Monstrous Intent, page 23
“I’m not going to let you die like this,” Lake says.
“That’s awfully nice of you, but I have this handled,” I say, even though I’m not quite sure that’s true.
“I’ll shift and kill them.”
“Don’t. You’ll kill yourself,” I protest, anxious that he’s going to shift anyway.
He shakes his head like he really doesn’t think that’s the case. Or maybe he doesn’t care. “You’ll have a chance to get away if I do. But if I don’t, we’re both going to die.”
“Just… be ready to help me push the pool table, okay?” I say. “Live for your stupid fish because I’m not taking care of it if you die.”
“I know you would.”
I refuse to answer that. Instead, I reload my rifle and set my handgun to the side, prepared to use it the moment I’m out of shots. Remaining steady, I focus as the first one busts through the basement door. I know I can’t be careless with the number of shots I take, I won’t have time to reload, but I have to hit them enough to either down them or make them leave.
My first shot hits true and the monster pulls back to get away from another hit. But they’re wise now. They pull back to regroup or think this through. There’s no other way into the room, so if they’re planning on coming, this is the only opportunity they’ve got to do it.
And that’s when someone steps down onto the stairs.
As they move into view, my brain tells me they’re humanlike but that’s not right. They turn their six eyes onto me as I realize they have more than two arms, all covered in skin that looks somewhere between leathery and scaled. It’s like one of the monsters decided to stop their shift halfway between monster and human.
“What the fuck is that?” I ask.
“I think you need to keep shooting,” Lake says, not shocked by this at all.
He’s not going “What the fuck? There’s a humanlike monster trotting down the stairs ready to murder us” and seems to be unaffected by all of this. Does anything surprise this man?
“Declan!” Lake yells, snapping me back to it as the monster moves toward me with more speed than a human could possess.
I steady my rifle and shoot. The monster shifts hard to the side, dodging the bullet that strikes a smaller monster behind it. Another shot drives the monster toward the wall to avoid the hit, which makes it unable to avoid the next.
It only seems to anger the monster, but the blood tells me otherwise. I don’t let up as it rushes down the stairs and when I feel like it’s too close, I throw the bedroom door shut and lock it before Lake helps me push the pool table against it.
“What the fuck was that?” I hiss.
“My other big bro. He’s probably pissed I killed Basil.”
I wave at the door that I can hear the “big bro” outside of. My brain is having trouble comprehending any of this. Is he just some weird mutated version of a chimera? More human than monster?
The chimera in question slams against the door, but it doesn’t budge as I drop to my knees in front of my bag and start tearing through it, looking for something to help get us out of this situation. The only windows are small ones that none of us can fit through, which means they also only have one way in.
“We could have sex before we die,” Lake suggests, apparently thinking this is a brilliant idea, as though I’m just going to whip out my dick while a crazed monster from hell lurks outside the door ready to kill us the first chance it gets. It’s not like that door is going to hold long. I can hear it right outside the door. I can also hear the smaller ones, their nails clinking on the hardwood floor of the cabin as they stalk around the basement, just waiting to get to us and tear us to pieces.
“We’re not having sex,” I growl.
“Damn,” he says, sounding surprised I said no. Like I thought dying mid-fuck was the way to go. That’s when I hear him pop open something.
I look over as he starts downing a bottle of alcohol as if that will invigorate him. Before he can finish, I snatch it from him.
He looks almost offended that I would deprive him of his drink. “What? I just wanted to numb everything so that when I shift and kill them, I’ll be all good.”
“You’re not shifting or you’ll die.”
I hear one of the monsters press its snout against the bottom of the door and breathe in, smelling us on the other side.
I check the bottle but it’s not enough proof, so I hurry over to the wall where there’s a whole rack of alcohol. I open one and sniff it before handing it to Lake. “Empty that.”
He gasps.
“What?” I ask.
“You made friends,” he says as he points at the small chimera lurking in the corner.
“I’m making mittens out of it when we’re done here,” I assure him.
“My big boy is growing up and making friends,” Lake says, which does nothing but annoy me. Why does he think he needs to be so annoying and sassy?
“I’m not making friends with it,” I say as I knock a few bottles against the cabinet before rolling one to him. “Dump that one out.”
“Can I dump it into my mouth instead?”
“I’d prefer you be fully cognizant,” I say.
