“Grady.” He took off his coat and hung it on the banister at the bottom of the steps, then turned back to me with raised eyebrows. “Is your shower on?”
I smiled. “Yes.”
“But… you’re already ready.”
“There… might be a man in my shower.”
His eyes widened comically wide, and I laughed.
“Dude, is it really that unlikely that I’d have a man here?”
“Um, since I know you never invite guys back here and you spend every night alone, yes. It is.”
A weird sound came out of me—if Laz ever accused me of squealing, I’d deny it until my last breath—and I maybe jumped up and down a little. “It’s Alaric.”
He blinked at me.
“Alaric. You know, dream-snow-globe-guy that we’ve been researching and trying to help?”
He opened and closed his mouth a few times before grunting. “You honestly believe the man you’ve been dreaming about, a figure in your snow globe, is in your shower right now?”
“What? I thought you believed me.”
He shook his head. “I didn’t think… Jesus, Grady, I didn’t think you really believed…” He stared at me in concern.
“Stop looking at me like that.”
He cringed. “Grades, I think… I think we might need to go get checked out.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You’re hallucinating, so maybe—”
“I am not!”
“Grady?” Alaric called down from upstairs. “Are you alright?”
A shocked expression fell over Laz’s face, and I glared at him as I called up to Alaric, “Yes, I’m fine. Come on down when you’re finished getting dressed, but you don’t need to rush. It’s only Laz.”
“Yell if you need me,” Alaric said, clearly picking up on the tension down here.
I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at my best friend.
“I’m sorry.” Laz frowned.
“You should be.”
“Grady, you know… you know my dad suffered from hallucinations when I was in high school… you know that it was… terrifying. I’m—I’m sorry.”
I sighed and released my anger. I had witnessed his father’s hallucinations enough times for myself to know how scary it had been. His father had truly believed the crazy things only he could see, and I hadn’t even been in the house for the worst of it. His father’s medications made him hallucinate, and he’d started becoming violent, so… I suppose I could see how Laz would be freaked out by this entire situation. “It’s alright.”
“You forgive me?”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, I do. But maybe next time, go look to see if I’m actually hallucinating before you accuse me and get all freaked out.”
He cracked a smile. “Deal.”
I nodded.
“Just because there’s an actual person upstairs doesn’t mean he’s the… snow globe guy.”
I sighed. “Lazarus, it’s really him.”
“So… this is… Alaric? And you think he… came out of your snow globe?”
“I know how crazy that sounds.”
He nodded.
“He’s a warlock.”
“That isn’t helping.”
Before I could retort, Alaric started down the staircase with Tiberius on his shoulder, and the tightening in my chest eased at the sight. What in the world is this?
Laz blurted, “You have an owl.”
Alaric flashed him a shy smile. “Hello, I’m Alaric Galen Crane Bloodgood, and this is my familiar, Tiberius. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
Laz blinked at him for several seconds before holding out his hand and saying, “Lazarus Callanan… nice to meet you.”
Alaric shook Laz’s hand before coming to stand beside me. He seemed… nervous, so I automatically reached out to grab his hand. Alaric sent me a grateful smile and laced our fingers together, and Laz caught the whole interaction.
Laz asked, “How—why—are you here?”
Alaric said, “Grady broke the curse by wishing for me, and… here I am.”
“Grady pulled you into this whole crazy snow globe thing, too.” Laz closed his eyes and shook his head.
“I didn’t pull anyone into this… this is real,” I argued.
Alaric said, “Grady has been telling you the truth, Laz. Everything he’s told you about me is true.”
Laz blinked at him, and I could tell he didn’t believe him, not that I really blamed him, but I decided to cut that off before it turned into an argument. “So… Laz, your mom won’t mind me bringing one more, will she?” I asked.
It took him a moment to answer. “Of course she won’t, but… I’m not so sure about the owl.”
“He can wait outside,” Alaric said. “He can stay with me on the walk over, if that’s alright with you both, then he can wait outside of your mother’s home for us.”
Laz and I exchanged a look before I said, “We’re driving over, but Tiberius can ride over with us, I guess. Or he can stay here if you don’t want him outside alone.”
Alaric whispered to me, “In a car?” I nodded. “I’ve never been inside one, well not outside of a storage box.” Laz snorted in disbelief, and after Alaric glanced at him, he asked me, “Can Tib come with us? He and I don’t stray far from one another.”
“That’s… fine. I’ll drive, and I don’t mind having him in the car.”
“You’re really going to let your bird fly around outside without you?” Laz asked.
“He’ll be alright.”
“He won’t fly away?”
Alaric smiled. “He might hunt while we’re inside, but he’ll always come back to me.”
I shrugged at Laz since I didn’t really know anything about it. There wasn’t any mention of what exactly a familiar-warlock relationship was in that grimoire. It only mentioned the warlocks’ and witches’ familiars’ names and species throughout Alaric’s family history.
“So… am I saying he’s your boyfriend?” Laz asked me.
I turned to Alaric to see how he reacted to that news, and he smiled at me. The smile made me melt a little, but I whispered to him, “Do you know what that term means? It’s a romantic relationship that—”
“I know the term. Remember my last home had a television nearby, so I was able to catch up on many phrases.”
