Knox (Monsters of Veridia #1)

Chapter 13

Chapter

Thirteen

Knox awoke to the soft light filtering through the curtains, casting a warm glow on the room. His eyes drifted to Adrian, still wrapped in sleep.

A wave of tenderness washed over Knox as he studied the mortal's features. The tousled brown hair, the slight furrow of his brow even in sleep, the curve of his lips— all of it spoke of a vulnerability that Knox found utterly endearing. But there was a quiet kind of strength within Adrian as well.

It had taken a lot of courage for him to expose himself to Knox the way he'd done last night. Especially considering all that he knew about Knox.

Knox's gaze drifted to Adrian's phone, lying on the bedside table next to his glasses. He recalled the text he'd read on that magical box. Adrian's thoughts about him, revealing that he was well aware of Knox's history, of all the sins he'd committed in service to the Night Court.

And yet he'd chosen to put his trust in Knox anyway.

Did that mean he thought Knox could be better than his origins?

While Knox was wondering, Adrian stirred and woke, blinking his eyes open and looking at Knox as if he couldn't quite believe that they were here together.

"Good morning," he said shyly as he picked up his glasses.

"Good morning," Knox replied. He reached out, trailing a finger along Adrian's jawline. "How are you feeling?"

Adrian's cheeks flushed, and Knox felt a surge of warmth in his chest. It was strange, this affection he felt for the mortal. All his life he'd spent seducing men and women and everything in between with a glance, a whisper of magic. He was used to having an effect on people.

He wasn't used to someone having an effect on him .

Sex was fun. Sex was power.

It had never been… this .

But he liked this.

"I'm... good," Adrian mumbled, averting his gaze. "Really good, actually." He sat up, swallowed. "We have to get ready for the convention." He made to get out of bed.

Reluctantly, Knox let him. It was too bad, really. Knox would have loved to draw him under the covers again, but Adrian was right.

They had to stop Caelen.

After breakfast, Adrian led them to a place he referred to as 'the bus stop.'

He seemed unhappy about something Knox couldn't put his finger on, licking his lips and scanning their surroundings. "Don't be surprised if you see some weirdness," he said.

Knox frowned, glancing at Zev and Lyrian, who seemed as clueless as him. But before he could ask, the first trickle of people arrived at the bus stop. Several of them wore elaborate costumes, their faces painted and hair adorned with strange trinkets.

"What in the hells…" Knox muttered, his gaze drawn to a woman with elaborate horns twisting from her temples. They had an odd shine to them that made them look unlike any horns Knox had seen back home.

"Cosplay," Adrian supplied, his gaze flickering nervously between Knox and the approaching group. "You know, dressing up? Like from a book or a movie?"

Before Knox could respond, another cosplayer, a young man with wings crafted from cardboard stopped in front of him. "Dude," he breathed, his eyes wide with awe. "Your Knox cosplay is insane! Did you make those clothes yourself?"

"This is… my usual attire," Knox stated, his tone flat. Why could the people of this world never believe that he was who he was?

The young man’s eyes widened further. "No way! You bought this online, didn’t you?" He leaned closer, reaching out as if to touch Knox’s coat.

Knox caught the man’s hand in mid-air. "Keep your paws to yourself."

A cough drew Knox’s attention to Adrian, who’d jumped up from his seat and stood beside him now, a strained smile plastered on his face. "You’d better leave him alone," Adrian said, his voice a touch too high. "He’s… really serious about staying in character."

"Oh." The stranger took a step back, but the crowd around them took a renewed interest in Knox and his friends. A woman in a flowing green dress stepped forward and shot Knox a smile that was clearly meant to be seductive. "You can play in character with me any time," she said with a wink. "I’ll be the little elf who can’t resist the incubus."

"Just the incubus?" Lyrian asked. "I’ve got a thing for elves, even fake ones."

Next to Knox, Adrian glanced down the street as if he was desperately hoping for the bus to appear.

Knox wanted to tell him to calm down when another woman approached him, and this one was dressed like his mother. "You can call me Mommy," she said with an even brighter smile than the one the fake elf flashed Lyrian.

Knox recoiled. "By the Abyss," he muttered. He wasn’t one to shrink away from even the wildest, most degenerate sexual fantasies, but this was a step too far.

The woman in the replica of his mother’s court attire pressed closer, her perfume—cheap and cloying—washing over him. "Don’t be shy, darling," she purred. "Mommy knows what you like."

He fought the urge to snarl. Never had he encountered such a blatant disregard for boundaries.

Zev, probably sensing that Knox was about to snap, stepped in between them. "He’s not interested."

The woman’s attention focused on Zev. "Are you?"

"Interested in fucking the image of my best friend’s mother? Absolutely not."

Her gaze narrowed. "Your loss," she replied, sauntering away with a sway in her hips.

"Thank you," Knox said to Zev.

The night fae shook his head, lips twitching.

"What?" Knox prodded.

"This human wanted to be your mommy." Zev’s cool facade crumbled as laughter bubbled out of him. Lyrian joined in on it as well, and Knox realized his friends would never let him forget about this incident.

"Don’t laugh," Adrian cut in. "We’ll probably see cosplayers of your mother at the convention as well."

Zev shot Adrian a sharp look. "Why would anyone dress up as my mother? She was a horrible woman."

"Beautiful, though," Lyrian supplied the reason before Adrian could.

"Her beauty was nothing but cruel," Zev said, entirely devoid of mirth.

The bus arrived then, an even bigger metal beast than the ones they’d been on before, and Adrian motioned for them to board.

Knox got on, the otherworldly nature of the bus fascinating him despite the situation. The seats were lined with worn fabric, the air tinged with the scent of sweat and some unpleasant odor he couldn’t identify.

He chose a seat near the back, hoping to get away from the odd women who’d come on to him earlier. Adrian sat beside him, Lyrian and Zev across the aisle.

"You good?" Adrian asked.

Knox nodded, though the irritation still simmered beneath his skin. "I’ll manage. Is this… usual?"

Adrian glanced around the bus, filled with people in various states of costume. "Pretty much. Fan conventions bring out all kinds of geeks."

"Do they often dress as people’s mothers?"

Adrian flushed. "You got unlucky there, I guess." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Anyone who’s in the story is fair game for cosplay." Glancing around the bus, he added, "There are a lot more people here dressing up as you."

Knox followed the line of Adrian’s gaze, and found that he was right. There were a couple of humans imitating his style of dress, wearing fake horns on their heads, fake ear tips. Knox hadn’t paid them any attention before because they looked nothing like him, in spite of their costumes.

"They don’t come close," Adrian took the thought right out of his head. "No one compares to you."

"I would hope not." Knox took Adrian’s hand in his. The human looked surprised, but didn’t try to draw back. He looked out the window, though, as if he didn’t quite know how to deal with Knox’s attention.

How peculiar.

Knox had thought Adrian had gotten over his awkwardness around him last night, but it seemed not. Knox had stripped him, worshiped him with his mouth and taken his body to heights of pleasure he was sure Adrian had never experienced before.

Was there something else he needed to do to make Adrian comfortable around him?

Or was it never going to happen because this human knew too much about Knox’s true nature?

About his past.

Idly, he ran his thumb over the back of Adrian’s hand, his incubus instincts picking up on the little shiver that ran through Adrian at the touch.

It made Knox want more, even though he was already brimming with energy. Even though he was stuck on a vehicle stuffed with mortals who would have loved to feed him.

He only wanted Adrian.

Adrian, who was so very busy not meeting his gaze.

Was Zev right when he said that Adrian was the one for Knox?

Even if that were true, though… did Knox have any right to claim him?