TASCHA
The penalty for trysting with humans is mortality. Simply put, you become human for as long as the human you were with is alive, and you become theirs. You belong to them. Need I spell it out?
So it was with very little surprise that I found myself, the next morning, lying in a bed.
This wasn't the first time it had happened, but it was still disconcerting. I sat up and took stock of my surroundings.
It was a small, dingy room. There were tattered posters of actors on the wall, and a warped wood dresser, with clothes spilling out of it. The ceiling slanted, and there was a water stain on the ceiling.
I suddenly realized that not only was I naked, I didn't have my wings. That was unfortunate.
I sighed and wriggled out from under the covers. "This sucks."
I went over to the dresser and investigated. There were, of course, no girl's clothes, but I managed to assemble a nice outfit of cutoff jeans and a baggy black T-shirt, no underwear or bra. (I didn't like the idea of wearing boy's underwear, and of course there weren't any bras.)
I went downstairs, where there was a fat man, staring at a flickering television set, and drinking from a can of beer.
I stopped short in the middle of the kitchen. He didn't seem to notice me.
"Sir?" I called. "Uh…are you awake?"
The man raised his head. He had a thin layer of gray hair, and a stained white undershirt. He looked as though he used to be handsome, but had slowly mutated into a sloppy couch potato over the years.
"Yeah," he said. "Who the hell are you?"
"Who the hell do you think I am?" I asked him.
The man snorted. "One of Tobias's little girlfriends, likely as not. So he's here again?"
I shrugged. "How the hell should I know?"
The man grinned. "Well, you and him fucked last night, didn't you?"
I blinked. "How the fuck do you know?"
The man sighed. "I got ears, girlie. You know, nobody's called me 'Sir' since I was in the Navy."
"You're Navy?" I said.
"Navy all over," the man said. "Now get outta here. Shouldn't you be in school?"
I left.
TOBIAS
I decided to never, ever tell anyone about the night before. That was definitely the weirdest thing ever to happen to me.
Ax didn't notice. We met, exchanged pleasantries, and then Ax went to do his ritual and I went out to hunt.
While I sat on a branch, ripping apart a dead mouse, I thought about Tascha. She seemed like such a predator, like me.
Yeah, we were a perfect match for each other. A child of Satan or something, and a hawk that's actually human.
I tried out the scenario in my mind. Tascha instead of Rachel…
Tascha would live in the woods with me, instead of having to visit me every day. Tascha would hunt with me, instead of politely not watching while I ate. Tascha would fly with me for hours, never worrying about time limits. Tascha would accept me for who I am, in my strange predicament, instead of having to make a choice between the human world and the animal world.
But how would Rachel take it?