Some unexpected help

For now, I took the opportunity that I was alone and freed the spines in my fingers. I wasn't sure if they could slice the rope but it was my only hope. I moved my fingers slowly, trying to cut or loosen the rope. I felt like it worked, but it would take a lot of time to fully cut it. The spines were made to pierce through skin, not to cut other materials.

Unfortunately, after a few minutes, I heard footsteps approaching and retracted the spines. Instead of Antonio, it was another thug. He glared at me for a moment, not saying anything.

"What… do you want?" I weakly asked.

The **** were slowly wearing off but still affected me somewhat, and the pain was still vividly present.

"What do you think I want, Ed?"

He crouched in front of me and grabbed behind his neck, pulling on it, revealing an all too familiar face.

"C-Claire? No…"

She shook her head. "No, you didn't give me the time to swap us back with your tantrum. I was worried you might do something stupid and quickly followed you. And I was right to do so."

Dahlia leaned closer and slapped me with her currently manly hand. "See what you **** me to do to save you from your dumb decisions? You **** me to wear a man! A man! And an ugly one at that! I hate wearing men!"

She shivered and mimicked throwing up. "Once I get my body back, I'm gonna need a good amount of alone time to feel better after this awful experience… And don't you worry, I'll slap you more once we get out of here. I'll slap your dumbness out of your thick skull. You really thought you were Batman or Spiderman? That you'd be able to take on six mobsters by yourself? We may have better reflexes than normal humans but we're far from invincible, especially you who's still mostly human!"

Her tone became much more emotional during that last part.

"I know…" was all I said, ashamed.

She was right, I did act stupidly, I could have just fled, or feigned to accept Antonio's offer. But no, I was overconfident and let my pride take over…

She walked behind me and took a look at the rope. "Hmm, did you try cutting it with your spines? First intelligent thing you did this evening."

She freed me. I tried to stand up but lamely fell down, my face against the floor. I didn't have enough strength to walk properly…

"Fucking ****…" I groaned.

"Give me a minute and we'll get out, Ed." Dahlia said.

I couldn't see what she was doing, but I heard her unzip and zip some clothes. After a few minutes, she was in front of me, fully Claire and wearing her usual overalls.

"Come on, let me help you stand up." She said as she grabbed my arm and brought it over her neck.

Claire was shorter than me, so it wouldn't be easy to walk even with Dahlia supporting me. I looked back, seeing the man she wore restored and tied up on the chair, ****.

"I told Claire to contact the police, they'll be there in a few minutes."

We stepped out of the room to find ourselves in a small warehouse. Five deflated skins were laying around, Antonio's included.

"You… did all that?" I asked.

"Yes, and you can't imagine how unpleasant it is to have so many awful souls inside me." Dahlia sighed as she stabbed the closest skin, restoring the man.

Before he regained consciousness, she kicked his head as hard as she could. "There, he'll keep sleeping a bit longer."

She did the same for the other men, except Antonio who she tied up as well and brought near the entrance.

Dahlia… stormed into a mobster's hideout… to save me…

I felt guilty for how I acted earlier. We may disagree on some things, but it was clear that she cared about me. Not everyone would do something as risky, even with skinwalker powers.

"I'm… sorry…" I managed to say.

Dahlia gave me a reassuring smile. "We'll talk later. For now, we're going back to my place for the night, just in case. You'll stay there with Claire and recover. And don't worry about the mobsters, they're not going to remember you."

Outside, a red Mini Cooper was waiting for us, Claire in the driver's seat. Dahlia sat me in the back while Claire watched. She was in shock seeing me beaten up like this, it was far worse than the usual high-school brawls I got myself into when I was younger. I didn't think I had anything broken, luckily, but I had a lot of bad bruises, cuts, and a few swollen parts.

The drive to Dahlia's flat was a quiet one. Claire focused on driving while Dahlia stayed next to me to check on me every few minutes. After Claire parked, she left the car first and looked around to make sure no one would see us enter the building. They both carried me to the couch and made me lie down, removing my shirt and my pants, leaving me in my underwear. Claire and Dahlia grimaced, my body was most likely not a pretty sight at the moment.

"Claire, stay with him, I'll be back soon." Dahlia said, leaving the room for a few minutes and coming back with a box full of medicines, as well as a few tubes.

She first applied some **** on a cotton and pressed it against the injury on my head, sponging the blood and disinfecting the cuts. It burned a lot but I didn't resist. She did the same with the other cuts I had on my body and then opened one of the tubes, applying the balm it contained on my bruises.

"It's a homemade balm to help reduce pain." Dahlia commented before I or Claire could ask what it was. "I lived as an herbalist for almost a year and a half, I picked up some useful skills back then."

"Thank you, Dahlia. For saving him..." Claire replied with a relieved smile.

"No problem. He's my child, after all, and I wouldn't want to see you cry." Dahlia replied, giving a smile that was a mix of reassuring and flirtatious.

Dahlia stared at me more seriously while Claire held my hand tightly. "Ed, can you promise us you won't do anything as stupid as that ever again? Claire and I were extremely worried."

I sheepishly nodded, but it was hard to move my neck. "I… I promise… I'm sorry…"

"You can do your vigilante stunts, but remember that we're not made to fight. Use your wits, not your muscles."

I just closed my eyes and sighed. I had the feeling she wouldn't let me forget about my fuck-up anytime soon.

She finished applying her balm everywhere and bandaged me up where it was needed, and then stood up.

"Now, it will take a few days for you to recover somewhat. One option to make you feel better right away in the meantime though would be to wear someone. I mainly have female friends but I can manage to bring you a man you can wear while recovering."

Dahlia looked away, a pained expression on her face. "I won't insist if you refuse, though."