Page 49 of Demon Shock

I glanced from her to the big man beside her.

“Yes, he’s the father,” she said. “And I’m not the only one.”

A little of the shock and concern I felt must have shown because she quickly held up her hands.

“No, no. I don’t mean that he’s fathered a lot of kids. I mean, I’m not the only woman pregnant with a fey baby. There are a few other women like me. I’m the furthest along, though.”

My relief that I hadn’t joined some kind of harem was palpable.

“Oh. Congratulations then.”

She laughed and motioned to the couch.

“And I think you’re going to fit in well whichever community you choose.”

“I get to choose?” I asked, sitting beside her. “I thought housing was assigned.”

“Eh, only for the people who we think won’t make the right choices for themselves or might cause trouble.”

“How do you know I won’t cause trouble?”

“Because you’re with Gyrik. Not justwithhim but treating him like a person.”

I glanced at Gyrik, feeling sad again as I recalled the mistreatment Zach had told me about.

“Now tell me your story,” Mya said. “How did you not know what happened?”

We sat in the living room, and I retold everything from saying goodbye to my family to shutting myself off from the world so I could finish my project to discovering Silver Bay to Gyrik showing up during my final bathroom run.

“How did you not panic? When I first saw Drav, I was close to having a heart attack.”

“I think I was just so happy to know I wasn’t alone that I hugged first. It helped that it was dark out and I couldn’t see him clearly. It was a little bit of a shock when he walked into the cabin, though. The underlying panic was there but more because his differences proved what he was saying was true.”

“So you were panicking more about the end of the world than the fact you were meeting a fey face to face.”

“Pretty much.” I reached into my pocket and pulled out the picture of my family, which Gyrik had thankfully not washed. “Any chance these faces look familiar to you? It’s my mom, grandpa, and sister.”

She looked at the picture—really looked—and then shook her head. “I’m sorry. They aren’t. But we can pass that picture around. Actually…” She trailed off, lost in thought for a moment. “That’s a really good idea.”

“What is?” I asked.

She focused on me again. “I’m not sure how much Gyrik’s told you; groups like his are searching for more of us.

“Your reaction to Gyrik was an exception to what they’ve come to expect. Humans greet them with fear and hostility. So far, you’re the first one the groups have found who has accepted their invitation. Maybe if we had pictures of all the survivors who are here, waiting for their loved ones, more might be willing to join, or we might actually reunite people.”

“I’ll admit that I was a little worried about leaving with Gyrik and his group. Not because I was worried about Gyrik specifically but because four strangers were promising me a safehaven after telling me the world had ended. It sounded a little too good to be true.”

“And when something sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” she said in understanding. “Would pictures have helped?”

“I don’t know. They would have if I’d seen my family in them, but if not, I probably would have still hesitated. I guess it depends on the types of pictures that were taken.”

She looked at Drav. “This should go both ways. Not just pictures of people here but people they’re looking for too. We should talk to Brooke and see if she’s willing to make sketches of missing family members. The next supply group that goes out should watch for instant print cameras so we can take pictures of the people we find out there too.”

I watched Drav stride toward the door and glanced at Gyrik, unsure what to do. Was that a hint we should leave?

Before I could ask, Mya said, “You’re welcome to stay for lunch and meet more of the residents here in the Tolerance community. Or if you’d rather have Gyrik take you for a tour, that’s fine too.”

“I’ll take Ava,” Gyrik said, setting his hand on my shoulder.

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