Page 21 of The Hornet’s Hucow Pet

I’m leaning against Zyren’s chest, with his steady breath and pulse under my ear. My heart and lungs so easily sync with his. It’s strange, this sense that even my breath isn’t my own, but I welcome it.

I’m so weary of trying. So weary of self-regulating, self-coaching, self-control.

So ready to hand over the reins to someone, anyone.

“We’re near my home,” Zyren says quietly. “I’ve brought you to a hot spring to help ease the come-down.”

I lift my head and blink at the brightness as my eyes leave Zyren’s shadow.

We’re not in Sherexis anymore.

A craggy mountainside of ruddy gray rock unfolds on one side, and steaming water pours down a series of pools, filling the air with a gentle rushing sound.

On the other side, twisting trees with bristling teal needles provide some shade, quickly becoming denser as they descend the mountain, interlocking and rejoining the sprawling forest, which ripples in waves of turquoise and crimson off to the far horizon. Ahead, the mountain range rises and curls around, turning misty as it nuzzles under the edge of the forest like a slumbering wolf.

I expect Zyren to lower me to my feet, but instead, he steps down into the water of the hot spring. He adjusts me carefully so just my toes dip in, and he waits for my sigh of pleasure before proceeding further.

He continues to slowly lower me, somehow anticipating exactly what I need. Each correction—a slight lift, an adjustment in angle—is already happening before I even notice my discomfort.

My weight floats from his arms as the water reaches my neck, and I sigh as the soothing warmth fills me.

Zyren seems to relax as he settles down at my side.

“Has heat always soothed your symptoms?” he asks.

I nod. “Yeah. It helps a lot. But you can only spend so much of your life in a hot bath.”

Zyren tilts his head. “Why?”

I blink. “Well, I had work to do before… but also, humans aren’t aquatic creatures. I dunno, I’d get all shriveled up and pruny or something.”

Zyren chuckles. “Well, you can spend as much time here as you want.”

“I appreciate it. I won’t trouble you too much; you’ve got your other patients, and⁠—”

His firm grip lands on my chin, tilting my eyes toward his intense gaze.

My breath catches in my lungs, heat rippling in my chest.

“You are the only patient who matters,” he says in a tone that allows no debate.

Still, I’m stubborn. “But what⁠—”

His voice pitches lower. “Do not defy me, Nova. You will not like the consequences.”

My eyes unfocus and I melt into his grip. His touch gentles, and his arms surround me, pulling my head against his chest as I float in the water.

Some part of my brain protests quietly, if only because I’ve never been so quickly undone. I’d no idea that there were such pressure points in my personality that, if triggered precisely, could so easily reduce me to this sighing softness.

“Can you read my mind or something?” I murmur against his chest.

His fingers thread through my hair, gently rinsing the spring water through it. “I can, in a sense. I can attune to the consciousness energy of others. This mostly communicates physical sensations and general emotional state, but if the connection is met willingly… sometimes more complex concepts are also communicated.”

I’m not sure if that’s a relief or a reason to be very, very wary. Better to keep him talking while he’s in a mood to share, and I’ll figure out what to do with this information later.

“Why not offer your venom upfront, if you knew it would take away the pain without hurting me? As far as come-downs go, this isn’t so bad⁠—”

Searing, mind-breaking pain tears through me. My voice comes out in whimpered sobs, and my muscles tense desperately, forgetting how to orient in the water.