It took a long moment of huddling down with her hands over her ears before she realized that Rhys was sheltering her with his body, arms wrapped protectively around her shoulders so that his back would bear the brunt of the explosion.
No, she opened her mouth to say – the thought of him putting himself in harm’s way for her sake seemed unbearable, for some reason – but no sound came out.
All she could do was bury her face into his chest as the rattling of the cans filled her ears, feeling the comfort of his strong, warm body around hers, his scent somehow making her feel safe.
If she and Rhys died here, then maybe there would be worse ways to go than cradled in the arms of the hottest man she’d ever seen, his stubble gently caressing her cheek, his bulging bicepjustwithin her line of sight…
Still, I would really prefer not to die at all!
She braced for the explosion, which really was being a long time in coming. Maisie knew that a person’s perception of time could do all kinds of weird things during times of stress, but this was getting a bit ridiculous.
The sound of the cans rattling along the floor slowed, and then stopped… as did Maisie’s breathing. The silence was complete, which was somehow far more ominous than the cacophony of mere moments before, and she found herself holding her breath in anticipation. Because surely something was about to happen, right? Doors didn’t just explode themselves and send some cans flying.
And yet…
The silence continued, stretching on interminably. Maisie forced herself to take in a breath, hold it, and slowly exhale, then repeat the process. She felt Rhys’s arms loosen ever so slightlyfrom around her body, and she had to bite her lip to keep from sayingno, please stay with me.
In the end, curiosity overrode her good sense, and she raised her head just a little to see what was going on…
And immediately wished she hadn’t, as she found her gaze meeting with the beady, malevolent, blood-red eyes of a… some kind of enormous, shaggy, black-feathered bird, which looked like it might have stepped right out of the pits of hell – or at least from her worst nightmares.
… A cassowary?!
An honest-to-Godcassowary.
I think I would’ve preferred the explosion.
If she’d thought she was scared before, she was honestly terrified now. A wheezing sound came from her mouth, and she tried to scramble backward, nearly falling off the couch in her panic – only Rhys’s strong arms kept her from hitting the floor.
“What is it?” he whispered urgently, staring at her with his – much less horrifyingly blood-colored – golden-brown eyes.
Maisie just shook her head, words beyond her at this point, as she tore her eyes from Rhys’s face and looked back at the – thecassowary, here in an apartment in Bondi Junction, stalking slowly toward her over the rubbish-strewn floor, crushing what looked to be a half-eaten halal snack pack under its uncaring foot. Its uncaring,very large, very clawedfoot.
Maisie gurgled a little, her eyes widening even further as she clutched at Rhys’s shoulders. There was no way in hell she could outrun a pissed-off cassowary at the best of times, and she definitely wasn’t capable of it now. What would her friends and family say when they found out that instead of enjoying the sun and sand in the Whitsundays, she’d been off getting eaten alive by a cassowary in suburban Sydney? Or would Rhys’s creepy government friends just dispose of her body, leaving herdisappearance a mystery for the ages? She almost thought she might prefer that, really.
The cassowary’s wattles quivered in the non-existent breeze. Maisie whimpered.
“What the hell is going on?” Rhys demanded, looking bewildered. He turned his head to look over his shoulder and jumped, nearly losing his grip on Maisie in the process. “Shit!”
He took a deep breath – was he getting ready to run? Maisie tensed. Maybe she could manage to get out of here if she had Rhys helping her out?
“Shaz!” he bellowed. “How many times do I have to tell younotto freak me out like that?! Fucking hell!”
“Shaz…?” Maisie murmured, mystified. Should she be relieved that Rhys was apparently on a first-name basis with this murder machine? This murder machine calledShaz?! Was it some kind ofpet?!
Yeah, all that stuff that happened earlier today was nothing. I was naïve to believe that I could handle anything else today threw my way.
She watched confoundedly as the cassowary ducked its head, looking ashamed.
No,thatwas definitely the weirdest thing about today. Shame-faced cassowaries were simply not something that was within Maisie’s realm of understanding. Cassowaries knew no shame! They wouldn’t blink twice at the thought of chasing you off a cliff! They sucked!
The cassowary ruffled its feathers in a way that, if Maisie hadn’t known better, would have almost seemed apologetic… and then, as if in a heat haze, it started toshimmer.
“Wait!” Rhys said desperately, reaching out a futile hand. “Shaz – stop – not now, seriously – civilian –civilian– abort, dammit–”
The cassowary continued to shimmer, and then it started tochange.
Perhaps something had snapped in Maisie’s brain, because she watched with barely a reaction as the death bird turned into a tall, sturdy, somewhat apologetic but also kind of belligerent-lookingwoman.
