“This is my first time here,” I said. “I like animals, and we’ve lived in Vegas for some years, so I’m kind of surprised at myself not visiting this place.”

  “You were just being your introverted self, dear,” Mom said, patting my head. She and Deen were nearly the same height, while I was the tiny one between them. It appeared that Mom and Deen were family while I was the tagalong. “I’ve invited you a few times to come here, but you refused because there’d be many people given that it's quite a popular tourist attraction. With the opening of the Adumbrae exhibit, I thought you’d be interested to check it out.”

  “I guess that’s interesting…” I shrugged. Deen shot me a warning glance. I shook my head once. I wasn’t going to say anything more.

  We passed through a wide garden, rectangular boxes arranged in rows containing flowers of different colors spread evenly throughout the space. There was a circular pond in the middle with a fountain. The water looked inviting, especially with the fucking humidity of Vegas. Or most likely the water would be warm. Not good to bathe in that at this temperature.

  “Finally, air-conditioning,” I said as we entered the museum's glass doors.

  The skeleton of a whale was suspended above us, spanning the length of the wide ceiling of the lobby. How big could my werewolf form as Blanchette get if I ate an entire blue whale? Probably not much because I grew only if I got attacked and then ate my enemies. Not sure how I’d get a blue whale to attack me, but I could get squished by its giant tail.

  “Are you thinking of fighting a whale?” Deen said.

  I jolted. “How did you know?” In a lower voice, I continued to ask, “Did your Guardian Angel tell you?”

  Deen beamed with pride. “My guess was right? Gabe didn’t tell me anything because there was no danger to me. You just have this look on your face while staring up at the whale skeleton. Then I made a list of the possible things going through your mind. It’s not like you’re thinking of riding the whale?”

  “You’re being creepy,” I told her. It also made me conscious of my facial expressions. I’d like to think that I had control of them, but Deen was getting too familiar with me that it was like she was reading my mind.

  Past the entrance lobby of the museum, we entered the gift shop. At first, I thought the setup was weird—we hadn’t even gotten inside the museum and there was a gift shop already. But it was also genius because people had to pass by here to leave the museum, so they’d be lured to get souvenirs. If the shop was to the side or something, people might not make the effort to go there. And if someone wanted to buy a gift without going through the whole museum, they could do so.

  Mom recognized someone and told us to wait while she chatted with her acquaintance from long ago. Deen and I wandered to a less crowded part of the store to browse the toys. Most people continued to the museum so the store wasn’t crowded.

  “Lookie here, Erind,” Deen said in a sing-song voice. She showed me a stuffed mammoth. “It’s cute, like you.”

  “How is that like me?” I squeezed the toy’s tusk. “If you showed me a wolf—”

  “None of that,” Deen cut in.

  “Relax,” I said, looking around. “No one would be suspicious of us if we don’t act suspicious.”

  Deen sighed, slumping her shoulder. “I feel so stressed taking care of you sometimes. You’re in your rebellious phase.”

  “You? Taking care of me?” I placed my hands on my hips. “You know how many times you’ve choked me? Two. Not one. Two. What kind of—?”

  “Anyway!” Deen waved the stuffed toy. “I was just saying that you’re cute like this mammoth. Not that you look like one.”

  “Okay… How is my cuteness the same as the mammoth?”

  Deen hugged the stuffed toy tightly. “You’re both the squishy kind of cute.”

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  I stepped forward and took the mammoth out of Deen’s arms. Then I cupped her left breast. She flinched and looked around. Nobody was probably nearby or looking in this direction because Deen didn’t move away. “If we’re talking of squishy,” I said, “doesn’t that define you more than me?”

  “I thought we were going to behave today?” Deen asked with a smirk. She held my hand and forced me to mash her breast. So long as she knew she wasn’t going to be exposed, Deen had an exhibitionist side.

  “We are behaving, aren’t we? No one can see us, so it’s fine.” I tilted my chin up at her. I looked at her lips, then her eyes. An invitation to kiss. Or a dare.

