Page 85 of Zombies, Satyrs and Vampires, Oh My!

chapter

four

Joy

When the light flickers on, the initial sight of my husband steals my breath, and I forget for a moment how different we are now. I brace myself for the flinch. For the gasp. For the disbelief that will kill whatever fragile hope still beats inside my chest.

But Malcolm doesn’t flinch. He just stares—eyes wide, mouth parted, chest rising like he’s forgotten how to breathe.

“Oh my God,” he says softly. “You have wings.”

I nod, my fingers clutching the edge of the counter because if I let go, I might fold in on myself. “Yeah. And antennae.”

He steps closer, slow and careful, like he’s approaching something sacred. His gaze drifts over me, over the russet-brown wings that shimmer when I move, over the delicate antennae that twitch of their own accord. His voice comes rough, husky. “They’re… beautiful.”

“Beautiful?” I huff out a laugh that sounds half-broken. “You don’t have to lie. I look like something out of a nature documentary.”

He shakes his head. “You look like you. Just… upgraded.”

That pulls a small, shaky laugh out of me. “Upgraded, huh?”

He grins faintly. “Absolutely.” Then his gaze catches mine again, deep and steady. “What else is different?”

The question catches me off guard. No one’s asked that yet—not even Amelia. I swallow. “I can fly,” I admit, stretching one wing slightly before letting it fold again. “Not far yet, but… enough to feel the wind. I can see in the dark now. And I can smell things—tiny things, distant things. It’s all sharper.”

He smiles, soft and proud. “Sounds incredible.”

“It’s overwhelming,” I whisper. “Everything is.”

He reaches out, brushing a thumb along my jaw. His touch feels like coming home. The gentleness makes my eyes sting.

“How have you been?” he asks. “I know this has to have been hard on you. I can’t believe you thought you needed to do this on your own. You must have been so scared when it first happened.”

A bitter laugh bubbles up. “Hard on me? I left you, Mal. I disappeared. I didn’t even give you a chance to understand.” My voice cracks. And I look—really look—at my husband that I walked out on six months ago. His eyes are nearly hollow with dark circles underneath. He’s lost weight and he needs a shave. My disappearance has weighed heavily on him.

“I’m so sorry I left the way I did. It was never about you. I just—” I shake my head, wings trembling faintly. “I didn’t want you getting caught up in this. My life isn’t normal anymore. It’s dangerous.”

He looks at me like I’ve said the stupidest thing he’s ever heard. “You’re my life, Joy. Normal or not.”

This man. Just like it didn’t take long for me to fall in love with him when we first met, he goes and says that. And my heart just cracks open for him all over again.

The air between us shifts. Heavy. Charged.

He inhales deeply, and his brows pull together. “What is that smell?”

I freeze. Oh, no.

“I’m not sure what it is,” he murmurs, voice low, unsteady, “but it’s the best thing I’ve ever smelled. And it’s making my dick rock hard.”

My stomach drops. “Oh, no.”

“Oh, no?” he echoes, blinking.

“It’s happening.” My cheeks burn. “The pheromones. I think I’m going into heat.”

He stares, then lifts an eyebrow. “Going into heat? Like… the way a dog does?”

I cover my face with my hands. “I guess it’s an animal thing, yeah.”