know you want this, even more than I do.”

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.

She took a step closer, her voice dipping just enough to thread under my skin. “Don’t pretend you haven’t been thinking about it. You’ve been starving, haven't you?”

A shiver ran through me, sharp and involuntary. The itch flared up again, deep and maddening, curling in my gut like a vice I couldn’t shake.

“And hey,” she added lightly, tilting her head, “don’t you need that money too?”

I swallowed hard, the question lodging itself into every crevice of my mind. Her expression softened, at least on the surface, as she looked at me, imploringly. The intensity of it rooted me in place.

I could feel the heat crawling up my neck, sweat prickling along my hairline. My breath grew shorter with every second she held that gaze, the itch inside me gnawing louder, more prominent, until it was all I could hear.

“…Yes,” I breathed, surrendering to my weakness. Almost instantly, the itch melted away. Relief washed through me in a strange, hollow wave, leaving my legs light and unsteady.

Kael’s lips curved into the biggest, slyest smile I’d ever seen, her eyes narrowing to gleaming slits. “Good,” she whispered.

I didn’t even get to think twice, her arm tightened around my waist again, dragging me forward as if the decision had never been mine to begin with.

~~~

Kael didn’t say a word at first, just tugged me along with that unshakable grip on my sides. We wove through the flow of people in her unhurried pace.

I kept glancing around, half expecting her to stop somewhere familiar, but every turn seemed to lead us into quieter stretches of the building. The voices around us thinned, footsteps becoming less frequent.

Where’s she taking me? I wondered, the question pestering me with every step. She didn’t seem tense, if anything, she looked sure. Like she’d known exactly where we were going from the start.

Bit by bit, the cacophony of the students faded until it was just the sound of our footsteps. She guided me around a corner, and there it was, an abandoned vending machine glowing faintly in the dim light, the hallway around it empty.

Only then did she finally ease her hold, her arm slipping away. “In hindsight,” she said with an apologetic grin, “I might’ve been a bit too forceful.”

Her hands found mine, fingers curling into them casually. My focus wasn’t there, though. The itch was already driving me crazy like a disease plaguing my mind, like it had been waiting for this exact moment.

“Ready?” Kael’s voice broke the silence.

I just stared ahead, my expression locked between thought and hesitation. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her watching, until the corners of her mouth lifted in a slow, knowing curve. Her smile spread until it was all teeth, her eyes narrowing like she was witnessing just what she wanted to see.

“What’s with the silence?” she said, leaning in a fraction. “Don’t tell me you’re shy now… not after we’ve done this more times than I can count.” Her fingers at my side gave a light squeeze. “You’re not getting cold feet, are you?”

She leaned in, her breath brushing my ear. “Because that’d be adorable.”

A soft giggle spilled from her lips as I barely processed the tease, she closed the distance in one sudden motion. Her mouth caught mine, stealing the breath from my lungs.

The world seemed to dull instantly, thoughts melting into a hazy warmth. The gnawing itch inside me smoothed over, replaced by that same dizzy, weightless calm that came with finally getting the hit I didn’t want to admit I’d been craving.

My tongue pressed hungrily into hers, desperate and greedy, like a scavenger scraping together whatever scraps he could claim. But no matter how much I tried to take, it always felt like she was the one in control.

Her hands roamed with ease, sliding over my waist, my chest, my thighs, as if scanning every inch, something that went beyond the intentions of our initial agreement.

When we finally broke apart, a thin strand of spit clung between us, shimmering beside the glow of the vending machine, before it snapped, fleeting and intimate.

She studied me for a beat, head tilted, eyes glinting. “Want more?” she asked, voice smooth but tinged with mischief. “Because I’m done for today.”

Almost without thinking, my fingers tightened around her, pulling her a fraction closer, but then I reigned myself in, loosening my grip and forcing the need back down where it belonged.

Kael’s smile thinned for a heartbeat, her eyes sharpening at my actions like I’d just stepped somewhere I shouldn’t have. But just as quickly, the expression melted into something lighter, almost airy, as if my silent rejection had rolled right off her.

“Mm, sure,” she said, voice bright again. “Let’s head back to class before someone starts wondering what we’ve been up to.” She gave me a playful nudge with her elbow, lips curling in a teasing grin.

“Though I bet your face is red enough to tell the whole story already.”

As we stood, Kael reached into her pocket and wordlessly pressed a folded stack of bills into my hand. I opened my mouth to refuse, like I always wanted to, but the heft of it was more than I could afford to reject. Enough to keep me and Nora's bills steady for a while.

“And here, there's a tip for you,” she murmured, stepping in close. Her lips brushed the side of my neck, her tongue pressing against it warmly, before suckling it hard, hard enough to snap me out of my thoughts.

My first instinct was to push her away, but the haze rolled over me again, melting that resistance until my hands just hovered uselessly at my sides. Only after a long moment did I manage to bring my hand up, gently guiding her head back.

She looked up at me with a mischievous smile, eyes sparkling like she knew exactly what she’d done. I couldn’t see it, but I was certain she’d left her mark.

“Don’t… do that,” I muttered, a futile attempt at reprimand in my daze-driven voice, going through another bout of high that left me weak at my knees.

She just grinned wider, clearly unmoved, as I fumbled with my collar, buttoning it up high in a half-hearted attempt to hide the spot. Even so, the thought nagged in the back of my mind, no matter what I did, it might still be visible.

Kael curled her hand into a loose arm and tapped my chest. “Think of it as… a friendship brand,” she said with a sly tilt of her head.

Before I could reply, she was already tugging me forward. “Come on, we’re gonna be late.”

And who was the one who suggested this in the first place? I thought bitterly as we broke into a brisk walk back to the hall.

Then just as abruptly, Kael stopped dead in her tracks. The bounce in her step faded, and the smile that had been plastered on her face slowly drained away, replaced by something colder.

We slowed to a stop as confusion clouded my thoughts until I followed her gaze. My stomach tightened, an uneasy knot of glee and guilt spreading inside me, one I couldn't pinpoint why.

Standing further down the hall, framed in the flickering light, was a figure I knew all too well. Raven-black wolf ears twitched faintly above his head, unmistakable even from a distance.

It was Wryn.