Page 17 of Tooth and Nail

“Hell of an introduction,” Derwin said. He was still shaking as Ari nodded.

“Come on. Let’s get you out of here, my friend,” Ari encouraged.

They all turned as one of McGillis’ crew ran over with a pair of coveralls, handing them to Derwin. After thankingthe man, he traded him for the blanket and stepped into the clothes. While he was doing that, they stored the gloves and weapons Wordy had given them as Derwin looked on.

“Did the queen give you those?” he asked, pointing to the bangsticks.

“Yes, she gave them to the I.S.R. years ago from what I understand…right after you left her colony, but let’s not worry about them, okay? We only had them with us in case of a life-threatening emergency. Let’s get out of here and find a place where you can sit down, Derwin. Then we’ll have a little talk, okay?” Eoghan asked.

“Yeah, okay. Thank you.” He reached out and grasped Eoghan’s hand with his now-human one. “You saved my life, Sapphire.”

“There’s no one who deserves it more, my friend. No one.”

The three of them headed out into the bright sunshine and walked over to their car. Eoghan noticed a few onlookers behind the barricade the U.S. Marshals had put up but there weren’t very many of them. There was nothing to see out here and he grudgingly had to admit that Kellen McGillis was good at his job. They got into the Charger with Derwin up front, and Ari seated behind the driver’s seat. He knew Ari would have questions and wanted to talk to the honeybee shifter on the ride back to their office. There, it would be protocol to do a thorough debrief. He was anxious to get the main gist of the story before they got to the office, though. Traffic was a little heavier as he pointed the car back toward Griffith Park, but it would give them time to talk.

“So, tell us what happened, Derwin,” Eoghan said.

Derwin sat forward as far as the seatbelt would allow and looked over at him seriously. “Eoghan, please know that I’dneverfly into that building under my own power! Just looking at the outside of it makes me physically ill. I want to throwup when I see those holes. Then…that gallery they had me in? It was like being stuck back in the honeycomb. It makes my stomach turn.” Derwin visibly shuddered.

“So, it’s not a fear? Is it gross to you? Sorry to ask. I’m just trying to understand,” Ari said.

Derwin offered a tiny smile, twisting a little in his seat to look back at Ari. “No, it’s fine. Even though a lot of people have what I have…and it’s more common than you’d think, it’s not fear, Brown. It’s more like…feeling disgusted by something or feeling like it’s repulsive. When I see holes—to me—it’s like looking at a puddle of vomit or gagging when you find a dog’s mess on your shoe.”

“I get it,” Ari said. “That’s a perfect analogy.”

“Who did this to you, Derwin?” Eoghan asked.

“They found me,” Derwin said sadly.

“You mean your old colony found you in WITSEC and the queen ordered your torture?” Eoghan asked feeling sad for the bee.

Derwin nodded emphatically. “My queen ordered it, but she outsourced the torture to a couple of bumblebee thugs!” Derwin pounded the center console of the Charger. “They’re animals!” he cried.

Eoghan immediately recognized the possibility that the honeybee was going to shift. In the car, a shift could spell disaster. He took a deep breath, blowing it out slowly. “Slow down, my friend,” he said, speaking as quietly and calmly as he could. “We know they’re bastards. Just take a minute and breathe.” He reached for the honeybee’s tense forearm and held on tight. “Breathe, Derwin. It’s okay.”

Derwin took several deep breaths before his breathing was regulated as Eoghan looked in the rearview mirror at Ari and the shifter in the front seat. When he’d finally leveled out, they were quiet for a while before Ari spoke up again.

“Do you mind if I ask…how do you think they found you, Derwin? The U.S. Marshals Service does a really good job of hiding people in WITSEC. I’m sure the I.S.R.’s program is comparable.”

“We have a very successful WITSEC program too,” Eoghan answered. “I’d say it was even better since we’re dealing not only with humans but the Earthbound paranormals as well as aliens from other worlds.” He turned to look at Derwin. “So, what do you think happened? How’d they find you?”

“I think the queen had people looking for me all along. She’s a horny, jealous bitch,” Derwin said.

Ari snorted in the backseat, and Eoghan caught sight of him in the rearview mirror, wearing a wide grin. His partner quickly dissembled; clearing his throat. “Sorry. Please go on, Derwin,” he said.

The honeybee sighed. “I know she always hated me. Even before I asked for emancipation from the colony, she thought I was a freak because of my diagnosis with tryphophobia. A mental failing…that my diagnosis was all in my head. Hell, I could barely crawl into the honeycomb to impregnate her. Eventually, though, my doctor deemed it a physical and emotional disability.”

“But she did grant you freedom,” Ari said.

“Well…we call it emancipation but so few bees ever decide to leave life in the colony to live among humans, there’s not a whole lot of history written about that. I know her hatred went beyond me wanting to leave and when I say she was jealous, I’m not lying.”

“Did she tell you she was jealous?” Ari asked.

“Not in so many words but you know drones like me have one job in life…to mate with the queen. To any other guy that might seem like heaven on earth but to me—” Derwin paused,hanging his head as he took a deep inhale before sucking in a big breath and going on. “To a gay bee like me, it was hell on earth.”

It suddenly struck Eoghan that Derwin had said boyfriend before. Who knew. He’d never even considered the possibility but of course there could be a gay drone. “Fuck, that must have been a horrible fate.”

“Preach,” Ari said from the backseat. This time, Eoghan had to bite his lip to keep from laughing.

---