Page 13 of Horn in My Side

As the creature jerked its rooster-like head side to side, he avoided its gaze, focusing on its lizard-like body. Holding his breath, he quickly swatted at it, but it moved too fast, the bug net smacking against the shelf.

“Fuck!” Mal swung around to follow the animal as it flew across the room. He dashed over, net raised high and swung. “Gotcha!”

It let out an angry cry as it struggled against the net. He was just congratulating himself as he put it back in the pen when he heard Jasmine’s cry once more.

“The door!”

Jasmine’s eyes widened as the front door opened a crack. With a snap of his fingers, Mal shut the door and locked it. The would-be customer outside pushed repeatedly, but it didn’t budge.

“We’re closed!” he shouted, running toward Jasmine, who remained on the counter. “Is it still up there?”

She nodded to where a long, scaly tail hung down from the top of the shelf. “Cockatrices actually can’t fly very high, but once they get up there, they don’t want to come down.”

“I see. I should be able to get it.” The shelf was only a foot taller than him, so he easily reached up, grasped the tail and pulled the cockatrice down, ignoring its angry squawks.

“I got it!” Jasmine opened her arms.

“No!” His hearts stopped as she caught it. “Don’t look—”

“I’m fine.” The cockatrice ceased struggling as she placed a hand over its eyes.

“Do you have a death wish or something?” His stomach twisted at the thought of what could have happened if she’d caught it from the wrong end. “You could have been hurt, you reckless fool.”

She clucked her tongue. “I told you, it can only put you in a coma.”

“Only a coma?” Gaku help him, he might not survive the next six months.

“Besides, cockatrices have never been a problem for me. There, there now,” she soothed. “Let’s get you back to your cage, huh?”

“What do you mean ‘never been a problem’?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “It’s weird, but their gazes don’t affect me for some reason.”

“They don’t?” That was weird indeed. Full-sized cocktrices—about the size of an ostrich—truly could kill anyone.

“Yeah. That’s why we started stocking them.

Vrig originally ordered one for a customer—a gorgon lady from Oregon.

Apparently, they have a high-pitched song that gorgons love that only they can hear, plus they already wear these special glasses that prevent them from turning anyone into stone.

I was cleaning the cage one day, and I didn’t know what it was and Vrig tried to warn me, but I looked it in the eyes and . . . nothing.”

“You didn’t fall into a coma?” Mal asked, puzzled.

“No. Maybe I felt a little sleepy, but aside from that I was fine. This gorgon lady was so happy she recommended us to her family and friends and now we get orders every couple of months, so Vrig always made sure we have one or two ready since they take forever to hatch. Anyway, can you help me?”

“Huh?” The revelation that Jasmine was immune to cockatrices still had his head reeling. “Help you with what?”

“Getting down from here?” With both her hands secured around the cockatrice, she had no way to safely lower herself to the floor.

“Right.” Without a second thought, he took hold of her waist and plucked her off the counter.

The scent of her sweet perfume teased his nose, their gazes locking as he set her down, their bodies brushing together in the briefest of touches.

Her pretty plump lips parted as she inhaled sharply, and his hands lingered on her for a second longer than necessary—and perhaps, a second shorter than he wanted—before dropping to his sides.

“Th-thank you.” Moving past him, she trotted over to the cockatrice cage to return the creature to its home. “I don’t know what would happen if they got out again.”

“Again?”

The cage latched closed with an audible click. “Er, yeah . . . about that . . .” Jasmine bit at her lip. “They escaped a while back and kind of, er, ran across Main Street.”

“They already escaped before?” What else had happened here on her watch?

“The delivery guy was new, and he accidentally dropped the cage as he brought them inside. The door was propped open and— whoosh! ” Her hands gesticulated dramatically, fingers fluttering toward the outside.

“Vrig and I had to chase them down, but not before one of them stunned Alice Vanderpelt into a coma. The Main Street Business Association gave us a first warning. Once you get three, you have to pay a fine.” Her dark eyebrows knitted together.

“What I don’t get is, how did they escape this time?

Refreshing the locking spells was the last thing Vrig did before he passed. They shouldn’t need one so soon.”

Vrig wouldn’t have forgotten or done a shoddy job. “Maybe the locking—”

That call from Bob came as he was finishing the spell and Mal couldn’t recall saying the final words to complete it.

Mother Trakku.

But not even the Great Orc Mother of Creation herself could help him out of this mess.

It was his fault.

“Mal?” She cocked her head to the side. “What were you about to say?”

The urge to avert his gaze to avoid those big brown eyes was strong, but he didn’t dare. He refused to lie to her. “It was me. I was in the middle of upgrading the locking spell for the cockatrice cage when I answered a call.”

The expression on her face shifted from confusion to realization and then to displeasure. “So you’re telling me it’s your fault the cockatrices escaped.”

“Yes.”

“And yet your first thought was that it was something I did?” Those soft brown eyes turned ablaze. “B-because I’ve been messing everything up at this point, right?”

“Jasmine, no—”

Her nostrils flared. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to finish some work upstairs.” She turned on her heel, hands balled into tight fists, then stomped up the stairs.

Something hot stuck in his throat and his belly churned and twisted. Was there anything lower than dirt? Because that’s how Mal felt right now. He scrubbed his palm down his face and groaned aloud.

He’d screwed up, big time.