Chapter Twenty-Three – Molly

 

How, even after the gunshots, the private security guy running through their backyard, and the roaring coming from their drain pipes, I managed to convince my neighbors there was nothing to worry about, I’ll never know.

Especially when I was dripping with rancid drain water!

But, convince them we did.

Maybe it had been the shock of the whole thing, just putting me into some sort of numbed state where I could just process everything coming in. Or it could have been the whole world coming crashing down around my ears. Finally, maybe it had to do with what Luke had said down in the sewer. That we needed to talk, that there was a lot I didn’t know. Or maybe it had been the lingering memory of how his lips had felt on mine. The way they’d been so soft, but insistent and firm. Perfect, even.

“And so I’ve been working with Full Moon Security, doing the same thing ever since, just in my off time. Hunting vampires, ghosts. And so on.”

Yeah. Quite the segue.

Freshly scrubbed and changed into new clothes, Luke and I were back at the kitchen table with cups of tea, seated adjacent to one another as he told me all about whom he worked for, our hands entwined. And whom he’d really worked for before. About how there wasn’t any woman’s family, about the creature who’d taken Heidi.

Oh, and that magic was real, and he had a freaking unicorn horn sitting on the living room couch in his duffel bag.

Quite frankly, I was thinking just tea wasn’t going to cut it. I could tell he was winding down, and a bottle of vodka sounded just right.

What else would someone use as a chaser for a stiff shot of Everything You Know Is a Lie?

“I’m not supposed to tell you,” he said. “Back in my alphabet days—”

“Alphabet days?”

“FBI, CIA, PRB. The alphabets. Back when I was in that, I’d have gotten arrested for divulging all this to you.” His thumb rubbed back and forth across my fingers as we clung to each other like two sailors lost at sea. “Now, we have rules against it. Just not as strict, anymore.”

“Are you sorry you told me?”

He shook his head. But, still, even as he was winding down, I knew there was something else he wasn’t telling me. Something he was nervous about.

“Luke?” I asked, squeezing his hand gently as I craned my neck a little to look into his eyes. “What else is there?”

His eyes shifted, looked away.

I smiled a little, trying to reassure him. “You can tell me, no matter what it is.”

“That’s just it,” he said. “I’ve already involved you too much as it is.”

“I mean, it can’t be any crazier than all this, right?”

He winced a little.

“What is it?” I asked. “You’re not like married or anything, are you?” Somehow, that would have been even more devastating than all this.

“What?” he asked, a note of surprise in his voice as he shook his head. “No! Of course not. It isn’t like that.”

“Well what, then? Tell me.”

He took a sip of tea, clearly trying to buy some time while he attempted to figure out how he was going to tell me whatever he wanted to say. Which, considering how many bombshells he’d already dropped, was kind of terrifying. Finally, jaw set, he set his mug back down, but still didn’t say anything for a long moment.

Until he finally spoke. “This is good tea.”

“Luke,” I said, squeezing his hand. “Come on, spit it out.”

He took a deep breath, his nostrils flaring a little as he settled back in his chair and crossed his legs. When he spoke again, my mug was halfway to my mouth. “Okay. I’m…I’m not human.”

Luckily, my mug didn’t shatter, instead just sending hot tea spilling everywhere as it fell back to the tabletop with both of us leaping back.

“Towels?” he asked, swearing a little under his breath as he checked his shirt and pants to see if any had gotten on him. Meanwhile, tea began to drip off the side of the table and onto the kitchen floor.

“Fuck towels!” I shouted, one hand on my forehead and the other on my hip. “You’re not human?”

Frowning, he seemed to shrink into himself, his shoulders hunching.

My stomach sank as I saw the hurt on his face, and I realized what I’d just yelled. It was like I’d just stabbed him right in the heart. Or, rather, the back.

We both stood there for a long moment, the sound of the tea steadily dripping on the floor as loud as a bass amp in my ears. Drip. Drip. Drip. Filling the house, filling the chasm between us.

Not human? What did that even mean?

“I’m a shifter,” he said, his words barely audible. He turned away and walked into the actual kitchenette area, started to open up cabinets.

“Shifter?” I asked, coming out from around the table. “What does that even mean?”

“Do you have some paper towels or something?”

“Right there, left of the sink. But, what the hell is a shifter?”

“I’m not like that thing in the sewers, the capcaun, or what’s up in the mansion,” he said as he grabbed the roll of paper towels and brought them back over to the table. He stripped off two or three of them, folded them together. “I’m a lion.”

“A lion?” I asked, my voice deadpan.

He was already sopping up the mess I’d made, his movements tense, like he was just trying to give his body something to do other than have this conversation. “A lion. Yeah.”

“What does that even mean?”

He shrugged, continued to wipe down the table, working inside-out, so that he kept slopping more tea onto the floor with every movement of his hand.

I touched his hand, tried to get him to stop. “You know you’re just making it worse, right?” I asked, smiling a little.

Luke sucked in a breath as I took the towel from him and started to work on cleaning the table the proper way. “Sorry. Yeah. I’m just, I’m not good with these kinds of things.”

“Cleaning tables? Or telling women you’re really a lion, and not a human?”

“Tables. I can sweep, I can shine my boots, and clean a gun. But I was always crap at barracks stuff.” A little half-smile tweaked his lips. “Both, I guess.”

“What are shifters?”

“To me, I’m a human that can turn into an animal. To some of the others, they’re animals that can turn into humans.”

“Others?” I asked as I took the soaked-through paper towels over to the trash can and dropped them inside. “How many others are there?”

He shrugged. “Not sure, really. There’s all sorts of us, though. I work with a bunch of different types.”

I walked back over to the table, stripped off more towels, and went to work on drying the rest of the table. “And you’re all just kind of out there?” I asked with a smile. “They all superheroes like you?”

He blushed a little as he ran his fingers back through his hair. “I wouldn’t say that. We’re just doing our jobs, trying to help people.”

“You’re just being modest. I saw the way you jumped that fence. That was pretty impressive.”

“Yeah, but we’re not all like that. We’re just like people. Some of us try to do some good, some of us are dicks, and most of us just don’t care as long as we’re left alone.” He paused. “I was almost like that once, after the service. Before my old boss pulled me back into it.”

I went over and threw the second bunch of paper towels away, turning back to him.

He was right. As far as I could tell, he was just a normal human. A guy who was just trying to help people out, and do what he thought was right. The same as any of us.

What did it matter if he wasn’t completely normal, or average? I mean, who out there was completely normal, anyways? We were all a little strange in our own ways, weren’t we? I mean, I liked ice cream in the middle of the winter. And Heidi was a call girl. Did that make us monsters, just because we were different?

Okay, maybe mine wasn’t the best comparison. But it was the best I had.

“Can you show me?” I asked suddenly, surprising even myself.

He turned, the look on his face betraying that he was just as shocked as I was.

“You serious?” he asked, taking a step towards me.

Hands clasped down in the front of me, I bit my lower lip. “Maybe?” I asked, suddenly a little nervous. “You’re not going to turn into your animal spirit, or whatever, and decide I look as tasty as a gazelle or anything, are you?”

“What? No.” He furrowed his brow, shook his head. “I mean, hell no! Why would I do something like that?”

“Well, I don’t know! This is all new to me.”

He came over, putting his arms around my waist, and I let him pull me closer as I gazed up into his eyes. “I’m just as conscious in my animal form as I am in my human. Sure, my senses are a little heightened, and I’m stronger and faster, but that doesn’t mean I’m not me deep down.”

“Well,” I said, putting my arms around him as I looked up into his eyes. “Let’s see it, then.”