“That’s true. I don’t want to miss a single moment with you.” He reaches out and pets me just a little. I decide if he has a hand to do something with, he can hold more bottles, so I hand him another one.
“Pour that one into the bottle I just had you empty.”
“I feel like this is a strange activity, but I’m happy to do anything my sugar wants,” he says.
That’s when the chimeras outside the door seem to realize that busting through the door is the only option and I hear one of them slam against the thick wooden door. Moving as quickly as I can, I find two more bottles that I hope will work and switch the alcohol to the weaker of the glass bottles so they are guaranteed to shatter when I throw them. Then I start tearing my shirt and stuffing the cloth into openings.
“Ooh,” Lake says, and I’m not sure if it’s about the belly shirt I’m making or the Molotov cocktails.
“We might burn up with this, but I’m afraid it’s this or death.”
“Yes, burning alive sounds much better than having our heads quickly ripped off,” Lake says with a huge smile.
I give him a look which I really don’t have time for with the way they’re breaking down the door, but sometimes I just have to glare at him. “You have a better idea?”
“I can shift.”
“And kill yourself.”
“I will protect you. As long as you make it out alive, it’s fine,” he says.
“Stop being so damn stubborn. You’re not killing yourself. You barely know me and you’re willing to die for me?”
Lake just stares at me, and honestly, it’s hard to read that expression. “You barely know me and look at all you’ve done for me. You could have left me in the woods at any point. It’s night, telling me that you waited with me for hours.”
He has an annoyingly valid point, but I choose to ignore it. “Just… can you throw these so I can shoot?”
“I sure can,” he says as he lines them up in front of himself. Then he scavenges around the room for a bit before returning with duct tape. I’m momentarily confused about his plans for it until he grabs Fish Stick’s container and duct tapes the fish to his chest.
I swear to god.
“How is that thing still alive?” I ask.
“Sir Reginald? Why? He loves going on adventures,” Lake says.
I shake my head, positive this isn’t the type of adventure the fish was thinking of. Maybe a nice rice paddy somewhere where he can fuck up other fish that look at him funny. Who am I kidding? It’d probably immediately get eaten out in the wild as he just floats there.
The door quakes a moment before the wood groans and cracks. I can see the split weakening the wood as Lake takes the lighter I hand him. I replace the magazine in my gun for a full one and take my position as I hold it steady and wait.
The door slams into the side of the pool table, shoving it back by a few inches before the second hit shoves it back even farther, and that’s when Lake throws the first Molotov. It hits the ground, the alcohol splashing up on the monster, causing the flames to explode around it, leaping up and latching on to all the areas the alcohol landed.
The moment the chimera is distracted, I fill it with holes. It’s pissed, and even more so when Lake throws another. The chimera twists its body away from the fire as the smaller ones keep back while Lake holds another Molotov at the ready.
“We need to push forward,” I say, knowing that now that we have them off guard, we have to keep pressing in. We suddenly have the upper hand, and we can’t lose it.
Lake throws another and this one splashes onto a few of the smaller chimera who light up. They race up the stairs, flames licking their skin, and another follows. Refusing to let up, I keep my focus on the main one and just as Lake throws the final Molotov, my shot hits the bottle, exploding in the chimera’s face as alcohol and flames eat at it.
It rushes from the basement as some of the flames burn out around the doorway now that they’ve eaten through the alcohol.
“Come on,” I say as I grab my bag and hook Lake’s arm. I help him through the door and pull him up the stairs where I find one of the chimera lying dead on the ground. I don’t hang around to see if I managed to down any of the others.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
DECLAN
We’re sitting ducks outside, but we have to move. We have to keep going before they recover and realize we’re out of Molotov cocktails.
“I can see headlights,” Lake says as he peers down the road beyond what I can see.
“Yeah, and what’s our bet they’re coming to kill us?” I ask.
“Then you just kill them first. It’s a car and it looks like only one person. It’s our only hope of getting out of here.”
That’s quite true, so I move him toward the road and turn the flashlight on Lake’s phone on as I start waving it, hoping to flag the car down. I stand in the middle of the road, giving him no option but to stop. When I see that it’s a teenager, I hurry over to the window, but he looks nervous.
“You need something?” he asks.
“A ride, please. My friend’s hurt. We got in a car accident, we just need a ride,” I say.
He points at my phone. “Then call a ride.”
