“So, you were saying you’re not a regular person,” Luna said, one eyebrow raised slightly. “Do you want to elaborate on that?”
She’s direct! But maybe that’s what this conversation has been missing.
Taking a deep breath, he plunged in.
“Luna, have you ever heard of shifters?”
Her blank expression told him everything he needed to know. While he’d known the answer, part of him had been hoping against hope that shehadknown about them somehow. She was pretty well-traveled, after all, and his earlier encounter with Caleb the dragon had shown him that some human women definitely didn’t seem to mind that their life partners could turn into mythical creatures at will.
Well,he thought,here goes nothing.
“Shifters are… well, pretty much what you’d think they are. We’re people who can shift into other forms. Animal forms.” He took a moment to gauge her expression, but it was still oddly unreadable. “For example, I can turn into a hellhound.”
Her gaze shifted suddenly to where Fillmore was curled up on his lap, and Henry couldn’t help but laugh. “Not that kind of hound! Uh… much larger. Much, much larger.”And uglier, he was about to add, but no, as ugly as his hellhound form was, it didn’t hold a candle to Fillmore. Nobody held a candle to Fillmore.
His hellhound sniffed.You’re just insulting me on every front today, I see. A sign of a fragile ego.
If you can’t be helpful, then shut up. Please.
The silence dragged on for several seconds, and Henry was acutely, painfully aware of the ticking of the clock in the corner. And then…
“Okay,” Luna said. “But that doesn’t really explain how you got into my B&B room. Or why you were naked.” She frowned. “Or maybe it does. I suppose you don’t really need clothes if you spend your time as… um. A large dog.”
Henry wasn’t sure whether to feel encouraged or not. “Turning into a hellhound isn’t the only thing I can do,” he said. “The power also comes with the ability to phase through solid objects, like walls and things. Which is how I left your room thefirst time, and how I came back in just now – I really did only want to get dressed.”
Luna contemplatively sipped her tea. “I see.”
Well, she was at leastconsideringwhat he had to say, Henry supposed, allowing himself to feel just alittlebit hopeful.
“And was there areasonyou, uh, phased through the wall the first time?” Luna asked, after a rather pregnant pause.
Henry pulled in a deep breath. But again, telling the truth was really all he could do.
“There was a bear,” he said, hoping Luna could sense his sincerity. He hoped that perhaps, he could get away with just telling her, for now, that some errant wildlife had appeared that needed scaring off, without having to explain the fact he strongly suspected he’d been cursed, and the bear had been outside her window because it was irresistibly attracted to him. There was no need to overload her with information. “Since animals are frightened of my hellhound form, I thought I’d shift and scare it off before you got back.”
Luna blinked. “A bear? Well, I guess wearein the woods.” She pursed her lips. “So… you were off chasing the bear when I came back and found you gone?”
“Yeah.” Henry nodded. This was going… well? At least, hethoughtit was going well. Did Luna actuallybelievehim? “But I got… uh, waylaid.” Probably no need to mention the dragon at this exact moment either.
“I’ll bet,” Luna murmured, turning to stare thoughtfully out of the window, chewing on her bottom lip. She was clearly thinking, but after a moment, she seemed to come to some sort of conclusion. Turning back to him, she resolutely put her teacup down on the table. “All right then. Can I see it?”
Henry blinked, sitting up a little straighter. “You mean… you want to see me shift?”
Luna nodded, her lips pressed into a firm line. “Yes. I mean, I don’t know if I believe everything you’ve been saying or not, but I guess there’s really only one way for you to prove it, isn’t there?”
Swallowing, Henry leaned forward. “Are you sure?” His heart was thumping in his chest, but he was allowing just the tiniest bit of hope to trickle through him. Could it be that Luna really did want to see his hellhound form?
“Positive.” Luna picked up her cup again and sipped her tea, and while the movement seemed calm and practiced, he could see the slightest tremble in her fingers where they held the cup. She obviously wasn’t quite as indifferent as she was trying to appear, but still. She was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, rather than calling the cops or hitting him over the head with a frying pan.
“Okay,” he said, standing up and handing Fillmore to her, before moving back to give himself some space. “Just remember that I won’t hurt either of you, no matter how scary I look. I’ll always know who you are.”
She nodded, and Henry took a deep breath, before letting the shift take him over, feeling the elongation of his limbs, the sprouting of midnight black fur along his body. He hadn’t thought too hard about the mechanics of shifting for a long time, it being such a natural part of his being, but now with Luna’s eyes on him, he was acutely aware of every change in his body, from his pointed ears to the tip of his shaggy tail, from his slavering fangs to his sharpened claws.
Shift completed, he looked up with trepidation, half dreading her reaction. It was all well and good for her to ask to see it, but had she really believed that he was telling the truth? And even if shehadbelieved him, how would she react to actuallyseeinghim in this form?
Luna was staring at him, eyes wide – but with what looked like awe, rather than fear. He hoped.
Henry lowered himself down a little, trying to make himself look smaller and less threatening. He was so used to people cowering away from him even in his human form that he just didn’t know what to expect in hellhound form.
