He released a garbled growl.
“What?”
“Cal fox ten coal,” he repeated slowly with a fist on his chest.
What the fuck did that mean?
He patted his chest. “Calfoxtencoal.”
His name. Maybe? If that long word could be a name. I was having a Tarzan-Jane moment. Joy.
“Seth Harris.”
“Calfoxtencoal,” he said with a hand on his chest, then held out his hand toward me. “Seth Harris.”
My name sounded closer to a car engine coughing with its last breath, but it was understandable. “Calfoxtencoal,” I said, which made his lips quirk.
“Kal Vox Ren Col,” he repeated.
“Kalvoxtencoal.”
“Kalvox Rencol.”
I caught the R for the first time. “Kalvoxrencol.”
He smiled again.
My jaw clenched. “What do you want?”
Kalvoxrencol cocked his head to the side, hair tumbling over his broad shoulder, as his tail flicked. Long earrings brushed his neck, making my eyes travel down the length. I ripped my gaze away. He made the same motion the purple woman had—the damn circle.
“What do you want? Where am I? I want to go home.”
He made the same gesture.
“Are you fucking serious? What do you want?” I shouted. I felt myself edging closer to the brink. My mind was fractured and stress wound me tight. One more blow and I would snap like a twig.
He made the circle motion again, and I shook my head. Sweat dripped down my spine, soaking my shirt. Pressure built in my chest, growing, until it became a physical weight suffocating me, ripping me apart.
Everything was too much.
I gripped the front of my shirt, the soft fabric squishing under my fingers. I tried to suck in air, but my lungs refused to cooperate. My thoughts spun, and my knees trembled moments before they gave out.
Panic attack. I was having a panic attack. It had been almost a year since the last one. Well, besides the one I had when I first arrived.
The pressure grew until I felt like I was dying, even though IknewI wasn’t. My heart thrashed so powerfully, I feared it would rip to shreds. I bent my head to the floor to ground myself, but I couldn’t. The world was spinning, and I was along for the ride.
Kalvoxrencol was shouting in the background, his voice rough. I didn’t think he was yelling at me, but it didn’t matter. The raucous noise made me tense.
I tried to tune him out and focus on the musky flooring beneath me. It was damp, as if alive. I clung to the feeling, but the swirling panic didn’t abate.
Lucy. I needed Lucy.
Whenever I had an attack at home, she would sit beside me, purring. I needed her. I hadn’t known how much until I adopted her. Thoughts of her comforting presence began to calm me. As I took shuddering breaths in through my nose and out through my mouth, my pulse slowed to a normal rhythm and my vision cleared.
When I felt almost normal, I pressed my sweat-drenched back against the chilled wall. Kalvoxrencol crouched in front of me, his tail slashing. His voice steadily calmed, though he continued to speak into a round stone, and his eyes scoured me.
I took in his wide eyes, long nose, and full lips. His scales were steel-blue, but much like the woman, he had crescent-shaped colors peeking around them. Most were dark purple, but I spotted a few electrical blues.