That’s the moment the small chimera jumps onto the hood of his car. The teen screams and Lake punches his hand through the back seat window, unlocks the door and gets into the back seat without hesitation. Seeing that I have little other option as the kid puts the car in drive, I climb in with him.
“Please drive,” I say, which I don’t have to tell him twice. He’s so afraid of the tiny chimera, who is the most harmless of all of us, that he guns it. She clings onto the hood of the car looking quite pleased as the wind whips through her fur.
“Thanks for driving us,” Lake says, like the kid isn’t currently having a heart attack and has absolutely no interest in giving us a ride. That’s when I get a good look at Lake and remember that he’s butt-ass naked wearing only a container holding a fish. I nonchalantly try to hide my gun with my body before we really do kill the kid from shock.
“It’s okay. We just need a ride, that’s all,” I assure the teenager, but oddly enough, it doesn’t seem to help at all as his eyes flicker to the rearview mirror. I’m surprised he managed to look away from the chimera attached to the hood of his car. She’s taking the moment to groom her windblown fur.
“Please don’t kill me,” he says.
“We won’t. Just get out of this area and you can let us out. Preferably a hotel or something,” I say.
“You’re a good little boy,” Lake says as he pats him on the head like he thinks that will help the teenager feel more at ease. Instead, he nearly misses a curve and almost kills us. I give Lake a look in the hopes he understands he needs to keep his hands to himself.
“Don’t touch him,” I whisper.
“I wanted him to know he was a good boy!”
I think all he did was convince him to drive even faster, but he does get us out of the area in record time.
“Drop us at a hotel or something and we’ll get out,” I say, now that we’re back in the city where it’ll hopefully be easier to hide.
The kid takes a quick left and pulls right up to the front door of a motel, snubbing the vehicle so close to the front door that I can’t actually open my door to get out without hitting the sign.
We’re a good few miles from the cabin, so I deem it good enough and get out on Lake’s side. I pull Lake out after me and toss the kid a hundred dollars. Insurance will tackle the window and scratches… hopefully. The kid is gone in a heartbeat, leaving behind the small chimera and having acquired a justifiable fear of hitchhikers.
“I can now add nearly killing a child to my list,” I grumble.
“I think he had fun,” Lake says, like he honestly believes that.
“Do you?” He has to understand why I’m skeptical.
“Yes! He’ll remember this night for the rest of his life.”
“That’s a true statement,” I say as I look between us. “They’re not going to let us have a room looking like this and you’re still naked…”
Lake tries to push the fish container down a bit to cover his groin, but it does little to help. With a sigh, I help him over to the side where the small chimera sits at his feet like she’s now decided to be our pet. Ignoring her in the hopes of her running off, I try to freshen up a bit and cover my back with my bag before walking inside alone. The man behind the counter immediately assesses me.
“Room for one night,” I say as I hand him easily twice what the room is worth. He stares at it for a moment before deciding that he doesn’t have to clean up the mess we leave behind and taking my money.
With key in hand, I head out to where Lake is sitting on the filthy ground littered with cigarette butts. “Come on,” I say as I grab his arm and physically drag him to his feet.
“I’m fine,” he says, not looking fine at all.
I get him inside the room without anyone noticing and unstrap Fish Stick from him before he lies down. I don’t think he even makes it two seconds before falling asleep. I set the container on the nightstand and look in at the fish who is still just chilling. I remember when I was a kid, I wanted a fish. I did everything the lady at the pet store told me to do and that fish still died. It felt like I could look at a fish and it’d die and here’s Lake, chucking Molotovs with his fish.
It just floats there, watching me like I could possibly be interesting.
My attention is drawn to the stupid chimera as she jumps onto the bed next to Lake, fluffs up the covers and curls up.
“Hell no,” I say as I grab her by the scruff of the neck, pull open the door and toss her out. The cry she lets out is enough to make me hesitate, but I can’t cave in to a monster of all things. Slamming the door shut, I hope she runs off never to be seen again, but the immediate screams of despair tell me that I’m going to accomplish nothing but calling attention to our room and should probably just get rid of her for good. She has to know that if she calls too much attention to herself, some hunter or officer is going to come kill her. Does she really want inside enough to die for it?
