Free Taming the Darkness: Love & Monsters, Book 2 by Devin Harnois Page B

she got it just before he said, “I’m gonna change.”
    She’d seen him do it before, but there had always been clothes covering him. She’d only been guessing at the strange shifts his body made. Claire took a deep breath. “Well, I need to get used to it, so we better start now.” Maybe seeing it would change her mind about having sex with him.
    Victor took two steps back and swiveled his head around, sniffing for danger. Satisfied, he hunched over and his flesh started to ripple. His arm muscles bulged out like he’d suddenly become a bodybuilder, but the shape of them wasn’t quite right. They elongated and claws sprouted at the ends of his fingers. The noises were worse than the sight, crackling and popping. It had to hurt, but he didn’t look like he was in much pain. As his arms stopped changing she noticed his legs, and that was more disturbing. The bones in them shifted around, his thighs shortening, his feet stretching until his heel was practically halfway up his leg. The whole effect was much more alien than the changes to his arms. He really did look like a nasty.
    The noises stopped and Victor looked up at her. Both of his eyes shone in the night vision, the left brighter than the right. Everything about him was alien except for the look in those eyes. They were full of uncertainty and very human.
    She had an urge to say something placating, like it wasn’t that bad or it didn’t bother her, but despite that look she didn’t want to lie to him. Lying might hurt more than the truth. “You look like one of them.” She immediately regretted it. That was too honest.
    Victor looked away and sat on his haunches. She saw it then—his legs were like an animal’s, a dog or a cat. Identifying something natural in that mutated body made it less disturbing. She tried to find something else to say that was honest but not so blunt.
    Victor said, “I can put my clothes back on.”
    Oh God, he was doing the sad-puppy thing again. “No. If it’s easier for you to fight like this, I’ll get used to it.”
    “I know I’m disgusting.”
    She didn’t know whether to hug him or slap him. “Well, you’re not pretty, but the changes are useful. Besides, you can change back when we’re done. It’s not like it’s permanent.” She looked him over again, trying to see him with practical eyes. “You’re gonna freeze your ass come winter.”
    He looked at her with a little smile. “Better enjoy the summer while I can, huh?” He eased. “New plan today. If it’s not infectious, I’ll let you kill it. If not, I will.”
    Claire shifted her gun. “First of all— let ?” Victor just grinned at her. “Second, how do you know if they’re infectious or not? New things show up all the time.”
    “I can smell it.” He tensed, suddenly alert. “First one is for you.” He ran off toward the ruins of a house.
    “Hey! Fifty feet!” She called after him.
    “Back in a minute.” His voice was cheery, almost singsong. He disappeared behind a section of wall and screeching and growling broke the silence of the night. Something came tearing around the far side of the wall, eyes flashing. It was about the size of a dog, covered with stiff fur. Victor came after it, herding it like a sheep. Claire brought her gun up and aimed. The first bullet brought it down, a second bullet finished it. Quick and efficient, no wasted ammo.
    Victor sat back with a pleased grin. “Jackals are coming. Can we split them?”
    “Split?” Claire went to the nasty and kicked it with her boot to make sure it was dead.
    “Half for you, half for me.”
    She and her partners sometimes made games out of killing nasties, to ease the horror. In some ways this was like old times. She smiled. “Deal.”

Chapter Seven
    Victor licked blood from his claws and watched Claire for a reaction. She frowned, but that was it. It was like she’d decided nothing was going to bother her. “Quiet now. Should we move again?”
    She shifted her feet and