“Brandon,” Caspian said from behind me. I popped my fingers from my mouth and sighed. Caspian’s scent tickled my senses. I’d never smelled him like this before. There were layers of depth. Something had changed when I bit into that arm last night—some parasite in my body sleeping until I took that first bite. I could feel it inside me, shifting, altering me.
It was as if a ravenous beast lived in me, wanting to break out and the only thing keeping it in was a thin layer of skin.
The smell of Caspian was potent and tantalizing, making me salivate more.
“You shouldn’t be near me,” I said, turning around to look at him. He stood there eyeing me apprehensively. Someone stepped up behind me and turned to look over my shoulder. Mothman stood there, a finger hooked in his pants. He tipped his hat like we were all just meeting up for a drink out here in the middle of the woods.
I looked back at Caspian. Were they surrounding me? I narrowed my eyes.
“What’s going on? Where’s Ava and Makwa?” I asked.
“Makwa?” Caspian spat.
“Yeah, Makwa. The big black, tentacled thing. Gets off on pet play,” I grumbled, rubbing my neck as I recalled the feel of his tentacle snuggly collared around it. Caspian’s eyes widened.
“What?” He asked. Mothman tried to muffle a laugh behind me.
“Are you two surrounding me?” I asked, trying to move out of the center of them. Caspian’s eyes narrowed and he watched each step I took with a predator’s glare.
“Ava is still with the cult,” Caspian said. I took a few more steps away and they both began walking towards me, meeting up in front of me as my back hit a tree. Didn’t they used to be taller? I was looking at Caspian at eye level. I gripped the bark of the tree behind me as they both stood as a united wall in front of me.
My stomach growled and I grit my teeth. They were too close. I hated this. I couldn’t think straight. I could only think of eating.
“You left her there?” I snapped.
“Not by choice,” Caspian snapped back, his eyes flashing with anger. I knew that look well. It meant he was ready to fight, all it would take was one wrong word from me and we’d be at it.
I wanted to fight. I wanted him to hit me. I wanted to feel normal and wanted the strange peace his punches always offered. I’d developed this bad habit over the years of using him for that. Whenever I felt like shit I knew he’d be easy to rope into a fight. I’d loved the numb pleasure of pain and exertion. Fighting has always been my bad habit of choice.
“So much for protecting her,” I said. He stomped in close but I couldn’t go anywhere, my bare shoulders digging into the rough bark behind me. He reached out and snatched my skull’s snout, jerking my face forward.
“Forgive me for giving a shit if you were alive or dead,” he snapped.
“Please,” I hissed in disbelief. “A psychopath like you couldn’t care less about me.”
“Fuck you,” he said, removing his hands from my face with a friendly push to my skull face. He rolled his eyes.
“No, fuck you,” I said and shoved him. That was enough to get him going. I’d learned over the years he was a reliable guy in ways. Push his magic buttons and he was ready to fight. He grabbed me by the shoulders, gripping me hard. His lips peeled back from his teeth.
He hesitated a moment, his eyes grazing over my skull and then he made up his mind, shifting into what he really was before ripping me from the tree and tossing me on the ground. I qualified for a true monster brawl now.
He stomped up close as I scrambled back to my feet.
“That all you got?” I asked. My stomach was rumbling quietly. The scent of fresh meat filling my head was making me dizzy with hunger. They needed to leave. I kicked out at Caspian suddenly, getting him in his thigh.
“Oh, so you have a death wish?” Caspian said with a smile, lunging forward. His fist slammed into my ribs and dull pain radiated over the area. Fuck, that’s what I needed. I grabbed at the area, feeling it throbbing.
“You can’t even protect Ava, you’re pathetic,” I snapped. He came at me again, his fist starting to fly for my face. He pulled back at the last minute, his eyes flashing wide as he realized he’d hit the bone. His body carried him forward and I gave a sad laugh as he stumbled. I wasn’t entertained, that was just another reminder of how fucked this was. The novelty had worn thin and I really wanted this thing off my head.
I pushed Caspian and he grabbed me in fury and threw me belly down on the ground.
He pressed a punch into my side and I jerked, giving a small grunt as the pain numbed my mind. God that felt good. His weight pressed into my back.
“You little shit,” he snapped behind me. His hand pushed on the back of my head, thrusting my skull face in the dirt hard enough I couldn’t pick it back up even if I wanted to. I reached behind me, trying to push on his knees on either side of my body.
His other hand slammed to my shoulder and I thrashed. Talons dug in, threatening to break the skin. He didn’t let up and I felt them start to pierce, the pain bursting in my mind. A groan left my mouth and when he heard, he was quiet for just a moment before lunging in close, laughing before he talked.
“You get off on this. You always have,” he said in entertainment, his words dripping with delight.
