Page 66 of Burn of Obsidian
Thunder licked his lips, and as she went to grab his scruff, Ruhne appeared in a burst of glitter.
“Fucking toadstool! I thought you were dead!” he shouted in her face. “You can’t just abandon me with your pussycat and then come back dressed in a man’s clothes.” He placed his hands on his hips, stamping his feet despite being mid-air.
“Good morning to you, too.” Eyeing Thunder, who was now tracking Ruhne, she threw everything on the foot of her bed. “Should you still be leaking so much glitter?” she asked, grabbing her phone and putting it on charge.
“Look, it happens when I get nervous, and there’s no need to keep calling me out on it.” His wings whistled as he rubbed them together. “What’s with the giant… creature thing?”
“Oh, this is Thunder. He’s Jax’s alter ego.”
Thunder snapped his jaws, and more glitter fluttered down from Ruhne’s wings. “You’ve got to be shitting me.” Landing on Thea’s shoulder, Ruhne whistled. “I thought shifters just toggled between two settings? Not become entirely different characters.”
“I’m not sure Jax is a shifter.” She’d never really asked, and it wasn’t like Thunder was any animal she’d ever seen before, other than the hellhound.
Ruhne pulled at her hair, using the strands to stabilise himself. “Why is he looking at me like that?”
He was licking at his muzzle, watching Ruhne like he was dinner.
“Just stay high.”
“High?” Ruhne squeaked. “He’s taller than you!”
“He’s not going to eat you.” She hoped. “Stop overreacting; you’re going to scare him.”
“Scare him? The embodiment of death?” Ruhne wrapped more of her hair around himself like a shield. “I’ve survived crossing the veil, snatchers, and several months in a cage. All that, and I’m about to be eaten by a fucking dog.”
Shaking her head, Thea sat at the edge of her bed, bending down to untie the boots. A cold nose touched her bare thigh, followed by a hot tongue.
“Oh Moon God, I’m about to witness bestiality, aren’t I?” Ruhne whined.
Thea pushed at Thunder’s head, reaching past him to the other boot. Something marked the floor, her carpet turning a strange pink shade. Frowning, she touched the spot, her fingers coming away red. Moving to her knees, she followed the droplets.
“What…” She reached for Thunder’s back leg, the dark fur saturated. Thunder grumbled at the contact, tensing as she accidentally ruffled the fur. Beneath, she could see muscle, as well as a flash of bone.
“Jax, I need you to shift back.” Panic made her voice strangled.
Thunder stood on the leg without problem, but she could see his muscles trembling.
“Please, bring Jax back. You’re hurt, and I don’t know what to do.”
Thunder’s ears flattened to his head before he gave her a slow blink.
“Ring a vet!” Ruhne shouted, his mouth close enough to her ear it hurt. “Ring animal control!”
Thunder cocked his head, tongue licking out across her cheek.
Ruhne yelped, shoving himself backwards off her shoulder. He got tangled in her hair, having to wiggle and fight before freeing himself. “Fucking cockwaffle. He was going to eat me!”
The carpet squelched beneath her knees, and there was no sign his bleeding would stop anytime soon. Rushing to her feet, she ran into the bathroom, hoping the basic first aid kit she’d bought a few years ago was still there.
She left red smears along her white porcelain, but she finally found the kit tucked right at the back of the little cupboard beneath the sink. Running back into the main room she halted, finding Jax sat on the floor, covered in sweat. His body was hunched forward, the muscles of his shoulders rigid. Tattoos – the same delicate swirls and lines that marked both his arms and legs – covered the entirety of his back. They glowed gently, brightening when she took a step closer.
His arm blurred, grabbing the sheet from her bed, only to drape it across his hips.
“Holy yeast infection,” Ruhne chuckled. “That man is going to absolutely ruin you.”
Jax jerked his head up, glaring at the pixie. His hair was wet, dripping with perspiration. “How long was I out?” he asked, his voice closer to a growl.
“Honestly, you’re not going to be able to walk straight,” Ruhne mused, dropping down to walk along the carpet. “That’s not a cock, it’s a Cockasauraus Rex. R.I.P your cervix.”