Dead Ringer (The Journals of Octavia Hollows #5)

by Stacey Rourke

  Jedidiah managed to catch hold of Reid’s elbow, yanking him to the side of the ring.

  “Keep your hands up!” Reid coached, stumbling along behind him. “Dodge and weave! Don’t stop moving!”

  “That’s what you have to say to me right now?” I squawked. Following his advice, I bounced side to side in an awkward shuffle.

  “What do you want me to say, Octavia?” He spat my name like one of those truly filthy cuss words you reserve for only the direst of situations.

  Which, I realized now, this was.

  “Ideally?” Gigantor swung wide, and I ducked under his jab. “I was really hoping for a more lupine response!”

  “You know I haven’t been able to make that happen!” Shrugging out of Jedidiah’s hold, Reid caught hold of the corner post to anchor himself there. “What the fuck made you think I would suddenly be able to accomplish it now?”

  Gigantor tried for a hook shot. Thankfully, his speed was sorely lacking. Easily darting out of the way, I left him lumbering to catch up.

  “Because I made a grand, selfless gesture!” Faking left, I moved right. A temporary tactic that bought me a few valuable seconds. “I thought it might inspire you!”

  A guy with a horrible mullet joined Jedidiah’s efforts to force Reid from the ring. His earlier instability erased, the would-be wolf planted his feet and refused to budge. Which I would have taken as a good sign, if I wasn’t becoming more and more aware by the second that I made a huge fucking mistake.

  “That’s a pretty big gamble!” Throwing his arms up, Reid easily broke out of the goons’ grappling holds. His chest heaved, the tendons of his forearms bulging.

  Turning on the ball of my foot, I spun on him. “Well, no shit!”

  “Don’t look at me! Look at him!” Reid roared, jabbing a finger in Gigantor’s direction.

  A bowling ball-sized fist flew at my head.

  Falling into a squat, I felt the wind from his punch rustle my hair. “Stop yelling at me! I’m trying to help you!”

  “I didn’t ask you to do this! Why would you take such a stupid risk for someone you barely know?”

  I hopped from my left foot to the right and back again, thinking about throwing a jab like Jack taught me, but fearing it would be about as effective as screaming at a tornado. “Because… sometimes, we all need someone willing to fight for us.”

  Gigantor’s hands sagged for a beat. “Aw. That’s kinda sweet.”

  “Thank you. Any chance you found it moving enough for us to call this a draw?”

  And just like that, his fists popped back up. “Not a chance. I’m still going to snap you over my knee like a twig. But now I’ll feel a little bad about it.”

  “You’re a good person, Octavia. But you don’t have to do this.” Taking a bold step forward, Reid forced each word through tightly clenched teeth. “Step out of the ring and let me handle this guy.”

  I might have considered it. Could have caved and trotted my happy ass to a safe distance from the entire scene… had I not caught a glimpse of hope. Silver hair, gleaming under the hot ring spotlights, had sprouted across Reid’s knuckles.

  He was close. Closer than I had ever seen him.

  Resigned to a painful fate, a sad smile tugged at the corners of my mouth. “Sorry, man. This fight is mine. You’re just going to have to come to terms with the fact that there are people out there who care.”

  “Enough talking!” Gigantor bellowed.

  Being the dumbass I am, I swung my head around at the same moment his giant fist rocketed forward. His punch connected with my nose, snapping my head back. Cartilage crunched; my face exploded in white-hot pain. Black spots danced before my eyes as a rush of coppery warmth gushed down the back of my throat.

  Like a tree felled by an axe, I toppled straight back and the lights went out.

  Chapter Ten

  The second my eyes snapped open, I pushed to my feet and drew both swords. Blinking through the haze of pain, I prepared for whatever threat was barreling my way.

  Nothing.

  It was just me, alone in the arena, with a bare bulb swinging overhead.

  “Huh.” Brow furrowed, I turned in a slow circle with my blades hanging low at my sides. The cavernous space was completely empty, an eerie silence throbbing off the cement walls like an anxious pulse.

  On the upside, I felt no demanding pull of the dead. I could only take that to mean that whatever happened here, it wasn’t a bloody massacre. As reassuring as that little bit of trivia was, it didn’t loosen the knots of dread twisting in my gut.

  Heart hammering against my ribs, I assumed a wide-legged stance… and listened.

  From behind me came a low growl that sliced through the deafening silence.

  Part of me didn’t want to turn. My inner voice of rational thought calmly suggested I run for the door and not look back. But it was my realistic side—which was well aware I’m neither fast, nor able to dart under the ring ropes without tripping—that craned my neck towards the sound.

  Two glowing eyes blinked in my direction, narrowing with devilish intent.

  “Ah, fuck,” I muttered under my breath, turning my full attention towards the monstrous wolf emerging from the shadows. “Hey, Reid! Good for you getting over your supernatural constipation, bud. Now seems like a great time to have the Friends Don’t Eat Friends conversation.”

  One leap, and the newly transformed wolf-man bounded over the ropes and directly into my personal space. The floor shaking under his weight, he fell into a low crouch with his hackles raised. He still walked on two legs; his blue jeans survived the change with a few scattered rips along his bulging thighs. Hair the color of silvery moonlight covered his torso, thickening as it stretched up to his broad shoulders and neck. His face… was pure wolf. There was no hint of man in his elongated snout. No humanity to be found in the twitch of his nose as it curled into a deadly snarl. Mouth falling open, his tongue smacked noisily over his chops.

