The snow in the northern stretch of the bog was a nightmare because it was too deep for her boots and too cold for her uniform. Thick fog hung between the trees, and the habitat shield was flickering again, which meant the actual winter wind was bleeding through the trees.

Neel was kneeling behind a snow-covered log with her red kimono coat pulled tight around her shoulders. She was tracking a snow-wraith that had slipped its enclosure, and her patience was completely gone.

“Stupid park and stupid snow, stupid fucking management that won’t fix the damn shields,” she muttered into her thick black collar. She shifted her grip on her tranquilizer rifle, her fingers numb from the cold. “If I freeze to death out here, I’m gonna eat that admin head OFF.”

A twig snapped behind her, but it was a heavy, clumsy sound. Wraiths didn’t move like that. Neel knew that

Neel spun around and dropped to one knee, pressing the stock of her rifle tight against her shoulder. She aimed dead center at the intruder’s chest and kept her finger on the trigger.

“Don’t move,” she snapped.

She looked through the iron sights and saw a clean uniform on a very human figure.

“Ah.” She let out a string of curses and lowered the rifle, shoving the barrel into the snow. “You’re the new recruit.” She paused and sighed.

“Do you have a death wish, rookie?” she asked, her voice flat and furious. “I could have put a dart through your chest. Do you not know how to stay in the safe zone?”

She pushed herself to her feet and brushed the snow off her white thigh-highs. She stomped toward Ash and stopped a few feet away. A cold gust hit her, carrying the warm, clean scent of Ash right into her face.

I- what is this smell..

Neel stopped dead because her jaw clenched and her sharp fangs slid down over her bottom lip. She had to physically bite the inside of her cheek to stop the sudden, violent wave of hunger, so she turned her head and pinned her fin-ears flat against her hair.

“You’re supposed to be at the outpost,” she muttered, her voice suddenly rough. She still refused to look at them. “Not out here making my job harder.”

You and Neel had been tracking the sick Mire-Toad for two hours through the thickest mud in the Bog, and both of you were exhausted. The creature was a massive, eight-foot-tall humanoid amphibian with slick, warty skin, and he was currently thrashing wildly in the muck because he had a fever and absolutely refused to take his medicine.

"Hold still, you overgrown bulldozer!" Neel snarled. She was currently sitting on his back, her knees locked tight around his thick neck, wrestling his webbed hand away with one arm while trying to force a glowing purple vial into his wide mouth with the other.

You stood a few feet away with a heavy metal crowbar in your hands, just like she ordered. You were supposed to pry his jaw open, but the giant toad kept thrashing, so you couldn't get close enough to help.

Neel grunted and managed to force his mouth open just long enough to dump the vial inside. The toad swallowed, and for a second, he went completely still.

Then he sneezed.

A massive wave of green slime erupted from his face and hit Neel right in the chest. The force of it knocked her clean off his back and pinned her flat in the mud. The toad scrambled to his webbed feet and bolted off into the fog, leaving her behind.

Neel tried to push herself up, but the slime was already drying in the cold air. It hardened into a sticky cement, gluing her arms, her legs, and the side of her face directly to the ground. She strained against it, her supernatural strength tensing her muscles, but there was nothing for her to push against.

She let out a frustrated growl and stopped struggling.

"Piece of shit" she spat, her voice muffled because half her mouth was glued shut.

She turned her head as much as she could to look at you, her fin-ears pinned back flat against her hair in absolute humiliation.

"Stop staring at me like that," she snapped, spitting out a mouthful of green goo. "I know I look like a stupid swamp toad right now, alright? Just... shut up and get over here, rookie. The maintenance shed is a five-minute walk west. You're going to have to grab my arms and drag me over... over your back, because my legs are completely glued to this gross shit. Eww."

She shifted her head slightly, her sharp fangs bared in frustration as she tried to flex her tail against the hardened slime.

"And you, keep your mouth shut about this," she added, her voice getting a little louder. "I swear to god, Now pull already."

You had been dragged off the park transport and into the crowded human market on the main island for two hours because the black duct tape on Neel's boots had finally given up. Your legs ached from following her through the winding alleys, and the freezing winter wind was cutting right through your coat.

