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“I have to go…”
The boudas parted, revealing Andrea. She was covered in short fur, her skin dappled with uniform black spots. I’d never seen a body that proportionate in beast-form, except for Curran’s. The only flaw was her arms: they reached down too low, almost brushing her knees. It took me a second to register the fact that she had breasts. Normal human breasts. Most female shapeshifters in half-form had tiny breasts or a row of tits.
She looked at me. Her blue eyes and her forehead said human. Her dark muzzle and jaws signaled hyena. They melded seamlessly into each other. The effect was a revolting but somehow unified whole.
“Found it.” The male hooked something with his claws.
Aunt B braced Andrea’s head. “Do it.”
The male plucked a small dark object from Andrea’s skull, sending a few drops of blood flying. She groaned quietly. Aunt B let go, and the male leaned in and licked Andrea’s neck gently.
“I do believe Raphael’s in love.” The female bouda grinned.
Andrea clumped a wet towel to her head and looked at me. “Kate? Where are you going?”
The words came through startlingly clear, her voice completely unchanged.
“Curran wants to talk to me. He sent Jim, and it’s best I go.”
Andrea took a deep breath. “I’m beastkin.”
By the way she pronounced it, I understood the word must have some sort of deep significance but it flew completely over my head. My face must have said as much, because Aunt B folded her hands in her lap. “Do you remember Corwin?”
“The catwere. He died protecting Derek.” Lyc-V was an equal opportunity virus. It infected humans and animals alike and stole fragments of its victims’ DNA, sometimes inserting human genetic code into an animal. Very rarely the result was a beastwere, an animal that shapeshifted into a human. Most were idiots and died quickly, but some, like Corwin, learned to speak and became individuals in their own right.
Aunt B nodded. “Corwin was a good person. He came here a lot.”
“He liked to play,” the female bouda added.
“Yes, he did. He was shooting blanks. No harm done.” Aunt B looked at me.
“That’s to be expected, the beastweres are sterile,” I said to say something.
Aunt B’s face stretched a bit. “Not always.”
“Oh.”