Darius felt a bit sheepish about his need to sit in the parking lot for a few minutes after he fought the giant spider and wriggled back into his clothes. Wasn’t he supposed to be big and strong and at least semi-unflappable? For some reason, he felt like he should just waltz away from a fight like that without pause, or maybe at the most, he should look down at the puncture wound on his side and put a Band Aid on it with stoic composure. His overactive metabolism made quick work of injuries like that, and he could handle pain. Sitting down for a breather made him feel like he was milking the situation. Wussing out. Being silly.

Honestly, the thing that bothered him the most wasn’t the strain of fighting the giant creature, or the injury he’d gotten when it stabbed him, or the strain of changing back and forth into his scorpion form. Those things taxed his body for sure, but it was already recovering. He could feel it, an itching deep in the wound where he couldn’t scratch. That was uncomfortable, but he wasn’t about to complain. No, the worst thing about it all was the smell. When the spider went kablooie, some of the goo went up his nose, and it smelled like fried ass. He’d gone down, not because he was hurt, but because he was trying not to vomit. There was no escaping the smell, and even now, minutes later, his stomach threatened to revolt.

Audra didn’t seem to understand this, maybe because he hadn’t told her. She kept asking over and over again if he was okay and threatening to take him to the doctor, even though he knew that would be a waste of time. But he hadn’t really answered because he was afraid if he opened his mouth for more than words of one syllable, puke might come out of it.

“Are you sure, Darius?” she said worriedly. Her hand was on his back, a light and comforting touch. He really didn’t want to pay back her concern by emptying his stomach on her shoes. It was all he could think about. Just a constant internal monologue of don’t vomit don’t vomit don’t vomit. “I think I should take you to the doctor. That puncture wound went deep.”

He shook his head, his mouth clamped shut.

Then she cocked her head and folded her arms, giving him an exasperated look. “Don’t tell me you’re one of those strong guys who won’t see a doctor because it’s too emasculating. I know you’re better than that.”

He shook his head, looked down at his belly, and decided to risk a couple of words. “Blood. Stopping.” Then his stomach heaved, and he shut his mouth again quickly before something tragic could happen. His innards roiled, but he managed to keep them under control.

“Oh.” She leaned down to take a look herself and seemed to calm down a bit after seeing that he was correct. The opening in his side was already starting to coagulate. There would be no need to sew him up or anything that conventional doctors did. He just had to eat a truckload—if he could manage to do so without yarking—and not rip the wound open. Shifting would be a bad idea until it was fully healed. He would have explained all of this to her if he could have. She was easy to talk to, which was strange for such a taciturn guy like him. He didn’t like talking to people much, except Rebecca, who pulled him out of his shell whether he liked it or not.

“I’m glad.” She sat next to him on the curb that bordered the parking lot, not far from where the spider had appeared. She hugged her knees to her chest and hung her head. “I’m sorry I wasn’t more help. I’m sorry you got hurt. I wasn’t sure what to do. I’ve been in fights before, but nothing like that, and I feel like I let you down.”

Don’t vomit. Don’t vomit. Don’t vomit.

He put his arm around her shoulder, and his stomach heaved again. But he needed to say something. Anything so she would know that of course it wasn’t her fault, that he would be fine, and that he considered fighting this kind of thing his job. He wanted to tell her that he appreciated her distracting the beast to buy him time. If not for that, he would have been hurt much worse. And then he wanted to say that he didn’t doubt her strength. That in a magical fight, he would be useless, but he would stand at her back anyway, because he trusted her.

She seemed really upset about what had happened. He had to tell her, and damn the consequences.

He opened his mouth and said, “Urp.” Then everything in him came out. Calamari and all.

To her credit, Audra didn’t seem all that upset, even though the contents of his stomach splashed on her shoes and the hem of her fluttery dress. She said one of those nonsensical, comforting things that people say when someone they care about is sick—like “You poor thing”—and then she put her hand on his back again while he heaved and shook. Her hand rubbed soothing whorls on his back. There was no reason it should make him feel better, but it did.

