6 Months Later

Kane woke with a jolt, grasping maniacally at the sheets beside him, looking for the woman he knew would not be there. The same nightmare as always had ripped him awake, and he was always so hopeful that he would wake up and find her there.

He was a broken man now. He had not even shaved in months. His main goal in life was just to try to keep it together for Harry, who spent much of his time now with his mother-in-law, Sorcha. Harry had withdrawn into himself and barely spoke to Kane when he was home. Kane needed to repair their relationship, but he was still trying to repair himself, and it was too much to deal with at times.

The last time he’d been this broken, he had used drugs to dull the pain, then Master Tieng had been there to bring him back from the abyss. But Tieng had passed less than a week after Miranda died. His Rinzai Master, Daito, had taken Tieng’s place, and although he was an amazingly skilled monk and samurai, he was a master of the sword and body, not the mind, so he had nothing that would help Kane. So, this is what had become of him now: a husk of a man doing just enough to stay alive. Mitchell, Rebecca, and what remained of his family came by often to check on him, but he lashed out terribly at them, worse and worse each time, and their visits were getting further and further apart.

Desperation was building in him again, and he was reaching his limits. The emptiness growing inside of him was unfathomable, and he did not think he could make it back to the other side of the chasm that was his grief now. The last time Harry had stayed over, they had talked some, but both of them blamed themselves for Miranda’s death. Thus, they both felt even guiltier for the guilt they saw in each other’s eyes, and the rift between them only grew.

Kane had not left the house in a long time. Bill had dropped by, as he did every other Saturday, to cut the grass and drop off groceries. Kane had not opened the door when he knocked, so Bill left the groceries on the porch, cut the grass, and took off. Kane was not expecting any more company for a while, and he could not remember the last time he had showered as he lay there in bed, trying to work up the motivation to get up.

He twitched violently at the sudden ring of the doorbell, but he did not move when a knock quickly followed. Rolling over, he dragged the pillow over his head to drown out the knocking. Harry had a key, so he knew it was not his son. He was determined to ignore the visitor with every fiber of his being.

The muffled ring of the doorbell sounded again, and the knocking grew louder and more insistent. Groaning, he pulled Miranda’s pillow over his head as well. The smell of her had mostly faded from the house, but as he crushed the rarely disturbed pillow to his head, her scent cascaded over him. The pillows were unneeded then as the wracking sobs that tore from his throat drowned out the sound of the knocking.

Without warning, his bedroom window was smashed to pieces behind him. The sudden chill that swept over his body snapped him back to his senses as he rolled over to gape at the broken window, only to find Rebecca standing there staring at him. Tears streamed down his face and clung to his matted beard as he screamed at her to get out. The snot clinging to his bushy mustache flung out and wobbled through the air, landing in thick strands on the floor between them.

Rebecca did not even flinch at this disgusting outburst, but took a step towards him, growing anger in her eyes. “We are done playing it soft. It’s time for you to grow a pair and man up, Kane.” He jumped up from the bed, and her eyes widened at how skinny he was in his boxers. “Jesus Christ, Kane! What have you done to yourself?” she asked, taking in his drawn face and sunken cheeks.

“I don’t need your sympathy, Rebecca!” Kane seethed, enraged by the sorrow he saw in her eyes.

“You need a lot more than my sympathy,” she countered, taking another step in his direction. Reflexively he tensed and dropped into a fighting stance. Rebecca raised an eyebrow in derision. “You really want to do it this way?” she asked, dropping smoothly into a counter stance.

With a guttural howl, Kane charged her. She easily sidestepped him, sweeping his legs out from under him. He managed to keep his head from slamming into the floorboards, but his elbows absorbed the brunt of the impact, and a howl of pain exploded from Kane as he leapt back to his feet, throwing a sloppy punch. Rebecca slapped it away, but the kick that followed slammed into her unprotected ribs, and she choked out a gasp. But she regained her composure instantly and closed the distance between them, getting right in his face to keep him from throwing more kicks and effortlessly blocking Kane’s second pathetic punch. He went for a headbutt then, but he was too slow, and Rebecca slammed her own head into his face. The momentum of his own failed headbutt turned his nose to pulp instantly. Kane’s eyes slammed shut in pain, and a second howl echoed through the empty house. His breathing came out wet and raspy as he blinked tears from his eyes. They cleared just in time for him to see the kick Rebecca threw in a second attempt at a leg sweep. He snatched his own leg up just in time to avoid it, but an openhanded palm thrust sent him sprawling onto and over the bed. Rebecca followed closely after him, and the next kick she threw, Kane was unable to dodge. It caught him right in the temple, and he dropped limply to the floor.

