Page 8

EIGHT

I carried my bolt cutters and wool scarves into Quarantine, wondering what people might think I was doing with these. It was a weird combination of items for sure, like I was a granny burglar or something.

I opened the door to Obie's bay, letting out the smell of his gases before I entered. It was so potent, it could be bottled as an anti-socialising spray. It was going to be good for everyone involved when he could move out from quarantine into an open space with lots and lots of fresh air.

He was hiding in a different corner and growled when he saw me, his tail still tucked firmly between his legs.

When I saw him like this, without fire engulfing him, he looked just like a big sad dog.

One with lots of scars and red eyes, nails that definitely needed clipping, but a snout that needed love.

"How are you adjusting to life here, Obie? Had a good night’s sleep?" I asked, pleased when he briefly stopped growling to look at me. That was a great sign and hopefully meant he could adjust to life around people.

Unfortunately, we had to stab him with a syringe today, but it was for his own good.

When Jacob arrived with his kit, he looked tired, but that was to be expected. He was potentially doing more hours than me, and that was saying a lot. Obie's ears flattened, and he growled louder than before, lifting his foot like he might start scratching.

If he set himself on fire, that wouldn't be a great start, although maybe not the worst, because if he burned up his fuel now, that would mean less risk of him setting himself on fire when I started cutting his nails.

But emotionally, it was better if he didn't get so scared that he felt like he needed to protect himself.

Jacob set down his suitcase. "Morning. Ready to give our new friend a makeover?"

I nodded. "I did some testing, and I think if I can wrap his legs in wool, it might stop the sparks from catching."

"We'll have fire extinguishers on standby," he said as he prepared his syringe pole. "Now to jab him without him setting himself on fire. I think I'm going to have to go in. It would be better if we had a longer pole, but hey, we'll have to make do with the equipment we got."

"Can't we move him into one of the bays where we handle the bigger animals, like the royal sphinxes?" I asked.

"All full." He cracked his neck. "I'm just going to have to go in. It'll be fine."

"Can I do it?" I asked. I'd spent a lot of time sitting with Obie, and he didn't seem to react as strongly to me as when Jacob entered. It was a gamble, but I had a feeling I might be able to get closer to the hellhound than he might.

Jacob held out the pole. "Be my guest. Just be careful."

He closed the door first before opening the gate. It was a risky move because there was always a chance he would lunge at me. If he was just sitting a bit closer or if he was in a smaller bay with more reach, I wouldn't have to go in. But working with animals was never without risks.

It was even riskier to go down on my knees, but I didn't want to come across as a threat. Especially since I was about to stab him with something sharp.

Obie growled and kept his gaze firmly fixated on me, but didn't seem too scared. I inched closer, pole at the ready. It was a bit awkward to crawl closer, and my leg cramped, but I pushed through. I aimed the syringe at his waist, moving it as slowly as I could so as not to startle him.

He watched me, growling softly, but not moving. It was unfortunate that we didn't have a bond with Obie to make this a stress-free experience, but we just had to do it.

I pushed the syringe into him, pressing the trigger right away.

Obie jumped up from the sting and instantly scraped both his paws on the ground.

I could see the sparks fly up, but my body didn't react in time.

I just braced for the blast of heat, grimacing when it scorched the hair on my arm.

It was a good thing Obie was frightened and staying back, giving me the time to hurry out of the bay and close the gate behind me.

Jacob pulled me out into the hallway. "Are you alright? Did you get burned?"

I lifted my arm which was a bit tender and red, but that was it. "No, don't think so."

"You should get some running water on that still," he said, pointing me towards the bathroom.

"Nah, I'm fine. We've got work to do. Nails to cut, bloods to take."

"Charlotte, you need to take care of yourself."

"I'll run water over it when we're done," I promised, moving past him so I could look into the bay. As soon as the fire was out and Obie was asleep, we could move in to get what we needed.

It didn't take long for the fire to die down, and when we went back in, Obie was flopped on his side with his paws out.

Jacob put the door open all the way and wafted some air into the room. "I'm not sure I'll ever get used to this smell, whoo."

"It is lethal." I grabbed my bolt cutters from the floor and the wool scarf, carrying them into the bay.

Jacob followed behind me with his kit and wrapped a muzzle around his snout, just in case he woke up and decided to give one of us a nip.

While he shaved a patch on her front leg so he could draw blood, I wrapped Obie's back leg with the scarf.

In theory, because he had just burned up all of his sweat, there was less chance of him catching on fire again, but it didn't hurt to be cautious.

Especially because both of us were very close to Obie, and if he burst into flames, we would walk away with burns.

I positioned the cutters onto the first nail, making sure not to take too much off. I worried it wouldn't cut, but it went through with ease.

Easier than the firesteel. Maybe I didn't have to bring these massive cutters after all. Some sparks jumped up but landed safely on the wool.

What a relief. My strategy worked.

I continued on, clipping his nails while avoiding the pieces shooting through the air like little bullets. In a perfect world, we could put him in a habitat that had rocks that would naturally wear them down. Or put up some scratch pads that he could use to keep them to a healthy size.

When I was done with his hind legs, I shuffled around Jacob. "Are you done with his front legs?"

He nodded. "Go for it. I've already examined his mouth. Just want to check his heart while we're here."

I clipped the rest of his nails, pleased that we managed to get them to an acceptable size for now. That should make him feel more comfortable.

Jacob hummed when he examined some of the cuts on his body. "He won't need stitches, luckily, but some of these are nasty. Poor thing."

I took the opportunity to give Obie a little pat between his gorgeous floppy ears. It wasn't necessarily right to pet wild animals, but this one felt like he needed a little bit of love. And there was definitely no risk of him getting too attached to people. If anything, it was the opposite.

"I'm done," I announced.

Jacob nodded. "Me too, and I think our boy is starting to stir, so time to get out before we become toast."

I took the muzzle off and grabbed my bolt cutters on the way out. We were safe on the other side of the bars with the gate closed by the time Obie opened his eyes and sat back up. He looked adorably dazed and didn't instantly start growling, which was a good sign.

"Looks like he's waking up well, that's always a relief." Jacob patted the bag with blood tubes. "Alright, I'm going to get that sent off to the lab. You should run some water on your arm."

I'd already forgotten about that. My skin was just a little red, and I was missing some hair, but that was it. Mostly, I was really pleased that we managed to get Obie checked out.

If his bloods came back clean, he could move out of Quarantine and we could find him a much better home. That was all that mattered to me.