Mana Mutation Menace (Journey to Chaos Book 3) Read Free

picked the hairs and injected the syringe
himself. Next were full body x-rays to search for changes beneath his skin.
    While they waited for the results to come in, Percy
engaged him in a civil conversation about a popular sitcom. Before he could
breathe a sigh of relief, Percy asked him if he wanted to eat any of the
characters. He was about to stab the guy with his spear, but Kallen shook her
head no. So he stomped on the floor instead, cracking it with his human-like
foot.
    “ I’M NOT A
GRENDEL !"
    Noticing their apprehension, he took a breath, smiled
without showing teeth, and started again. In a human voice, he said, "I do
not appreciate being treated like one. No wonder Kallen has issues with the
word 'lab-rat.' If this is how you treated her then..."
    He trailed off and gears clicked in his head. His eyes
narrowed but they did not slit.
    "You don't still treat her like this, do you?"
    Everyone noticed the change in subject. He was no longer
concerned about himself, but someone else. Kallen would have jotted it down for
his defense but wanted to bask in the moment first. Talbot also made note of
it.
    "Of course not," Percy said. "Kallen is—"
     "Not you. I don’t care what you have to say."
     A flush of happiness colored Kallen's checks. Then it
soured. "It's just a check-up every month or so. It's no big deal."
    Percy walked over to Kallen and gently grabbed her
shoulder. Kallen looked up at him in surprise. The tiger man bared his teeth.
     "Correct. All we do is strap her to a table and cut
her open."
    He extended a claw and drew it across her shirt, tearing
it open above her chest.
    “As she says, it is no big deal.”
    Grendel rushed through Eric’s veins. It moved into his
heart and accelerated its pace. It moved through his arms and legs and created
adrenaline out of nothing. It moved into his eyes and made them slit. It moved
into his brain and drove out every other thought. In the space of seconds, he
was tackling Percy. With one hand, he squeezed the tiger man’s throat while the
other chambered to deliver the killing blow. The soiléir crystal
extended like a claw of his own. Kallen grabbed his wrist to stop him.
    “ Let go! I
must kill the threat to you!”
     “He’s not a threat! Not to me or anyone! I’m sure he has
an explanation for this!”
    “THREAT!”
    It took all of Kallen’s own demon strength to hold him
back, so he choked the tiger man instead. If not for Percy’s barrier, Eric
would have snapped his neck in an instant.
    “Eric, please stop!”
    “Mr. Watley, I have an explanation,” Percy replied.
    He sounded as stoic as ever; completely unconcerned about
the feral boy straddling him with a crystal claw poised to strike and a hand
around his neck. His colleagues were not so calm.
    “Kill him! He’s relapsed!”
    “Don’t kill him! This is fascinating!”
    “Will you listen to my explanation?” Percy asked. “I was
kidding about Kallen’s treatment. I will buy her a replacement shirt tomorrow.”
    “ Blood for
blood. ”
    Kallen took out her own staff and made a cut on Percy’s
shirt. He didn’t react. Only then did Grendel recede. Eric dismounted the tiger
man without regret or shame. Instead, he watched him like a snake in the grass.
    “I will listen to your explanation. Then I will reconsider
whether or not you are a threat.”
    Percy stood up and straightened his shirt and coat. Then
he smoothed down his fur and retracted his claws. Finally, he said,
    “The Emotional Memory hypothesis states that sapients lose
their memories during mutation but retain the emotions connected to those
memories. As monsters, they feel certain ways towards certain stimuli without
knowing why. In other words, the person they used to be is still present to
some degree, depending on the strength of their emotional content.”
    “So it’s similar to the Ghost Residue phenomenon,” Eric
said. “Just like a spirit can leave traces in places of personal importance
and/or frequent