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Oh, shit! There was someone there!
A huge, broad back stretched a crisp white collared shirt to its absolute limits as someone bent to lock the door to Hallowed be thy Bean. While distracted by the old man, I hadn’t seen the person emerge, and hadn’t gotten a good look at their face. All I could see right now were those hulking shoulders, looking like they were going to bust every seam in that poor shirt. And then, my eyebrows raising, I noticed the tail, emerging from an opening in the black pants.
OK, definitely not a human. But that’s fine. I can work with that. The time I’d spent with Novara-Lei today was probably the longest I’d ever interacted with an alien face-to-face before. But if this guy was even half as nice as her, then I knew I’d have no trouble getting along with him. And, even though I didn’t know exactly what kind of alien this guy was, I was pretty sure he was a he. Something about the masculine bulge of the shoulders, tapering down to a wide yet trim waist, and powerful legs, screamed male to me, even from over here.
I realized the guy was bending down like that because the door used an old-school lock and key system, rather than a scan and code lock. Nostalgic warmth flooded my chest, and I found myself smiling. Totally charming...
But all thoughts of nostalgia and charm disappeared into a puff of acrid smoke when the guy finally straightened and turned around. My mouth fell open, my heart rate rocketing inside me as I took in his form.
Even from this distance, he was huge. Formidable. Easily seven feet tall, if not more. His head was massive and vaguely bull-like, with two black horns sprouting from the sides, but his snout was more reptilian than bovine, with fangs I could see glinting even from here. His torso and legs were vaguely humanoid, at least from what I could tell, but below the cuffs of the pants he wore no shoes, his long, lizard-like clawed feet like dark shadows on the floor. All of his skin, or hide, or whatever it was, was a deep grey, slightly tinged with green. His eyes scanned the aisle, his brow heavy and fierce, and with a squeak, I yanked myself back behind the Christmas tree once more.
Now I understood what had unnerved Novara-Lei. Why she’d used the word death-bringer.
He’s a Chimera.
I wasn’t an alien biology expert by any means, but there was no mistaking his unique combination of features. He was one of the Chimera Guard, a collection of genetically engineered super-soldiers that worked for the Galkor Empire. From bounty hunters to assassins, the Chimera Guard were some of the deadliest fighters in the known universe.
So what the actual fuck is he doing here?
A supercharged alien warrior chilling in a tiny human-owned coffee shop, pouring lattes all day? It just didn’t make sense.
And yet, I knew I’d seen what I’d seen. Taking a huge breath, I dared another glance around the Christmas tree.
Only to have my gaze be met with a broad chest stuffed into a white collared shirt, directly in front of my face. Gasping and stumbling backwards, I wrenched my gaze up over the bulging pectorals, the huge shoulders, the thick neck. Up over the snout. Right up to the two blazing yellow eyes beneath a very furrowed, very angry brow.
Well, I guess this is how I die, then. Murdered by a member of the Chimera Guard for the terrible crime of being a creeper behind a Christmas tree...
There had to be more absurd ways to go. I just... couldn’t think of any at the moment.
As I waited for whatever was going to happen to happen, I scrunched my eyes shut, wondering just what, the actual hell, I had gotten myself into.
