Page 48 of Demon Shock

“It’s a lot bigger than I thought it would be,” I said after studying it for several minutes. “Is that a cow in someone’s yard?”

“Yes. We have a few cows here, but most of them are in Unity. Look there.” He pointed toward a couple walking hand in hand down a street. The woman was human, and the guy was like Gyrik. “That is Mya and Drav. Would you like to talk to her about which home we can use?”

“Sure. Now is as good of a time as any.”

Gyrik picked me up and stepped straight off the wall. My stomach somersaulted, and I barely suppressed my scream.

He landed in a jog that didn’t stop until he reached the couple. The man looked a lot like Gyrik and like the other two had. All grey skin, pointy ears, and cat-like eyes, but long hair, unlike Gyrik. The eyes were a little different too. With the amount of green in his, they reminded me of something more reptilian, which was a little unsettling.

Realizing I was staring, I shifted my gaze to the woman’s.

“Sorry. I’m still trying to process everything.”

She smiled. “It does take some getting used to. But you look like you’re doing all right.”

Her gaze shifted briefly to Gyrik, and I looked up at him too, realizing I was still in his arms.

“Can you put me down, please?”

He did so but a little reluctantly. It was sweet, just like his panic in the truck had been.

I smiled at him then turned to the woman whose permission we needed to live together.

Holding out my hand to her, I said, “My name’s Ava, a recently discovered survivor who accepted Gyrik’s invitation to check out your community. You’re Mya, right?”

“I am.” She shook my hand. “And I’m glad you’re here. Are there more in your group?”

“She was living alone,” Gyrik said.

“Alone?”

“Alone and oblivious, apparently,” I said. “I only discovered what had happened a few days ago.”

“What? How? No, wait. I think this conversation needs to wait until we’re inside. It’s still not warm enough for me out here.”

She gestured toward a side street, and we started walking.

“You wouldn’t have liked where Gyrik found me, then,” I said. “It snowed the day we left. He had to run in front of the trucks so we knew where to drive.”

“I’m glad we didn’t get that much snow.” She glanced behind us. “Are those your cats?”

I looked back and saw Bauts and Dax surrounded by other fey who were petting my boys.

“They are.”

“Good. We need more animals around here. They’re not fixed, are they?”

“Pete is. Repeat isn’t. He was too young before all this happened.”

“That’s great! We have a girl cat here who needs a boy cat.”

She turned up the sidewalk to one of the many houses and opened the door. No lock. Just an opened door.

“So, my cats get to stay? Does that mean I can too?”

She laughed as the big grey man behind her helped her out of her jacket inside. Her baby bump was noticeable enough that I did a double-take.

“Just about five months now. It’s hard to tell how much time has passed. We haven’t been great at tracking the days.”

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