I nodded. “Is it… weird if he says that we’re boyfriends to his family?”
“I’m okay with that as long as you are.”
I took a deep breath and nodded, then said to Laz, “Yes, tell her he’s my boyfriend.”
Laz excused himself to call his mom to give her a heads-up, and Alaric asked me, “Is everything okay, Grady? Are you sure you still want me to accompany you?”
I squeezed his hand with a smile. “Yes, I am.” I rubbed at my chest, the ache from earlier feeling a little strange again.
Alaric’s eyes tracked the motion, and he said, “When we return, we’ll have to discuss that.” He nodded toward my chest.
“I’m fine, but we can talk if you want.”
“I do.” He gave me a short nod and a little frown, but didn’t elaborate. Since Laz came in a second later, I figured it was a conversation we’d need to have alone.
“We’re all good, but fair warning, Grades, Mom is super excited to meet your boyfriend,” Laz said with a smirk.
I groaned. “She’s going to embarrass me, isn’t she?”
He nodded. “Hell yes, she is.” He eyed Alaric again, with a huge frown. He didn’t know what to make of him. He didn’t believe us. Of course he didn’t, the story was implausible.
Releasing Alaric’s hand, I ran over to the mantel, suddenly remembering the snow globe itself. When I picked it up, Alaric backed away, saying with a shaky voice, “Don’t play with that thing. Please. It’s dangerous, Grady.” One glance at him showed just how terrified he was.
“I think it’s okay, Alaric,” I said quietly as I examined the globe. After shoo
ting Alaric a concerned look, I said to Laz, “Look real quick.”
“Grady, I really don’t think you should—”
“I’ll put it in the fireplace in a second, but let me show Laz real quick,” I said.
Laz walked over, and after a few seconds, he gasped before turning his gaze on Alaric, who was now partially hidden behind the hall wall. Laz kept looking back and forth between Alaric and the globe before muttering, “The man and owl are missing.”
“No, not missing. He’s standing right there.” I pointed at Alaric, who was shaking so badly, I could see it from here. Shit, I’m making him freak out. I grabbed an old blanket off the couch and wrapped the snow globe up, then I went to the fireplace and put the globe up through the flue into the chimney, then stood and brushed myself off. “There. All gone.”
Alaric walked over and pulled me into a hug, so I rubbed his shaking back. I felt guilty because I’d caused him to worry so much, so I muttered, “I’m sorry,” and squeezed him tight. It felt better than it probably should have to have him in my arms, but I was past the point of questioning my feelings for Alaric. It was clear he was special to me, so I was going to try to go with it instead of worrying over it. Laz shot me a concerned look over Alaric’s shoulder, but I ignored him.
“You alright?” I muttered.
Alaric released me and nodded, then backed away and walked over to Tiberius, who hopped onto his forearm, then climbed up to his shoulder. I watched the bird rub Alaric’s cheek, hair, and neck, and I could see Alaric visibly relax. A frown pulled down on my lips because I should’ve been the one to calm Alaric, not Tiberius.
Shaking away that ridiculousness, I went to finish getting everything ready for our family Christmas dinner.
We all piled into the car with all my presents and things in the back seat with Laz, and Alaric and Tiberius in the passenger seat, and we were off. Alaric yelled out in excitement when we were only going ten miles per hour, and I spent the entire twenty-minute drive laughing at how ridiculously excited he was. Laz laughed a few times, too, but I also caught him eyeing Alaric. Whenever I saw him in the rearview mirror, he was scowling at him, so I was pretty sure he thought Alaric was putting on a show. If I hadn’t seen him come out of the snow globe myself, I probably wouldn’t have believed it either.
Chapter 14
Alaric
I had never been so nervous in my life. Once Grady parked his car—and wow, that had been an amazing thing to experience out in the open instead of packed away inside the globe—I sat there for a moment. Taking in the sights of the town had been a little overwhelming. I’d seen pictures and movies of what the cities and things looked like, but I hadn’t seen it for myself. The times I’d been transported from one home to another or one store to another, I’d been wrapped up with only the inside of a bag or box to look at.
“You doing okay?” Grady asked after he opened my door and leaned into the car.
I sent him a soft smile. “Yes. Perhaps a little queasy from going so fast.”
He nodded, then stood and I heard him tell his friend, “Go ahead in. We’ll be in in a minute.”
I didn’t hear Laz’s response, but he walked away toward the house.
Grady leaned back down. “Take your time. I know this has to be strange.”
I nodded, and Tiberius chirped, so I held him out toward Grady and asked, “Can he fly?”
Grady scooted out of the way, and Tib flew off my arm and up into the sky.
We both watched him for a minute, and seeing him flying, seeing him free, helped settle my nerves. I said, “He missed flying so much. He flew in the snow globe, but it wasn’t very big and he could only fly in circles.”
“He’s beautiful.”
“Thank you.”
“I thought owls were awake at night?”
“Tiberius never has been. I’m not sure if that’s because he’s my familiar or because he’s a snowy owl… they’re active during the day.” I’d seen a documentary on different owls a few years back in my last home.