  Deen was considering it. I could see it in her eyes. I kind of understood how she was ‘reading my mind’. She started to blush as she hesitantly leaned down. She closed her eyes and formed her lips for a kiss. I stepped back.

  “There you girls are.” Mom popped up from behind the shelf of mammoth and sabertoothed tiger stuffed toys.

  “Aah! Mrs. Hartwell!” Deen jumped, blood rushing to her face. She looked at me in a panic, noticed my grinning face, and turned her expression angry. I knew she was forming her plans for revenge on me tonight. This was going to be rough. Some abuse, probably. But for now, I was the winner.

  Got you, I thought. Deen would know what I was thinking. I stuck my tongue out at her. I had seen Mom finish talking with her friend and coming over. Deen didn’t see her because she was looking behind me.

  “What are you girls doing here?” Mom asked.

  “Deen was asking me if it’d look childish if she bought this mammoth,” I said, showing Mom the stuffed toy.

  “I didn’t say that.” Deen grabbed the mammoth from me and returned it to the shelf. Then she hugged me from behind. “I don’t need a stuffed toy because I already have Erind.”

  “You think this is a good save?” I said. “It’s not.”

  “Aw, how sweet,” Mom gushed. “You two are such sisters. I’ve said this to Erind, and I’m repeating it now—she’s very lucky to have found a friend like you, Deen. Now, let’s go to the museum proper.”

  “I’ll be lucky not to get choked tonight,” I muttered.

  Leaving the gift shop, we entered the center of the museum. It was a circular atrium several stories high topped with a glass dome. The ceiling was intricately carved and the glass dome had colors on it, giving the vibes of a cathedral. Passageways branched out from this center, leading to various exhibits. In the middle of this area were the signature displays of the museum—the dinosaur skeletons.

  “Are you thinking of fighting a dinosaur?” Deen asked, still hugging me.

  “No. But I’m thinking it now.” I pried her arms off of me. “I’ll win because they’re just ancient chickens.”

  “Wow, so cocky for someone so tiny.” Deen patted my head as Mom did earlier.

  “You know I can grow—”

  Deen pulled me into one of the hallways. “Mrs. Hartwell, let’s visit the Ice Age exhibit. Erind says she wants to look at mammoths.”

  We soon found the skeleton of a mammoth.

  “Huh, it looks like a cyclops,” I said, pointing at the single large hole on the mammoth’s skull for both its eyes, compared to two holes for humans and many other creatures. “Finding weird skeletons of ancient animals must be where many legends came from.”

  “Mummy! Mummy!” The voice of a kid. The pitter-patter of tiny feet.

  I turned around to see a kid chasing another. The first kid was holding french fries with ketchup. I only had a moment to wonder why they allowed food inside when the other kid jumped on the first one. The fries and ketchup flew, and some of them ended up on my shirt.

  Fucking little shits… I balled my fists for a moment and pushed down the urge to smack the kid. His mother rushed over and apologized. Deen helped the two stupid spawns of stupidity up from the ground.

  And then we hurried to the comfort room to clean the mess. Mom stayed outside because she had to take a call.

  I’m going to turn that kid into a museum display, I thought as I rubbed a wet paper toilet on the ketchup splotches on my shirt. I turned to Deen. “Do you have alcohol or a hand sanitizer or something?”

  “Don’t use those on that.” She shook her head, looking at my reflection in the mirror as she fixed her hair. “The color of your shirt might bleed. Just wash it with water for now. Your shirt’s color is dark, wrong move for a hot day, but it’ll hide the stain. What’s important is that the ketchup doesn’t dry there. We’ll deal with it later at home. I can wash it for you if you want.”

  “I know how to wash my own clothes,” I snapped. I leaned down and pulled the top of my shirt, trying to get the stains there.

  “Maybe it’s better if you took off your shirt,” Deen said.

  “What?”

  “Take it off. I’ll wash it for you while you stay in a cubicle.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “Why does that sound like a trap?”