Page 13 of These Endless Nights

"I'll let her know," he said, and I saw him jotting it down on a sticky note. "Is it urgent? I can call her and let her know right now."

I hurriedly shook my head. The only thing that could make this even worse was if it became a big deal. "No, no, it's not an emergency or anything. I just had a question about the mule."

Silence met that statement, and I, a grown man in my thirties with my own business, contemplated running away and hiding under the blankets at home like an embarrassed toddler.

"Okay," he said slowly. I definitely couldn't look at him now, but I guarantee he was thinking I was long overdue for a mental health evaluation. He'd be correct, but this wasn't the time or place to deal with it.

"Just… no rush. Whenever she can call me. It's fine. I'm fine. Thank you for your help. I'll just… go. I'll go. Thank you. Have a great night."

I fled.

Chapter 6

Typhon

He's coming.

I could smell his scent on the air, the smell of a fresh spring morning and warm sunshine. We knew it better than our own after yesterday. He'd come to us, come to me, and brought food. He'd turned his back and waited, even though his fear was thick in the air. He didn't look and we'd approached, me and the beast within me. Moving still hurt, and our wing still hadn't healed, dragging on the ground with each limping step, but he was right there. He waited when we devoured the food, the tiny morsel disappearing far too quickly, not nearly enough to sate the gnawing hunger in our belly.

I couldn't stop the beast from touching him, just a tiny brush of our scaled head against his soft skin. His fear smell spiked, and I regained control, disappearing into the trees before he could see the monster at his back.

Fear, familiar to me but so foreign to the beast, kept us awake even after the lights in the small cabin went out. Had we scared him? Would he call the hunters?

All night and all morning we waited, prepared to run. I saw his eyes searching the trees as he did his chores that morning, and when he left, he left the giant dog that was his companion behind, standing guard.

I wanted to run before they came for us, but the beast refused.

Mine. He is mine. Ours.

Reasoning with it was impossible, and so we waited.

Now the sun was setting, and he was coming. Beneath the familiar scent of him was another smell, one that made my stomach twist and clench.

Meat. Food. He feeds us.

From our hiding spot in the trees, I saw him approach, the big black dog at his side.

"I don't know if you're still here or not, but I promised I would bring you food." His voice wavered but didn't break, an impressive show of bravery. That bravery wouldn't last if he saw what we truly were. The beast didn't agree, struggling to get to him, but for once, I won the battle. I did move, just enough to rustle the underbrush where we hid. His eyes darted over, narrowing as he tried to peer into the shadows, but we blended in too well. We were made to disappear into the shadows, to hunt unseen.

Memories flickered, images of another human running through the trees, fleeing from us. The human changed his shape and hid, leaving us frustrated and hungry. We had to hunt. Track him down, subdue him, then…

A heavy iron gate slammed down in my mind, blocking out what came next. Something else. Somewhere else.

Not here. Safe here.

The beast pushed to the surface, crawling forward on his belly until we were almost exposed.

Stay away from the black boxes.

The cameras. Some part of me, a part that grew a little stronger every day, knew what those were and knew we couldn't go near them. Too dangerous.

The man who was ours stayed within view of those cameras, so we stayed hidden, waiting.

"What are you?"

He whispered the question, but we heard it clear as a bell. He was still afraid.

We will protect him.