“That’s right… I knew that,” he murmured, still watching Tiberius flying high in the sky. “Wait, I remember seeing a documentary about them—I’ve always loved snowy owls, so I watched it—”
“I think I saw that, too, at my last home.”
He grinned at me. “Aren’t males supposed to be all-white?”
I nodded. “The older he gets, the paler he’ll become.”
“The older… isn’t he like two hundred years old already?”
I chuckled. “I suppose he is, but as far as I can tell, the curse stopped time inside the globe; I don’t think either of us aged at all in there.”
“It stopped time… like it froze you or something?”
“I think so.”
“So… he’ll lose the speckled coloring at some point.”
“I assume so, yes.” I could feel how happy Tib was, and it made me smile. I’d be forever grateful to Grady for not only freeing me, but freeing Tib. Having a bird captured in that tiny container had been cruel.
Slowly, I put my feet on the ground and lifted out of the car, and Grady smiled at me, asking, “Good?”
“Yes.” I held my hand out to him. I felt stronger when we were touching, and I was nervous about meeting other people, about having to talk to others. If they asked me personal questions, I had no idea what I was going to tell them. It wasn’t as if I could tell a family of humans that I was a warlock from another time period and that Grady had lifted my curse.
“It’s going to be okay,” Grady said.
With a nod, I let him lead me inside.
Over the next ten minutes, I met so many people, I couldn’t keep their names straight. I also received more hugs in that short time than I had in my entire life prior to my imprisonment. It was… nice. I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed human contact until Grady broke the curse. He’d been hugging me and holding my hand and being so giving and caring. And now these complete strangers were showing me a kindness I wasn’t used to in the slightest. I returned the hugs and handshakes, and while it was nice, I was relieved when Grady grabbed my hand and pulled me into a quiet room.
“You doing alright, Ric?” he asked, his face full of concern.
“Yes. I’m not used to being around so many people.”
His face turned sympathetic. “It’s a lot, I know it is. If at any time you need a break, let me know and I’ll get you to a quiet room like this one.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“Yes, I do.” He squeezed my hands. “And I don’t mind.”
I nodded.
“We need a code word.”
“Code word?”
“Yeah, something you can say so I’ll know you’ve had enough.”
“Alright, like what?”
“Polka-dotted elephant.”
I laughed. “Really?”
He nodded with the brightest smile I’d seen yet, and it took my breath away as he said, “I like it.”
“Polka-dotted elephant, it is, then.” I’d do and say anything to keep him smiling like that.
He chuckled and leaned down to kiss my cheek. “Good. Ready? Or do you need a few more minutes?”
My cheek was humming with power from his lips. “I’m good now.”
He laced our fingers together and pulled me from the room and into a large family room where most of Laz’s family was seated. Grady found us a spot on the loveseat, and I was grateful he pressed close to my side when we sat down. Laz surprised me by bringing me a glass of water before he sat in the chair on the other side of Grady.
“So how long have you two been together?” one of the women—Maureen, I thought—asked Grady.
Grady said, “Only a few weeks… but it feels like I’ve known him forever.” He shot me a grin that I returned.
Maureen smiled. “How did you two meet?”
I kept quiet and let Grady answer since I didn’t know what he wanted to tell these people. He and I both knew we cou
ldn’t tell them the truth. Grady said, “We met in Laz’s store, actually. I was coming to take Laz to lunch, but ran into Alaric first.”
That was… true in a way.
Another sister, Sarah, asked me, “What do you do for a living, Alaric?”
I glanced at Grady with wide eyes, looking for help, and he said to Sarah, “He’s an artist… he makes magic.”
My eyes widened at that, but I kept my mouth shut.
Laz eyed us both before cutting in to save us, “I think they bonded over their love of snowy owls.”
Grady laughed and lifted his glass toward Laz. “That’s true. Snowy owls are the best.”
I grinned. “They are.”
“Do you collect owls, too?” Sarah asked.
“You could say that,” I said.
Both of Laz’s sisters groaned and Maureen said, “Not another one.”
Grady chuckled and kicked Maureen’s foot lightly. “Shut it.”
She grinned at him, and the conversation steered to her kids and away from us.
Grady leaned over and whispered into my ear, “Sorry. I hope what I said was okay. I didn’t really know what else to tell them.”
“That was great.”
We spent the rest of the day with Laz and his family, and although I remained quiet much of the time, I found myself enjoying the company. This family was very open and loving, and it was clear to me that they loved Grady as one of their own. That alone made me thankful for them, but they had even accepted me into their ranks on top of it. A man, dating another man, was a non-issue. In fact, they seemed to love the fact that Grady brought me with him. Laz’s mother seemed especially pleased.
I’d never celebrated Christmas before, but this had been the best holiday I’d ever had. And it was all because of Grady.
Chapter 15
Grady
After we drove home and Laz headed to his house, I shut my front door and turned to face Alaric with a grin. “Thank you for going with me.”
His smile was huge. “That was wonderful. Laz has a very loving family, and I’m grateful to everyone for allowing me to join in.”
Wishing on a Dream Page 10
