Damn, buddy.
Black vines wrapped around Seri, their thorns digging into her like fangs. Arabesque whispered something, but the words were wrong. Heavy. Like they didn’t want to be understood.
From the thorns’ puncture holes came long silverworms? Brumous wanted to eat them to help Seri, but was too scared of Arabesque to move from his hiding spot. Then the worms flew to
‘Bad Hurt Witch,’ who caught them, the silver tarnishing at her touch like shadows mottling moonlight.
Brumous’ ears flattened. He whimpered, not out loud, but inside my skull. The sound ached.
Shit. That— Yeah, that sucked to hear.
And then the scene twisted.
Now Seri was shivering in deep snow. Brummy curled his small body around her. Trying to block the wind. Keep her warm. Her fingers locked in his fur. Both of them shaking, but there. Holding on to each other.
Make Seri safe, Alpha Fun.
The feeling hit hard. Fierce. Protective. That bone-deep kind of love that doesn’t need words.
His eyes locked onto mine. There was something huge behind those blue depths. Something raw and deep and aching.
I tried, Alpha Fun. I TRIED!
I swallowed as my eyes stung.
Yeah, you did good, pup. Real good. Proud of you.
Then, blinking twice, he dropped me into a memory that left scars on my soul.
#
Casimir
After Zane’s nose stopped bleeding and his eyes were back to normal, Koa demanded to know what Brumous had shown him.
“Three memories related to Arabesque. First one might’ve been Seri being siphoned.” Zane scrunched up his forehead. “Then, in the second one, Seri might’ve been lost in a blizzard? Brumous doesn’t know what happened. Only that he found her outside in the white cold that tastes like metal.”
“Arabesque left her own stepdaughter to freeze in the snow?” Koa looked aghast.
“Not just freeze.” I tasted bile. “Hypothermia. Exposure—”
“Cas.” Koa’s hand closed over my wrist. “Don’t.”
But the numbers kept coming: 98.6 degrees normal body temp, 82 degrees for moderate hypothermia, 24 hours maximum survival time in wet conditions. I calculated snowfall rates for Michigan in winter, the onset of frostbite per centimeter of exposed skin…
“What’s with all themightsin this narrative, anyway?” Koa squeezed my wrist and narrowed his eyes at Zane. “Did you read the memories or not?”
“Hey, it’s Squish for Brains, not me! Like I thought, his mental landscape’s a nuclear blast site. He understands a lot, but can only speak a few words. He tried to keep her safe. And the love he has forher? ” He blinked three times and sniffed once, and then his face crumpled. “Noctem Maledicta!”
His fist connected with the glass coffee table. Glass exploded like frozen rain hitting pavement. Brumous darted behind the opposite couch with a whimper, tail disappearing in a flash.
“Zane!” I barked, staring at the glittering shards in his knuckles, my brain already cataloging damage metrics. Radial artery intact, metacarpals likely fractured, four sutures minimum.
“You don’t get it! Some of him is still in there! And it’s fuckingheartbreaking! You didn’t feel it! The pureloyaltyhe’s got wired into what’s left inside his skull! Like she hung the moon in a sky that he can’t evenseeanymore!”
“Med kit.” I stood as Koa moved to coax Brumous out from behind the couch with soft words and a soothing tone. “Don’t move your hand.”
At the top of the stairs, I paused outside Seri’s door. Listened. One breath in. One breath out. Still alive. Still secure.
