Otherworld

A Sneak Peek

"Well," Akin said, not taking any offense to my tone, "You could start by maybe seeing if there's any classes you wanna take, or clubs you want to join, or maybe charitable labor for an organization." I stared at him blankly, because what the hell was I supposed to say to that?

Classes? Classes in what, fighting? My fighting style wasn't average, but it was good enough to protect me and Thirteen and that was all that mattered. Clubs? What kind of clubs? The loser club? Already had a lifetime membership. Charitable labor? Did I look like a community gardener?

No, the root of all this was Akin trying to get me to be... productive. To be normal.

Or maybe he was thirsty for some semblance of normal.

"I'll just stand guard outside the house while Thirteen goes to his lessons," I answered after a second, then hesitantly dug my spoon into the food on my place. I glanced up through loose strands of blond hair to see the King glancing over his shoulder at me, those dark brows of his slamming down hard in a disapproving frown. I met his stare straight on until he rolled his eyes and looked away.

"I don't wanna do school," Thirteen complained abruptly, reaching up to tug at the hem of the King's shirt, "I wanna go with you to the palace! I wanna see all the gods!" The King didn't really react to Thirteen's tugging, or his whining. He just ignored him to pile pancakes on a plate so he could hand them to him.

Thirteen's eyes brightened as he took his bounty to the table, hopping up in a seat beside me. He beamed at his meal and immediately dug in as Akin smiled at him.

"Maybe you can have your teacher take you to see all the gods at the palace," he pointed out, making Thirteen whine a little even though his mouth was full, "Don't gimme that. Eat your food with your mouth closed. Also, baby, I think we need to consider letting Thirteen go to actual school, instead of leaving him with your mom for most of the day." I glanced over at the King, who clearly did not like the idea, and frankly, I could agree.

It wasn't safe to send Thirteen to a public school. Right now, his life was in danger. Once word got back to the Mother of where we were located and the situation, she wasn't going to just let us live happily ever after. Thirteen was the most successful of all of her twisted experiments. She'd kill to get him back.

As for me, she'd probably just straight up kill me for my betrayal.

Fine by me. I wasn't useful to her, or to Akin and the King.

"No," the King answered after a moment, making me sigh in relief under my breath before I continued eating, pausing only to wipe syrup from Thirteen's shirt, "We're sticking to what we got right now. I don't want to take any risks right now. He's safest with my mom."

"I don't doubt that," Akin agreed, "But he needs to make friends. You know, aside from family."

"Friends are the least of his worries," the King disagreed. Akin's eyes flickered at that, and I could tell he was getting a bit exasperated with his husband.

"Can I talk to you?" He asked, clearly meaning a private discussion between the two of them. The King shut off the stove and obeyed without question. He never denied his husband a thing, hence why we were here in the first place. Otherwise, if the King had had his way, we'd be in an orphanage or foster care, whatever the hell that last one was. I knew orphanages were places for kids without parents and the idea that someone could take Thirteen away from me was almost enough to give me anxiety.

"Did I make 'em mad?" Thirteen asked, turning to look up at me with big blue eyes. I swallowed my food and gave him a reassuring smile. I reached out and wiped more syrup from his lips.