“I may have gotten myself into a bit of a pickle,” Dex admitted, jerking his head at Jude. The Pyclon blinked, long and slow. Dex nodded at Jude again and inhaled significantly.
Rusty looked from Dex to Jude, then back again, and understanding dawned. “Dude!”
Dex cringed. “I know.”
“You’re not supposed to say anything until they do,” he growled, and Dex nodded.
“I know. I wasn’t thinking.”
“Yeah, I’ll say.”
“But it’s worse than that,” Dex whispered even quieter. “I don’t think he knows.”
Rusty’s eyes got so wide Dex could see all the white surrounding his pink irises. “What?”
“What don’t I know?” Jude asked, and he sounded terrified. “Rusty, what don’t I know?”
“Oh fuck.” Rusty grabbed Jude’s arm and dragged him back into the house. “Get your furry ass in here,” he snarled at Dex. “You made this mess. Come clean it up.”
Tail between his legs, Dex scurried after them. “Yeah, okay.”
They barely made it to the entry before Jude yanked Rusty to a stop at the bottom of the ramp, breathing unsteady. “Rusty, what the hell? You’re freaking me out, right now. What’s going on?”
“When was your last shot?” he asked, and Jude reared back.
“Why—”
“When was it?” Rusty pressed.
The human shook his head. “I dunno. Eight weeks, give or take.”
“Shit.” Rusty rubbed the back of his neck.
“Why?” Jude repeated.
The Pyclon worked his jaw, shooting Dex a glare, and he withered further. He hadn’t meant to mess everything up, and he wasn’t even sure he fully understood what was happening right now. But it was still his fault.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“I’ll deal with you in a sec,” Rusty said, and Dex flinched.
“Rusty?” Jude asked, voice small and trembling. “Please tell me what’s going on. Why does it matter when my last T-shot was?”
Looking like a man on death-row, Rusty closed his eyes and sighed. “I thought—I hoped that it was the reason. If you just took your shot, it could explain…”
“Explain what?” Jude asked, but judging from the growing horror on his face, Dex thought maybe he already knew the answer.
Rusty’s face crumpled as he said, so gently, like an apology, “For the hormone change.”
Jude blinked. Then he frowned. Then his dark complexion paled to something ashy, and he shook his head. “No. No, that’s—no.”
“We might be wrong, okay? Humans are different. You might not be—” Clasping Jude’s shoulders, Rusty whined deep in his throat asthe human’s breathing grew hollow and choppy. “Hey, easy. C’mon, Jude, breathe. It’s okay. It’s gonna be okay.”
“Should I get Toni?” Dex asked carefully.
Both Rusty and Jude barked, “No!”
As Jude struggled to catch his breath, he fisted Rusty’s chest fur hard enough the Pyclon winced. “I need to get to a pharmacy.”
