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"You're actually one of the few people who do, for whatever that's worth. Most of the town are just ordinary people, living ordinary lives, with no idea there's anything strange going on."

"How long have you known?" I couldn't help but ask.

"My whole life." Lain looked away and there was a strange hint of sadness in his voice, but I couldn't begin to guess why.

"Is that why you moved here to The Crossing? I'm glad you're here, but I always wondered why you chose a small town like this when you seem like someone who'd love living in a big city."

"I have before and I did like it," he agreed. "But I needed to not be there and I felt this draw toward the mountains, so… here I am." He smiled, but it was forced. "I'm not the important thing right now, though. I'll tell you everything I know about shifters, since that's what Typhon appears to be."

My logical brain rebelled and it was all I could do not to cringe. Could I really sit here and calmly eat a breakfast sandwich while Lain explained shapeshifting to me? Did I have a choice? How was any of this even real?

"Okay, so… well…" Lain pursed his lips, staring up at the ceiling like he was searching for words. "I never gave it much thought, I guess. Shifters have always been around, as far back as anyone can remember. It's a pretty rare genetic thing, from what I was told. Even if two shifters have children together, there's no guarantee those kids will also be shifters; that's how rare it is. They tend to stick together for protection, since there are so few out there."

"So, I'm guessing they chose to come to Lowery's Crossing and hide out here? Why?"

"You know the history of the town. It used to just be called The Crossing by locals until some colonizer claimed the land and slapped his name on it. This area has always been kind of a hotspot for magic. That's why so many different beings came here."

"Wait. Wait." I buried my face in my hands. A headache was building behind my eyes. Strangely enough, the pain helped keep me grounded as my world turned upside down.

"Are you okay?"

I peered at Lain through my fingers. "You tell me that magic is apparently real, then ask if I'm okay? Really?"

"That's fair. I'm not the expert on magic, so if you have any questions about that stuff, I'll get you in touch with Ori. That's their speciality."

"Got it," I said faintly. "Go on, I guess."

"So, obviously it looks like Typhon is a shifter."

"Obviously…"

"Whoever is after Typhon, I'm assuming they did something to change him into what he is now, but I can't even begin go guess how they did it. His other form is just part of his genetics. Altering that would mean changing his literal DNA, which… actually, that might be possible, but I don't know for sure. I know even less about science than I do magic."

The few bites of sandwich I'd gotten down were sitting heavily in my stomach and I wrapped up the rest for later.

"I'm going to work on Petal, but keep going," I said. Having shears around a living creature was probably stupid, but I needed the distraction and the schnauzers were good for grooming, so it should be okay.

Lain moved to his station while I retrieved the dog, sitting crosslegged in his chair in a way that would kill my back but looked perfectly comfortable for him. He waited until I'd gotten settled into my routine before picking up the threads of the story.

"With Typhon, I have two theories and both of them sound kind of impossible, but it's the best I can manage," he said. "The first is that maybe whoever did this altered his form while he was shifted and added the scary extras."

Just imagining that nearly made me throw up what little was in my stomach and I focused on Petal's soft brown eyes to settle myself. Rom, who'd been napping in his bed until now, came over and sat beside me, leaning his heavy weight against my leg and grounding me to the moment until I could breathe again.

"Thanks, buddy," I murmured down to him. I took a deep breath before nodding to Lain to continue.

"Sorry. It sucks to think about. The second option isn't much better." He took a drink of coffee, fortifying himself before speaking again. "The only other thing I can think of is that they somehow grafted two creatures together to create the chimera. That would explain why Typhon says there are two voices in his head. No shifter I've ever known has said that."

"So either way, you think someone experimented on him?" The very idea was appalling. I couldn't imagine what it must have been like, but there's no way it was a painless process. For as growly and possessive as he could be, Typhon had a gentle soul. I saw it in the way he cared for the animals and the way he looked at me when he thought I wasn't watching.

"I can't think of any other way something like him would exist. No offense meant to him, but there's no way nature created Typhon."

"That probably means that those soldiers work for the people that did this," I guessed and Lain nodded.

"Probably. But when I talked to Ori last, they're not sure that these guys are actually associated with the military at all. No one's been able to get any confirmation and none of these guys show up in any records they could find."

"A secret black-ops project sounds pretty on-brand, actually. They probably wouldn't want any kind of record of who's involved." Focusing on that was a little easier than imagining what they'd done to Typhon.

"True, but Ori and their contacts have access to information that most of us don't. If they can't find these guys, they could be a new faction we haven't heard of."