I push the curtain back and look out at her crammed against the door frame, clawing desperately to get in. A car pulls into the parking lot and the chimera crouches down after seeing it. A man and woman get out of the car and start heading this direction as the chimera tries to blend into the white door, but with her black body, there’s no way they’re going to miss it.
“Christ,” I growl as I open the door and she shoots inside. “I’m only letting you in so you don’t draw attention to us.”
She stares into my soul as I glare at her. Deciding that I have better things to worry about, I head into the bathroom and tug at my shirt, trying to pull the fabric out of the wounds on my back, but they seem to have adhered to it. I turn the shower on and question whether water would help or make it hurt worse… I guess I need to get it cleaned up one way or another. I grimace as I get into the shower and start running the water over my back. It’s horribly unpleasant but does allow me to pull my shirt the rest of the way off before dropping it on the shower floor.
I really could use Emma’s help right now for both of us, but I don’t want to draw her back into it when she’s safer away, so we’ll have to make do alone. When I finish with the shower, I get out and find the chimera staring up at me.
“Stop looking at me,” I say as she wraps her multiple tails around herself before putting her front paws on top of a tail.
I sigh as I walk past the monster and lay some towels down on the bed in the hopes of keeping it somewhat clean before rolling Lake on top of them. I do the same to the other side before turning out the light.
Really, I should stay on high alert, but right now I just want to rest my eyes, even if it’s only for an hour. The chimera jumps up onto the bed and plants herself between us and I’m too damn tired to care.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
LAKE
When I open my eyes, I feel a little less like death, but what reinvigorates me more than anything is seeing Declan next to me, his new pet curled up against him. It’s absolutely adorable and I will have to make sure he knows this when he wakes up.
My entire body aches as I sit up and check on Sir Reginald. He’s still happy as can be, clearly having enjoyed his trip. Hopefully, he won’t ever have to go on such a trip again, and I will get him a huge hundred-gallon tank and some suave bitches to float with. I press my finger against the side of the container and he swims over to greet me.
“You’re the best boy,” I say, wishing I had some food on me to give him since his got left in the destroyed car, but I’ll buy some once we get going.
I get up and trudge into the shower to get cleaned up the best I can. My limbs feel so weak that the moment I’m in the shower, I decide I’ll just live here and lie down as the water beats down on me. When will I finally feel alive again?
“That’s awfully nice of you, but I have this handled,” I say, even though I’m not quite sure that’s true.
“I’ll shift and kill them.”
“Don’t. You’ll kill yourself,” I protest, anxious that he’s going to shift anyway.
He shakes his head like he really doesn’t think that’s the case. Or maybe he doesn’t care. “You’ll have a chance to get away if I do. But if I don’t, we’re both going to die.”
“Just… be ready to help me push the pool table, okay?” I say. “Live for your stupid fish because I’m not taking care of it if you die.”
“I know you would.”
I refuse to answer that. Instead, I reload my rifle and set my handgun to the side, prepared to use it the moment I’m out of shots. Remaining steady, I focus as the first one busts through the basement door. I know I can’t be careless with the number of shots I take, I won’t have time to reload, but I have to hit them enough to either down them or make them leave.
My first shot hits true and the monster pulls back to get away from another hit. But they’re wise now. They pull back to regroup or think this through. There’s no other way into the room, so if they’re planning on coming, this is the only opportunity they’ve got to do it.
And that’s when someone steps down onto the stairs.
As they move into view, my brain tells me they’re humanlike but that’s not right. They turn their six eyes onto me as I realize they have more than two arms, all covered in skin that looks somewhere between leathery and scaled. It’s like one of the monsters decided to stop their shift halfway between monster and human.
“What the fuck is that?” I ask.
“I think you need to keep shooting,” Lake says, not shocked by this at all.
He’s not going “What the fuck? There’s a humanlike monster trotting down the stairs ready to murder us” and seems to be unaffected by all of this. Does anything surprise this man?
“Declan!” Lake yells, snapping me back to it as the monster moves toward me with more speed than a human could possess.
I steady my rifle and shoot. The monster shifts hard to the side, dodging the bullet that strikes a smaller monster behind it. Another shot drives the monster toward the wall to avoid the hit, which makes it unable to avoid the next.
It only seems to anger the monster, but the blood tells me otherwise. I don’t let up as it rushes down the stairs and when I feel like it’s too close, I throw the bedroom door shut and lock it before Lake helps me push the pool table against it.
