Chapter 3

Cerys

Fear grabbed me, and all the air rushed out of me like I'd been squeezed by an icy hand. The largest monster I had even seen was dashing towards me. His eyes fixated on me with an intensity that made my heart race. I knew that somewhere deep in my brain were protocols for de-escalating situations and self-defense. But I couldn't pluck out a single one of them from the panic. My primitive lizard brain took over, and screams tore from my throat. Large black hands wrapped around my waist and lifted me into the air until we were face to face. Instinctively I kicked at him and even managed a good hit to the abdomen, but he didn't even notice. Somewhere outside the room I could hear voices shouting.

Please get in here before I become monster food.

The monster spun around and leaned against the door so no one could get in. My heart sank, and I screamed again as he pulled me against him. I thought he was going to squeeze me to death, but the grip never tightened. I could breathe. Just about. One of his hands stroked my hair.

Wait, what?

"It"s okay, I"m going to protect you," he whispered into my ear. His voice was so deep and resonant it felt like it vibrated all over me, leaving my skin tingling.

All the tension in my body flooded away, replaced by confusion. I hung limply in his arms, feeling his warmth envelop me. It was almost cozy. My stomach flipped. I"d been in some weird situations since coming here, but nothing in my training had prepared me for this. The weirdness of the moment jolted the cogs in my brain to turn again. I put on my best therapist voice.

"This seems like a really difficult moment for you. Would you like to put me down so we can talk about it?"

Somehow my voice wasn"t shaking with the fear still threatening to consume me. He stiffened up, and the next thing I knew I was hitting the floor with a thud, right on my ass. That was going to leave a bruise. I looked up at him ruefully and met eyes which were wide with horror.

"Oh fuck, I"m so sorry," he muttered, an embarrassed growl tinging his words.

He was pressing back against the door so hard that it looked like he was trying to melt through it.

"Errr, that"s okay."

It wasn"t, but there didn"t seem any other appropriate response.

"Why don"t you sit down and have a glass of water, Cam?"

He nodded, straightened up and held out a hand to help me stand. I hesitated. I needed to build some trust with this monster, and refusing would make him more likely to close up about what just happened. So, I pushed through the invisible wall that was threatening to surround me, and took his hand, hoping that mine wasn't shaking. The heat of his grip was like a furnace, and I wondered if it was normal. Did he have a fever or something else causing this outburst? He pulled me to my feet, and I found myself standing far too close to him, face to face with his very muscular torso. It was less furry than the rest of him, so I could see every single hard line of definition. I cleared my throat and took a step back. His hand held on to mine, and I gently pulled away from him until he released his grip.

"We are opening the door now. Please be calm and don"t all rush in," I shouted at the door.

The noises outside the room quietened a bit. Cam walked over to the seat and squeezed himself into it, while I opened the door and tried to look calm and collected.

"What the fuck is going on in here?"

It was Officer Daylen. My least favorite guard. He was holding in his hand the control for the collar the monster wore. He must have pressed the button, but Cam had been so caught up in his episode that he hadn"t reacted to it at all. I needed to note that in his file.

"It"s okay. Therapy can be a bit rough to start with. We are fine now, Daylen."

Daylen looked entirely unconvinced, but this was my therapy room and I would not have him interfere. The silence drew out as he looked between me and Cam. I pulled myself up taller and faced Daylen down. This was my room and my client, and despite what had happened, a part of me was ready to defend him, although I wasn't sure why. Daylen huffed and then eventually his shoulders fell a bit.

"I"ll be right outside," he said, fixing Cam with a glare as he closed the door. All the air left my lungs. It was just me and the minotaur again. Was I relieved or frightened? I couldn't tell.

"Why did you do that?" Cam asked.

"Do what?" I replied, settling into the seat opposite him.

He scrunched up his snout, and his lips twisted as he thought. His body was still twitching as though full of something he was struggling to contain. I waited patiently, and I was glad of the opportunity to let my heart slow down. Surreptitiously I wiped the sweat from my palms onto my skirt. Adrenaline was still coursing through my body. For the first time there was a moment to look at him properly. His large bat-like ears had flopped down now, revealing more of the large, curved horns that stood proudly on top of his head. His face was all minotaur with a slight snout. My eyes wandered down to the well-muscled body, covered with just a small loincloth draped from his waist. Traditional minotaur clothing. No effort to adapt to the clothing of the modern, human world. I pulled my eyes away, not allowing myself to think about whatever was barely covered under there.

"I think you protected me. From the guards."

His voice was deep, almost a slight growl at the edges of his words.

"I don"t think it would help either of us to have you punished before we even have a chance to talk about what happened."

"You were scared of me."

His shoulders sagged, and his head fell forward as he said this.

"I was. But everyone deserves a second chance."

"A second chance?"

He sounded the words out like they were brand new to him.

"Yes. So, let"s use it wisely, eh?"

I tried to smile. He didn"t react. Dark brown eyes bored into me like he was trying to see inside me. I poured myself a glass of water while deciding how to approach this obviously volatile monster. The last thing I wanted was to set him off into another episode, but I needed to know how likely it was to happen again. I needed to understand him. I felt strong in that moment, like the best part of me had been pulled to the forefront somehow.

"My name is Cerys. Do you want to tell me what happened there?"

He didn"t answer straight away, but I"m trained in letting silences hang for as long as they need to. The client usually speaks eventually. Even those who are monsters. His head dropped again, and he avoided my gaze for a while. After what seemed like endless minutes, the dark brown eyes met mine again. Butterflies danced in my stomach.

It's just anxiety. Take a deep breath and listen to your client.

"This prison has a lot of twisty corridors all branching off from each other. It"s very… maze like."

"Okay…"

I wasn"t sure what the relevance was, so I waited for him to speak again.

"I"m part minotaur, and the guard walked me through a maze to get to this room."

He said it slowly, almost like I was an idiot. Then it hit me, and I felt like an idiot. I rubbed my forehead with my hand.

"Oh gods, I"m so sorry. I didn"t realize. You are my first minotaur client, and I didn"t think. I"ll make sure that next time we meet in a place that has a more direct route. I won"t make you come this way again."

The words fell out of me in a hurry, and my stomach clenched. This was a horrible situation for him to have been put in. It's not like it was a secret that minotaurs lost their minds in mazes. It was the curse of their heritage. The prison was a large circular building with curving corridors connected at weird points. I had even called it a maze when I first arrived.

"Half minotaur."

He punctuated this by leaning forward and giving his ears a slight perk up before letting them flop back down again. Yet again I was being an idiot.

"Yes, sorry. Sorry."

His face was impassive, and I was crumbling under the weight of this disaster of a first session together.

"I didn"t mean to offend you, Cam."

"I"m not offended. I"m proud of my heritage."

His whole body straightened when he said this. I latched on to this with a slight desperation to make something go right today.

"Oh! Yes? I"d be interested to hear about it."

He cocked his head slightly, regarding me as though I"d said something strange. His eyes softened as though this made him happy. Those brown eyes again, holding mine.

"Would you?"

His voice was almost a full growl now, and it sent a shiver up my spine. But it didn"t feel like fear or anxiety. I pushed it away.

"Yes, of course. Please tell me!"