Page 11 of The Sixth Spring

A clawed finger probed at the bandage.

“The pressure will stop the bleeding,” Will said, even though he knew it couldn’t understand him. It felt weird not to talk, to try and explain.

The creature looked back up at him, head tilted. Will watched the eyes scan over his face, and then down his bare chest.

Will had a thought to cover himself, and then didn’t. It wasn’t like the creature was wearing clothes. Will could see the smooth scales of its chest leading down to the juncture of its hips.

He couldn’t see that exactly, the foot and a half of water on the road was concealing it, but he could tell it wasn’t wearing anything there either.

Will blushed hot at his own misplaced curiosity. Hadn’t he just been fearing for his life? Certain the thing was going to kill him?

The creature dropped its leg back into the water. For a moment Will thought it was about to leave, but then it shifted, moving closer to him.

Will froze, eyes wide. His heart stuttered in uncertainty.

The creature leaned over him, a full head and then some taller than he was, and broader by half. Will swallowed hard. It hadn’t hurt him, but it was still terrifyingly different. Otherworldly. The red eyes made him feel like he was being pinned down by a predator.

Then a clawed finger was coming up to his face. Will shrank back, but the creature only slowed, as if asking for permission.

It hadn’t hurt him before. Had actually saved him from getting hit by the toppling excavator.

Okay. Okay.

Will took a breath and tried to gather his nerves. He nodded.

The hand moved again toward him, slowly. Fingers touched his dripping hair, almost curiously, rubbing a clump of it between two fingers.

Heat and adrenaline dumped into Will’s belly at the pleasure jolt in his scalp.

His hair wasn’t anything special–pin straight and sun bleached–but it wasn’t pond weed. How different was the texture of its hair from Will’s? In the moonlight, the strings of its hair were shiny like seaweed. Was it slimy? Slick? It must be, if the creature lived underwater.

Will’s strands slipped through the creature’s fingers, and Will let out a shaky breath. This close, and without all the sharp teeth on display, there was a sort of allure to the creature’s face. He had a flat, wide nose, but a rigid brow and jawline that made him look masculine.

But his eyes, when they weren’t catching the light and glinting red, were pitch-black and wide. They gave him the appearance of something softer than the teeth and claws.

“I’m Will,” Will blurted out. He gestured to himself. “Will.”

The creature’s head tilted further, in what Will was beginning to think of as his thinking posture. He opened his mouth and tried the sound in his mouth. It came out as Wsss.

Will smiled.

The creature reared back. Behind it was a splash.

“Oh shit, sorry! I’m friendly, I swear!” Will held a hand up in a peaceful gesture, covering his mouth with the other.

It looked him over, uncertain. The water behind it was rippling out like something was moving agitatedly.

A tail?

“I’m sorry, I didn’t–” Will started and stopped.

A clawed hand reached back out. It pressed flat against Will’s own, palms touching.

It was warm. And big.

Even his hands dwarfed Will. They could envelop his easily, could grab and hold him, and Will wouldn’t stand a chance.

What?