After he was done, he said, “It takes a special kind of woman to not complain when you puke on her shoes. I don’t think you give yourself enough credit, Audra.”

She froze as he looked up into her face. Her hand was still on his back.

“You don’t know half the mistakes I’ve made,” she said. “But thank you anyway.”

“You know what’s worse than making a lot of mistakes? Not trying in the first place. I tend to hide from things. I don’t talk to people. I don’t step out of my comfort zone. But from moment one, you’ve been able to pull me out of it. I wonder why that is.”

“I don’t know either, but I’m glad,” she said quietly.

“I really want to kiss you right now.”

The moment he said it, he automatically wished he could take it back, because who would want to kiss a vomity, spider-goo covered man in a wrinkled suit? She was a special woman, but there were limits over which no one should go, and that was one of them. But she smiled and leaned toward him ever so slightly, an invitation written clearly on her face.

He held out a hand to stall her, and for a moment, he saw a wave of embarrassment and rejection in her eyes.

“I really mean that, but I should brush my teeth first. And maybe take a shower. That spider stunk like nothing I’ve ever smelled before.”

Her expression relaxed. “I know! Do you think it was sick or something?”

“Something. I’ve never smelled or seen anything like that. I mean, I’ve seen a giant spider before. Rebecca’s mom used to turn into one, although she died a long time ago, when we were kids. She looked kind of like that thing did, but not so…moldy.”

Audra put her hand to her mouth.

“Oh my god. Rebecca. I forgot about her and Chad in all the chaos. We’re supposed to be tailing them, remember?” She gave him a critical look. “Although I’m not sure you should be anywhere but in bed, now that you’re hurt.”

He lifted his shirt to show her the wound and the red, puckered skin that already had begun to grow over it.

“It’s already closing up. I’ll be fine so long as I’m not stupid and don’t injure myself again. Let’s stick to the plan. The random spider doesn’t need cleaning up. Let’s stop by your place. Get your car. Maybe you can let me use some mouthwash?”

“I’ll do you one better. I keep spare toothbrushes in the guest bathroom just in case. You can even speed shower if that’ll help you feel less queasy, although I’m not sure I have anything you could wear.”

“I have gym clothes in the back. They’re not sweaty, either. I mostly keep them there so I can tell myself I’m going to work out even when I know it’s a lie.”

She chuckled a little. “I’m not sure whether to empathize with you or be pissed off that you can look like that and still avoid the gym.”

“Can you think it over on the way? I think I can manage to get up, if there’s a shower and food in my future.”

She agreed, and he did just that. It wasn’t painful at all, and he was very happy to leave the scene of the proverbial crime behind. It could have been much worse, he reflected as he pulled carefully out of the parking lot. Someone could have been walking across that field. Someone could have come out of the restaurant. The spider could have shown up just a few minutes earlier and attacked Chad and Rebecca. It could have sat there, dead and stinking, and they would have had to clean it all up before someone saw it. He’d seen plenty of random creature attacks in his day, and this one had turned out better than most.

Audra needed a new pair of shoes, and he’d need to get the interior of his truck cleaned now that he’d sat in it and got it all gooey. He’d have to eat a boatload of food to regenerate the damage he’d taken. Given the alternative, it seemed like a small price to pay.

 

Once he’d cleaned his mouth out and had a shower, Darius felt human again. Or as close to human as a werescorpion can get. He’d stood beneath the spray longer than he’d intended, cleaning out the wound on his side as best as he could until the water ran clear and no longer smelled so foul. Then he’d snorted it up into his nostrils, a stinging operation that nonetheless made him feel so much better. He no longer smelled that sick creature every time he breathed in.

Now that he’d had time to think it over, he realized he would have to call Derek and the few other shifters still left in Vegas to arrange a hunting pack. That spider might not have been alone. Perhaps now there were others like it, sick and disoriented, wandering from the desert into the populated areas they usually shunned, unable to control themselves. It had gotten far into town without being spotted, but hopefully if there were more of them hiding out there, they wouldn’t be so lucky. Or maybe they were in the sewers? That made a lot of sense—they’d have to search belowground as well. But that could wait just a while longer until they got the lamp. He was ready to shake it out of Chad, if the boy wouldn’t give it up.

