Page 78 of Hunted in the Shadows
While he was still stroking me, he said, “It’ll be good for you to be with your own people.”
“Trying to get rid of me?” I said into his shirt. “I knew you would ruin the moment.”
“Shut up. I mean, I’d be exhausted, too, if our places were swapped and I was the only human for miles. It’s not natural to be alone.”
“I’m not alone. And if I find a charged gemstone, then you and Jon will be my people, too.”
Cliff gave an odd pause. “Unless that spell is janky, or only lasts a day like you’ve been worried about.”
“Then you’ll be my people for a day,” I scoffed, warmed by the thought. I couldn’t see his face, but Cliff’s touch became so gentle I wondered if he wasn’t secretly pleased by it too. “Didn’t you come out here to make me feelbetter?”
“Let’s say your family’s really at the village,” he said, softer caution in his voice. “Say this place welcomes you with open arms. Your first choiceisto stay there, right?”
“I… Of course.”
“Convincing.”
“Is it too much to want both?” I blurted, frustrated that I’d allowed liquor to loosen my tongue this much. “To have a home without losing you two?”
He scoffed. “Let’s not bullshit each other. You mostly meanJon.”
“I care about you, too!”
“Sure, but we’re not the ones frolicking in comatose-city every other night.”
“The invitation is still open…”
“Yeah, yeah. I heard you the last three times.”
I giggled—and it feltgoodto laugh.
“Hey, serious question.” I leaned back, catching his eye. “If I was human, would you fuck me?”
Cliff’s eyebrows jumped up. As he recovered, I was pleased to see his eyes rake over my body appraisingly—matching the impish glint in my own.
“Yes, but it would be purely carnal,” he said, making a sweeping motion with his other hand. “No cuddling afterward.”
I grinned at him, dropping my head back onto his shoulder. “That’s what I thought, too.”
We shared a soft laugh. I felt him turn his gaze back out at the forest, and the rhythm of his stroking continued over my shoulders and side.
I let the quiet stretch for a few moments. I could feel Cliff’s mind wandering, his concerns lingering like a fog between us.
“I don’t want to hurt Jon,” I offered quietly. “He and I shouldn’t want anything to do with each other, Iknow. But we were meant to meet. I can feel it in my bones. Why is it sodifficult?”
“I don’t know,” Cliff murmured.
“I didn’t ask to be like this—somefreak,” I said, my throat closing around the word. It was vile, but utterly resonated.
Cliff scoffed out a dry chuckle, unyielding to my festering self-pity. “We’re all freaks, Sylv. Some of us just wear it on our sleeves more than others.”
His fingers trailed down my wings comfortingly, lingering on the faint, jagged outline of the bullet scar that marred theelegant swirls. I stilled, feeling how he paused over the irregular membrane again and again.
“I’m sorry,” he said, soft and sudden.
I patted his shoulder, glancing up at him. “Ancient history.”
“Not to me. Your world wouldn’t have been knocked off its axis if I hadn’t…” Cliff stopped short, wrestling over his words. He shook his head, brow furrowed deeply. “Sorry doesn’t cut it, but I’mhere. Till the end of the road—whatever that looks like for you.”
