The Sunspire I got a heart like a truck

He took her bait. Fennec smiled, not catching anything significant in his tone. She assumed he might. For a moment she was tempted to lie, open with some bullshit about taking it down easily with just her own teeth, but that felt like a waste of an opener. The real story was actually way more interesting.

I found a plant that I thought might be dangerous. I knew where it had taken down a kill before, so I went back to that place and left a surprise for it. I only had to stay close enough to be sure none of ours came across it first. Or Epoch's. She couldn't imagine explaining that one.

I didn't expect it to kill it, and definitely not that quickly. I'm not sure I should even hold on to what's left. It might be better to destroy it. She knew exactly where she'd take it if that was his preference. A part of her would regret it - she hadn't seen a similar plant since, so it was likely rare - but more of her knew it was more of a ticking time bomb than she wanted to hold.

I think it stopped the heart. With no signs of suffocation, and no wounds, it was the only explanation. How that connected to the stiffness she wasn't sure, but perhaps that was only a side effect.