Chapter 13 - Fates, Fins, and Fangs

THE NEXT DAY STARTED out pretty normal, thank whatever gods existed. I went to morning classes, then I spent the rest of the day cleaning the apartment and waiting to hear back from my advisor, who refused to tell me anything about my internship status until she spoke with my clinical instructor about the hospital incident.

Okay, so it was still stressful as hell, which was why I was cleaning. I hated cleaning. But it was better than sitting around waiting.

I had been exhausted when I got home last night, so I hadn't talked to Chike or Rhys, other than to say hello and goodbye before I crashed. I'd joined them for breakfast this morning, before we all went our separate ways—me to school, Rhys to his teaching job, and Chike to his aquarium job. When I filled them in on my weird encounter with White, there were a lot of raised eyebrows and shared looks.

For a minute there, they both went all shimmery and weird looking. I'd watched as Chike's skin took on that opalescent sheen and Rhys went weirdly pale. Both of them were sharp-featured, and Rhys sported a pair of long fangs, while Chike had a whole mouthful of shorter, but no less wicked-looking teeth. I blinked at them and tried to focus on reality. It didn't help. Strangely enough, I didn't freak out this time. I think I was getting used to my broken brain.

I went and got another cup of coffee, and when I turned back to them, they were their usual selves.

I could tell they wanted to ask me more about yesterday. About White in particular. But in the end, they both kept quiet.

It was weird. But we all had to rush off to our various commitments. I did get a toe-curling goodbye kiss from each of them. And there was a promise in both their eyes that made me really look forward to this evening, when we were all back home together.

I had showered and put on my best underwear—one of the few bra and pantie sets I'd ever been able to find that actually looked good on a plus-sized body. Now that I'd made up my mind about wanting both guys, I was set on getting laid tonight. No use wasting opportunities on my insecurity.

I had just finished getting dressed when Rhys got home. He padded into my bedroom looking all warm, golden, and professional. I glanced down at my t-shirt and sweats. Sure, I'd gone all out on the underwear, but when you were shaped like me, "real" clothes were a pain in the ass. At least in sweats there was no muffin top, and I could move without anything pinching or riding up.

Rhys gave me a warm smile. He set his messenger bag on the floor and toed off his dress shoes before coming into my room. He must have come straight here to find me once he got home. It was silly, but just that little thing made my whole body warm. He missed me as much as I missed him. Long arms wrapped around me and he dipped his head to plant a soft, sweet kiss on my lips. When our lips parted, he pressed his forehead to mine, his eyes still closed. "Suddenly, my day just got much, much better," he murmured, his deep voice full of humor.

I tucked my head under his chin, with my ear pressed to his chest, sighing out, "Agreed."

We just stood there for a minute, soaking in each other's warmth. His heart beat slowly beneath my cheek, and his big hands rubbed my back. Yeah, he was super-hot. But this was important too. Before everything else, he was my friend. The one who bonded with a geeky teenager over old Greek histories in a dusty old bookstore because he knew what it was like to be new in town. Rhys had always been too sunshiny and kind to be real. And now he was mine. I still couldn't believe it. But I was sure as hell going to enjoy it!

Rhys finally pulled back to look down into my eyes, ruffling my damp hair with one hand. "Where were you headed to when I ambushed you, love?"

I smiled at him. I wasn't used to anyone being all cutesy with me. Even my few old boyfriends weren't as warm as Rhys. And I slowly realized, he'd always been this way. How long had Rhys been quietly interested, but trying to be on his best behavior? I grinned at the thought. "I was thinking of starting dinner. I knew you guys would be home soon. Maybe we could all watch a movie or something?"

He smirked at me. "Does watching a movie really mean watching a movie, or is this like 'Netflix and chill'?"

I rolled my eyes, but my cheeks heated up. Because okay, maybe the thought had crossed my mind. "Maybe a little of both?"

He laughed and followed me to the kitchen, leaving his shoes in my room, but snagging his bag on the way by. "Either option sounds wonderful."