He awoke blearily sometime later to the gentle snicks of what sounded like scissors. When he tried to open his eyes, they were nearly swollen shut, and it felt as if he had two fingers shoved deep into his nostrils.

“Finally awake?” Rebecca asked as the gentle snicks continued.

Kane tried to move and found that he could not. As his senses came back to him, he discovered that he was strapped soundly to a chair. He jerked away futilely at the feeling of gentle fingers combing through his hair, and he strained with all his might to break free of the straps.

“Mitchell will be sad if you break his favorite chair … although I seriously doubt that you could in this state. Now be still, so I can trim that nasty kitchen of yours,” she chided as she continued to cut his hair. “I just wish I wouldn’t have broken your nose. You have to breathe through your mouth now, and it’s turning my stomach. When was the last time you brushed your teeth?”

Kane’s modesty got the better of him then, and he blushed scarlet, despite the anger that was trying to break free within him again.

“Your ears turn pink when you blush?” Rebecca exclaimed with a laugh. “They do!” she said as he blushed again.

“Why are you doing this?” Kane asked, nasally.

“I drew the short straw” was all she said as she continued to cut his hair. “Almost done up top, but it’s going to be interesting to do your face. You won’t try to bite me, will you?”

“I probably will. I don’t need your help,” Kane all but spat as he strained against the straps again, to no avail.

“You clearly do, Kane. You haven’t looked in a mirror lately, but it’s clear to all of us that you’re on a downward spiral, on course to hit rock bottom real soon.”

“I’m doing just fine. Like I said before, I don’t need anyone’s help.”

“Like I said before, you clearly have not looked in the mirror. I didn’t even think Mzungus could get this ashy. We have work to do, Kane; things are getting weird. We need your help—and you are in no shape to provide it at the moment.” Rebecca began to cut giant chunks out of his scraggly beard.

Kane twitched his head hastily to the side, and the scissors cut deeply into his chin. Rebecca cursed loudly as she dropped the scissors and snatched up a towel to staunch the blood pouring down his neck. “Fuck! Kane, why would you do that? What purpose could it possibly serve?”

He said nothing as she continued dabbing at his neck, his feet searching the floor for the fallen scissors. He found them quickly and tried not to give himself away as he grabbed them with his toes and tried sawing through the strap on his ankle. He coughed loudly for cover as the strap hit the floor, then he shifted his weight to transfer the scissors up to his hands as she went into the bathroom to grab another towel. Cutting the strap around his chest and forehead, he hastily stumbled after her.

Tackling Rebecca around the waist, he rode her to the floor, intending to throw her out of the house. She shifted as they fell, and his shoulder hit the toilet, breaking his grasp. She tried kneeing him in the groin, but he knew it was coming and blocked it with his inner thigh. He landed a few quick jabs to the ribs he had kicked earlier, and the headlock she was trying for failed as she let go to pin his arms. They rolled around for a few moments trying to get a grip on each other, but neither succeeded, and they finally broke apart.

Rebecca used the opportunity to climb immediately to her feet. Kane stood as well, and she tried tackling him this time, but he caught her to keep himself from coming off his feet. She still had him around the waist though, and she jerked upwards to bring the lock up under his armpits. He brought his elbows down on the tops of her shoulders, but her grip did not loosen. He wrapped his arms around her, but he did not have the strength to break her grasp.

For the first time in six months, Kane called on his inner animals, and they lent him their strength. Feeling renewed, he redoubled his efforts and broke free. She grunted in surprise as he stepped back, then she jumped at him, wrapping her legs around his waist and slamming him into the sink, shattering the mirror and sending the glass skittering around the floor. Wrapping one arm around his neck, she nailed him repeatedly in the ribs as he struggled to put his bare feet down amidst the broken glass.

Kane stumbled out of the bathroom, trying to pry her off of him as his ribs began to ache under the constant barrage. Running out of options, he pivoted toward the wall and slammed her into it, denting the sheetrock. The almost sensual moan of pain that escaped her lips on impact shot a wave of arousal through his body, and his boxers stretched tight as he slammed her into the wall again. She raked her nails down his back, leaving deep red welts in his skin, and he gasped in shock and pleasure as he bit down hard on her neck.

