Page 83 of Guarded By the Vodnik

“He’s a big boy,” Phantom said dismissively. “When I was six, I lived on my own, running from abomination hunters in Mexico. It was rough until I got big enough to hunt them back. That fixed everything.”

“Sir, your horrible childhood doesn’t mean that every abomination child…” I started, but Azahl chose this moment to get up and come over.

The boat rocked, and he grabbed onto Vodyan’s tentacle for support. I extricated myself gently and crouched so we could be on the same level.

“Yes, Azahl?” I said, my voice instantly falling into the easy, soft cadence I saved for wounded children.

“Miss Zoe, I saw Carver. Mister Phantom showed me. He’s dead,” he said solemnly, his flat voice betraying no distress.

I shot Phantom a disbelieving look. What? He showed a torn apart body to a fucking child? I desperately wanted to rip him a new one, no matter that he was literally armored. But that child was right here, staring at me, and I didn’t want to make things worse.

“Yes, he is,” I said. “He’ll never hurt you again.”

Something in the set of the boy's shoulders eased, his posture growing relaxed, as he nodded slowly.

“Yes. Because he’s dead,” he said. “It was fun, Miss Zoe. I’ve never been in a lake before. I liked the shipwreck. And the snake monsters were pretty.”

I blinked a few times, trying to take it in. Azahl turned away without waiting for my reply, going over to a demon and a shehru talking nearby. Phantom sighed, the sound rustling like a heap of insects crawling over one another.

“Lady, let me tell you something they don’t teach humans about abominations. Will you listen?” Then, before I could answer, he looked at Vodyan. “Will she listen?”

My anger rose hot again at being patronized, but I pressed my lips together and straightened.

“Yes,” I hissed.

He didn’t look quelled by my cool manner, his skeletal face grinning.

“Let’s put it this way. You mammals have an evolutionary drive to fuck, suck a tit, and stay warm. Abominations have two primary drives: to fuck and to kill those who wrong us. You with me? He knows the fucker is dead, he saw the body with his own eyes, which means everything is fixed. Whatever he went through doesn’t matter. His brain literally doesn’t care anymore. The fucker is dead. The problem is gone. Yeah?”

I stared at him. He was right—I’d never heard anything of the kind before, and it sounded ridiculous. But then, I wasn’t about to tell him his information was wrong, since he literally spoke about his own species. He was the expert here, no matter how much I disliked him.

“But he’s six,” I said again. “Even if what you say is true, doesn’t he need at least some support? Do abominations really not need to process? And would you say you wish the same experience on him as you had? Being hunted and having to deal with that by yourself? Or maybe we can agree he might thrive better with additional support?”

Phantom stared at me for a moment, his smile tightening until it looked like a grimace. I refused to break eye-contact, even though his skeletal face looked utterly creepy. After a long moment, he laughed grittily and raised his hands, as if giving up.

“Human females, man. They go straight for the balls. All right, lady, if you want to give him support, give him support, but educate yourself first. He needed to see that body. He needed closure. That’s the biggest support he can get, and without it, no psychological mumbo-jumbo will cure him, yeah?”

I nodded stiffly. Vodyan’s tentacles ran smoothly down my back, but he very wisely didn’t insert himself into the conversation.

This was between me and the Phantom guy.

“Fine. Thank you for telling me,” I said, though it barely came through my throat. “I have one more question. Is he… Will he be hostile? For example, if someone else hurt him?”

Phantom straightened, his skull pulling into an even scarier, more ominous expression. “Who? Give me their fucking name.”

“I…” I swallowed thickly, but there was nothing for it. “Me, I guess. I failed him. He came to me, he told me, and I tried, but Carver still managed to…”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” he stepped closer, looking down at me from his height advantage. “See? This is the result of your human overthinking. Is that what you wish on the boy? Lady, you’ve got issues.”

“Speak with respect,” Vodyan said, his voice calm, though there was a hard edge underneath.

Phantom shot him a quick look and focused on me again. His grin remained fixed, his face not moving as he spoke.

“Lady, you didn’t hurt him. In fact, it’s thanks to you two that Carver is dead and Azahl got closure. He doesn’t hate you or feel wronged in any way. Believe me, you’d know if he did. To even think that he might hold a grudge! For fuck’s sake, he just told you about the pretty snakes. That boy adores your too soft, human ass.”

“Tone it down,” Vodyan said, a growl stealing into his voice. “You’re speaking to my mate.”

Phantom’s smile grew lecherous somehow. I had no idea how a skull could express things so clearly.

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