We almost died.

She wanted to wash away the smell and evidence of what she’d just been through. Reia headed for the dining table where she’d seen the large bucket of water he’d obtained for her.

After she grabbed a smaller bucket and dipped it inside to fill it, she carried it to the washroom, peeling her blood-stained gown away from where it grotesquely clung to her skin, the urge to dry-retch heaving her diaphragm. Sitting inside the tub, she used a cloth to wipe down her naked body, dipping it inside the water before wringing it clear.

It took her a long while to clean her body enough that she was satisfied, rubbing the oil Orpheus usually used on her to help wash her skin. It soaked into her flesh, helping to erase the smell. She knew she had just wiped away Orpheus’

spell, but she didn’t care.

She hoped that she could do the spell herself, that maybe he lied to her and had just wanted to touch her. Sympathy at the thought sailed through her; that perhaps he had just wanted to touch because he felt alone.

Guilt also clutched her throat heavily, refusing to ease or lift away. She’d fled, and now he was injured and forced into a sleep state.

Why did I even run away? H-he’s really not that bad.

Reia’s cries echoed against the walls as she wiped at her skin with the oil. This had been a traumatic day, for anyone, but especially someone who had never wanted to be placed in this position to begin with.

I’m so freaking stupid.

Her tears didn’t stop as she tore one of the gowns to bandage her ankle and shoulder before she grabbed another bucket of water, leaving very little behind, so she could take it to him.

Placing the bucket and cloth on the ground, she cut away his shirt with a dagger, thankful he hadn’t been wearing his thick jacket which would have been harder to cut through.

Bit by bit, as she sliced the long-sleeved shirt from his torso, she revealed his body. Maybe, in the beginning, she would have been disturbed by what she saw, but her mind barely cared about their differences as she searched for his wounds so she could clean and bandage them.

He was covered in dark-grey skin from the tips of his fingers to the bottom of his bicep, where short, black, deer-like fur sprouted through his skin, growing in length to be like that of a wolf’s coat around his shoulders, upper back, chest, and neck. His chest was broad and wide, the deer-like fur coming back right above the curves of his pectoral muscles and black nipples. Then it became dark-grey skin once more, spreading over a very human shaped abdomen and hips, his waist tucking in a little more than normal.

More short fur was present in the centre of his stomach in a strip from his chest, over his navel and then to his hips where it grew longer before disappearing behind his pants.

His white rib bones were exposed and outside his flesh rather than hidden underneath it like hers. They framed his chest before circling around to his back where she could also see each vertebra of his spine.

However, fish-like sail fins hung loosely from the back of his arms to his elbows, covering them in a spike that dangled when it was bent. They also partially came from his spine segments, running in a dipping row that made it appear like he had six fins on his back over the top of his spine bones. The first one was shorter than the second which was the longest, before they grew smaller down his back.

Other than the white protruding bone of his spine, his lower back looked human-shaped.

He was different, very different, and it was no wonder he’d always hidden behind clothing around her and other humans when he walked to the villages.

She immediately got to work on the bite chunk on his side, shoving her hand underneath him to wrap his torso. It

also helped to cover the hole she could see on his other side where the spider Demon must have stabbed him with its venom. The last wound was over his chest, blood seeping through his fur from claw marks, and she wrapped her makeshift bandages around his shoulder and chest to keep it in place.

She wiped him down as best as she could to get rid of the blood. Some of it smelled foul, but most of it smelled like him with a metallic tang to it.

Once she was done, Reia then washed her hands and left him be, wishing he wasn’t lying on the furs so she could cover him.

She was exhausted, both physically and emotionally.

Lying down in her bed, she tried her hardest to sleep. It was fitful and eventually disturbed by the scraping of claws raking across the outside of the house, followed by the thumping of footsteps over the top of it.

“We smell you in there, human.” She heard huffing near the window and clenched her eyes shut, pulling the blanket further over her head to hide. “Come out, come out, wherever you areee.”

The slurp of a tongue followed, before it scraped its claws across the outside wall again.

“You only have until the protection wears off,” a different one snickered. “How long until we have you?”

Reia tried not to be afraid, but as more came, crawling over the house and speaking to her, telling her just how tasty she smelled, how much fun they were going to have pulling out her entrails, the more she felt it seeping into her heart.

She spent the first night alone, trying her hardest to sleep and only getting a few winks. When day broke, she shakily made trinkets while hearing the laughter and threats getting more persistent. Howls, moans, wails, and the rattling of bones filled in the rest of the silence.

More were coming by the hour. She knew there must be a small swarm of them outside the timber walls.

Without removing the old ones but seeing they were starting to wither from when he’d placed them there, Reia hung two of them in the corners of the porch, but she refused to get too close to the outside. She didn’t know where he placed the others, but she had a feeling it was on the other side of the house, and she refused to go past the porch to place them there.

There had been no food inside, but she drank the little water she had remaining. Then Reia curled up in her bed, covering her head with the furs while clutching the sword she’d used to protect Orpheus outside.

“The smell of human is so fresh, so inviting. Tearing your skin will feel good. Will you scream?”

They always hovered around the room she was in, and she knew, without a doubt, that Orpheus hadn’t lied. His spell was gone, and it allowed them to smell her. If she was in her bedroom, they seemed to hover there. If she was in the kitchen or washroom, they followed.

She wanted to hide from the Demons, to feel safe. Only one solution came to mind.

Reia didn’t hesitate.

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Orpheus woke with a start. His vision lightened so he could see as he lay almost flat on his stomach.

Where am I? He looked around and immediately knew he was in his sleeping room at the familiar scenery. What happened? He doubted he’d have the answer to that just by simply thinking it.

White entered his vision as his muscles tensed.

Where’s Reia?

He didn’t know how he got here, or why he was asleep. All he knew was that she’d run away before. Did she leave while I was asleep?

Something stirred underneath his arm and side, stopping him from leaping to his feet to find her. He lifted his arm to look underneath it, just as the form wiggled and turned to its back when he gave it room.

“Reia?” he asked, yellow entering his vision as confusion swept through him.

He could see she’d been clutching a sword with both hands as it lay on the bed in front of her. She had been resting with him, under him and the furs, while he’d been on top of them. He couldn’t understand why.

“You’re finally awake,” she stated softly, her voice crackling and broken. “You’ve been asleep for two days.”

That long? But that still didn’t answer the many other questions he had.

“Why...” he started, unsure if he wanted to ask the question he had in case it made her leave. She felt so warm, so soft beside him. “Why are you lying with me?”