“What the fuck was that?” I hiss.
“My other big bro. He’s probably pissed I killed Basil.”
I wave at the door that I can hear the “big bro” outside of. My brain is having trouble comprehending any of this. Is he just some weird mutated version of a chimera? More human than monster?
The chimera in question slams against the door, but it doesn’t budge as I drop to my knees in front of my bag and start tearing through it, looking for something to help get us out of this situation. The only windows are small ones that none of us can fit through, which means they also only have one way in.
“We could have sex before we die,” Lake suggests, apparently thinking this is a brilliant idea, as though I’m just going to whip out my dick while a crazed monster from hell lurks outside the door ready to kill us the first chance it gets. It’s not like that door is going to hold long. I can hear it right outside the door. I can also hear the smaller ones, their nails clinking on the hardwood floor of the cabin as they stalk around the basement, just waiting to get to us and tear us to pieces.
“We’re not having sex,” I growl.
“Damn,” he says, sounding surprised I said no. Like I thought dying mid-fuck was the way to go. That’s when I hear him pop open something.
I look over as he starts downing a bottle of alcohol as if that will invigorate him. Before he can finish, I snatch it from him.
He looks almost offended that I would deprive him of his drink. “What? I just wanted to numb everything so that when I shift and kill them, I’ll be all good.”
“You’re not shifting or you’ll die.”
I hear one of the monsters press its snout against the bottom of the door and breathe in, smelling us on the other side.
I check the bottle but it’s not enough proof, so I hurry over to the wall where there’s a whole rack of alcohol. I open one and sniff it before handing it to Lake. “Empty that.”
He gasps.
“What?” I ask.
“You made friends,” he says as he points at the small chimera lurking in the corner.
“I’m making mittens out of it when we’re done here,” I assure him.
“My big boy is growing up and making friends,” Lake says, which does nothing but annoy me. Why does he think he needs to be so annoying and sassy?
“I’m not making friends with it,” I say as I knock a few bottles against the cabinet before rolling one to him. “Dump that one out.”
“Can I dump it into my mouth instead?”
“I’d prefer you be fully cognizant,” I say.
“That’s true. I don’t want to miss a single moment with you.” He reaches out and pets me just a little. I decide if he has a hand to do something with, he can hold more bottles, so I hand him another one.
“Pour that one into the bottle I just had you empty.”
“I feel like this is a strange activity, but I’m happy to do anything my sugar wants,” he says.
That’s when the chimeras outside the door seem to realize that busting through the door is the only option and I hear one of them slam against the thick wooden door. Moving as quickly as I can, I find two more bottles that I hope will work and switch the alcohol to the weaker of the glass bottles so they are guaranteed to shatter when I throw them. Then I start tearing my shirt and stuffing the cloth into openings.
“Ooh,” Lake says, and I’m not sure if it’s about the belly shirt I’m making or the Molotov cocktails.
“We might burn up with this, but I’m afraid it’s this or death.”
“Yes, burning alive sounds much better than having our heads quickly ripped off,” Lake says with a huge smile.
I give him a look which I really don’t have time for with the way they’re breaking down the door, but sometimes I just have to glare at him. “You have a better idea?”
“I can shift.”
“And kill yourself.”
“I will protect you. As long as you make it out alive, it’s fine,” he says.
“Stop being so damn stubborn. You’re not killing yourself. You barely know me and you’re willing to die for me?”
Lake just stares at me, and honestly, it’s hard to read that expression. “You barely know me and look at all you’ve done for me. You could have left me in the woods at any point. It’s night, telling me that you waited with me for hours.”
He has an annoyingly valid point, but I choose to ignore it. “Just… can you throw these so I can shoot?”
“I sure can,” he says as he lines them up in front of himself. Then he scavenges around the room for a bit before returning with duct tape. I’m momentarily confused about his plans for it until he grabs Fish Stick’s container and duct tapes the fish to his chest.
I swear to god.
“How is that thing still alive?” I ask.
“Sir Reginald? Why? He loves going on adventures,” Lake says.
I shake my head, positive this isn’t the type of adventure the fish was thinking of. Maybe a nice rice paddy somewhere where he can fuck up other fish that look at him funny. Who am I kidding? It’d probably immediately get eaten out in the wild as he just floats there.