He helped me get food cooking and a salad made, then he spread out his stuff on the table and started grading papers, while I pulled out my pathology textbook and tried to slog through the required reading. The chapter was on visual perceptual disorders and neurological dysfunction. Which, given my propensity to hallucinate, wasn't a comfortable read.

The oven timer dinged a while later, bringing me back to reality and out of the world of cold, dry medical text. Somewhere along the way, a cup of Con's herbal tea had appeared by my side. I must have really been engrossed in my reading to not even hear Rhys moving around to make it for me.

Rhys finished a note on his last handout and stuffed them all into a folder before going to turn off the oven. He left the chicken in the oven to keep it warm, and I loved the unspoken agreement that we wait for Chike.

Rhys winked at me, then turned to open the cupboard above the stove, pulling out a bottle of wine. He was getting out glasses when I heard footsteps on the stairs and Chike appeared. His long nose twitched as he took in the scents in the kitchen, then he padded over to me and hugged me from behind, draping himself over my chair and my back like a rag doll.

I chuckled. "Hard day at work?"

He rested his cheek on top of my head and groaned. "They made me work the cash register and the information desk," he whined. "I hate people."

I reached up and patted his arm in sympathy. "Poor thing."

"If it makes you feel any better," Rhys said in a dry tone as he poured the wine, "three of the girls in my class were menstruating today, and it sent them into irrational levels of rage. They got into a fist fight in the middle of a lesson about Davinci, and I had to break it up. Then I had to listen to them all cry until the principal had time to deal with them." He shuddered, then smiled in the face of our horrified gaping. He threw out his arms dramatically. "But we made dinner! And Troya all but promised we could do naughty things to her while a boring movie plays in the background. So, the day is saved."

I couldn't help laughing.

"What an idiot," Chike said dryly. He planted a soft kiss on my lips, pausing to pull my bottom lip into his mouth and bite down. "But I agree. No better way to make up for a bad day." He straightened and pulled the rubber band out of his hair, running a hand through the lavender mess. "Just let me go clean up a bit." He shuddered. "I smell like fish flakes and chum."

I shook my head as he left. He didn't smell that bad. Such a drama queen.

We ate dinner together amid further tales of hijinks and woe. Chike and Rhys made their normal, ordinary jobs sound like death-defying, hair-raising tales of danger and intrigue. And I did my best to thoroughly gross them out with what I'd learned in pathology class today.

"The human body is a horrible, wondrous, beautiful, disgusting thing," Rhys breathed in awe. "And so recklessly fragile."

Chike scrunched up his nose in agreement. "It's awful."

I laughed and helped clear the plates and dishes away. "You guys talk like you don't have a body of your own. You're just as gross as the rest of us."

They shared a look that I didn't understand, then they both smirked.

I sighed. Why did I always feel like I was out of the loop lately?

When we were done eating, the guys followed me to my room, and we all curled up on my bed with Rhys's fancy, big-screen laptop. Chike insisted on choosing the movie, getting an exasperated sigh and an eye roll from Rhys when he picked some B movie about vampires.

I didn't really care what we watched, and not just because I wasn't planning on watching it. It just didn't matter to me, as long as we were together.

Rhys pulled me back to lean against his chest, while Chike stretched out with his head in my lap. I combed my fingers through Chike's long, silky hair while Rhys alternated between commenting on all the ways the movie got vampire mythology wrong, and planting soft kisses along the side of my neck and shoulder.

When the vampire on screen ripped someone's throat out, bathing the set in buckets of fake blood, Rhys bit the junction of my neck and shoulder, making me yelp. He chuckled at my response, his warm breath against my skin adding to the goosebumps.

Chike turned his head on my thigh and smirked up at me. "Afraid of vampires, Troy?" he teased. Then he caught my hand and nipped at my wrist.

