Page 39 of Blood Bearon
Also, bears were predators and if she ran, it would come after her. There was thatveryimportant bit of information to consider as well.
Except, this one is locked in a cell. With bars that it can’t break. Supposedly.
“That’s a hell of a parlor trick,” she breathed, leaning heavily on the bars behind her for support.
The bear shuffled in a slow circle, tossing its head, then abruptly sat down and rested its giant skull against the bar, staring through it with one yellow-brown eye. Whatever it was, the creature seemed peaceful enough.
“Am I supposed to believe this is you?” she scoffed, looking around, starting to calm down. “Where are you Khove, you can come out now!”
The eye rolled in a circle and the bear made a rude noise. Ahumanstyled noise.
“Oh, very good.” She clapped her hands a few times. “You’ve taught it well.”
The bear shuffled, bringing up one of its paws to the cell. Rachel frowned as it started fiddling at it with the other paw. What the heck was going on?
The giant creature’s mouth suddenly dropped open in what she could only describe as a happy smile, and it slammed the original paw up against the cage again. She peered forward, then stopped, mouth open wide.
“Did you teach your bear to give me thefinger?” she shouted at the empty space. “Seriously?”
The bear chuffed happily, holding up the singular claw, while his other paw held the rest down, giving the very real impression he was flipping her off.
“Real mature, Khove,” she said in disgust. “But I thought we were coming here for aseriousreason. Not for you to show me you’re some mid-level magician.”
The bear suddenly roared and slammed its bulk against the cell. The bars shuddered under the tremendous impact and Rachel backed away. It started to gesture wildly with its paws, pointing at the clothes, at itself, then her.
“You can’t seriously expect me to believe you’re Khove,” she said after recovering her composure, arms still crossed tightly under her breasts.
The bear hung its head, then began to shift back. Rachel watched in sick fascination at the jerky, awkward-looking transition. It certainly wasn’t at all what she would have expected from a magic trick.
Could he possibly…
All at once, Khove was back where the bear had once stood, breathing slightly heavier, and still naked.
“For someone with an analytical mind, you sure are skeptical,” he muttered. “What else do I need to do to convince you that what you just sawisreal?”
There was something about his voice, and the eyes of the bear. The gestures were so humanoid in motion.
“You’re serious,” she said slowly.
“Yes, I’m serious!” he half-shouted, resting his forearms against the cell bars, making no move to get dressed.
Not that she was complaining. He took phenomenal care of his body and it showed…everywhere. Yet it was still more than a little distracting. Definitely more than a “little”.
“I don’t believe it.” But she was in denial, because part of Racheldidbelieve him.
“I jumped off a two-story roof with you yesterday and barely noticed. I took six bullets to the back, and they left nothing but bruises, which are even now gone. What else do you need to see from me?” Khove growled.
“I…” she faltered in her protests. “Youdidget shot? Why didn’t you say something? We should have had you get looked at. Even if you were wearing a bulletproof vest, you could still have suffered damage!”
Khove pushed off the cell bars violently. She firmly kept her eyes locked on his, ignoring the sway of—Stop it!
“I wasn’t wearing a vest,” he rumbled. “Unless my skin counts.”
“You’re bulletproof,” she said dully.
Khove nodded slowly. “To an extent. Armorpiercing stuff is…not cool. But handguns yes, the blunt impact is shrugged aside.”
“Right. So, you’re stronger.”