The door quakes a moment before the wood groans and cracks. I can see the split weakening the wood as Lake takes the lighter I hand him. I replace the magazine in my gun for a full one and take my position as I hold it steady and wait.
The door slams into the side of the pool table, shoving it back by a few inches before the second hit shoves it back even farther, and that’s when Lake throws the first Molotov. It hits the ground, the alcohol splashing up on the monster, causing the flames to explode around it, leaping up and latching on to all the areas the alcohol landed.
The moment the chimera is distracted, I fill it with holes. It’s pissed, and even more so when Lake throws another. The chimera twists its body away from the fire as the smaller ones keep back while Lake holds another Molotov at the ready.
“We need to push forward,” I say, knowing that now that we have them off guard, we have to keep pressing in. We suddenly have the upper hand, and we can’t lose it.
Lake throws another and this one splashes onto a few of the smaller chimera who light up. They race up the stairs, flames licking their skin, and another follows. Refusing to let up, I keep my focus on the main one and just as Lake throws the final Molotov, my shot hits the bottle, exploding in the chimera’s face as alcohol and flames eat at it.
It rushes from the basement as some of the flames burn out around the doorway now that they’ve eaten through the alcohol.
“Come on,” I say as I grab my bag and hook Lake’s arm. I help him through the door and pull him up the stairs where I find one of the chimera lying dead on the ground. I don’t hang around to see if I managed to down any of the others.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
DECLAN
We’re sitting ducks outside, but we have to move. We have to keep going before they recover and realize we’re out of Molotov cocktails.
“I can see headlights,” Lake says as he peers down the road beyond what I can see.
“Yeah, and what’s our bet they’re coming to kill us?” I ask.
“Then you just kill them first. It’s a car and it looks like only one person. It’s our only hope of getting out of here.”
That’s quite true, so I move him toward the road and turn the flashlight on Lake’s phone on as I start waving it, hoping to flag the car down. I stand in the middle of the road, giving him no option but to stop. When I see that it’s a teenager, I hurry over to the window, but he looks nervous.
“You need something?” he asks.
“A ride, please. My friend’s hurt. We got in a car accident, we just need a ride,” I say.
He points at my phone. “Then call a ride.”
That’s the moment the small chimera jumps onto the hood of his car. The teen screams and Lake punches his hand through the back seat window, unlocks the door and gets into the back seat without hesitation. Seeing that I have little other option as the kid puts the car in drive, I climb in with him.
“Please drive,” I say, which I don’t have to tell him twice. He’s so afraid of the tiny chimera, who is the most harmless of all of us, that he guns it. She clings onto the hood of the car looking quite pleased as the wind whips through her fur.
“Thanks for driving us,” Lake says, like the kid isn’t currently having a heart attack and has absolutely no interest in giving us a ride. That’s when I get a good look at Lake and remember that he’s butt-ass naked wearing only a container holding a fish. I nonchalantly try to hide my gun with my body before we really do kill the kid from shock.
“It’s okay. We just need a ride, that’s all,” I assure the teenager, but oddly enough, it doesn’t seem to help at all as his eyes flicker to the rearview mirror. I’m surprised he managed to look away from the chimera attached to the hood of his car. She’s taking the moment to groom her windblown fur.
“Please don’t kill me,” he says.
“We won’t. Just get out of this area and you can let us out. Preferably a hotel or something,” I say.
“You’re a good little boy,” Lake says as he pats him on the head like he thinks that will help the teenager feel more at ease. Instead, he nearly misses a curve and almost kills us. I give Lake a look in the hopes he understands he needs to keep his hands to himself.
“Don’t touch him,” I whisper.
“I wanted him to know he was a good boy!”
I think all he did was convince him to drive even faster, but he does get us out of the area in record time.
“Drop us at a hotel or something and we’ll get out,” I say, now that we’re back in the city where it’ll hopefully be easier to hide.
The kid takes a quick left and pulls right up to the front door of a motel, snubbing the vehicle so close to the front door that I can’t actually open my door to get out without hitting the sign.
We’re a good few miles from the cabin, so I deem it good enough and get out on Lake’s side. I pull Lake out after me and toss the kid a hundred dollars. Insurance will tackle the window and scratches… hopefully. The kid is gone in a heartbeat, leaving behind the small chimera and having acquired a justifiable fear of hitchhikers.
“I can now add nearly killing a child to my list,” I grumble.
