Chapter 9 #2
“What have you observed?” Jon asked, as if completely forgetting that this was meant to be an intervention about her treacherous feelings and not a science symposium. “What is the rate of the transformation? Can you see it as it happens, or is the process slow?”
Prudy slammed a hand down on the table, interrupting her brother’s questions. “That man shouldn’t be here! He must leave. I want him out of the house. Now.”
“He can’t,” Nina said. “The cage cannot open until the Nexus surge is over, which you know.”
Prudy sniffed and lifted her chin. “Which you also knew full well and you still put that man in there. Explain that.”
Nina couldn’t. “I was tempted to leave him on his own, but I have a responsibility?—”
“He killed my Lucas,” Prudy said, speaking over her. “And you brought him into our home. Tainted this home with that beast?—”
“He’s not a beast,” John added. “It’s quite interesting. I’m not sure what he is, but he’s either a reptile or aquatic.”
“Definitely aquatic. He has gills,” Nina said, indicating on her neck the approximate location of the gills.
“Really? How fascinating,” John murmured. “If I could take some measurements?—”
“Oh no,” Prudy said, swinging her ire to her brother. “This is not some experiment or artifact to research. That man is a monster, through and through. We have to kill him. Arianna’s right about that.”
Everyone spoke at once, voices rising. Arianna was concerned that Nina felt pressured as a spinster to accept the attention of any man, no matter how ill-suited a match.
John acted as if Pearson were a specimen.
He had out a notebook, writing a list of observations he wanted her to record.
Prudy demanded vengeance. Now. At least she was honest about her desires.
None of those things were happening.
Nina clapped loudly to gather everyone’s attention. She spoke in her most authoritative voice, “Listen! I’m hardly his devotee, you need not worry about that, but I will not murder a beast, creature, or monster until it’s proven to be dangerous. No matter who he is.”
She paused, letting her gaze linger on each person.
“You taught me that,” she continued, then swung her attention to her mother. “And I will say this once. I am not infatuated with that man. Please stop acting as if I’ll run away with him.”
Arianna made a huffing noise.
“Finally, Major Pearson is still a person. You are not to treat him like a specimen, Pa. Any measurements you take or questions you ask will be done with his permission and, frankly, he’s not fit to give consent. Do you understand?”
“Yes. Being ethical is damn inconvenient,” he answered.
Prudy lifted her chin again and folded her arms in a stubborn stance. “That man was dangerous before he was bitten. I assume it was Jollett who did the deed.”
“It was,” Nina confirmed.
“Good. It’s a cold comfort but that seems to be all there is.” The conviction in Prudy’s tone made it perfectly clear that she’d shed no tears for Major Pearson’s condition.
“Nina, sweetheart,” Arianna said. “I’m worried that the major being who he is has distracted you?—”
“Ma,” Nina warned.
“You’re not sleeping or eating.”
“I ate.” She indicated the empty plate. A slice of bread and a bowl of broth hardly provided enough fuel, but it was enough to stop her hunger pains.
“You’re exhausted. You’ve been up all night, haven’t you?”
Nina couldn’t deny it. Staging up all night with a prisoner was easier a decade ago. Now she really wanted her bed. “Yes.”
“Would you tolerate one of your deputies doing the same?”
“Of course not,” she said instantly. “Pearson shouldn’t be alone and there’s no one to take over the shift.”
Prudy made a scoffing noise as John asked if she had been recording her observations. Arianna gave them both a stern look. “No more of that. You heard Nina.” She turned to Nina, “Sleep. We’ll watch over Pearson.”
“You don’t have to?—”
She waved a hand, dismissing Nina’s concerns. “Yes, we do. You’re dead on your feet. We’ll look after him, and the moment that cage unlocks, he leaves. I don’t want that man in this house any more than Prudy.”
“You won’t harm him?” she asked. She didn’t particularly want to protect Pearson, but he had asked for her assistance. “I have a duty to all citizens, not just the ones I approve of.”
“He will not be harmed,” John answered.
“You swear?” Her gaze landed on Prudy. Her aunt shrugged her shoulders.
“We swear,” John said.