The raw lust now palpable in the room was growing thicker by the minute, as were the heightened pheromones that were overriding each of their senses of smell. Kane gripped the back of her shirt and pulled down hard on the slits around the bases of her wings, tearing it from her body, exposing her soft, downy breasts. Flinging her head back, Rebecca tightened her legs around his waist and settled her body down onto his fabric-covered bulge, moaning deeply. Both were panting heavily as he flung her onto the bed. She kicked her shoes off, and he tried ripping the pants from her body. He failed, but she swiftly undid the top button, and with a yank, he freed them from her legs. She ran her fingers under the elastic band of his boxers, and he briskly stood up and shoved them to the floor. He was on her then, and they kissed roughly for a few minutes as the passion built between them.

. . . . .

Many hours later, their stomachs began to grumble. With a jolt, Kane examined his watch to see that it was past five o’clock. They had missed breakfast and lunch, but he was loath to move. Rebecca’s head rested gently on his chest as she ran her fingers up and down his abdominal muscles, stopping every now and then to curl her fingers through his sparse chest hair. She hummed contentedly, but they both stifled laughter as Kane’s stomach rumbled uproariously again.

“Guess we need to get some food in that belly, so we can whip you back into shape,” she said, contradicting herself by snuggling deeper into him.

“A few more days of that, and I’ll be in shape in no time,” Kane said with a chuckle.

Rebecca released a contented falcon chitter at his words, and goosebumps of pleasure bloomed across his skin. He peered around the trashed room and realized that most of the damage had come not from their fight, but from the rough sex that followed. There were three more human-sized indents in the walls, and they had somehow managed to break Mitchell’s favorite reinforced chair, along with Kane’s bed.

“God, you stink,” Rebecca said playfully as she crawled out of bed and began to put clothes on. He grabbed her by the wrist and jerked her back down onto the bed, kissing her passionately one more time. Finally he let her go, and she continued to dress.

“When are you going to finish my beard?”

Rebecca scoffed, kicking the bed he was lying on. “Trim your own beard! I’m going to go get some food. You coming?”

Kane climbed slowly out of bed, nodding. Her eyes traveled to his waist, and she smirked at him as he stood up—in more than one way. Kane smirked back at her as she twirled to leave the bedroom. He went to his closet and tugged on a pair of jeans, following her downstairs to the kitchen. The photos that he passed sent pangs of guilt down his spine, but he knew that he had mourned long enough. Continuing down the stairs, he found Rebecca pulling expired stuff out of the refrigerator and dropping it in the trash.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“I can’t find anything not past its expiration date in the jungle of old crap you have in here.” She chucked a few more things into the trash can.

“Have a seat. I’ll make breakfast,” he said, guiding Rebecca to a barstool.

He whipped up bacon, eggs, and toast for the both of them, and Rebecca laughed when the bacon popped up and burned his shirtless chest. “Need to get you an apron,” she said playfully as she watched him from behind the counter. “Do you have any coffee? I can get it started while you cook.”

“Yeah, it’s above the cabinet. The coffee pot is over—” He broke off as he registered that the coffee pot that normally sat on the counter was gone; he had thrown it away after he was unable to get the burned coffee off the inside of the pot.

“Kane?” Rebecca said softly as she came up behind him. She wrapped her arms around him and laid her head against his back as a small shudder went through him. She did not say anything, and he hoped that someone had done this for her after Rafael had passed.

“How did you get through it?” Kane asked quietly.

She squeezed him tightly and mumbled against his back, “I was almost as bad as you, after me and you got back from the Humanist town. I moped for a few days, then Mitchell sent me to eliminate the mall compound. After that, I slipped into a depression much like yours, but Gwen tried beating some sense into me after only a week. She lost the fight, and I beat her badly, but she limped back into my house the next day, and I beat her again. Three more days passed in about the same way, and on the sixth day, your brother showed up, carrying her in his arms because she could barely walk. He laid her on my couch and said that he had been nursing her back to health each night, only for her to come right back, and he refused to do it any longer.

“I refused to take care of her, and he picked me up by my throat and looked me dead in the eyes, and as I dangled there helplessly, I saw the fury he was holding back. He said the only reason he wasn’t beating some sense into me himself was a strict promise to Gwen. Then he set me down and walked out the door. I spent the next three days nursing my sister back to health, from the damage I had caused her while she was just trying to help me. It broke me, Kane. I really mean that.

