Shane would have let go the second the Nymph asked it of her. She was too good a 'kin not to, especially since the Nymph was her Chosen's best friend, and her own friend before that.
But. Her Chosen-friend's panic made it seem like the stick was a bad thing, and was contagious. Shane could sense her Chosen's concern and knew something very bad was happening to her Chosen downstairs and was wishing she'd stayed there with him, but she was also aware that her going downstairs now would leave his best friend exposed and vulnerable and just make matters worse. So she got stubborn, and her sharp teeth dug in, and she pulled harder.
It wasn't a toy. She knew it wasn't a toy. Her Chosen would have played with her if it was a toy, instead of letting his friend try to hide it, and the Nymph's worry over it smelled too strong. It wasn't a toy, it was
bad, it was threatening her Chosen-friend and by extension her Chosen, and Shane wanted it
gone.
And then, as she pulled and the Nymph pulled,
pop! Shane found herself on her butt with one end of the stick still trapped in her jaw and staring at the other end still in the Nymph's hands, a rolled up piece of paper on the floor between them.
Yes, yes! I've killed the bad thing, I've killed it! My Chosen is safe!
Downstairs, Kiel had never
seen "under control" and would have laughed himself into a stupor if he realised Nicolay's confidence in him. Like, it was so weird being the protector, you know? All his life, first his parents, then his older siblings, and then even Zeph, had been keeping
him out of trouble, it was weird to be the one trying to hold everything together.
He kinda liked it, but mostly it scared the manure out of him.
But at least the dude seemed to buy the whole "It's only Shane up there" thing? Which was totally a good thing, 'cause that other dude was kinda weirding him out with the sniffing thing. Was he Therian? If so, then how good was his nose? Hopefully, Shane's scent was covering Phenny's, 'cause otherwise this was going south way fast.
“Well, I know they're smart as all Hel, but they can do that? Really?”
It wasn't often Kiel was asked to
edify someone, but he nodded enthusiastically. He was eager to talk about Shane anyhow, but if this guy was as enamoured of 'kin as his tone suggested then he could be distracted, right?
“Yeah, like, she can do all kindsa stuff, man, she's awesome.” He tried not to overdo it, though. Last thing they needed was this guy asking to actually
see her.
“Hahahahaha, yeah, Dardanian. How'd you know?” He wasn't actually lying - which was a good thing, 'cause he totally sucked at it - because he wasn't saying "yeah
we're Dardanian", but it was enough of an implication for him to feel his mom's virtual hand slapping him up the back of the head.
Thank you, Xanth. Man.
They were leaving. He almost burst into a victory dance, but managed to keep his hands at his sides.
“Yeah, like, totally, man, that's way freaky, I'll keep him well clear, you know?” It was totally weird that they'd bought that whole "Nic's a shapeshifter" thing, though, if the other dude was one, but Kiel didn't have time to think about that.
“And, like, I totally will, man,” he agreed as he took the card, but again let the dude infer what he wanted.
Finally, they were out of his house. He thought about warning his landlady next door, but figured they'd already be in there before he could get her on the COM. She was a tough old bird anyway, right?
“Um.” Flopping face down on the couch, Kiel yelled,
“Like, I think it's safe to come out now, guys!”