Page 38 of Blood Bearon
“I am,” he said. By showing you, it will explain and… never mind. It’s complicated, okay? But you’ll understand why we work so hard to keep it secret.”
“We?” Rachel asked.
He grinned, enjoying watching her brain work. Even here, overwhelmed by her surroundings, she was still asking questions, trying to get more information from him. It was impressive. Khove looked forward to working with her more.
As long as she doesn’t crack under what you’re about to show her.
It was a legitimate worry. Khove couldn’t exactly prepare her for what she was about to see. It simply had to be shown. Otherwise, she’d think it some sort of trick, an illusion, or any number of other excuses that had occurred over the years. His nerves were firing like crazy as they exited the vehicle, leaving it in an empty “guest” spot, and heading deep into the bowels of the Manor.
“Who is thiswe, Khove?” she pressed, trying to break his silence. “Not you?”
“All of us.”
Rachel sighed. “All ofwho? What are you even talking about?”
“You’ll see,” he assured her, his boots sounding heavily on the stone as they emerged into an old part of the Manor.
“Uh, Khove? Why are there prison cells in your House?” Rachel asked uneasily.
“It’s a long story. But they’re useful, for situations like now.”
Rachel backed away from him abruptly, then relaxed when she realized he wasn’t about to toss her into one. Then he stunned her by stepping back into a large one and pulling it closed after him.
“Do you feel safe?” he asked, pounding on the thick bars as hard as he could. They didn’t budge.
“I suppose. Why shouldn’t I though? And why areyouin a cell? You haven’t done anything wrong.”
“Because what you’re about to see is going to scare you.” He pulled off his shirt. “Probably terrify you.” He undid his belt. “You’re probably going to assume it’s magic.” His pants dropped to the floor. “You’re going to think about running.”
Rachel stared at him. “You have areally, reallyweird way of trying to seduce women.”
He laughed nervously. “Not the intent. Just please, all I ask, is that you don’t run away. You can scream. Lock yourself in your own cell. Whatever. Just…don’t run away. You arenotin any danger, despite what you may think.”
“Well, duh. You can’t get your hands on me. But if you brought me all the way here for a strip show, then you—”
Rachel broke off in a strangled gasp as he initiated the change.
19
Khove’s skinrippled.
There was no other way to describe it. It was like a blast of air ran across his skin from head to toe, creating waves as it went. Except there was no air flowing that she could feel, which meant his skin had moved all on its own.
Then he began to sprout thick brown hair the color of mud. It ran up his legs, across his…his…well it didn’t stop there and continued up his stomach, as she saw once her eyes ripped away from his crotch. When had he gotten naked? The question seemed so silly compared to what she was seeing!
What happened next was even crazier. Khove exploded in size. His skin—no, it was fur now—bulged and expanded, doubling, then tripling in size and not slowing down. Huge claws burst from his feet, and she grimaced as his arm joints abruptly reversed themselves. None of what she was seeing looked pleasant.
This was when his face shuddered and abruptly jutted forward as bone cracked and reshaped itself in a nauseating symphony. Rachel’s stomach roiled, but as soon as it was there, it was gone.
Just like Khove.
All that remained of the giant human was the pile of clothing in the corner.
And yet that wasn’t all. Rachel met the eyes of the entirely far too large bear that now occupied the majority of the cell, explaining the huge size of the unit, and she realized that despite its inhuman look, there was still…
“That’s not possible,” she gasped, realizing she was about to think that there was still some Khove in it. “It can’t be.”
The rational, non-trained part of her brain was panicking, but years of obeying commands to run toward fire, gunshots and other danger clamped down on that response and overwhelmed it. This, she realized, this was what Khove wanted to show her, what he’d been so clearly brooding about and concerned over.
