Chapter 40.3 - Merging

My vision swam for a few moments as I reoriented myself.  The last thing I remembered, I had been tackled to the ground by an extremely enthusiastic—and exceedingly topless—Jax.

I swear… one of these days, those girls are going to get me lynched.

Slowly, I spun on a heel just to take in my surroundings.  Though vaguely familiar, there was not much to look at.  It was just a room like you might find in any office building.  Drop ceilings.  Off-white, laminate floor tiles.  No windows.  Several nondescript doors.  And not a single label in sight.

I exhaled.  Great.  Just what I needed.

I had thought my escape from the maze would lead to some much needed rest and relaxation.  Maybe even a light nap, but it seemed the world was not done with me yet.

On impulse, I glanced down at my hands.  They looked normal enough.  Nice, long fingers.  Flat nails.  I gave them a wiggle.  Still functional.

Why had I thought they might be otherwise?

Unexpectedly, there came a click from behind me, and I spun in time to catch Mia entering the room.  She looked absolutely filthy, too.  Like she had just arrived home from working in a coal mine.

Her eyes widened on seeing me, and she immediately dropped to one knee.

“My lord!  Forgive me!  If I had known you were coming, I would have prepared myself properly and—”  Mid-sentence, her brain caught up with her mouth, and her head snapped up again.  “You’re here!  I—I mean you’re fully here.  How are you here?!”

“Uh…” I replied intelligently.  “I think I may be in torpor.  Jax must have accidentally knocked me out once I opened the door.”

“Oh.  She must have made it out then.  That’s good,” she murmured.  But then an indignant look crossed her face and she sprang to her feet.  “Wait a minute!  That should not have necessitated your full manifestation.  I could have easily guided you through the process now that I have had time to acclimate.”

I held up my hands in defense.  The way she talked, you would have thought I had some control over any of this.  But that seemed like way too long of a conversation.  And implied I had some grasp on the topic.

Instead, I just went with, “Okay.”

Fortunately, she seemed far too invested in the puzzle to note my dismissive attitude.

“Hmm, if you really were knocked into torpor, then it could be…”  She cast a pensive glance at the door behind her and began chewing at her thumb-claw.  “Yes, I suppose that makes a kind of sense.  Though, it might not be all that stable.  How lucid are you right now?”

I scrubbed a hand over my face.  Mia seemed to have the unique ability to put my brains into a spit-roast.  But I was also way too tired to care.

“I feel like my head is full of gauze.”

She chuckled.  “Well, that’s understandable.  You’ve had a busy day.”

“And you have an uncanny knack for understatement,” I observed dryly.

She crinkled her nose at me.

The conversation lapsed into one of those silences where both parties are waiting for the other to say something, but nobody realizes it until it’s already gotten awkward.  As it drew out, my eyes began to naturally drift downward… as men tend to do when around attractive women.

I had never actually stood face to face with her like this, I realized.  Or at least… not without also seeing the background behind her.  Despite her dubious claims of citizenship within my inner kingdom—or what-have-you—she still looked almost identical to Bline.  There were no signs of her turning into a copy of me any time soon.  Thankfully.

Quite the opposite.  She was easily one of the most gorgeous women I had ever laid eyes on.  Even through the grime.  If anything, the light sprinkling of sweat and dirt covering her cleavage lent her a sort of cave-woman-esque vibe.  All she lacked was a torn bodice and a scrip of leather over her groin, and there would have been no way John Richardson picked Rachel Welch over her.  And that was saying something.

Beyond that, of course, she had taken on a number of familiar secondary characteristics.  Fangs.  Claws… Antlers.  Those were somewhat unique.  They had grown out to six points by that time, and each were sharp as daggers.  Then there was the fully developed tail.  Which I quite liked, come to think of it.  It suited her.  It even had the same red highlights as the hair on her head.

Wait.  How long has that been there?  It’s not new…  No, I’m sure I’ve seen it at least once, haven’t I? Ugh… no more thinking.

The short of it was, in every way that mattered, she was indistinguishable from a ‘Do-lilim.’  So either her little theory was completely off-base, or there was something about me pushing her that direction.  It could have just been my Class…

Then again, there was my recently discovered ‘dietary restriction.’

I looked down at my hands again, just to be sure.  Still human.

Mia had been fidgeting under my scrutiny and, with my brief moment of inattention, she had taken the excuse to smooth her dress and run a few claws through her hair… subsequently causing her to realize the absolute state she was in, and she gasped in horror.

“No!  Just look at me.  And of course, you would show up now.  Oh, I must have the luck of the void!”  She slapped a palm to her forehead and sighed.  “Forgive me, my lord master.  I am unfit to receive you.”

I waved her off.  “Don’t worry about it.  What were you doing in there, anyway?”

She inhaled sharply through her teeth and held it for a few seconds.  “Just… a little housekeeping,” she managed shakily.

“Sorry.”

“No, it’s al—fucking touch me!  Now!”  Her head jerked to one side as she fought with the uncontrollable impulse.

I smirked slightly, fighting with my own impulse to comply with her demand.  No matter their content, a tic should never be taken as a true invitation, nor anything else beyond the involuntary spasm it was.

Then again… a bit of light-hearted teasing never hurt anyone.