Page 43

"Me and the other me. The beast."

"You said something like that before, but I didn't really process it," he admitted. "I think my brain was too overwhelmed."

I paused, mulling over the words I needed. I didn't know how to explain what we were, not when I didn't fully understand it myself.

"We're separate, but we're the same." Judging from Quinn's tiny frown, that wasn't good enough. "We think different thoughts, but we share this body. And the other one."

There had to be better words for this, a clearer way to explain what the beast and I were to each other, but if so, I didn't know them yet.

"I think that makes sense? Kind of, anyway."

He fell quiet, probably hoping to stall the conversation we needed to have. He seemed afraid to make the decision in case something went wrong, but from what he'd said, I could guess what he wanted to do. In this case, it was the only way forward I could see as well. It galled the beast to admit we couldn't do this alone, but even he knew the truth. This was too big to handle on our own, especially stuck in a vulnerable human form.

"Quinn." I laid my hand on the bed between us, and he grasped it again, his eyes darting up to mine. "If you trust them, we trust them. We need their help."

Chapter 17

Quinn

"How is this my life?" I muttered under my breath, earning a strange look from the woman pushing a shopping cart on the other side of the aisle.

Somehow, after being throttled by either a cultist or a soldier, having a massive panic attack, going home early, discovering the monster in my woods was actually a really hot guy but was also still the beast, and agreeing to tell other people about this whole thing, I now stood in a big box store on the edge of town, staring at underwear.

Forcing myself to leave the safety of my little cabin had been hard enough. Convincing Typhon to stay behind was nearly impossible. There was no way he could have come along, though. I had the feeling a few people might notice and kick up a fuss if a gorgeous, naked man walked through the store pushing a cart.

So, Typhon remained behind, resting on the couch. I had to force him to sit so I could re-bandage his wounds, particularly the holes in his thigh. It was a sloppy job because I was low on supplies, so half my cart was currently first-aid gear. The rest was food for him and now I was working on clothing. It was proving more difficult than I'd expected, but only because trying to guess his sizes meant picturing him in my head, and doing so meant I was dangerously close to a public indecency charge.

Years of grooming and lifting heavy dogs kept me somewhat in shape, but those same years of hiding in my house and plying my brain with ice cream to keep the bad thoughts at bay had left me carrying some extra weight. Typhon, meanwhile, had the strong, stocky build of a man who worked a farm or something, leaving him with functional muscle, not the gym vanity muscles so many guys seemed to prefer. Add in those long curls and the rough beard he was currently sporting, and it was like someone dove into my head to custom-make a guy who was exactly my type.

Except he's not a guy, is he?

The little voice in my head could be such a dick, but it was true. Even with a shower and new clothes, no one would ever mistake Typhon for a regular average Joe. Not with those glowing golden eyes of his.

Not that it matters. If Ori and Alex and the others can help, like Lain thinks, there's a good chance he'll leave you anyway. He's only staying with you because he needed a place to hide.

At least I wasn't turned on in public anymore. I was used to the clinging loneliness that shadowed my life these days, but having Typhon around had chased it away. What would I do when he left again?

"Worry about that later. Clothes. Focus on clothes."

The woman across the aisle backed out and walked away, pointedly not making eye contact with me. Embarrassment and anxiety kept me company as I hurriedly tossed some necessities into the cart. Sweatpants would do for now until Typhon could pick out what he liked. A few t-shirts went in, along with a hoodie. I'd tried to compare his feet to one of my shoes so I could at least make an educated guess on his size, but I erred on the side of 'too big' just in case. These just needed to get him through meeting the others.

For this late in the evening, the self-checkouts were unusually crowded, and there was no way I'd go through one with a full cart while it was busy, which meant dealing with an actual human cashier. Maybe I'd get lucky and get one who just wanted to finish their shift and get home as quickly as possible?

"Quinn! Hi, how are you?"

Really, I should have known better. When had my luck ever been good?

I looked up to see Marta Sato smiling at me as I unloaded my cart. She had three small Chihuahuas that she brought to me every once in a while for a bath.

"Hi, Marta." My smile felt more like a wince, but if she noticed, she didn't comment on it.

"I've been meaning to call you. The girls are probably due for their spring cleaning."

"Sure, yeah. Just let me know and I'll get them scheduled." There. I could talk about business. Dogs were safe conversation, so long as she picked up her speed a little and scanned while she talked. I could only drag this out for so long.

We got through the food and first-aid while she told me everything her dogs had been up to in the last four months, with me nodding and humming my agreement now and then to encourage her. That lasted until she picked up the sweatpants I'd grabbed and her eyes flicked over me, comparing my frame to the pants.

"Did you grab the wrong size, hon? I can wait while you go trade them out if you need." She said it kindly, but she couldn't have been more obviously fishing for gossip.