“I think he had fun,” Lake says, like he honestly believes that.
“Do you?” He has to understand why I’m skeptical.
“Yes! He’ll remember this night for the rest of his life.”
“That’s a true statement,” I say as I look between us. “They’re not going to let us have a room looking like this and you’re still naked…”
Lake tries to push the fish container down a bit to cover his groin, but it does little to help. With a sigh, I help him over to the side where the small chimera sits at his feet like she’s now decided to be our pet. Ignoring her in the hopes of her running off, I try to freshen up a bit and cover my back with my bag before walking inside alone. The man behind the counter immediately assesses me.
“Room for one night,” I say as I hand him easily twice what the room is worth. He stares at it for a moment before deciding that he doesn’t have to clean up the mess we leave behind and taking my money.
With key in hand, I head out to where Lake is sitting on the filthy ground littered with cigarette butts. “Come on,” I say as I grab his arm and physically drag him to his feet.
“I’m fine,” he says, not looking fine at all.
I get him inside the room without anyone noticing and unstrap Fish Stick from him before he lies down. I don’t think he even makes it two seconds before falling asleep. I set the container on the nightstand and look in at the fish who is still just chilling. I remember when I was a kid, I wanted a fish. I did everything the lady at the pet store told me to do and that fish still died. It felt like I could look at a fish and it’d die and here’s Lake, chucking Molotovs with his fish.
It just floats there, watching me like I could possibly be interesting.
My attention is drawn to the stupid chimera as she jumps onto the bed next to Lake, fluffs up the covers and curls up.
“Hell no,” I say as I grab her by the scruff of the neck, pull open the door and toss her out. The cry she lets out is enough to make me hesitate, but I can’t cave in to a monster of all things. Slamming the door shut, I hope she runs off never to be seen again, but the immediate screams of despair tell me that I’m going to accomplish nothing but calling attention to our room and should probably just get rid of her for good. She has to know that if she calls too much attention to herself, some hunter or officer is going to come kill her. Does she really want inside enough to die for it?
I push the curtain back and look out at her crammed against the door frame, clawing desperately to get in. A car pulls into the parking lot and the chimera crouches down after seeing it. A man and woman get out of the car and start heading this direction as the chimera tries to blend into the white door, but with her black body, there’s no way they’re going to miss it.
“Christ,” I growl as I open the door and she shoots inside. “I’m only letting you in so you don’t draw attention to us.”
She stares into my soul as I glare at her. Deciding that I have better things to worry about, I head into the bathroom and tug at my shirt, trying to pull the fabric out of the wounds on my back, but they seem to have adhered to it. I turn the shower on and question whether water would help or make it hurt worse… I guess I need to get it cleaned up one way or another. I grimace as I get into the shower and start running the water over my back. It’s horribly unpleasant but does allow me to pull my shirt the rest of the way off before dropping it on the shower floor.
I really could use Emma’s help right now for both of us, but I don’t want to draw her back into it when she’s safer away, so we’ll have to make do alone. When I finish with the shower, I get out and find the chimera staring up at me.
“Stop looking at me,” I say as she wraps her multiple tails around herself before putting her front paws on top of a tail.
I sigh as I walk past the monster and lay some towels down on the bed in the hopes of keeping it somewhat clean before rolling Lake on top of them. I do the same to the other side before turning out the light.
Really, I should stay on high alert, but right now I just want to rest my eyes, even if it’s only for an hour. The chimera jumps up onto the bed and plants herself between us and I’m too damn tired to care.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
LAKE
When I open my eyes, I feel a little less like death, but what reinvigorates me more than anything is seeing Declan next to me, his new pet curled up against him. It’s absolutely adorable and I will have to make sure he knows this when he wakes up.
My entire body aches as I sit up and check on Sir Reginald. He’s still happy as can be, clearly having enjoyed his trip. Hopefully, he won’t ever have to go on such a trip again, and I will get him a huge hundred-gallon tank and some suave bitches to float with. I press my finger against the side of the container and he swims over to greet me.
“You’re the best boy,” I say, wishing I had some food on me to give him since his got left in the destroyed car, but I’ll buy some once we get going.
I get up and trudge into the shower to get cleaned up the best I can. My limbs feel so weak that the moment I’m in the shower, I decide I’ll just live here and lie down as the water beats down on me. When will I finally feel alive again?
