Page 34 of Hardest Hearts
“Maybe I can get on my feet with some help.” I put my hand out to Michael.
“How fast will you be on your legs?”
Not as fast as I would be without them. The one thing I wanted will kill me. “Just help me up.”
Michael and Julie grab my hands and between the three of us, I struggle on my feet. The pain is blinding, and I immediately sit back on my tail. Now I’m upright, I have to stay like this, but I can’t slither this upright, nor can I run.
They are all staring at me.
“It fucking hurts, okay? You try growing legs.”
Michael nods. “I got feet. They are aching.”
“It’s worse than when I lost them.” I give him a reference that I hope he remembers. After a couple of seconds, it’s clear that memory is gone. Which is probably for the best as it was a low point, having to be carried back to the cave like a baby because my tail was too small, and I couldn’t slither without getting a face full of dirt.
Theo’s shadow moves closer, then we are all standing inside of it. The outside ceases to exist. I glance up and see what made Julie so wary.
He has no lips, only a round hole full of endless rows of teeth.
I don’t even know how he talks, but he has a tongue and it moves as he speaks. That maw must open pretty big to swallow a monster whole.
“While I am this size, I can be of use. But I can’t pick you up.” He holds up claws that are even bigger. He could make monster kebabs and carry dinner with him.
There was nothing weak and withered about Theo now. And there is no way I could get a hand around the dick swinging between his legs.
For how long will his meal last before he wants another nibble on flesh?
I grit my teeth, knowing I should be grateful they aren’t all voting in favor of leaving me so they can continue to the spire.
Julie glances at me like she can hear my fears. Maybe she’s already had those thoughts and is too polite to ask why Theo hasn’t eaten all of us already.
I’m not. “What stopping you from eating me as a travel snack?”
“You are alive. The other was dead. I will not kill, as I do not want those changes.”
That’s a good point.
Why couldn’t we have enjoyed the fuck and the changes without the attack? Though then I would’ve been stuck with no one to carry me.
I force out a breath. “I might be able to get up on my tail enough to climb on your back if you kneel.”
Theo drops to one knee. Up close, his maw is terrifying and I’ve seen a lot of terrifying monsters. He holds out the back of his hand. “Thank you, Joe. Because of you, I am visible.”
I’m not sure he’d be thanking me if he could see his face. “You couldn’t see your own body?”
“No. I know I’m not pretty to look at.” He looks at Julie with his hand-sized black eyes. “I can see it on your face.”
She bites her lip and looks away. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.” He sighs. “One change at a time. Nothing is permanent.”
I nod. “That is true. The next change could be worse.”
Michael snorts. Theo laughs.
I hadn’t made a joke. It was a simple statement of fact.
Did they all think that getting laid once a day would turn them all back into humans? That just because we didn’t get worse this fight, means that it won’t happen next time? They are fucking insane. And I want to be a part of that insanity if only so I don’t have to think about what might happen.