Page 35 of Holiday Wishes and Tentacle Dreams

Bard was swaying on their feet even as they continued their rant. “See? Just another fickle human, another violent little prick with no conviction or integrity, following their own pleasure and fuck everyone else, I guess. Why do you bother with them?”

Jake had shrunk away from Bard, and Doren would not allow this to continue. Jake had been through enough. He had done nothing wrong. Doren stood between Jake and Bard, towering over Bard’s smaller frame.

Before Doren could say anything, Jake asked in a nervous, self-doubting voice, “What are they talking about, Doren? What is this stuff about humans?”

Doren’s eyes shot daggers at Bard before responding, “It’s nothing, sweetheart. Bard is just being?—”

“You haven’t told him yet?” Bard rolled their eyes, and their head followed, lolling about on their neck. “How serious are you about him anyway?”

“I wanted to give it time before things got complicated!” Doren was shouting now. They’d lost all worry they had abouttheir drunk sibling. Instead, rage was bubbling up inside, and all they wanted was for Bard to leave. “Besides,youare the ones who harp on how dangerous it is, how I should never even come to the surface. Now you’re blowing our cover in front of Jake. I’m tired of justifying my decisions to people who are trapped by fear!”

Eyes wide now, Bard said nothing. Doren had crossed a line they’d never crossed before. Doren had always been the peaceful, pliable one, and it wasn’t Doren’s family’s fault they were having trouble adjusting to the change. But they could have been kinder. Doren had expected more of their sibling, at least.

The anger was draining away, but Doren didn’t know what else to say. They opened their mouth to speak, but Jake’s arm slipped through theirs, and they leaned into their boyfriend.

Boyfriend. Jake was their boyfriend. Even though it was a very human concept, it still had a lovely ring to it. Warmth spread in Doren’s chest at the thought of it.

“It’s okay, Doren,” Jake said. “Bard is having a hard time. They’re drunk. I’ve been there a lot in my life. They care about you.”

Bard’s gaze flitted back and forth between Jake and Doren before they collapsed into a kitchen chair, a defeated expression painted on their face.

“I…I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to?—”

“It’s okay,” Jake said, cutting Bard off. “I’ll make you some coffee and grab you a piece of pie. You just stay there and relax for a bit. It sounds like Doren and I have some things to talk about, anyway. Don’t we?”

Doren nodded. This was bad. It was encouraging that Jake wasn’t freaking out, but what did he really know? It was obvious from Bard’s words that they were hiding a big secret. That wasn’t great, but it wasn’t horrible. Maybe Jake would forget about the whole “human” thing.

“So…you keep calling me a human,” Jake said, flipping on the coffee maker. He spoke with a strange, detached air. “Which would imply you’re not?”

So much for that. Doren sighed.

“Yeah…” The drip of coffee hitting the bottom of the empty pot was like a machine gun. The sound filled the kitchen, along with the bitter smell of hot water running through ground beans. “Bard and I aren’t human. We’re, um, aliens.”

Jake raised an eyebrow, but continued to lean against the kitchen counter and wait for the coffee. He said nothing.

That didn’t make Doren more confident. They didn’t know whether they should continue. Something soft rubbed against their leg, and Doren looked down to see Miranda Priestly snuggling up to their calf. What a sweetheart the kitty was.

If MP believed in Doren, maybe they could do this.

“More than just aliens. Shapeshifters. Sort of. Our true forms are a good deal larger, with tentacles. Somewhat like your giant squids, but not really, other than in size. And all the, um, appendages.”

Bard buried their face in their hands. Doren wasn’t doing a great job. They weren’t prepared for this. They’d thought they would have more time to ease Jake into the idea, so he wouldn’t be disgusted or freaked out.

The expression on Jake’s face wasn’t disgust or panic, however. It was anger.

“The two of you need to go.” Jake’s tone was icy, and he was gripping the counter with both hands, as if he were trying to hold himself back from doing something more violent.

His words were like a punch to the gut, and Doren’s airway tightened in anxiety. “Please, Jake?—”

“No. I’ve never met you before today,” Jake said, gesturing toward Bard, before turning back to Doren. “You told me you’re my person. I believed you. But we’ve only been talking for acouple of weeks. Easy enough to be kind and caring for a short period of time. Easy enough to take advantage of someone desperate to believe they’re not permanently broken. I hadn’t even considered you might be crazy. Or worse, a con artist.”

Doren glanced at Bard, who wore a pained, empathetic expression, before looking back at their boyfriend. How could Jake think they’d want to take advantage of him? Doren knew this was a lot for a human, but Jake wasn’t even going to give them a chance?

“Please, Jake. Let me explain. I can demonstrate. It will take but a minute or two, and then you will grasp the situation.”

“No!” Jake slammed the palm of his hand against the countertop. “I’m tired of having the rug pulled out from under me.”

“I’ll shift for you, and then you will see that?—”