Page 14 of The Hornet’s Hucow Pet

Then Sylvus releases my shoulder, leaving only a dull ache behind.

“Thank you, Sylvus,” Zyren says curtly, a thinly veiled demand.

I hear nothing, but Sylvus must have left silently, because Zyren relaxes.

“Tell me how it feels, Nova.”

I can’t stand being asked how I feel. But this isn’t a question; it’s a command.

“It feels warm, and… it’s getting hotter.” It’s like I’ve slipped into a bathtub on the verge of being too hot, and my body can’t yet decide if the burning will settle into relief or be too much.

I force a deep breath, then another, willing it to relax into soothing heat.

My hope cracks out of its shell. Please. Please work. This could be what fixes everything.

The temperature veers hotter. My breath catches.

Zyren squeezes my hand.

“It’s fine,” I say out of the habitual need to comfort anyone who pities my pain. “I think in just a moment it will⁠—”

Searing pain courses through my ribs, and I wince, unable to take more than a shallow breath.

No. Please, just be normal. Just work.

I cry out as sharp pain crackles through my body.

I feel every groan and click of my bones.

The bindings tighten around me as my body begins to expand, and it’s like there are sharp burrs between my skin and the silk.

Fire burns across my chest, balling tighter and hotter, sinking into my breasts. They swell and get heavier, and the pain intensifies. It’s like they’re full of broken glass. Every movement, every breath is excruciating.

This was a mistake.

A horrible, horrible mistake.

The pain has never been this bone-wrenching, this all-consuming.

My breath comes fast and shallow, and I can no longer control it, nor can I withhold the whimper of every exhale. Tears stream down my cheeks, blurring my vision.

“Make it stop,” I sob. “Please!”

Then my breath goes still.

The worst pain yet burns deep in my glute, searing and spreading.

I can’t breathe, I can’t see, I can’t think.

And then…

Oh.

Oh.

A warmth rises around me, gradually soothing every hurt. The sensation swirls in my breasts, tingling pleasantly.

When it hits my brain, a strange, lucid calm comes over me. I blink the haze out of my vision. I can process what’s happening around me again.