Page 53 of Coven of Corpses

“Would you focus on the situation, please?”

“I am focused on the situation. I’m getting the chance to look at myself through someone else’s eyes.”

They came out of the trees a short distance down the road from where they had entered. As they walked along the gravel shoulder to the truck, Demetrius watched the body he inhabited, Cody’s body, move. Everything that had happened might have made him a little crazy, but it seemed as if the gravel shifted differently under his big, booted feet. And the breeze felt different against his body. The aches and pains in different areas of this new larger body were throwing off his concentration. How did Cody get through a day like this?

Back at the truck, Demetrius headed for the passenger door, but Cody stopped him. “This is my truck. I drove here. You should drive home or it will look weird.”

Demetrius groaned as he rounded the front of the truck. “This is going to feel weird.”

“Going to? It already does.”

It took a moment for him to figure out Cody’s long legs, taller torso, and stronger arms as he attempted to get in the driver’s seat. He stood with the door open and closed his eyes, getting in touch with his limbs. With careful concentration, he climbed up behind the wheel. He’d driven Cody’s truck before, but never as Cody. The roof felt too close to the top of his head. And even with the seat all the way back, his knees were cramped beneath the steering wheel.

“How do you manage to do anything every day with this big body?” Demetrius said.

Cody smiled and reached over to cup his crotch, making Demetrius jump. “Everything’s bigger when you swap bodies with a Bower.”

“For God’s sake.” Demetrius smacked Cody’s hand, his own hand, away. “Let me focus so I don’t drive us into a utility pole or something.”

“I never knew your neck and shoulder hurt this much,” Cody said. “And you’ve got a lot of memories of us in high school that are, like, front and center.”

“Hey, no going through my memories!” Demetrius practically shouted. He lowered his voice and said, “How’d you get into my memories?”

“Get us home safely and I’ll talk you through it.”

“Yeah?”

Cody shrugged. “Yeah. Seems only fair, don’t you think?”

“All right, here we go.” Demetrius pulled the key fob out of Cody’s pocket and started the truck. With slow, deliberate movements, he did a three-point turn in the road and then headed for home, forcing himself to keep his eyes on the road and not stare at the sight of Cody’s big hands on the steering wheel before him.

What a fucked up morning.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Cody found it really strange and very informative to see himself through someone else’s eyes. He wasn’t walking as slowly and cautiously as Demmy was, so he figured it would take Demmy some time to get used to the larger proportions he had to control. He’d had no idea Demmy dealt with pain in so many different places, and at a higher level than Cody ever knew. Higher than he dealt with himself on a daily basis. He’d remember that once they corrected the situation. And they would abso-fucking-lutely correct it. They had to.

When his brain tried to switch into panic mode, he distracted it by digging into something interesting or informative about the situation.

With a lower center of gravity and smaller reach, Demmy’s internal organs felt completely squashed inside his smaller torso; no wonder he didn’t eat as much as Cody did; yeah that was it. Even more than feeling the physical impact of being inside Demmy’s body, Cody was reeling a bit from the emotional and mental revelations. Cody had taken a look around the interior of Demmy’s brain and discovered he could access Demmy’s memories.

And it had been quite the revelation.

Demmy really did have a fetish for him in his high school football uniform. All those nights Demmy had sat in the bleachers, he’d steadily watched Cody on the field. Checked out his ass and thighs in the tight pants, let his gaze linger on the swell of his crotch. Scattered throughout were memories of times they spent together growing up, just the two of them. He found it beyond crazy he could see Demmy’s version of these events as well as the way he remembered them himself. And there were many moments Cody himself had forgotten. Brief encounters in school hallways, when Cody acknowledged Demmy or stopped to talk and confirm plans for lunch or to meet up after school all felt completely different seen from Demmy’s point of view. He could see his football teammates’ reactions over his own shoulder as Demmy looked up at him. Saw their mocking expressions or over-exaggeratedly mouthing the word FAG behind Cody’s back, and he felt the struggle within Demmy to keep his expression neutral.

Demmy had never told him about those moments. And he had never once asked Cody not to hang out with his teammates because of it. Demmy had dealt with it because he had known how important football was to him. Never once had he dared to ask for more, and he always felt like he had to apologize for the space he took up in the world.

What the actual fuck?

Quick burning anger flared within him as Demmy cautiously drove them back to the house. How could Demmy have lived with that all these years and never let him know? He knew they didn’t have the time or shared mental capacities to get into it at the moment, but it was definitely a conversation they were going to have after they corrected this insanity. Right now they had more important things to figure out.

Demmy bypassed pulling into the driveway of their house and just parked at the curb. He switched off the engine and put his forehead on the steering wheel as he held the key fob out to Cody.

“That was exhausting,” Demmy said. “I feel like I could sleep for a week.”

“Yeah, welcome to my body. That’s your key, by the way, Cody. Keep it.” Cody opened the passenger door and nearly fell on his face stepping out of the truck. Demmy’s legs were a hell of a lot shorter than he was used to. “For the love of fuck and honey. How do you manage to get in and out of our trucks without killing yourself?”

“Same way you manage to walk through doorways without giving yourself a concussion.” Demmy came up beside him and smiled. Cody could see Demmy’s personality in that smile, and he felt relieved and a little freaked out at the same time.