“I heard about Miranda from your brother when he came to pick Gwen up on the third day, and I swore then that I would not let you go through the same thing. But I was a coward. I didn’t know how to approach your friends and family regarding your progress, and the few times I came over, you didn’t seem that bad … but you got worse, and it only got harder. Finally, I talked to my sister last week and told her that I wanted to help you, and we had a big meeting with your family. I told them my plan … and here I am. But trust me when I say this: the sex was never part of the plan,” she finished with a devilish grin, sitting back down at the counter. “I’m definitely glad that it happened, don’t get me wrong. I just have not had the itch since Rafael passed.”

Kane smirked at her as he made their plates and set one down in front of her. She scooted her chair closer when he sat down, and the bedroom eyes she kept giving him while they ate had his blood pumping. He was about to have her right then and there when the doorbell rang, breaking him out of his lustful thoughts. He went to the door and found Sorcha waiting on the doorstep, smiling at him in her motherly way.

“You cut your hair!” she said happily. “I won’t be long; I just came by to drop off Harry’s tablet that he left at my house. He said he’s in the middle of a delightful book right now, and I know how important that escape can be.”

Kane frowned, realizing that he had not unlocked the door for Sorcha; it had already been unlocked. “He must have snuck in while I was cooking and disappeared downstairs,” Kane said.

But a lead weight plummeted into his stomach before Sorcha’s next words and her look of concern even registered. “No, he left after breakfast this morning. He said he wanted to walk home and clear his head. You should have seen him by now…”

Sorcha slipped by him and walked through the kitchen, nodding at Rebecca as she passed. She flung the basement door open, but Kane knew that she would find nothing but an empty room. He heard the familiar ringing in his ears, and his vision began to blacken at the edges. Rebecca was in front of him then, and she was speaking, but he did not hear her.

Sorcha came hurrying up the stairs and saw his expression. Her gaze hardened, and she approached Kane, who was still standing in the doorway, at a brisk walk. She gently pushed Rebecca out of the way, and without warning, she slapped Kane across the face. He jerked to attention and heard Rebecca gasp beside him.

“Now you listen, and you listen good, Kane. I do not know what’s happened, but you seem to have some inkling, and I am tired of this. I love you, son, and I am so happy that you mourned my daughter for so long, but enough is enough. Get out there and find my grandson and make this right, or so help me, I will find the deepest hole I can and drop you in it,” she said fiercely, then she kissed him on the cheek and disappeared into the kitchen.

“I’ll fly up and do a grid pattern to see if I can locate him from the air,” Rebecca said, breaking Kane from his stunned reverie as she walked out into the yard.

Sorcha was rummaging around in the kitchen, and he rushed upstairs to finish getting dressed. A few minutes later, he walked out the front door and glanced down the street. Nothing. He thought hard for a moment until an idea popped into his head. He began walking quickly, seeing Rebecca every now and again passing by overhead. He kept walking at a good clip for almost thirty minutes until he finally saw his destination up ahead.

Rebecca landed beside him quietly, looking where he was headed. She nodded at him, confirming his suspicions, then said nothing else as she lifted into the air and headed back towards his house.

Slowing his pace, Kane entered the gates of a beautiful cemetery. He had only been here once, the day they buried Miranda, and he had never come back. Walking slowly down the lanes between the mausoleums and tombs, he made his way to the plot Miranda had picked out so long ago.

As it came in sight, he heard gentle sobs and saw Harry lying on the soft grass covering her grave. Approaching slowly, he scuffed his shoes on the gravel a few times to give Harry time to compose himself. The boy jerked up immediately and turned his puffy reddened eyes in Kane’s direction. Those crystal-blue eyes, so much like Miranda’s, sent a pang of sadness through Kane’s chest, and he did not know if that would ever go away. But he stood up a little straighter as he realized that was not necessarily such a terrible thing.

Harry sat up as he approached, swiping the tears from his face and blowing his nose on a tissue he plucked from the pocket of his hoodie. Kane sat down beside him.

“Didn’t know if you even remembered where this place was,” Harry said bitterly.

Kane knew he deserved that, but it still took a substantial amount of self-control not to bark out an equally scathing retort. With a sigh, he gathered himself. “It hurt too much to come here. I tried a few times, though. Never made it past the gate,” Kane said as evenly as he could. It was January, and Kane shivered in the bitter cold with just a long-sleeved shirt on, but he suppressed it and continued, “I have not been a very good father to you since your mom died; I see that now. But I want you to know that I have never stopped loving her—or you.”

