Page 23 of Venom Within Her

“I’m sorry to bother you, ma’am, but have you seen this girl anywhere?” He pulled out his phone and showed me a picture of Stellan. My stomach twisted in knots as I looked down at her smiling face. She looked so much younger and so happy. “She’s my daughter, works here most days.”

“Oh,” I choked out, “no, sir. I’m so sorry. I recognize her, but I haven’t seen her since the last time I was here at the cafe.”

His shoulders dropped as he replaced the phone in his pocket. “That’s alright. Would you mind giving me a call if you do?” He handed me a business card with his information.

“Of course,” I took it with shaky fingers, fighting with everything in me not to overexplain, a bad habit I’d had since childhood.

He nodded with another warm smile and both cops walked away to wait for their coffee. I ordered and fled with my drink, praying the rest of the day would go by faster. The equilibrium I’d created with Larz had all faded and transformed into panic again. I needed her with me. I needed her to ground me.

As if she had felt my distress, Larz came waltzing through the bookstore door about an hour after I returned. Her presence immediately soothed me.

“So, I see the date went well?” Bev’s bony elbow stabbed into my ribs, her eyebrows wriggling suggestively.

I gave her a shy smile, opening my mouth to respond, but Larz was in front of me in an instant.

“What’s wrong, baby?” She rounded the desk and took me in her arms. Bev backed away, disappearing into her office, respecting privacy for the first time in her life.

“How did you know?” I sighed into her.

“It's the pull, when something is bothering you, I just know. Something told me I had to be here.”

With my face pressed into her chest, I told her about the encounter I had with Stellan’s cop father in the cafe. She listened intently, never once interrupting me or scolding me for being worried for nothing. It was such a refreshing change to be listened to and understood for once.

She stroked my hair, planting kisses into my curls. “Tell you what, after you’re off, I’ll tell you more about what I mentioned last night. It might be a lot to take in, kinda like,” she gestured to her body, “all this. But I promise you it will make sense, and make you feel a lot better.”

I nodded, “Okay, I trust you.”

17

Larz

I couldn’t let Ilona know just how worried I was. Although they’d never find Stellan’s body, it didn’t mean we were safe. Well, it didn’t mean I was safe.

At first, I thought Stellan might have just been jealous. But, knowing her father was a cop, it was very possible that she was a descendant of one of the original hunters and knew exactly what I was.

The law enforcement of Cutwood had always known more about the creatures in the woods than they let on. To the townspeople, the shifters of the forest were just legends. But a select few would gather a few times a year and set out into the woods to hunt.

As the last of my kind, I was fairly safe. Able to move around the town in my human form without detection. But the others, those with no shifting abilities, weren’t so lucky. I’d tried to be smart about it, hiding in the woods for decades at a time before emerging again with a totally different look. I’d been back in town for a few years before Ilona came, the tattoos and permanent tongue split were part of my new disguise.

“So,” Ilona’s voice cut through the memories, “where do we start?”

“I’m the last of my kind. Of the shifters,” I tried to start subtly, but there wasn’t really a way around it. “But there are other creatures all over the forest.”

Her eyes widened, shifting where she sat in my arms. “But your kind were the only ones in the history book.”

“Well, the discovery of my kind, hundreds of years ago, was spread all over town. The massacre exposed us. The tale of us is still passed down to children to this day. But the others have remained hidden. Mostly.”

“Mostly? And how was your kind discovered? What happened?”

“Love,” I sighed. “It's a simple story, really. A woman fell in love with one of my kind and they were caught. The hunters attacked before we even had a chance to make peace.”

“That’s terrible, but sounds just like humans. Destroying things they can’t understand.”

“Some people in town definitely know or have suspicions about the creatures. I’d guess law enforcement and city officials. Every few years, a hunting party is formed; they say it's for deer, but more and more of the creatures of the forest disappear every time.”

“So, Stellan. Her dad is a cop, so it’s possible she knew and was suspicious of you?”

I nodded, “Yes. I may have used my shifting to scare her a little bit.”