Rhys huffed another laugh, but his hold on my hip tightened, and I didn't think I was the only one who was turned on by all the biting and what amounted to soft-core Gothic porn happening in the movie.

Chike reached up and wrapped his arms around my neck, pulling me down to him for a playful kiss. Rhys smoothed his big hand up and down my back, then around to cup my breast, tweaking my nipple while my kiss with Chike deepened. I groaned, every part of my body lighting up with lust.

A blaring alarm sounded, and I jerked upright. Chike frowned and sat up, clearly just as pissed as I was about the interruption. I looked around, trying to see where the annoying noise was coming from. It sounded like a weather alert or something. But I think I'd left my phone in the kitchen.

Rhys slid off the bed and grabbed his phone from the bedside table. He stared down at the screen as it blared away. He silenced the phone and tossed it at Chike. Then he grabbed the laptop and sat back down beside me on the bed, pulling up a web browser and typing away.

Chike looked at the phone and his eyes widened. "Is this—"

Rhys nodded, not looking away from the laptop. "Yes. I hacked into White's security network. He knows, but he hasn't done anything about it yet. I think he’s waiting for the right punishment to come along."

My eyes snapped to him at the mention of White. "What the hell is going on? Is there an emergency or something?"

Chike tossed the phone away and scooted closer to me, wrapping a slender arm around my waist. "I think things are about to go to shit, Troy." He glanced at Rhys. "She's going to be nuclear levels of pissed, dude. Maybe we should hide the pointy wooden things."

Rhys gave him an unimpressed look.

"Why is she going to be pissed?" I demanded.

Rhys waved a hand at Chike and me to shut us up. "Listen."

He had pulled up a news site. A video played, with a wide-eyed reporter who was going ashen under her dark skin. "The man claimed to be a...werewolf. Everyone on site was skeptical, but then he showed them the truth. Monsters do exist. And they are coming for us." She took a shaky breath and shook her head. "The following footage contains graphic material."

The clip cut to footage of a public square somewhere. A group of rough-looking, biker gang people were at the middle of the crowd, and one man in particular was waving his hands and preaching something to the crowd. Then, the guy just...changed. It was like something out of a bad movie. His body morphed into a giant wolf. He shook off the tattered remnants of his jeans and hoodie. Then, he darted into the crowd and lunged, bearing a screaming woman to the ground and ripping her throat out.

Blood splattered on nearby people and the whole crowd turned into a panicked, screaming mass, trying to run for their lives. The wolf was hidden from sight, but the screaming and the other...sounds continued as the beast clearly tore into anyone it could reach.

The clip cut back to the rattled reporter. "Authorities are recommending that everyone stay inside and lock the doors and windows. Even family and friends can't be trusted right now. These monsters could be hiding anywhere among us. And they're obviously dangerous and unpredictable."

Rhys slammed the laptop shut with a scoffing laugh. The angular planes of his handsome face had gone harsh. He grabbed my upper arms and squeezed. "We have to get out of here," he said urgently. "Get your shoes on. Grab a sweatshirt. We don't have time to pack."

Chike was shaking his head, his face a mask of confusion. “How? How is this making national news, when most humans can’t even see us? Shouldn’t there be people arguing that it was some sort of mass hallucination or something? The ones who can’t see?”

Rhys pressed his chiseled lips together. “Something has changed. Magic, maybe. But it would take an unimaginable amount of power to affect so many people.” He narrowed his eyes at Chike and they shared some silent communication that I didn’t understand. “He knew this was coming,” Rhys said in a low, cold voice.

My mind was too busy scrambling to sort out all the questions tumbling around inside me to actually form words.

Rhys stood and headed toward the door. Pausing, he glanced back at Chike. "Do you have weapons?"

Chike had stood as well, and he shook his head, his long unicorn hair rippling loose around his shoulders. "No."

Rhys nodded. "I'll get you some."

Then he was gone, faster than my eyes could register.

Cold terror was seeping in around the edges of my disbelief. "What's going on?" I asked, my voice trembling. "That wasn't real. Why are you guys freaking out?"

