Page 78 of Marked By Feral Monsters
Did I die?
Is this what death is?
There's cold at my back and the heat at my front.
Should I be this horny in the afterlife?
"This can't be happening." I can't face yet another supernatural thing. I try to regroup, because those feathers are moving back into his skin, andthat'sreal. It's right there in front of me. I can write off strange things with Eric all day long, but Nix is real, and he's right here in front of me. I'm certain of it.
"Okay… okay," I chant to myself. I can do this. "So… you can't be killed."
"Correct."
"So, Ericdidkill you? Or, would have, if you weren't a bird?" I feel the ghost tense at my back, a burst of cold rushing through me, breezing the hair off my neck.
"Phoenix," he snaps. He ignores my question and asks one of his own. "Regretting you didn't lure home a human? Is this what you two do? You let your wraith kill unsuspecting victims?"
"No!" I protest.
"Make them fall for you. Crawl to you. Lose themselves between your legs. Lose their minds and their hearts, while your cold lover steals their souls?"
"No! It's only happened once before. Well, twice, technically, but that was an accident!"
Nix brushes past me, shoving me aside. He storms through the house, stomping his heavy boots over broken glass. The low light bounces off the distorted mirrors.
Obviously not knowing where he's going, he halts at the entrance to one of the sitting rooms before pivoting toward the kitchen. Anger radiates off of him, as intense as the heat he projects. I chase after him, despite Eric's cold hands trying to hold me back.
My bare feet squish over Nix's muddy footprints. "What are you doing?" I ask, finding Nix in the kitchen, stripping off his torn clothes. The feathers are still retreating slowly, but they cover his legs in smaller pieces, hiding his cock.
Wait… they aren't hiding it. He… doesn't have one? Where did it go?
"What does it look like?"
"Huh? Oh." I shake my head, confused. Four nights ago, it was there. Right there, between his legs, where it should have been. And now, there's nothing… Now I'm distracted and I can'tremember the question. "The, umm. Huh? Oh, why are you—what are you doing?"
Nix glares at me, then at Eric, who's still behind me. He's exerted a lot of energy tonight, and can't do much but hover, but I can feel his anger. And his fear. It's not new; I've felt it before. Whenever we talk about his time over the last few decades, stuck in this house with his killer.
Nix tosses his dirty clothes in the trash, then rips open the fridge, pulling out a jug of orange juice. He twists off the cap, tilts his head back, and glugs the whole thing down. I watch his neck, which was close shaven, now covered in a soft layer of days' old growth, black hair ready to grow into a wild beard crawling down his neck. I watch his Adam's apple bob as he swallows. Why is watching a thirsty man drink so attractive?
When he finishes the juice, he slams the empty container onto the counter. The soft, black downy feathers on his legs have slowly retreated, revealing big, brawny thighs and golden skin. And I can't tear my eyes away when, as the feathers retreat, a small hole between his legs becomes visible, and slowly, like a nature video I should feel ashamed for unabashedly staring at, his cock pokes through the hole. It grows longer and longer, soft, his skin raw and shiny, the tip pointed in a flaccid, uncircumcised cock.
"Oh," I whisper, like an idiot.
Eric grips me again. I can feel his desperation, wanting me to get away from Nix, who just crosses his arms, tilts his head and watches me in amusement.
"Your wraith is jealous."
"He's always jealous," I admit, before I can hold back the words. I cringe and look away. Then I shake my head, because maybe I am losing my mind, but if I'm not, and this is all real… "Look. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. About what happened. I really… That night was special. It was amazing, actually."
"You knew what he'd do," he accuses.
I shake my head vehemently. "No! No. I mean, not really. That's why I brought you outback, to the gazebo. He can't go out there. Or, I thought he couldn't. I don't know. I wanted you. God, I wanted you. And I fucked everything up."
Eric's arms wrap around my stomach possessively. The urge to apologize to him is there, and it makes me feel even more horrible, because I can't keep doing this with him.
"Did he tell you that?" Nix cocks his head to one side, now looking distinctly human. Even the wings are folding, growing smaller, retreating into his shoulders and back.
"Tell me what?"
