She could no longer deny it. She had tried to pretend he was normal. An average human being. Just like her. But the differences added up. They seemed so small at first, something she could ignore, but now she was faced with a truth from which she could not hide. This stark reality that was a slap to the face.

It was in his balance, the way he always seemed poised to act. In his demeanor that was somewhat cold. And in the very air about him, an electric rush that promised of preternatural swiftness, of a power both tremendous and casual. A self-assurance that there was nothing which could escape him.

And the teeth. The sharp teeth.

“You know what I am,” he said. The look in his eye transfixed her, stared right through her and lay her open like a book.

“You’re a v…” And though she could not deny it, she could not quite admit it.

“Say it,” he urged.

This was it. The moment the illusion was entirely cast away. She gave herself to it.

“Velociraptor.”