"When is Kell coming back?" Evan asked.

"I don't know," I answered.

I kept pacing. Kell was never this late. I just wanted him to come home. He'd been stressed over the last week. I think he was after some monster. I wouldn't know, he didn't tell me. That made me worry.

"Stop pacing, you're making me nervous," Evan ordered. The spotted Zafara grabbed my wrist.

I snatched it back. "I'm sorry, I'm worried," I mumbled. "Hey, he's my fiancé, of course I'm worried about him."

"I understand, but you seem paranoid."

"I'm sorry." I adjusted my hat. "He's just been stressed over the last two weeks, hunting for this thing. I'm just worried about him."

"I am, too, Janet, but you worrying will making it worse."

I sighed. "I know." The door began to unlock. "He's here."

I walked to the door ask Kell entered. He didn't look to happy. Without a word, he walked by Evan and I.

"How was your day?" Evan asked.

"It could have been worse," Kell said uneasily. "I'd rather not talk about it."

Whenever he said that, it meant he should. "Really, Kell?" I asked.

The Wocky nodded. "Yes."

I hugged him. I took this opportunity to whisper in his ear, "I know that's not true."

Kell sighed a bit. "Janet, really. It's fine." He looked into my eyes. I knew he was lying. "I'm going to get into something more comfortable. We can talk later."

Kell went upstairs. I watched him. I wanted to talk to him so bad. He needed to talk. That was it, I was talking to him.

"Evan, I'm going upstairs for a bit," I said.

"Tell Kell that he can talk to us," Evan responded.

"I will."

I walked upstairs. Every nerve in my body wanted me to run, but I just walked. Okay, I knew he was in my room. Now I just hoped he was willing to see a visitor.

Hmm, the door to my room was open. I looked in and leaned on the frame. Kell had on different pants, but he was shirtless. He was sitting on the bed, facing the wall with the door, but he was looking at the floor. I saw some dark bruises on his upper body.

"Anything interesting on the floor I'm not seeing?" I asked.

Kell looked up at me. His cheeks turned red and he looked away. "Nothing, just thinking," he said.

"About this monster?"

"Yes."

"Need to talk?"

"No."

"Kell, whenever you say that, I know you should." I shut and locked the door behind me. I leaned in it. "I'm not letting you leave until you do."

"What makes you think that I won't move you out of the way?"

"Because you're not in the mood. You don't do that stuff when you're not in a good mood." I went from inquisitive to concerned. "Talk to me, Kell. Please."

Kell smirked. "Heh, one thing about loving a detective, they know a lot about you." He pat the bed. "Sit down."

I took a step away from the door. "You're not going to run, are you?"

"I'd never run from you. Come, sit."

I walked to the bed. "You can talk to us, you know."

"I know. I just haven't been in the mood for talk."

I wrapped my hands around Kell's arm closest to me. "It's not going well, is it?"

He shook his head. "Just about the opposite." The yellow Wocky looked my in the eye. "This is getting too dangerous. Two weeks we were hunting this thing. I don't know how, but it's setting traps for us or turning ours against us. Not to mention it's fast and strong. It nearly broke my leg."

I got even more concerned. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, but..." Kell lifted his pant leg. There was a huge bruise on his shin. "it still hurts."

"What are you going to do?"

With his free hand, Kell held his forehead. "We're just not sure. Corb and I are considering passing the job to some other monster hunters. It's getting too dangerous for us to handle." His nudged my foot with his. "But we're not sure if we should."

I tilted my head. "Why not?"

His ears drooped. "I wasn't going to tell you this because you hate him, but the police chief is criticizing us. He doesn't think we can do this." He looked at me. "What should we do?"

I let him go. "I think you should give the job to someone else. You seemed really worried about getting hurt. Besides, the police chief is an A-class jerk. Though, it's not my choice to make. It's yours and Corbin's."

"But I want your opinion." Kell grabbed my hand. "If you think we should pass the job, then I agree."

"Alright." I examined his arm. "Yikes, how many bruises did you get?"

"A lot." Kell looked at his arms and chest. "I know there's more on my back. I'm fine, though. Really."

"I don't know." I eyed his chest. There was a huge bruise covering the entire left side of his chest. "Kell, when did you get that bruise?"

"Today, actually. A big tree branch got me."

"Does it hurt?"

He nodded. "Yes, a lot. In fact, most of these still really hurt." He looked at his bruises ribs. "I have no idea if these are broken."

"Let me see."

I grabbed his hand and ran my free hand up and down his ribs. Kell winced and squeezed my hand. Okay, there was swelling and tenderness, but everything felt in place.

"Sorry, I was just checking," I apologized. "Good news,