Page 50 of Misfit Monsters
The sight of his black hair lying rumpled against the small pillow brings a twinge of affection into my chest that’s not totally familiar. I have the urge to reach over and smooth the strands back from his face.
It’s not as if he minds his hair getting in his eyes when they’re closed anyway.
I don’t want to wake him up, and another splatter of strange emotion hits me at the same time. Definitely not from Jonah—it’s reaching me from too much of a distance.
We’re alone in the van. None of our shadowkind companions have snuck in to shelter in the shadows.
Have Raze and Hail gotten into another argument? I’m not sure how much I can intervene, but talking them down this evening seemed to help a little.
Time for my one-person cheer squad to come to the rescue.
I slip through the shadows along the tiny gap at the edge of the doorframe and re-materialize on the dirt track outside. The chilly night air wisps against my skin. Crickets chirp in the thicker darkness of the woods.
I can’t pick up on any signs of trouble with my other senses—no snapped words or grunts of combat. Only another spurt of emotion that’s too muddled to decipher.
I’m not tasting any hostility in the impressions, at least. I don’t think I need to fear my imminent demise.
Watching for any evidence to the contrary, I venture into the forest in the direction the pulses of emotion are emanating from. I’ll get a better idea what’s going on, and if I think I need backup, I’ll call for the others then.
It turns out I don’t need to call. I’ve taken less than ten steps before a lean figure topped with bright red hair emerges from the shadows by my side.
Mirage cocks his head, gazing down at me. He keeps his voice hushed, though his usual lively energy still ripples through it. “Where are you off to, our little rainbow?”
A trace of a blush touches my cheeks at the reference to my glowing hair and the various embarrassing emotions it’s put on display. “I’m noticing unusual feelings from something—or more than one thing—out this way. I thought I’d take a closer look.”
He clicks his tongue, mock chiding. “All by yourself.”
I shrug. “I didn’t want to bother the rest of you if I didn’t need to. You could go back to the van.”
A grin stretches across Mirage’s face. “Exploring is much more interesting. If there’s trouble, I can outfox it for you.”
Another pang of affection fills me, even though the fox shifter has been irritable with me before. “You really don’t need to, but if you want to come along, I’m happy to have company.”
“It’s settled, then. Mirage and Periwinkle, back in a twinkle.” He winks at me with a brief swish of his five bushy tails before they vanish back into his human-esque body.
The rhyme comes with a brief flicker of satisfaction like fresh cherry pie. “You like playing with words a lot, don’t you?”
“I like playing with all things. Why not have fun wherever you can?” He hops over a fallen log with a swift flip before landing. Then he stops, maybe realizing I can’t leap over quite so nimbly, and offers his hand to help me clamber over.
His grasp is unexpectedly steady. I kind of wish I didn’t have to let go.
I walk on more cautiously as I wait for another of those strange sensations. For maybe a minute, nothing comes, and I start to think it’s gone and we should go back.
Then another flare wriggles through my nerves from closer by.
I point up ahead. “Still this way.”
Mirage bounds along beside me. “You’re not worried about what it could be?”
I consider the question. “A little. But not very much. It doesn’t feelbad, only… confused.”
“Confused people—and shadowkind—do bad things.”
“But sometimes they do good things too. Or they need help so that they can. If we ignore them, we’d never find out.”
He lapses into a short silence. “You like to unravel mysteries!”
He sounds so delighted with his revelation that I hate to correct him. “Sort of. I just… like to understand everyone. There are so many different feelings, and they don’t always make sense. When I start sorting them out, a lot of the time that seems to make the other being happier too. So we all win.”