Harry scoffed at that, and Kane realized with a pang of guilt that his son must have overheard him and Rebecca earlier.

“I know you probably heard some things that I wish you hadn’t,” he said carefully, “but you’re seventeen now, and I know you’re not ignorant about what you heard. Rebecca and I are adults. We both recently lost our soulmates, and even if that doesn’t excuse what we did, I honestly don’t think I regret it.”

“Eww, Dad,” Harry said with the hint of a smile on his face. He took a moment to gather his thoughts. “I don’t think I’m mad at you for moving on. I know you and I have both been mourning for a long time in our own ways, but I don’t think Mom would be mad at you.”

Kane’s eyes began to water as he leaned over and crushed his son into a hug. “When did you get so grown up?” he asked as Harry groaned and tried to pull away. He succeeded, but the smile on his face had grown a bit, and the sadness in his eyes had dulled a little. Harry got to his feet, laying a hand on his mothers’ tombstone and staring at it. Kane also got to his feet and placed a hand beside Harry’s. They stood like that for a few minutes, and Kane was about to say something when Harry spoke.

“I miss her, Dad,” he said sadly.

“So do I, son. So do I.”

. . . . .

When they got home, Sorcha and Rebecca were sitting in the kitchen drinking cups of coffee brewed with the new Keurig on the counter. They glanced up when the door closed and smiled. Sorcha jumped to her feet and ran to Harry, engulfing him in a tight hug.

“Glad you two seem to have worked it all out,” she said as she let go. She approached Kane and hugged him as well. “You will always be my son, even if you don’t want to be, but I have got to get going before it gets much later. I have work tomorrow,” she said as she walked to the front door.

“Love you, Mom,” Kane called after her.

“Is breá liom tú mo mhac,” she responded in Irish, her eyes beginning to water as she closed the door and left.

Rebecca looked at Kane, then at Harry, then back at Kane. “I guess I’ll catch you two later… You really need to finish your beard. It looks ridiculous,” she said awkwardly as she approached Kane and pecked him on the cheek.

“Please come back soon! We have a lot to talk about,” Kane said as she opened the door.

She gave him a radiant smile that warmed his heart and winked. “Later, tiger.”

Harry groaned loudly beside Kane, and with another broad smile, Rebecca closed the door.

Kane sat down at the Kitchen table and gestured for Harry to join him. “I noticed that your auric repulsion ability has gotten almost as strong as mine, if the insects I witnessed being repelled in the cemetery are any indication?”

“Yes. I’ve been working on it a lot, but I still can’t access my mind space without your help,” Harry replied.

“You’ll get there. It just takes time.”

“I have a request,” Harry said before Kane could continue. “You can call it a late birthday present or whatever, but this is what I want,” he said, pulling out a small jar containing a spiny black and red orb weaver spider.

Kane shook his head immediately. “Harry, you have too many already. You’re actually past the danger threshold. Most people can only handle three before the rampancy starts as their warring animal instincts override their human cognition. I have not even been able to find the snake in that storm in your mind, and you already have six mutations creating chaos up there. Even if I have caged two of them, that is still one too many,” he said exasperatedly.

“Then cage another one … but I think it’s just three now, because the cat has become a part of me. Based on previous experience, I have come to two conclusions. One is that my snake is going to be integral to me and cannot be caged, but I think I need to fuse with it like I did with the cat. Two, I think my snake will be black until I fuse with it. I believe the ferals need to be tamed before they can become part of me completely.”

Kane nodded; what Harry said meshed with his own experiences. “Okay, we’ll try this … but only after we get some food in our bellies,” he said with a gentle poke to Harry’s tummy.

After supper, they went to the living room to sit more comfortably on the couch. With an encouraging nod from Harry, Kane placed his hands on his son’s shoulders and slipped into his mind. First things first, Kane reasoned as he eyed the swirling storm. He sat down and focused his mind to see if he could sense the snake. He suspected if he did manage to cage it that Harry would go comatose like last time, so he did not want to fully capture the snake. His goal was to grab it and ferry it to Harry in the eye of the storm.

