Tamara Chrisrande. Like Cresta, she had bestial traits that distinguished her from regular humans. The most distinctive parts were her thick, curved horns, fluffy ears that drooped downwards, and a furry tail. It was hard to decide by the bed of curly white hair if that trait of hers was more human or animal. She could lie down on her back and all that hair would form a bed for her.
Most of her dossier read like normal. She wasn't some super assassin or someone hiding any big secrets. Thirteen year old Tamara was a farmer and shepherd. A regular civilian. She was also an orphan.
Her parents were killed during the Calamitous War in Weyera. She was among a hundred-thousand refugees of the empire entered into a lottery and— if it could be called luck given her circumstances— won the gamble to come live on earth.
That must be tough. Someone as young as her losing her entire family and having to start over in a foreign world… must be a lot to take in for the kid.
The least I could do was make her feel as welcome as possible. Cresta's friendliness would come in handy.
The girl wouldn't be coming alone. She also had a pet sheep named Rakka accompanying her.
"Sheep…?" I found myself repeating aloud.
There were just as many pictures of Rakka as there were of Tamara, like Professor Markel thought it necessary I commit every inch of the farm animal to memory. The sheep looked like any regular unsheared sheep on earth, if not a bit fluffier.
Well, it wasn't my decision who comes and stays. I only needed to make preparations for them.
The west wing already had three tenants: Remmy, Cresta, and Ines. If I added another there, Ange might think I didn't trust her around other tenants. Having Tamara live across from her should be fine. I could also build a wire fence in the backyard for Rakka to graze in.
"Ugh… I can't feel my hips, I'm so sore…" Ines groaned from my bed.
The three of us might have gone a little overboard last night. An opportunity for a threesome didn't just drop onto people's lap, and Ange being a succubus indulged in every second of our romp. I wasn't sure if I should feel pride or feel bad for putting Ines in that state, but at least it was fun for all of us.
"If you want, I can bring you some pain relievers," I offered.
"As if some over-the-counters are going to fix my back getting blown out." She sat up on the bed, drank the rest of my water bottle that was sitting on the nightstand, and put on her glasses. "What are you reading over there?"
"Our new tenant. She's coming this afternoon."
Ines threw on her discarded robe that was on the floor, then climbed off the bed and staggered over to me unsteadily. She planted her hands on my shoulders and squinted at the computer screen.
"What. On. Earth. SHE'S SO ADORABLE! Is she real?" Her voice was several volume levels too loud for how early it was.
"Nnnh… Quiet down, please. I would like to sleep for a little longer," Ange rolled over and burritoed herself in the sheets.
But Ines wouldn't have it. She dragged Ange out of bed to direct her attention at Tamara.
"Look at her. Isn't she the cutest thing you've ever seen?" Ines asked.
I expected Ange to react in one of two ways. I'd seen girls squeal together too many times when looking at things they deemed cute. However, this was Ange. She could just as easily answer with a shrug and return to bed.
Instead, Ange stared absentmindedly at the screen. Her mouth hung open. Then as if something had switched on inside her brain, closed her mouth and turned away to go for the door.
"Ange," I called out to her. "Not feeling well?"
The succubus stopped with her hand on the doorknob.
She cleared her throat. "I'm fine. Just going downstairs to take a bath first."
When Ange left the room, Ines tugged on my right earlobe.
"Doesn't take a therapist to know if a girl says 'I'm fine' it clearly means she's not fine," Ines remarked.
"I know, I know! But what do you expect me to do? Force her to talk to me?" I asked, rubbing my ear once she had let go.
I returned my attention back to the image of Tamara. Something about this girl triggered something in Ange. Did they know each other?
"Wait a minute… Ange is a demon," I muttered.
"Yes, Sherlock. I thought that was established a while ago?" Ines looked me in the eye, then it clicked for her a second later. "Oh, shit."
Ange was a demon.
The very same race that upended Weyera. Unlike Remmy and Cresta's past circumstances with demons, Tamara's perceived notion of them were monsters who destroyed her home and killed her parents.
That… couldn't be good…
Once again, I found myself asking, just what the hell are they thinking?
Professor Markel and High-King Tarcosa couldn't have known, could they? No, Tamara was chosen by lottery after all. They could have sent the girl to any other dormitory, but instead picked the one place that was housing a demon.
My instinct was to call Professor Markel and ask if he could delay or even reassign Tamara elsewhere. As I reached for the phone, Ines placed a hand on top of mine to stop me.
"If you throw in the towel now, what's going to stop you from doing it again with another tenant later?" she asked.
"You just want to hug the human sheep girl," I said accusingly.
Ines cast her gaze away in shame.
We got dressed and went downstairs to start getting breakfast ready. Ines was like a second hand, another caretaker in the dorm. The fact that she was already an independent adult before coming here made the transition that much easier. She contributed to cooking, cleaning, and even scolded me if I did something wrong.
Though I would never admit that I kind of liked being scolded by her. It felt like we were a married couple.
With everything mostly done in the kitchen, it was up to the oversleepers to come down while the food was hot. I left the rest in Ines' capable hands and went upstairs to get Tamara's room prepped. When I got there, I noticed Ange's door was left ajar.
"Ange?" I opened the door to see her leaning against the far wall and staring out the window. Out that side of the house was the backyard, but her gaze was fixed somewhere much further than that.
Down here in southern California, there were only woodlands, deserts, and canyons toward the east. Beyond our green backyard boxed in by tall bushes was a military base housing the only portal to Weyera.
"Something bothering you?" I asked, knowing full well what was on her mind.
"Nothing," Ange sighed. "I suppose I shall have to make myself scarce when the girl arrives. I do not wish to frighten her."
I entered her room to take her hands into mine. She stared into my eyes, waiting for me to say something profound to make her feel better. Unfortunately, she was going to be disappointed.
"I don't think Cresta cares about the one day a week arrangement anymore. So if having sex will make you feel better, we can get our hots on right here," I said, holding a straight face.
Ange's demeanor shifted. She pursed her lips to hold back the laughter, but the corner of her lips folded into a grin. The succubus flicked her wrist and a gust of wind blew shut the door. Then she grabbed my face and kissed me.
However, the kiss wasn't done out of love or lust. She savoured the touch of our lips pressed together and nothing more, then faced away from me. It felt like an apology.
"I'm afraid you will hate me," she said, pulling her hands away from mine and clenching them to her side.
"There will never be a parallel world where I hate you," I assured her.
"That's quite the declaration." She chuckled. Then in a much quieter voice, perhaps out of fear that the others would hear, she said, "I was the one who killed Tamara's parents."