Page 10 of Little Fangs

The first time, I thought she was going to attack me, but instead, she rubbed herself up against my legs and gave me a dead mouse to drink from. She knew, and I just wanted to know who’d sent her—obviously, it felt like Harlan had.

They had sent me out here to die, or leave, and I might have run out of time and had to pawn the other two bracelets I’d stolen if Misty hadn’t found me.

“Can you speak?” I asked.

Harlan chuckled from behind me. “I wonder that all the time,” he said. “She always seems to know what I’m saying, and she’ll meow, but I never know what she’s up to.”

Leaning my head back, I could see Harlan standing there with a towel around his waist, and one over his shoulders that he used to rub at the bit of hair on his head. His body was impressive to look at. I let out a grumble, trying to be nonchalant about what I was seeing.

“I should put some clothes on,” he said.

“Were you on the football team?” I asked. “You look hella strong.”

“QB,” he said. “But only in high school. Took to life in the forest right after. Well, I went to college and stuff, but I’ve always been out in the woods, maintaining trees, chopping wood, and of course, carrying the heaviest of logs back to the cabin.”

“Wow.”

“Did you play any sports?”

I scoffed, trying to move, but Misty had me stuck and forced to be in a state of staring up at Harlan—and trying my best not to let my eyes wander, but they wandered anyway, all the way down his chest, to his abdomen, tanned, hairy body . . . and that’s when I squeezed my eyes closed. The bulge in his towel. Oh god. It was big. Or big from my angle.

“Um,” I let out, recalling his question. I opened my eyes again to watch him move around the living room. “Yeah, I was on the track team, and I swam, but that was it. I never did team sports, or anything like that. It always felt too—dangerous, I think.”

He chuckled. “Kinda, yeah. Football is now just guys ramming each other.”

I let out a snicker. “Ramming each other.”

“I’ve got another question. I know I said, I wouldn’t ask, but . . .” He paused in front of the fire, staring at me with a smile. “Your sense of humor, it’s not like someone from when you were born.”

“I’m young at heart,” I giggled. “Plus, I’ve watched a lot of TV, like so much, and I used to have a phone, and I learned a lot of language from that. It’s good for hiding in plain sight, when people don’t know, it means I don’t stand out.”

“Okay, well, I won’t ask anything else tonight.”

I smirked. “But you might.”

“I sometimes can’t help it.”

“Thank you for having me. I can’t really emphasize how much it means. And tomorrow morning I’ll be out of your hair, I’ll be free to walk and exist without anyone trying to—you know, whatever they were gonna do.”

Harlan’s tone shifted. “Still think you should stay, for a little while. Willow’s End is a sanctuary town, you’re safe here,” he said. “If you leave, there’s no saying what could happen.”

I shrugged. “I’ve lived an okay life; I’m content with whatever comes for me.”

“Don’t say things like that,” he said. “Life is precious. And from what I’ve heard, you’ve had a bit of a crappy deal. And . . .” He sighed heavily, his breath shaking, and his heart thumping in my ears. “I want you to stay. Misty likes you, and I enjoy having someone here.”

I pressed my lips together with my teeth behind them. I didn’t want to cry again, but if he really meant all that, then maybe humans weren’t all that bad. Maybe staying here would be okay, at least for a little while.

“I will keep to my offer of driving you wherever you need to go,” he said. “But I think you should wait and make real plan before leaving.”

And he was right. I hadn’t made a single plan. I hadn’t been given time to plan. “Okay. I’ll stay.”

Harlan clapped. “Fantastic.” The quick, jerky motion of both hands coming together forced his towel to come loose, and suddenly I was being flashed by him. I thought he was human, but it turned out, he was harboring a monster in his pants this entire time. Like a Coke can. I gulped hard, looking away frantically, but the image was in my mind, and with my eyes closed, I was practically analyzing it.

Oh. My. God.

4. HARLAN

Flashing Micah hadn’t been my intention, and I should really have got dressed before going into the living room again, but after he kissed me, I’d wanted to see how he’d react to seeing me. His eyes, and where they went. They were explorers, going up and down my body like I was a mountain with peaks, and he was ready to lace up his climbing boots.