“Tristan,” I called, starting to panic. “You need to keep this a secret.”
His gaze bore into mine, blank. “I will. But not for your sake. I don’t know what you’ve done to Victor, but you’re not him. But he asked me to keep his promise, so I will.”
He stepped back, heading for the street while keeping an eye on me. My jaw hung open in shock. He was leaving. He was leaving. I walked forward, but as soon as I set my paw down Tristan snapped at me. “Don’t move!”
I hung back, hurt.
“Don’t come near me,” Tristan commanded. “And don’t follow me.”
“Tristan, what about work? We work together! You can’t just leave!” I cried desperately.
“I’ll move. I’ll find a new job.” He glared coldly at me. Hatefully. “Anywhere is better than here.”
The world slowed down as Tristan backed up and out of the alley. He shot one final glance at me and shook his head, then disappeared into the night. I stayed where I was, too stunned to move. Too depressed to move.
My shoulders felt heavy, like they were being crushed by an unfathomable weight. I knew I had to shift back before anyone saw me and caused a panic, but everything felt too difficult. I didn’t want to move. I wouldn’t have minded if the world split opened and swallowed me whole.
Using the last drop of energy, I shifted back to human form and stared at my hands. I wanted to go back.
I never should have showed Tristan my accursed bear form.
* * *
Igrittedmy eyes shut and shook my head. What had happened after that was a blur. I made my way back to our apartment –myapartment – and passed out. The next week was a miserable haze of memories, with my coworkers and friends trying to comfort me.
But none of them knew the real truth. When Tristan put in his resignation, he told some lie about finding a better job prospect out west, as a final pity to me. Nobody pressed either of us for details. It was clear there was more going on than they knew.
The waves crashed against the shore and sprayed me with water. The moon hovered in the light-polluted sky, casting down pale light. I might have found it beautiful any other time. But right now I felt nothing but despair and regret.
“Victor.”
Someone’s cold voice distracted me from my thoughts. I turned my head and caught just a momentary glimpse of two figures before one of them punched me in the face.
11
Liam
As soon asVictor slammed the door I scrambled for the phone. In a hurry, Victor had left it behind. Holding back tears, I picked it up with trembling hands and dialled the one person I thought of who could help.
“Hello?” Nick’s voice on the other end sound surprised.
“Nick, it’s me,” I said. My voice shook.
“Liam? What’s wrong?” I heard the note of panic in his tone. “Is everything okay?”
“No,” I blurted out. “No, it’s not.”
My throat tightened and tears threatened to overflow from my eyes. I bit my lip hard to try and hold them back. I couldn’t break down on the phone like this.
“Liam,” Nick repeated. “Calm down. Take a breath and tell me what happened.” I did so, but shakily. A moment after he heard my long exhale he continued. “First, are you safe?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I said.
“Okay. Is Victor safe?”
For this question I had no answer. To my dread, my throat shut even tighter and I had to hold back a sob. On the other line Nick sighed.
“You don’t know, do you?” he asked.