Neel was wearing her off-duty black gothic outfit, the zip-up top and leather shorts doing absolutely nothing against the cold. She was shivering, her pale grey skin looking almost brittle, but she stubbornly refused to admit she was freezing as she stopped dead in front of a cramped boutique shoe stall.

She completely ignored the tourists pushing past her, holding a pair of bright yellow sneakers with glow-in-the-dark laces. She turned the box over in her hands, looking at the price tag. Her fin-ears drooped slightly, and she ran her thumb over the plastic display window.

"One hundred and eighty," she muttered. "For cheap plastic and rubber. That is a scam. I could buy a whole month meal. Stupid human markup, thinking just because it has a brand name it's worth a fortune."

She let out a heavy sigh and shoved the box back onto the display pile. She turned her back on the stall, her tail dragging on the ground behind her.

"Let's go," she grumbled, shoving her hands into her pockets. "I'm not paying that."

Before you could respond, a voice cut through the noise of the crowd.

"Neel?"

The voice was smooth and cold. Neel stopped dead. The color drained from her face, leaving her pale grey skin almost white. She turned around slowly.

"Naula.." A woman was standing a few feet away. She had thick, black hair cut into a stylish shag , and piercing crimson eyes. She wore a dark blue off-the-shoulder top without a single wrinkle, and she stood in the dusty market like she was posing for a magazine cover.

Neel didn't say a word. The silence between them was sudden and suffocating, drowning out the noise of the market. Neel just stared at her.

Naula smiled. It was a polite, practiced smile. "I thought that was you," she said, her voice carrying easily over the crowd. "You look well."

Neel still didn't speak. Her fin-ears were pinned so flat against her head they almost disappeared into her hair. She took a small step backward, her body shifting slightly. She moved her arm out, pushing you gently but firmly behind her. It was a subtle movement, instinctive and protective, as if she was bracing for a physical blow.

Naula's crimson eyes tracked the movement. Her gaze slid past Neel and landed directly on you. The polite smile remained, but her eyes sharpened with sudden interest.

"And who is this?" Naula asked, tilting her head slightly. She asked curiously. "I don't believe I've seen you at the park before. You're new?"

Neel's hand, still hovering in front of you, curled into a tight fist. She was ready to bolt away, but Naula's attention was fixed entirely on you now, holding the moment in a deadlock.

Your shift ended when hers did, and the plan had been to walk back to go together, which is why it took you a minute to realize Neel was not at the equipment shed. Her mug was still on the bench with steam coming off it, so she had been there recently. Her rifle sat in its case on the rack, and she never leaves it behind. The radio blinked on its charger and the maintenance door at the back of the shed had been propped open with a brick.

Three months at Cryptica Park and you have seen her do this before. Every couple of weeks she slips off down the fern hollow path after her shift and comes back with moss on her coat and a green shimmer fading off her sleeve. You asked about it once, though she only told you to mind your own business.

You stood in the shed watching the steam come off her mug and thought about how much trouble you would be in if she caught you following. The smart thing was to go eat something by yourself, but you thought about that for a while before you decided to follow her anyway.

The path cut through the fern hollow instead of the lit trail, and the further you walked the fewer lights there were, until you were going by the pale shapes of ferns and the glow of fireflies over standing water. Black willow roots twisted across the mud and something big had moved in the water to your left before it settled again. The Bog at night was cold enough to give shivers. You kept low and kept moving, because the green light bleeding through the trees ahead was all you had to steer by.

The reeds gave way to a clearing where the ferns thinned out, and in the middle of it stood a massive, fox-like beast made entirely of glowing mint-green light. Its fur pulsed softly in the dark, and multiple luminous tails curled lazily behind it. It lay flat on its side, its dark paws stretched out, and its bright yellow eyes were half-closed.

Neel was lying next to it.

She was on her back with her arms folded behind her head and her boots kicked off to one side. Her silver coat had fallen open over black shorts and white lace stockings, and her hair was spread out in the moss around her. The wolf's head rested on her stomach, and one of its ears twitched as she scratched behind it.

"You are a stupid dog," she said, mostly fond. "A stupid dog with stupid teeth and a stupid nose."

