She got really quiet, probably embarrassed about falling for one of the oldest bad-guy tricks in the book.
“She washed up here yesterday,” Hydra said, filling in the rest of the details. “I told her to wait fer you here. I is wearing my oracle head at the time, so I knows you were coming.” She went to the door and picked up the old blind lady head and put it back on the shelf.
And there she stayed, doing nothing in particular, except maybe giving me a minute to make amends with Rexi. I guessed that because she kept moving her eyes from me to Rexi and puffing her cheeks out like blowfish.
“I’m sorry, Rexi,” I said quietly. “You’re my friend, and I sure as spell should know better than to trust what my eyes tell me. I should have known that you’d never betray us.”
“Stop.” Rexi looked really uncomfortable. “I need to tell you—”
Kato’s groan interrupted her. He was coming to. Thank Grimm. I helped him roll onto his belly. He rotated his shoulders, moving each wing up and down. I think it was kind of an auto-reflex thing, because his eyes were still closed. When he did open them and saw Rexi standing next to him, his entire body vibrated in a growl.
I stepped in front of Rexi, blocking her from his view. He still looked like he was going to plow through me to get to her. I had to talk fast, like the guy with the magical disclaimers on late-night infomercials. “The bad Rexi was really the Gray Witch with a Rexi mask on because this Rexi got duped and dumped in the sea, and she’s been here ever since with Hydra.” By the end, I had run out of breath, so the last few words were a little strained.
He stopped growling but still didn’t look convinced. “How do we know this is the real Rexi?”
“Reflection test.” I grabbed a startled Rexi by the scruff of her neck and positioned her close to the shiny table. “See, all blond, not a speck of gray or silver.”
Kato grumbled and hopped off the table. “Fine, but only because I trust Dot. I won’t eat you…yet. But I’m keeping an eye on you.”
Holding a roll of gauze, Hydra returned to wrap his wing, binding it to his side. “Why just one eye? I gots more in the back iffin you want to make a few alterations.” She tapped the middle of his forehead. “Right here might look nice.” She scurried into the storeroom and came back with a jar of eyeballs and a broken unicorn horn. “We is having a special. Buy one get a half one free.”
Kato slyly scooted away from the googly eye jar. “No thanks, but I was wondering about a different kind of body alteration. Can you make me human again?”
Hydra put the extras back and watched Kato carefully. “Human? But why would you want to trade in the freedom of them skies to trudge along the ground?” She jerked her thumb in my direction. “Changin’ yourself fer somebud else cain’t work. Specially fer a high-maintenance ball and chain that ain’t worth it anyway.”
“Hey! I’m didn’t ask him to change.”
“Well, isn’t that what this is all about?” she said matter-of-factly. “Personally, I like my men with a little chest hair, but I can see how difficult an interspecies relationship might be fer someone like you.” She stuck a finger in my chest. “Can you honestly say you is willing to put up with his shedding all over the furniture? Is he yer one true love?”
How had this become about me? My cheeks heated and I stumbled through my feelings for some sort of rebuttal. “Love isn’t just something that happens at first sight. It, um, takes a while and, uh, grows with calcium and thorns and, um, might bite until you teach it to fetch.” I tried to remember everyone’s love talks, but I’m afraid I got them mixed up. “Oh hex.”
Hydra took my disjointed answer as answer enough and went back to addressing Kato. “See? You is better off finding a nice chimera to nest with. The cost to change are too high, especially iffin you is only changin’ fer the affection of someone who cain’t care for the real you.”
Kato looked me over, much like he did the first time we met. This time, at the end of his search, there was no look of disdain. Or confusion. He stood up and went to Hydra. “I want to be human. I don’t care about the cost. She’s worth it.”
Everything a girl’s ever wanted to hear, and I had no idea what to do with it. What could I say to that? My feelings were stuck in the jumbled mess of my brain, playing peekaboo, trying to hide from me.
Pulling a sour face, Hydra threw her hands up in the air. “Bah! You is dumber than I thought. And I gots no use for romantic fools. Be gone, all of you. I done everything I can. There ain’t no solving stupid.” She turned and walked away from us.