Page 4 of Expose Me

Islept undisturbed. The petite blonde didn’t try to kill me or rob me, and I didn’t hear the front door, so I guessed she was still on my couch. Shit, I hoped she wasn’t dead.

The thought had me ignoring my full bladder and heading straight for the living room in my sleep shorts and tank.

Nothing in the apartment looked disturbed, but the woman was no longer on the couch. In her place was a ... I couldn’t say it was a man exactly, but the figure was twice her size and curled up in the same position I’d left her in.

I swallowed down the sound of shock that tried to claw its way up my throat and kept very still. With little more than a thought, I summoned a handgun from my secure storage facility. The weight of the weapon was comforting in my hands, but I had no idea if it would do anything against the creature.

Had it consumed the young woman? How had it even gotten into the apartment?

It was wearing my satin trench coat. The fabric was ripped at the seams and barely hanging on—like a scene fromThe Hulk. The woman had been swimming in it. But she wasn’t a woman; she wasn’t even human. She was this creature all along.

What species was this? I didn’t know of any vampire, fae, witch, or god who looked like this.

It was humanoid in shape—it had a torso, legs, arms, a head—but that’s where the similarities ended. It was black,pitch-black. The sun was shining brightly through the windows, bathing the whole room in light, which fell directly on the creature on the couch. But it was not reflecting off its skin like it would any other creature. There was no visual difference between the parts of it in sunlight and in shade. It was like it absorbed the light itself.

And that wasn’t even the most disturbing part.

It had no face.

There was a head attached to shoulders, but where there should’ve been eyes, a nose, a mouth, or even some kind of bone structure, there was nothing but more smooth, black surface.

Was this a new species to Earth? The latest new portal opened in Portland about fifty years ago, and the one before that appeared hundreds of years before. It wasn’t exactly a common occurrence.

The Houses would know if there was a new portal. Word would’ve spread. Unless it hadjusthappened.

Holy shit! I’d made first contact with a new species. I needed to find out where the portal was. I needed to call this in. I needed to find out if they were friendly or intending to wage war.

A horrible thought struck me then, and the gun shook in my hand just a bit. The woman had been hurt in some way, practically passing out in my arms. And now she was a disturbing new creature on my couch. Whatever they were, they could shapeshift. What if they’d been here for longer than anyone knew, blending in with us, waging a secret war.

“Fuck,” I breathed, unable to hold back the curse.

The thing on the couch woke up. It had no eyes to open, but it angled its head like it was looking at me, then slowly sat up.

It had fingers that dug into the couch cushions, and there was something different about its head. It was almost like soft pinpricks of light were shining from inside. No, notfrominside—just inside. It was like looking into a glass ball with little lights pointing into the center. But the light was soft and swallowed up by the depthless black, so it was hard to tell.

“Water. Please.”

It had no mouth to speak with, but I heard it loud and clear, speaking in a soft, androgenous voice. The pitcher and glass on the coffee table were empty.

“What are you?” I demanded, forcing steel into my voice.

It stared back at me for a moment, then started to shrink in on itself. Before my eyes, the strange creature morphed into the same petite blonde I’d helped the night before.

“I am weak and unable to hold my form while sleeping. Water will help,” it said with the woman’s mouth.

“What are you?” I gritted out again. “Which realm are you from? Start answering questions or I start shooting.”

“I will not harm you,” she—it—said.

“Oh, phew! Thanks for clarifying. I’ll just make us a cup of tea, and everything can be peachy fucking keen.”

“I would prefer the water plain, rather than filtered through tea leaves.”

I blinked at her—it was hard to think of her as anitwhen the fragile, vulnerable woman from last night sat before me. “Do you not understand sarcasm?” I kept my gun steady.

“No.” She tilted her head to the side. “Ah, now I do. You were mocking me.”

“No shit,” I mumbled, frowning. There had to be a new portal somewhere.Had to be. This creature was way too clueless about everything.

---