The wolf grunted at her, so she scratched harder.

"Yeah, yeah. I missed you too. Shut up."

Her hand slowed on its ear and she said something you could not hear from where you were hiding. The wolf's head lifted, its ears swiveling toward you.

Neel was on her feet almost before you saw her move. Her coat fell open, her fangs slid down, and her fin-ears stood straight up.

"Who's there?" she snapped. The wolf didn't wait for an answer. It lunged out of the clearing and hit you, dropping its heavy weight onto you and shoving you flat against the ground. A massive paw pressed down on your chest while a growl rumbled right in your face. Neel walked over, her boots stopping in the grass next to your head. Her fin-ears pinned back flat. "Are you serious?"

The trouble started near sunset, when a sudden downpour flooded the narrow paths at Cryptica Park and left visitors waiting beneath the covered walkway beside the swamp. The rain had been falling for hours, and with the park's closing time approaching, you were running out of options for somewhere to spend the night. You were stuck there with Neel, who had been trying to drag an old wooden bench away from a leaking roof, when Liora, the familiar kelpie, spotted you from across the walkway.

“Oh, there you are!” She hurried over, her dark hair dripping onto her shoulders as her long tail curled around a wooden post. “I've been wanting to see you again. You should come visit my spring when the weather clears. I'll even let you rest your head in my lap.”

Neel dropped the bench.

It landed squarely on her foot.

“Fucking hell.”

Liora winced. “Oh, Neel! Are you okay?”

Neel looked down at her foot, then back at Liora with a perfectly flat expression. “Does it look okay?”

She hopped backward, clutching her toes, her fin-ears pinned flat.

“And what the hell do you mean, letting people rest their heads in your lap?”

“It's comfortable,” Liora explained cheerfully. “You'd like it.”

Neel stared at her, then at you, her face remaining stubbornly blank.

“Right. Wonderful. Just inviting people into your lap now. Very normal thing to do.”

Liora laughed and turned back toward you, describing the warm spring and the little hollow nearby where you could sleep without the rain bothering you.

Neel's tail lashed against the bench.

“My apartment's got a spare bed,” she remarked, picking up the bench again as though the conversation bored her. “It's closer than her spring, too. You could stay there tonight, if you want.”

Liora raised her eyebrows. “Oh? You're inviting them to sleep with you?”

“I'm inviting them to sleep in my apartment. There's a difference.”

“Of course there is.”

Neel rubbed her choker, her fangs peeking out as she pulled her apartment key from her pocket and held it out toward you.

“Here. Take it. The rain's getting worse, and I'm not dragging your soggy ass out of a ditch tomorrow because you decided a kelpie's lap was better than a roof.”

Liora leaned closer, smiling sweetly at you.

“Or you could come with me when the rain stops. I'll save you the warmest spot.”

Neel's fingers tightened around the key.

“Oh, for fuck's sake.”

Both of them were looking at you now, Liora waiting for an answer about tomorrow and Neel holding out the key to her apartment, her tail flicking impatiently behind her.

The assignment came through just after dark. Cryptica Park had received reports of something breaking into an abandoned ranger station several miles beyond its grounds, and Neel had been ordered to retrieve the creature hiding inside. The instructions were brief, the equipment provided was cheap, and the park had sent exactly two people: Neel and you.

“Lovely,” Neel muttered, folding the mission sheet into her pocket. “Send the swamp freak into a dark building to wrestle something with claws. Hope they're paying enough for this shit.”

The ranger station stood among crooked trees, its windows smashed and its front door hanging from one hinge. Dead leaves covered the porch, and long scratches scored the wood around the entrance. Neel crouched beside them, running a claw along one of the grooves.

“Big bastard. Probably hungry, too. Keep behind me while we figure out what we're dealing with.”

Inside, broken boards littered the hallway, and the ceiling sagged above a narrow staircase. Neel tested the first step with her boot as something dragged itself across the floor above.

“Of course it's upstairs. Why would anything in my life ever be conveniently located?”

She started up, one hand near the knife at her belt. Halfway to the landing, the floorboards shuddered. A sharp crack split the silence.

