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“Can you spread the word to the other Salt houses? I don’t want to go through,” I cut myself off and wince at the gnomes.

“Yeah,” Grant has the decency to cringe and looks over my shoulder. “Are they going to kill us when we release you?”

I look back, and all four of them are standing at attention with various stages of irritation on their faces.

“Can you release me from inside the house?” I look back at them and wince. “It would be safer that way.”

Grant nods, and the other two help him up from the ground.

As they walk back, I notice my spark rolling around a gnome.

“Stop that and come back,” I hiss at it, irritated. I could have used its attention when my skin first began to rot, but no, it had to play around.

It bounces a few times over the gnome, and I frown.

“What?” I ask in exasperation and reach out for it.

Before I can grasp the spark, it disappears into the gnome.

“If you animate that thing, I will disown you,” I growl.

As I watch, a symbol appears over the thing’s belly, a black outline with the spark highlighting it. I don’t recognize the mark, and the spark hops out after I see it. Then, it goes to the needle grass and does the same thing. A different symbol appears, multiplied over and over throughout the length of the lawn. Each mark is spaced in four-by-four squares.

“Are those hexes?” I ask with disbelief. Now I feel guilty. I was over here pouting, and it was doing legwork.

It shows a symbol over the flowered arch, the bushes surrounding the front porch, and even the windows. I don’t want to know what those do.

One of the curtains parts, and Grant waves from inside the house. I wave back stupidly and stand up.

“Come on,” I gesture the spark back to me, and it zips into my chest.

Then I turn to face the pissed-off group of males waiting for me.

05. All of Nothing

When I pass back through the arch of flowers, it’s like stepping back in time to the Bowels. Most of my memories of that place center around darkness and nightmares, but I can’t ignore this déjà vu.

Ben steps directly in front of me and begins sniffing around my body like an animal. Kimi starts to laugh, and Mal makes a confused snorting noise, but I block all of that out. I can afford to ignore them right now because Ben is in full-on defense mode.

Any time we were separated back in the Bowels, this was how he greeted me when he came back. Checking me for wounds, ensuring I was waiting where he left me. At first, I would push him away from me. I’ve never had a pet, and it seemed weird and invasive. The more time we spent together, the more tolerant I became until it was simply a natural reaction to being parted.

I don’t know when I realized the check-in wasn’t for my benefit. It was for his. He was afraid of being abandoned, and I don’t know why. It’s not like I could go anywhere back then.

I’ve learned how to manage this animal anxiety attack, so I wait it out patiently. I focus on the sunlight above to remind myself we aren’t there anymore.

He smells down my arms and legs, checking the tears and blood stains on my pants. He even lifts my feet, one at a time, to check the bottoms. Once he makes his circuit and stands in front of me again, I finally look into his eyes and see what I was afraid of.

The man side is gone right now. I’m left with the monster and the man’s face. The ichor that leaks from his eyes has created a darkness around his features that I can only vaguely see through. He’s intently focused on me as if waiting for a command.

I feel slapped in the face, realizing that I’ve had him all wrong since we escaped that place. He isn’t a man that changes into a beast. He’s a monster that can change into the form of a man.

Scilla did an excellent job teaching him to blend in with the people around him. I should call and compliment her on it.

He’s never going to react as a man would to any situation. Like any animal, he’ll do whatever he has to for the person he’s chosen, and I’m somehow the lucky winner.

“Okay?” I ask softly and step close enough to press my chest to his. He isn’t ready for me to grab onto him yet, so I keep myself still after the contact.

“I can’t find any traces of it,” his voice has that dual echo that it gets when he’s closer to becoming his proper form.