I wanted to snap them off, one by fucking one, before feeding them to him until he gagged.
He chuckled again. “Does that mean you remember walking in on me having a little fun with myself?”
“We saw everything,” Layla said, her eyes glittering.
“Oh, I very much doubt that. You walked in on me when I was just getting started.”
“Fuck. Then you’re a total perv,” Layla said, but she sounded morbidly curious, like she was wishing we’d stuck around to see the rest of the show.
“How many of you are there?” I asked.
A faraway explosion percussed against the wall of glass like thunder. I glanced outside but didn’t see its source. Several moments later, the floor shook beneath us.
Magnum continued as if nothing were amiss. “That depends on my mood.”
My smile was spiteful and mean to cover up its slight quaver. “Like if you’re in the mood torapeme?”
I sensed my friends stiffening around me.
Magnum, however, continued perfectly at ease.
The more relaxed he was, the more I felt like I was moments away from jumping out of my skin.
“Awww, it wasn’t rape, Joss. It was a little bit of fun.”
“Fun?” I fumed. “Fun!”
Magnumtsked, frowned. “Now, let’s not get distracted here. We have more pressing matters to attend to.”
“Such as?” I seethed. “’Cause ripping your head off and stuffing it down your bleeding, open throat is top of my list.”
“Then I’ll pee on him,” Layla added.
Magnum glanced at her, not with disgust, but abject intrigue.
“Total perv,” she grumbled under her breath.
Sleek as a cat, Magnum unfolded himself and rose.
The five of us huddled closer together.
“Put those guns away, won’t you?” he said. “I’ve always found them a bit … uncouth. Besides, they won’t hurt me.”
“I killed one of you,” I said.
His head jerked toward me before his composure settled back into place. “Did you, now? I was wondering why he hadn’t returned.”
“So you can be killed,” I insisted. It had to be true.
He looked me up and down, dragged his gaze across me, like insects slithering along my skin. Griffin growled.
“You really are special, aren’t you?”
Without notice, Magnum’s body began to vibrate.
At first I wondered if it was another explosion, another shudder of the earth. But no, I didn’t feel any shaking.
His body began to expand, its edges stretching. The lines of his body vacillated, faster and faster and faster.
