“You ever try anal?” He asked.
“Oh fuck off,” I responded, pulling off him and getting up. I shifted back into a human appearance. Mothman sat up on the ground, resting his arms on his bent knees.
“That’s not my gun,” he said, nodding at my crotch. My mouth twitched in irritation and I adjusted myself.
“Are you good to go?” I asked. He tugged his duster back up, covering the mark. Which irritated me. I liked looking at it. He lifted his hand and began to count off as he talked.
“Run, fight, flight, drown, bitten.” He put his hand down. “I need a few minutes.” I began walking into the woods and heard him sigh in exasperation. A moment later I came walking back to the river’s beach. Mothman looked surprised to see me. His wings were draped out on rocks, bathing in the moonlight. They seem to be drying fast.
“Here,” I said, tossing him his hat. It smacked him in the face. I huffed and went behind him, grabbing at the collar of his duster. He tried to bat me off.
“Let me look at it,” I grumbled and he looked at me in confusion, then looked down at the hat in his hands before scratching his head. I pulled the leather duster down and pressed my thumb to the bite mark. It wasn’t bleeding any more. My thumb dragged across the crescent mark of my teeth and he shuddered. I moved away, flopping down beside him as he eyed me curiously.
“You’re waiting for me?” He finally asked in disbelief.
“As soon as you're ready, we go get Brandon and then Ava. But if we can’t find him fast, we go to Ava.”
“Alright.”
“Good,” I said.
“Great,” he said back with humor.
“Shut up,” I responded. He huffed out a laugh. We sat there watching the river for a few moments. I didn’t think much, I felt calmer now than I had in days. Mothman tugged out his sopping wet journal with a sigh and flopped it on a rock. He began flipping through pages, delicately peeling them apart. I looked on with a frown, feeling bad he’d lost it. He’d relied on it to communicate with Ava.
“What the fuck is that?” I asked, seeing a drawing with bleeding ink. He held it up and my eyes widened. He laughed at my reaction to seeing his drawing of me. I didn’t know what to do with myself. Which made no sense. I was used to this. People lusted after me all the time. It didn’t normally fluster me when I came face to face with it.
The drawing was just my upper body but he’d captured me a blissed-out expression on my face—likely an expression I had during sex. It looked like he’d spent some time on it. It must have been when we were still in the cages. He’d been over there drawing for hours. I didn’t expect he’d been drawingmetoo.
He leaned in closer.
“I can teach you about anal,” he said, a smile stretching over his face.
“Fuck off,” I snapped, turning away.
“Too soon?” He asked in entertainment. I didn’t respond. “Assless chaps,” he said slowly and god damn winked at me.
“You said I disgust you,” I grumbled.
“I never said that.”
“You alluded to it,” I countered. He looked at me, then reached out and gripped my chin. I tried to jerk from his grip but he caught my chin again, demanding I look at him.
“You don’t disgust me, Caspian. Not at all,” he said. I sucked in a breath. I couldn’t handle this right now.
“Time to go,” I said, shooting up. His wings looked mostly dry. He laughed, smiling as he reached up and massaged his duster where the bite mark was.
I realized after we started back into the woods that his voice hadn’t bothered my head after the bite.
10
“He was trying to exorcise me!” Makwa seethed inside my head.
“It's okay,” I assured him. Despite how angry he was I could sense the edge of panic still in him. He’d tasted mortality and it spooked him. There was a person on each of my arms. Victoria had one, some other guy had the other. They’d brought me back to the cave once Caspian and Pollux had made a run for it and Brandon was long gone, running again.
He needed to let me help him. I feared if he didn’t, we’d lose him.
I was scared for Caspian and Pollux right now too, urging them in my head to run faster, to go. Guns were shot, bullets going in their direction and each time my heart lurched in my chest. After a few minutes though the gunfire stopped and they all came back, frustrated.
