Page 11 of Shaped to Be Yours

slender_01:You arrived safely then?

BROmance2021:yeah but not looking forward to having a babysitter for who knows how long

slender_01:Humans can be slow to trust. You were with me, but eventually, you relented.

BROmance2021:yeah coz you threatened to throw me to the wolves if i didn’t submit like a dog

slender_01:That was quite a few canine references for someone who is not a werewolf.

BROmance2021:you know what I mean!

I snickered. I hadn’t talked to Cael myself yet, not over text or chat and certainly not in person, since his voice knocked people unconscious the first time they heard it. Jason had been too caught up in interrogations last week to introduce me. And while monsters and the monster realm fascinated me, sensing Cael in the dark those few times I’d almost met him had been way more unnerving than running into chimeras or plant monsters around Edgewind.

“Are you mad?” Jason sat up, replacing the phone screen with his face.

“No. I’m glad you’re staying in touch with other monsters. Even though Cael is a little scary. But only because I couldn’t see him those times I felt him. I’m sure I’d think he was the coolest if I acclimated to looking at him and hearing his voice the way you did.”

“Heisthe coolest. Scary, yeah. But cool. And he did help get us together. Gotta love the guy for that.”

I could tell Jason was thinking of leaning in for the kiss I hadn’t stolen, but before I could stop the words, I asked, “What does he think about you doing testing?”

Jason frowned. “I didn’t tell him it was an option.”

“Why not? He works for the base. He’ll probably find out they offered that to you.”

“Which is why I want as much time before he finds out as possible. He’ll just try to convince me to give in and do it, because he’s friends with the scientist who studies him. He’sbasically immortal! He doesn’t have to be afraid of tests! I’ve made up my mind about this, and I don’t need anyone siding against me.”

It wasn’t siding against him to entertain options, but knowing Jason, if I said that, that was how he’d take it. He had to be eased into the idea, have some time to decompress and reconsider on his own. He might not be patient, but I could be. “So, um, Cael’s friend is a monster too?”

“Teracht? Yeah. He’s a giant spider who makes webbing for the base.”

The implication of something like that existing would have sent my mother into a screaming fit, but compared to an eldritch being, I could handle a spider. “Cool! I am really wishing we’d had more time in Edgewind. But my fault. My internship awaited.”

“We’ll visit. Or, actually, Cael can totally teleport, so—”

“Maybe after the summer, when I have a little down time for passing out and getting nosebleeds.”

Jason had set his phone down again, and we both saw the flash when Cael responded:

slender_01:If they can come to trust me, Jason, they will trust you. If you let them.

Jason typed back:

BROmance2021:heres hoping

Then he closed the app.

“Can I ask, um… why communicate through the app? If they both have it, they both have phones. Maybe one for each appendage.” I chuckled. “Why not text or call them normally?”

Jason ducked his head. “It’s stupid.”

“I bet it’s not.”

Slowly, he picked up his phone again to reopen the app, fiddled with it, and turned his screen toward me like before. “It’s the only thing I have left that says I’m human.”

The screen showed his profile, with a toothy-smiled photo of him—not wearing a shirt.

Of course.

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