I blinked away the shimmering at the edges of my vision. Because now was not the time to have another episode of hallucination.

Chike stepped closer to the bed, his expression pained. "It was real, Troy. And I'm sorry you have to find out this way, but...we need to go. Now. I promise someone will explain things to you soon."

I shook my head. "I'm not going anywhere. This is crazy."

He closed his eyes in a long blink, then stared at me with his strange amethyst eyes, his expression going hard. "Now is not the time for you to do that thing you do where you get all stubborn just for the sake of being stubborn."

I glared. "I do not do that!"

He raised one lavender eyebrow. "Really?"

I crossed my arms over my chest. Over the amazing push-up bra I'd put on under my t-shirt just for them. Why did I think I was going to get a normal, happy night with my boyfriends? I couldn't even do something kinky without it getting messed up. And my brain absolutely refused to acknowledge what was going on here. I just...couldn't.

Chike ran his hand through his hair in frustration, then reached out and grabbed my wrist. "Up," he insisted, pulling me off the bed with a surprising amount of strength. I stumbled to my feet and he spun, going to my dresser and yanking it open. He threw a pair of socks at me and I let them bounce off my chest and land on the floor.

He glared amethyst daggers at me. "Get dressed Troy! For fuck's sake, this isn't funny."

I smirked. It was a little funny. He was freaking out because he thought werewolves were really real. And I was goading him just because I was angry I wasn't getting laid right now. We were acting like a couple of children, but it was our thing.

Rhys stormed back into the room. I gaped at him. He was wearing a long black coat, black boots laced up to his shins, and a pair of fucking swords crisscrossed in fancy sheaths across his broad back. He glared at Chike and tossed a pair of sheathed knives and a bundle of leather straps on the bed. "Why isn't she wearing shoes?"

Chike threw up his hands. "Because she's Troya and she's doing that thing she does."

I rolled my eyes and picked up my socks, because they were starting to scare me. "I don't do a thing."

Rhys arched a blond brow at me. "You do. And now isn't the time, Troya. We need to hurry."

I sat on the edge of the bed and put my socks on. Rhys appeared there, crouched by me as if by magic, my sneakers in his hands. He started stuffing my feet into my shoes like I was a freaking toddler, while he barked orders at Chike. "Those sheaths strap on your waist and thigh. The daggers are spelled, so be careful not to nick yourself on the blades."

I gaped as Chike calmly buckled on the leather straps over his jeans and pulled a leather jacket over his comfy Henley. His nimble fingers wove his long hair into a braid, then he pulled a hair tie off his wrist and secured the end.

Glancing at me and Rhys, he sighed. "We should drop the glamour. She's not going to believe it otherwise, and we'll have to drag her out of here kicking and screaming."

Rhys grimaced. "If she sees me, she'll be kicking and screaming regardless."

Chike rolled his eyes. "Use your mojo. She'll forgive you later. Once she survives this shitstorm."

I glared at them. "Um...hello? She's right here and she really wants to know what the hell is going on right now."

Rhys straightened and pulled me to my feet. "Are you sure you don't already know what's going on?" he said, his light green eyes boring into mine.

I had a weird flash of memory, of Orion Black looking at me the same way, asking me if there were things I wasn't telling him. "I don't know!" I nearly shouted. Then I blurted out, "I've been hallucinating for weeks now. I thought it was stress. Or a brain tumor. Probably a tumor."

Rhys's brows shot up nearly to his hairline. "A tumor?"

Chike shook his head and stepped up beside us. "What have you been seeing, Troy?"

I licked my lips, feeling crazy. And also sensing the hum of urgent, impatient energy coming from both men. They wanted to leave. Now. But they were willing to try to get me to see what was going on.

I stared into Chike's amethyst eyes. "Those aren't contact lenses, are they?" I whispered.

He gave me a sad smile. "No, Troy. What else?"

