Page 33 of Splintered Shadow
“Beast!” He surged forward.
The beast looked up and snarled.
“It’s cool. You’re freaking him out,” Sarah said.
The beast resumed licking her face. She laughed.Laughed.
Nothing made sense.
Chapter Eight
Sarah
“Sarah, remain still,”Vekele said, his voice calm. Too calm, which did not make her feel calm.
“Tell me what’s going on,” she said, decidedly not calm. The puppy sitting on her did not like her tone and licked her face. It felt like sandpaper. Wet, wiggly sandpaper.
“I have two pieces of information that will seem conflicting,” he said, inching closer.
The puppy growled a warning, and Sarah felt it resonate with her.
“He doesn’t like you,” she said.
“I am aware.”
A nervous laugh bubbled up in her throat. That grabbed the puppy’s attention. He turned his eyes to her, four pools of inky darkness.
Half the monster’s features said massive danger cat, such as the slim build and the triangular ears. The other half, especially the dog-shaped muzzle full of extra sharp bitey bits, was solidly wolf. Why her brain looked at a four-eyed shadowy monster with paws and enough teeth to make a shark jealous and thoughtpuppy, she had no idea. She’d question it later.
“Hey, hey,” she said in a soothing tone. “It’s cool. I like Vekele. He’s a friend.”
She held up a hand. The puppy sniffed it, then bumped his head against her palm. His soft fur had a wispy texture, like fluffy. When it became apparent that the puppy wasn’t going to tear her throat out or lunge at Vekele, she asked, “What’s your conflicting information?”
“You no longer have a parasitic infection,” he said.
“That’s good.”
“You have been elevated to an aristocrat.”
“That’s very good.” Though she didn’t know how or why.
“You are now in a symbiotic relationship with the parasite.”
“That’s… less good. Did you just good news, bad news me? Hey, your body is no longer fighting the parasite. They’re totally chill roommates now.” Her voice rose in pitch, growing more stressed.
The puppy did not like this and blamed Vekele. He snarled and snapped in warning. She made shushing noises. Eventually, the puppy settled down, resting his head on his paws.
“You are bonded to the void beast,” Vekele said, like that clarified anything.
“Like you and your karu?”
“Yes.”
The puppy gazed at her with black, black eyes.
Bonded. It felt unreal, but also, yeah. She could believe it. Something inside her felt connected, like how she knew the puppy was tired and so glad he found her. She got the impression of pack and home and together.
“He used to have many. Now he has me,” she said. The karu squawked. “Us,” she corrected.