Once he dressed himself in his gym clothes, he went to Audra’s kitchen. She had a nice set up, but it was the kind of kitchen that clearly wasn’t used very much. The pots hanging above the island looked almost brand new. But even if she didn’t cook, she’d taken the care to make the place feel like home. Framed pictures hung on the wall alongside bright paintings of flowers and sunsets. He stopped by one, a bird flying amidst a rainfall of splattered paint.

“I like this,” he said.

She handed him a sandwich, and he immediately stuffed it into his mouth. Turkey and mayo, lettuce and tomato. Good bread. Nothing too crazy, but appreciated nonetheless.

“I did it myself. One of those paint and pour things. I painted most of these.”

She gestured at the walls.

“I’ve never been to one of those. We should go together,” he said impulsively. “Once this is all over.”

She met his eyes, and an ember began to burn at the bottom of his belly. Not the sickening feeling from earlier, but a warm and comfortable sensation. Something he’d never felt before and didn’t understand except to know that he wanted more of it.

“I’d like that,” she said softly.

He grinned and stuffed the rest of the sandwich in his mouth. It wasn’t the most romantic thing he could have done, but he was just so hungry. And it made her laugh.

“Let’s go check on Rebecca and knock some sense into Chad,” she said. “You want another sandwich to go?”

“Yes, please.”

 

It didn’t take long to get to Rebecca’s place—it turned out that she lived much closer to Audra than Darius did. He was out in the boonies, while everyone else seemed clustered together. But that was convenient. Maybe Rebecca and Audra would become friends, and they could all live happily ever after. It was a silly little daydream, but he liked it anyway. He spent a little time on it while Audra drove. It took his mind off the fact that he was uncomfortably cramped in her little car.

She shot him a look as she pulled into Rebecca’s parking lot.

“I’m sorry about the car,” she said. “I should have put the top down so you don’t have to hunch like that.”

“I’m surprised you can fit in it comfortably. You’re not short either,” he said.

“Oh, I have to hunch a little too, but I wanted a VW convertible for ages when I was a teenager. My parents surprised me with it when I moved out here, and I couldn’t tell them it was too tight a fit.”

“That’s nice of them.” As soon as she pulled to a stop, he threw open the door and unfolded himself from the seat. “There’s her car. You don’t need to come out; let me just explain the situation to her real fast, and we can head out.”

She nodded, and he approached the condo. No lights shone in the windows, and the place felt empty. He knocked, listening carefully. He couldn’t hear anything inside. No quiet movements. No breath. She wasn’t sleeping on the couch. In fact, she wasn’t home at all.

He didn’t like that at all. When he returned to the car, he couldn’t stop frowning, and it had nothing to do with the cramped seat.

Audra translated his expression easily. “She’s not here, is she? That means she’s probably still with Chad.”

“We need to find them. Now,” he rumbled.

He could feel the hum of his scorpion voice, rising to the surface, although he tried to keep it under control.

“Why don’t you call her?” Audra suggested reasonably. “Find out where she is. You can even keep her on the phone while we’re on our way. Stall if you have to.”

He blinked, the logic of this suggestion working its way past all of his worry and planting itself firmly in his brain. Of course they should call Rebecca. Why hadn’t he thought of it before? He nodded and pulled his phone out of his pocket, feeling better already.

It rang once and then went straight to voice mail. He redialed, frowning. This time it didn’t even ring at all.

“No answer,” said Audra.

“I think someone just turned the phone off,” he said.

She just nodded and threw the car into gear.

“Hold on. We’ll find her, and she’ll be fine,” she vowed.

The tires screeched as she flew out of the lot, but he was far from complaining about her reckless driving. If anything, he wanted her to go faster.

If anything happened to Rebecca, he would never forgive himself.