I catch up but say nothing for what feels like several minutes. I glance back. Our footsteps are clear in the sand. Anyone who wants to follow us will have no trouble.
“You think I’m selfish for wanting to stay human.”
He doesn’t answer for a few breaths. “I think you are brave, foolish, and so full of hope it is contagious. If I can help you find a way home, then there is hope for all of us.” He holds up his human fingers. “Perhaps a miracle can happen, and this can be undone.”
Then he offers his hand to me, and we walk through the growing dark. The ground turns rocky, and I yelp as one stabs the sole of my foot.
Horn picks me up, not over his shoulder, but in his arms like a groom bringing his new bride home.
My flutters, and not with fear.
9
Julie/Prey
Horn follows what can only be described as a goat trail through the rocks. Among the brown jagged stones, tiny plants cling to life. They are yellowed but seeing that life can happen in this barren wasteland gives me reason to smile.
I wish I hadn’t lost a shoe in the mud, and then the other one up the ledge, as without shoes, leaving Horn’s lair will be impossible unless I cut my feet up—and that doesn’t seem like a smart long-term plan.
He marches toward a crack in the rock face and stops short, setting me on my feet. “I’ll go first.”
He grabs my hand without waiting for an answer and sidles into the gap. He fits, but only just. I follow because I don’t have a choice. He pulls me deeper into the narrow crevice. Every so often, one of his horns taps the rocks and I can’t help but wonder how he found this place. The entrance seems to go on forever and my breathing quickens as I think I’m going to be trapped between the rocks forever. But he keeps moving as though untroubled by the darkness and the tightness.
Just as panic grabs hold and squeezes tight and my mouth opens to beg to go back out, I see light and then I step into a vaulted chamber. Light spills from a few small holes near the top. Part of the floor is a puddle, while the rest is smooth pale rock.
It’s beautiful.
“What have you brought home?” A voice rasps from the corner. There’s movement and at first, I think it’s an extremely large cat, but it unfolds into something that could have once been an ancient god. Part cat, part snake. All terrifying.
I step back. I can’t help it. Fear has taken hold and all I want to do is run, even though there’s nowhere to go. It’s the wrong thing to do judging by the way Horn’s hand grips me tighter.
“She crawled out of a puddle.”
“No shit.” Horn’s friend moves closer, sliding into the light so I can see him more clearly. He slithers with his torso upright and his tail stretching out behind him. His human upper body is covered in golden and red striped fur. His head is still human, if I ignore the pointed ears and the four eyes that are staring at me like he’s hoping I’m dinner. One set of eyes glance at Horn. “What happened to your face?”
“I fought for her.”
The cat-snake’s tail rattles with displeasure. “Why did you do that?”
I should say something, but my mouth seems to be glued shut. My tongue is dry, and I have no idea what to say.Hi, I made a deal with your friend. Want to join in?
Horn shrugs. “She offered me sex.”
The cat-snake’s ear twitches and his tongue darts over his lip, then he slithers closer, his body uncurling as he slides over the floor. Horn had said the monsters on the fringes were more human, more like him, but his friend is…well, he’s not what I’d call human at all. He is too other.
I try to pull my hand free of Horn’s grasp, but he holds tight.
This isn’t what I agreed to.
But when I made the deal, I didn’t understand the cost for Horn, or me. In the pit of my belly, I know that Horn is right when he says he can’t protect me on his own and if I hold him to that, we will both die.
His friend stops one foot away from me. Up close I can see whiskers on his cheeks and if I don’t look at the snake-like lower half of him, his changes are quite pretty. My fingers curl as I think about running my hand through his pelt. Will he be soft like a cat? Would his tongue be rough?
I look away. I shouldn’t even be having those thoughts. But the only other thoughts I can have here are wondering what kind of monster I’ll turn into, and which memories will be stolen first.
To avoid looking at either of them, I stare at the mud caked around my toenails and shake my head. It’s wrong that I am asking them to take all the risk and become less of who they were, even though that’s not how Horn sees it, while I want to stay human.
A soft touch lifts my chin.