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“Yeah,” I croak. Talking uses too much air.
“Take my arm.” His hand emerges—that is all I have seen of him—then I see his forearm. His skin is gray, and his arm appears withered, like he is very old or very sick. Or both.
I grab his wrist, not expecting him to have the strength to do anything. There is a pause, then I am moving as he pulls me free. Joe’s dick slides out of me, and the next moment my bare ass is bouncing onto the ground next to Joe.
“Shit.” I stare at his tail. It’s no longer smooth.
“Are you okay?” Theo asks, ready to protect me from the writhing mess that is Joe.
I nod, my gaze locked on Joe’s broken tail.
“Are they legs?” Theo uses a claw to point to two foot-long growths, one on each side of where Joe’s hips should be.
I nod. They look like legs, and they are still growing even though his tail doesn’t appear to be shrinking.
I turn, looking for Michael. He is holding his head. More memories?
There’s a sound like claws on rock that makes my skin break out in gooseflesh. It’s not Michael, or Joe, or Theo making that noise.
There’s something else that has found us.
Next to me, Theo bloats to twice the size in a single breath. His shadow spreading even as I watch, and his claws are longer, as if he has grown inside the shadow.
Two monsters drop down from the above the cave. For how long have they been watching? It can’t have been long…unless they were waiting for me to wriggle out of Joe’s coils so they can grab me and eat me. Suddenly, I want to be wrapped up in Joe’s tight embrace. At least then I was protected.
I edge back toward Joe, but that leaves Michael alone and unable to defend himself.
The two new monsters approach from opposite sides.
They seem familiar. Were they at the puddle where Bret was trapped? Have they stalked us, waiting for the right time to attack? Did they watch us fuck and wonder what we were doing?
I suppress a shudder.
They don’t greet us like they want to join us. One moves close to the ground in a crouch that is like a cat’s, except that the monster is heavily armored, and its tail is barbed. The other is upright with four arms, though only two of the arms have hands, the other two end in points, two legs and a variety of spikes, like it hugged a cactus or something, stick out from its body. Like every monster I have seen, they are equipped to fight and kill.
“Fresh, unchanged meat,” the cactus-hugger growls.
I lift my hand to show my claws, aware I am naked. I have no scales or fur or anything to protect my soft skin. I remind myself that I want to stay human. I don’t want to be a monster, no matter how easy that would make things.
Only Theo and I can fight them off, and fighting causes changes.
I’m frozen. Not knowing what to do.
We should run, avoid the fight. I turn, taking my gaze off the monsters. “Joe, you need to get up. There are monsters here.”
He groans, but I don’t know if he heard me.
“Michael!” I shout.
The two would-be-attackers flinch like they aren’t used to being yelled at. One of them steps past Michael, as though barely noticing him. They don’t care about Joe and Michael. They only care that they can’t protect me.
Theo stands between me and one of them, but he can’t be everywhere. He snags the edge of the robe with the edge of his shadow—maybe his foot is in there—and flicks it at me.
I pull it on, even though it will do nothing to stop claws from ripping my flesh. It makes me feel braver. Like I have slipped on armor instead of being naked. I stand as though I have no fear.
If I change, I know how to change back. As long as I don’t forget that, Under can’t hurt me.
“Have you never heard a human speak?” I shout. Will my voice will attract others? There is no safe choice here, and everything is dangerous. “You were like me once. Before you started hunting and killing.”