I looked away. "That night...when you first kissed me. I saw...some sort of monster, or alien or something. You had...scales. And sharp teeth."

Rhys laughed. Chike elbowed him in the ribs. "I'm not a monster, Troy. You believe that, right?"

I still couldn't look at his face, but I nodded. "Of course you're not a monster. That's why I'm pretty sure I'm losing my mind."

He sighed and I felt some sort of...ripple. Like a sudden breeze, but made of...energy? "Is this what you saw, Troy," he said, his voice richer and more musical than ever.

I glanced up in reflex. And froze. Chike had changed. His cheekbones were higher, his features sharper, and he was covered in a sheen of fine, opalescent scales. He smiled hesitantly, and my eyes widened at the sight of that mouthful of sharp teeth. "Still me," he said gently. "But you have to understand, that news report wasn't a hoax. And you're not safe here. We need to get you somewhere safer."

I forced myself to breathe. "What are you?"

Chike ran a hand through his hair, pulling tendrils from the braid he'd just put it in. His long fingers were tipped with sharp claws and...slightly webbed where the fingers met the palm? "I'm a mutt," he said wryly. "A mixed breed. My father was a merman."

I gaped at him. "Oh my god. You're an actual mermaid." My eyes darted to Rhys. "You really weren't teasing him all those times you called him a mermaid."

Rhys ran a hand over his face, clearly impatient. "We have to go."

I crossed my arms over my chest. "What are you, then?"

He shook his head. "Nothing you want to know about. Can we please go? I need to be out there, helping to stem the tide of madness that is no doubt headed our way."

I looked between them, my practicality returning. "This...is going to be bad, isn't it?"

They shared a look. Rhys reached for me. "We need to go. We have plans already in place to protect the city. And White needs to concentrate on that, not on worrying whether you're safe."

I blinked at him. "What does White have to do with anything? Oh, gods and goddesses. He's not human either is he? Of course he's not. What is he?"

Rhys looked to Chike. The merman shrugged. "We don't talk about that." He grabbed my hand with his strange, webbed appendage. "We need to go."

I let him drag me toward the door, pausing only to pull on the hoodie Rhys insisted I wear. "We're supposed to protect you," he huffed. "Not let you catch a cold."

I smirked at him. "You know that's not how that works, right? You don't get a cold from being cold."

He raised an eyebrow at me. "How would I know? Humans are ridiculously fragile. We've established this."

"What are you?" I demanded.

I let out a shriek when he crouched and grabbed me around the thighs, slinging me over his shoulder like it was nothing. "Done asking, is what I am," he snapped.

I gasped as he hauled my hefty ass down the stairs like I weighed nothing, Chike trailing along behind us with freaking daggers strapped to his hip and thigh. And wait...did this mean he had a fish tail when he took a bath earlier? My brain was busted. It kept jumping from one thing to another without really analyzing the implications of what was going down.

Rhys jogged to the shop door and I groaned at the bouncing. There was a sword hilt digging into my gut. "I can walk," I panted out. "Promise, I'll go along. Wherever we're going."

I was confused. But for whatever reason, I wasn't scared. I should probably be scared.

Rhys set me on my feet and shoved me toward my car, which was parked on the street out front. "Gesa's house," he said, ushering me and Chike into the tiny car and taking the driver's seat. "They have wards and enough magic to keep you out of harm's way while we secure the city."

I blinked at him as I fastened my seatbelt. Safety first, you know. "Fuck. Gesa isn't a human, is she? None of them are."

Rhys shrugged. "Con is. Mostly. With a little dash of hedge witch."

I let my head rest back against the seat as Rhys whipped my car out into traffic and gunned it. Whatever he was, he had lightning fast reflexes, which was good for avoiding accidents, but terrible for my nerves. I stared out into the dark, my mind catching up to everything that was finally sinking in. It should bother me more than it did, to know there were monsters among us. But one weird thought overshadowed everything else.

Somehow, I knew all along. I was only just now remembering.