5. Darcy

Chapter 5

Darcy

I crept around the area that the portal had formed, or at least I was pretty sure this was where it had been. There was no trace of it now. The only sign was the crushed vegetables from my fall. My tongue snaked out to taste the air. Magic had a residue to it I could usually pick up. It was hard to describe, but it was distinctive. With something as massive and powerful as that portal should've been, there should be some trace of residue.

Except, there wasn't. Instead, something pleasant settled on my tongue. Normal magic was chalky and left me desperate for water, but this was addictive. It had to be Lyndon's since he was the only one here.

Not helpful right now though. Lyndon hadn't created the portal. So what had? And why was there no trace magic left?

I should've paid more attention when they'd explained how the portals worked during the lessons all monsters were required to complete before being given a passport to the human realm. But really, who cared? Most of it went over my head anyway. It got me back and forth to my two homes, and that was all that mattered.

This wasn't working. I needed to come up with a better idea, but I didn't have a clue where to start. Maybe I should just hunker down somewhere for a while and start fresh once I got some rest. It had been a long day. An exhausting one. I had no idea how long I'd been gone in my time either. For all I knew, it could've been days since I'd truly slept.

Yeah, okay, that was the plan. I'd fine somewhere toward the end of Lyndon's property, where he shouldn't find me, and just rest. Not that it seemed like he was looking for me. I'd seen him go back into his house a while ago, and I was pretty sure he hadn't left it yet.

I tried not to let that bother me. It was silly really. The whole point of me shifting was so he wasn't bothered by me. But it would've been nice to know he'd at least tried to find me.

Oh well, no point stressing about that. Time to find somewhere to sleep, maybe a place that was a little warmer? It wasn't cold out, but there was a strong breeze, and the sun was setting so it just felt uncomfortable. I liked direct sun. Too bad I couldn't have crash-landed in the desert or something.

I finally found a suitable spot. It was near a little creek that ran through his lands too! There were wildflowers that grew free all around the bank, so I was sure I could find plenty of creepy crawlies to munch on. Maybe not as good as a pepperoni pizza, but that was okay. This was all temporary.

With my belly full, I crawled into the little nest I'd made myself. I wasn't completely hidden. If Lyndon really tried to look, he'd find me, but it would take some work. I was pretty sure I was still on his property, I hoped, so I shouldn't have to worry about anyone but Lyndon, and I doubted he'd come around. Which was fine . Everything was fine. I would just keep telling myself that until it eventually was true.

Soon though, everything caught up to me, and I was curled up in my makeshift nest and sound asleep.

"Goddess, finally , there you are. You really are good at blending in when you want to, huh? Did you have to pick the farthest possible corner under my protection spells? I'm covered in mud."

My eyes slowly opened at the sound of grumbling. It was strange, but even though I'd just met Lyndon, I could sense it was him just by his presence. It had such a strong effect on me, like a magnet drawing me to him, even without me hearing his complaints. I hadn't noticed it earlier, at least not as strongly, but that had probably just been from the stress of the situation.

Once I was looking at him, Lyndon sighed heavily, his hands on his hips. He really did look rough. His sweater and jeans were both stained with mud and dirt, and I wouldn't even mention the boots. His hair was all over the place, and I was pretty sure there was a stick stuck in there. The worst part was his eyes though. The circles under them were dark, almost like bruises, and the bright purple that had hypnotized me from moment one was now dull and dark.

My stomach churned. Had I caused this? I almost shifted just to ask him if he was alright but thought better of it. I wasn't sure if I could resist touching him in my hybrid form—he really looked like he needed a hug—and Lyndon didn't want to be touched by me. I blinked at him instead.

Lyndon grunted. "You know it's really unsettling when you do that, right?"

What, blink? I couldn't really control that, so I had no idea how he expected me to respond. Not that I could talk now. It would probably be a bad time to lick my eye and clear it out though.

"Listen, we got off on the wrong foot. Which . . . was mostly, uh, my fault." If I could smile in this form, I would. Lyndon looked like those words physically pained him, yet he'd forced himself to say them for my sake. Even if I had no idea why. He still didn't seem that thrilled about me being here, yet he'd clearly gone through it trying to find me. Were all witches this confusing, or was it just him?

"Anyway," Lyndon continued, "I, uh, I realized that I can't just let you go to figure it out on your own. So, I'd appreciate it if you'd shift and come back to my house so we can talk." Lyndon wrapped his arms around himself and looked the other way.

The mixed signals were confusing. It had taken me a long time to understand human reactions, and even now I still got things messed up. There were so many times they said one thing but meant another. Or they pretended to be fine but weren't. It made no sense. Why lie about that? But it was part of my job as a liaison between the monsters and the humans to figure that all out and interpret it. I thought I was pretty good at it now. If I was right, Lyndon was saying one thing, that he wanted me back, but his body was saying the opposite.

Still, I had no idea what had happened while I'd been gone, but something must have. Lyndon was making an effort here, and it would be rude to just ignore it, even if I wanted to. Which I didn't. At this point, I'd probably take anything that made Lyndon notice me.

Lyndon was staring at me with such intensity, I was pretty sure he was trying to will me into my human form. I was tempted to hold off longer so he would keep watching me like that, but that would just be mean.

I started to shift. It wasn't until I was completely back in my hybrid form and Lyndon was wide-eyed and stuttering that I remembered I was completely naked.

Nudity was one of those weird human things that all us monsters had learned about very quickly. They didn't like it. Well, at least not in public. It was a whole thing. That was why shops had started to open up back home that specialized in clothes just for us. They would allow us to be dressed, but still had places for wings, horns, tails, spikes, or whatever else. It wasn't a perfect system, but I thought most of us had adjusted. I personally had learned that I really loved fleece sweatpants and bright-colored hoodies. They were my favorite.

Anyway, I didn't have any of that right now. My clothes were still near Lyndon's house. Which meant I was standing completely naked in front of the man that didn't seem to like me or the way I looked. Should I cover up?

I looked at Lyndon, trying to gauge if I should apologize. I didn't mean to be naked around him. I honestly hadn't thought about it. He didn't look disgusted though. I took a sniff. Definitely not disgusted. Wait, was he aroused ? His eyes were fixed on something so intently, he hadn't even blinked.

"Uh, Lyndon?"

He didn't hear me. He was still staring. At what? Like sure, I didn't look like a regular human, but he already knew that. What could he possibly . . . Oh. It dawned on me seconds before he blurted it out.

"Goddess help me, do you have two dicks?"