After what seemed like an eternity, he finally located the snake in a particularly dense part of the storm. Though he could not see it, he knew what he needed to do. He constructed the usual cage without its lid and positioned it so that the dense part of the storm would pass through it. As it came around, he readied himself, then heard the thud as the dense cloud escaped through the bars, unimpeded. He peered into the bottom of the enclosure to see the snake squirming around, trying to right itself. Kane then moved rapidly through the storm into the eye to find Harry and the cat waiting for him. The cat watched him curiously as he sat the cage down, and Harry peeked over the edge cautiously.

The boy gingerly reached down into the cage, and the snake struck, coiling tightly around his arm. Harry panicked and let out a sharp cry of pain, but Kane did not move. Harry shook the arm wildly for a moment, trying to dislodge the snake. But he calmed down quickly, steadying himself as he began to gently run his fingers down the snake’s back. It slowly uncoiled from Harry’s arm, and as it removed its fangs from the meat of Harry’s thumb, the snake exploded just like the rest had in a burst of white light. It reformed immediately as a white snake curled into a coil beside him, sleeping soundly.

Kane got to his feet and summoned another cage, surprised when the process did not drain him as much as it used too. The gecko he was looking for was an experiment of Harry’s from a few years ago, which had necessitated the addition of a pressurized system and pesticide sprinklers throughout the house. Harry had sworn when he was twelve that he was a superhero and that he needed to absorb more creatures to become stronger, so he could save the world. Against his parents’ permission, he snuck out into the yard and caught a gecko, causing his third transformation and seizure.

Abruptly Kane spotted the gecko, and it went easily into the cage. He dissolved his astral self—and with a jolt, he realized that the gecko cage, along with the gecko, had dissolved as well. He instantly summoned his astral self again, and the cage was in his hands. Mind racing with the possibilities, he dissolved himself again and went into his own mental space. When he summoned his astral self for the final time, the cage was still in his hands. He stared at the it for a few long moments before removing the lid and gently extracting the gecko. It squirmed mightily, and he let it fall to the floor, where it hastily scurried away.

Just then, the praying mantis landed in front of the gecko, and it froze in place. They examined each other for a few heartbeats. Then the mantis fluttered its wings and flew off into the air again. Kane was astounded for a moment before he conjured the cage again and caught the gecko. He did not want to wake up with a tail or reptilian skin so he decided to keep it locked up. Exiting his mental plane, he woke up on the couch to see Harry standing over him, examining him closely.

Harry stood up and exhaled slowly. “I was starting to get worried … but look, my tail’s gone!” Doing a spin to show it off, he promptly fell flat on his ass. “Whoa, that messed my balance all up!” Harry said as Kane helped him to his feet.

“No kidding!” Kane laughed as he dusted Harry off.

“We still have one more matter to attend to,” Harry said seriously. Once again, he produced the jar with the spider in it.

Kane sighed heavily and closed his eyes. He could fix it if it all went wrong, of course … probably. He brooded over the risks, then made his decision. “Okay.”

Harry promptly unscrewed the lid and dumped the spider in his hand, then instantly began to convulse. The spider plummeted to the floor and disappeared under the couch. Kane caught Harry and lowered him to the floor as Harry’s scales metamorphosed into a medium shade of grey. Then red scales began to appear, spreading out randomly over the rest of his visible scales. Next, red bone spikes rose out of his skull, forming a crown-like ring around his head. Four orb-like eyes emerged in his forehead just above his eyebrows, midnight blue with feline slits for pupils. They locked onto Kane’s face, and then Harry’s human eyes flew open.

Kane peered down at his son’s torso, realizing he had been distracted by Harry’s facial changes he missed the bulges that had formed there.

“Cut my shirt off for me, Dad,” Harry said in a hoarse whisper.

Kane obliged, and as the fabric cascaded away, Harry unfurled the two new arms that were folded against his chest. They were not as muscled as Harry’s other two arms, but the new muscles that had grown on his chest and abdomen to support the new arms were formidable looking. Harry’s cat ears had morphed to make room for the crown of spikes, but they still looked like they belonged up there. His face had transformed slightly as well; the twitchy pink nose was now grey, and Kane thought it looked much better.

Gasping, Harry reached around to unzip the special zipper in his jeans. A long, sleek cat tail spilled out, and Kane examined it closely, seeing that it now came to a slight fork at the end. He was awestruck as he watched the two new spinnerets at the end of the tail work back and forth a couple times before excreting a white viscous fluid.

“You look like Goro and Darth Maul had a baby,” Kane said with a snicker.

Harry barely heard him, reaching back with his second right arm and gently grasping the tail in his hand.