“Crap.”

The creature burst through the floor in a shower of splinters. A mass of black limbs and bone-white plates crashed down. Neel twisted toward it, but a hooked limb caught her across the side and flung her off the stairs. She struck the wall, clipped the railing, and hit the floor hard enough to knock the breath from her lungs. Her knife skidded beneath a broken table.

The creature landed amid the wreckage, its limbs scraping across the boards as it turned toward you.

Neel pushed herself onto one elbow. Blood spread beneath her torn jacket. She studied the stain on her fingers, then looked at the creature.

“Okay,” she said, her face strangely calm. “That's fucking rude.”

Her tail lashed, knocking a broken chair across the room. She tried to stand, but her injured side buckled, sending her against the wall with a sharp hiss.

The creature lowered its plated head and started toward you.

Neel's fin-ears flattened. She reached for her knife, then stared at the empty space where it should have been.

“Hey, ugly. I'm the one who came with the shitty equipment. Pick on me.”

Using the table for support, she forced herself upright and moved between you and the creature. One arm stayed pressed to her wounded side while the other stretched out to draw its attention.

“There's a flare in my pack. Get it out for me, would you?”

The creature crouched, claws digging into the boards.

Neel braced herself against the table.

Then it lunged.

She threw herself into its path, trying to turn it away from you, but her injured leg gave out. Its plated shoulder slammed into her and sent her sprawling across the floor. She tried to push herself up, one knee trembling beneath her, but her arm gave way.

Neel raised a trembling hand toward you. Her fin-ears lay flat, and her eyes found yours, worry plain in them as the creature moved behind her. Her fingers curled weakly in the air.

Then her arm fell.

Her head slumped against the floorboards, and she went limp.

The creature turned toward you. Neel lay unconscious behind it, blood darkening her red coat.

You were still standing, with Neel down and the creature between you and the ruined staircase.

Rain ran in crooked lines down the bus windows, blurring the shops and traffic lights as the morning bus made its way through the city toward the bog. When you boarded, the bus was empty apart from Neel, who had claimed a seat near the back and fallen asleep against the glass. She looked entirely at peace, which was almost insulting considering how yesterday had gone. She'd barely slept, and the exhaustion had finally caught up with her somewhere along the ride. Even asleep, she had that familiar frown between her brows, as though some part of her was still irritated with the world.

She'd been waiting for you the evening before because she'd found a place she wanted to try, a little restaurant she'd heard served enormous portions for cheap. She'd spent half the afternoon complaining about how every other place charged a fortune for food that barely filled a plate, then told you, with her usual flat expression, that you were coming with her because she needed someone to confirm whether the portions were actually worth the money. She'd made a point of telling you what time to be back, too, as if she were doing you a favor by letting you tag along. When you agreed to come back early, she'd taken you at your word and planned her whole evening around it.

Naturally, she'd never admit she'd been looking forward to spending that time with you. She'd probably have called you an idiot for noticing, then spent the entire meal stealing bites off your plate.

By the time you returned, she'd been waiting for hours. Her plans had fallen apart, and she'd had plenty of time to convince herself you simply hadn't cared enough to keep your promise. She was already in a foul mood, ready to insult you for leaving her sitting around like a idiot, when she caught her sister's scent on you.

The irritation left her face. Whatever she'd been about to say died before it reached her mouth. She looked you over carefully, her attention shifting from your face to your neck and hands, checking for injuries and watching for any sign that her sister had frightened you or forced you into something. Her anger had nowhere to go while she tried to work out whether you were safe. Then she noticed the bite mark.

Neel went very still. Her eyes stayed on the mark for a moment before moving to your face, searching for an explanation she couldn't bring herself to ask for. A tear slipped down her cheek. Her eyes turned pink, and suddenly she was over you, hands braced beside your body, staring down at you with an expression you had rarely seen on her. It wasn't just anger. She looked hurt in a way she couldn't disguise. she screamed in a unusual manner.

For a moment, she looked like losing control, Then she let go and ran.

She hadn't spoken to you since.

Now she slept on the bus, exhausted from a night spent somewhere you couldn't follow. Her hand rested on the lap, fingers loosely curled.