Page 97 of Monster Daddies

She drew away from the fire slowly, yawning as she shifted to look at him. “With your eyesight I’m surprised you need a lamp at all. It’s crazy how you could see out there in the dark.”

“Not all that crazy. We have good night vision. It comes in handy sometimes, but there are things I can’t do without light.” He jerked his chin towards the sketches on the wall.

Her eyebrows went up. “You did those? You’re pretty good. So, are you nocturnal?”

He shrugged as he rifled around in the kitchen area and came up with a bottle of oil. He took the lamp apart and filled it. “We don’t have to be, but most of us tend to gravitate that way. Night is easier. It hides mistakes better.” He lit a match and touched it to the wick, as he added, “Usually.”

“Mistakes?”

“I told you about the camouflage. It’s how we can go out into the world. We have a kind of coming-of-age thing where we disperse to live among the human types. For a year or two we explore and learn, and then most of us come back.”

“Most?” For the moment, she decided to entertain the idea that it was all true. If she asked enough questions, the story would probably fall apart.

“Most of the ones who don’t look strictly human come back. The human world is… a lot. It’s too loud. Too bright. There are so many people, and they are constantly recording everything. The last thing we want is to get caught on video.”

She sat back and frowned. “But you have your uh, camouflage.”

“It fails sometimes. When people get excited their adrenaline surges and that can lead to a hyper-awareness that, well, breaks through it. And it doesn’t work as well on cameras anyway. Sometimes there’s just an empty spot where we are. Sometimes we’re a distorted blob. Luckily, they rarely catch a decent shot of us, but sticking to the night gives a little added insurance.”

“But how does it work?”

He put the glass top back on and raised the wick until the shadows retreated. “Ellie, I think before we go any further, we need to settle your mind on the truth. I think deep down you believe me, but you’re fighting it. It will be easier for us to talk if you stop.”

She opened her mouth, closed it, and then finally nodded. “Okay… so you’re going to prove it’s all true?”

“Yes, I’m going to drop my camouflage. I know you’ve seen hints, little slips, but you’ve been able to deny them or explain them away. When I show you the real me, you’ll be convinced.”

The real him. Mothman. She almost laughed, but then she remembered those glowing red eyes. And shehadbeen up in the sky, not above the tree canopy, but high enough that she could feel branches brushing against her arms and legs. It couldn’t be real, but she didn’t have an explanation for it. “Go ahead then.”

He hesitated, moving a little closer to her, so she could see his eyes. The room was bright enough now to see the deep blue. They were perfectly human. Pretty but normal, and definitely not glowing red. “Stay seated and don’t panic, Ellie. I promise that I will never harm you, no matter how I look.”

Ellie snorted. “I’m not going to panic. Just show me so we can get on with things. You promised to bring me home and I’m tired.” She folded her arms across her chest and waited.

His lips quirked up at one corner, almost a smirk before it vanished. “If you say so.”

The next few moments were chaotic, and later she wasn’t quite able to pin down the exact order of how it had all happened. She watched, waiting, and suddenly the sexy guy in front of her vanished. In his place was a larger creature made of shadow, humanoid, but not human. The features were indistinct at first, blurred and confusing, as if her mind was having trouble making sense of what she was seeing.

Features started to firm, becoming distinct, but then the shape shifted and grew outward, as large wings appeared and filled the room. They unfurled slowly, carefully, in the enclosed space, but even so, the things hanging from the ceiling were set to swinging as the tips brushed against them. She’d never had occasion to describe someone as looming before, but there was no other word for it.

He loomed over her, casting a shadow across her, even as she shrunk down against the cushions. She was pretty sure she’d screamed. Her throat felt raw and scraped, but now her mouth was just working soundlessly as she huddled there.

“It’s still me, Ellie. You’re still safe. You’re always safe with me.” It was Lium’s voice, but… it wasn’t. It sounded deeper now, and there was a low burr that she felt more than heard.

“What are you?” She breathed the words so softly that she didn’t even realize she’d spoken out loud, until he answered.

“I’m Galium. Lium. My people are the Muinntir leòmainn. As you can see, we look a bit different. At least some of us do.”

She felt lightheaded. Her ears were ringing, and she couldn’t take her eyes off him. “You reallyareMothman.”

“Actually, I’m not. That was Uncle Steve, and he still gets teased about his slip-up. He should have known better than to be where teenagers park. Once those heart rates skyrocket… you never know what they’ll see.”

She swallowed hard. “Uncle… Steve? Mothman is namedSteve?”

“Well, Steaphan—Steve for short, and he’s more of a third cousin really. But he’s an elder so we call him Uncle. I told you I’m not much older than you, so I wasn’t around when the legend of ‘Mothman’ was exposed to the world.”

“Oh.” She wasn’t sure what to say to that, was having trouble forming any kind of words at all.

“It’s caused us a lot of trouble as you can imagine. Between people stomping around looking for Mothman, Bigfoot, and occasionally even the Flatwood Monster we have way more tourists around here than we’d like.”