Nina believed her father but did not believe for a moment that Prudy’s intentions were anything short of murderous.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t stand a constant watch over Pearson.
Eventually, she’d pass out and there was still the night to get through before the surge waned.
She should rest now. The responsible thing to do would be to rest. The lure of her bed won out.
“A few hours,” she agreed.
Anthony
Hunters.
The feral part of Anthony’s mind cataloged their weaknesses.
Two of them. A man and a woman. Old, older than him. The man limped from an old injury.
Anthony dismissed the man as a threat and turned his attention to the woman. She was soft and round. Despite appearing weak, she radiated danger. Hunters were not above using tricks, and she looked tricky. But she was old. He felt confident that he could move faster than her, even with her tricks.
She held out a bowl. The aroma of salty broth made his stomach rumble.
“Do you want this?” she asked.
Anthony hissed. He wanted the broth but didn’t trust her.
“Does it speak?” the man asked.
He knew them. Knew their names. He struggled, trying to pierce the veil that separated his current form from himself.
He had been in and out of consciousness for hours, perhaps days.
He was perfectly aware of his body changing.
Webbing between his fingers. The bony protrusions along his back and the membrane stretching between them.
His mind, though… He did not appreciate the way his mind shifted.
Some moments he felt quite himself and then the next he was a creature from the deep, operating on primitive instinct and primal need.
John and Prudence Navarre. The names came to him in a rush. Hunters; retired but hunters never truly retired.
“I speak,” Anthony said, pronouncing each word carefully. His teeth and the shape of his mouth were different. He had tried speaking to the pretty hunter—Nina, memory supplied—but she only smiled at his failed attempts.
The man tilted his head, as if intrigued. “I nearly understood that.”
“You try enunciating with new teeth!” For emphasis, Anthony snapped his teeth.
John stared at him. “Fascinating. I sense that you understand me and are responding in kind. This should be researched. If we could establish communication?—”
“Now isn’t the time for research,” Prudence said. She held out a bowl of salty broth. “Are you hungry?”
His stomach rumbled. He was hungry. Ravenous. His body was consuming itself.
He reached through the bars, swiping with his hand. The fingers were longer than he expected—than she expected—and he nearly reached her.
Prudence took a quick step back to avoid his grasp. The broth sloshed over the edge of the bowl, splashing him.
It burned. Not from heat. There was something in the broth.
He inhaled deeply.
There. An unnaturally sweet scent. He knew it at once: wolfsbane.
“You serve me poison!” A roar tore from Anthony’s throat, shredding his already abused vocal cords. He reached through the bars again, throwing himself against the cage despite the shock, and managed to grab her dress with his claws.
Fabric tore. She dropped the bowl, the pottery shattering.
John picked up a broken fragment and sniffed. “Prudy, you swore?—”
“I did not,” she replied. “I would never break an oath.”
“You’re breaking the spirit of the oath.”
“We’re monster hunters, John. Have you forgotten that?”
“We were,” he answered. “That’s behind us now.”
“Your bum knee doesn’t change who you are. I’m no less of a hunter because I raised my children.”
“We’re older now. We should leave the hunting to the younger generation.” He sounded tired, as if this were a frequent argument that never reached a resolution.
“He killed Lucas! He’s a monster and he’s always been one,” she said, pointing a finger at Anthony.
He bared his teeth and growled.
Prudence rushed back to the cage, knife in hand, the edge glowing violet.
Anthony motioned with his hand, inviting her to try.
“Prudy—” John pulled her away.
“Can’t you feel him? He’s nothing. Hollow and empty,” Prudence said. “There’s no humanity left in him.”
“He is… odd.”
“Think of what you can learn from his corpse.”
Now John stared at him intently. “I am curious if he’s grown an air bladder or if an existing organ has been converted.”
“Only one way to find out?—”
Anthony did not appreciate such speculation. He wrapped the blanket around himself and curled into the farthest point of the cell, turning his back to the siblings.
“Prudy, no. You may have wriggled your way free of an oath—I did not. I swore to Nina that no harm would fall on him.”
The hunters left eventually, leaving Anthony alone in the darkness. He wasn’t himself and yet he was. The curse revealed the creature lurking inside him all along.