  “Reid? That you, buddy?” I ventured, hating the tremor I heard in my own voice.

  His pointed ears perked at his name, head cocking with canine interest.

  Seeing that spark of recognition, I did my damnedest to stoke it into a flame. “There you are! Look at you, all big and hairy!” Taking a bold chance, I crouched down and eased one of my swords to the ground. Hiding the other behind my leg—because I’m not a total moron—I rose to my feet with my free hand tentatively raised in front of me. “We’re all friends here. We are just going to take this nice… and easy… so no one gets their face ripped off.”

  Topaz stare locked on my offered hand, a low growl quaked through the jowls of the Reid-wolf.

  Swallowing hard, I stood my ground.

  Turns out, that wasn’t a wise move.

  Lunging forward, Reid’s jaws snapped millimeters from my fingertips. Stumbling into a frantic back-pedal, I swatted behind me in a hunt for the ring ropes. Prowling closer, rage bubbled from the wolf’s lips in a frothy snarl.

  “Shit, Reid! I need you to get your head on straight here, man.” Out of options, I swung my sword around and injected a cold steel barrier between us. “I don’t want to have to save you and stab you in the same day.”

  Shoulders hunched, he prowled closer, his lips peeling back to display flesh-shredding fangs.

  My hand shook, the sword bobbing with the motion. “Reid, please. I know you’re in there. If you can hear me, you have to fight this.”

  I couldn’t get out. Not in time. A cold lump of stone settled into the pit of my stomach, hatching the realization that it was me… or him. Grinding my teeth, I fought back the hot rush of tears. Letting my sword slip from my fingers and fall to the mats with a muted thump, I drew the pocketknife from my back pocket and flicked up the blade. “I’m so sorry. I never wanted this…”

  Shaking off like a wet dog, Reid’s lupine features vanished. “Wait, wait, wait!” Hands raised, he pumped the brakes before I could advance. “Shit, Octavia, I’m sorry! I thought t
his would be funny. Which it was—right up until you started crying and threatening to stab me. Now I just feel like a dick.”

  A noise somewhere between a sob and a bark of laughter escaped me. Arms falling slack at my sides, emotional exhaustion slammed into me like a wrecking ball. “You are the absolute worst person ever, and I once knew a guy who staged his death and shoved himself in a meat locker naked.”

  Folding his hands in a prayer pose, he let his chin fall to his chest and peered up at me under his brow. “As much as I’m dying to hear the details of that fiasco, I feel it’s more important that I beg your forgiveness and kindly request that you don’t stab me.”

  Sagging back, I slumped against the ropes. “I probably would, just to make a point, if I didn’t feel like I was having a brain aneurysm. You really are a dick.”

  In a very bold move for a dude who no longer had bone-crushing incisors, Reid closed the distance between us. “I truly am sorry. How about if I make it up to you by fixing your nose? It’s currently pointing in the wrong direction.”

  “That would explain why my entire face feels like it’s been forced into a meat grinder.” Holding my breath, I held perfectly still as he gingerly placed his fingers on either side of the bridge of my nose and… snapped it back into place. “Goddamnsonofabitchmotherfuck!”

  Sucking air through his teeth, Reid cringed. “I’m sorry you’re hurt. The last thing I wanted was for you to feel even an ounce of pain because of me.”

  Hands on the apples of my cheeks—as if that was all that was stopping my nose from falling off—I wiggled my sniffer once, and again. With a tentative inhale, I found it to be sore but functional. “I’ve had worse, believe me. That said, I would like to know where the entire entourage disappeared to. The walls aren’t painted with blood, and I don’t hear a bunch of newly-dead spirits begging for a second chance. Both of which lead me to believe you didn’t turn them into kibble.”

  A sheepish grin stealing over his features, he looped his thumbs in the front pockets of his jeans. “The change hurt the first time, and I’m guessing it was a hell of a spectacle to behold, because I cleared the place out by half with that little show.”

  “And the ones that lingered, you hugged it out with and decided to become besties?”

  A light blush filled his cheeks, adding a boyish charm to his whole rugged, bad boy look. “Not exactly. I shifted back to human, out of necessity, not intention. Side note: I am really going to have to work on my endurance. That was exhausting. Oh, and achieving full wolf. I want to, like, run under the moonlight and stalk through the shadows—”

  Rolling my index fingers one over the other, I coaxed him back on track. “Annnnnd, we’re drifting…”

  One meaty shoulder rose and fell in a dismissive shrug. “What can I say? I gave them their money back and told them we were square.”

  Turning my palms skyward, I waited for the missing piece to be fit into the puzzle. “What makes you think they actually think you are? They could be torching Jack’s club right now. Which, I should mention, will end very badly for you, because my pig is there and if he gets hurt—wolf or not—I will cut you.”

  Scratching his temple with his forefinger, a small smile twitched at the corners of his lips. “Well, those boys did try to make a bit more of a ruckus, but then I politely informed them if they came after me or any of my friends again, I’d sniff them out… and rip their guts out with my teeth. A claim I followed up by wolfing again. There was a fair amount of screaming, a balls-to-the-wall race for the door—oh!—and that Jedidiah guy pissed himself right where you’re standing.”

  “Duu-uuude! This is my only pair of shoes!” I cringed, jumping out of that spot. “Gotta say, piss covered boots aside, I’m sorry I missed that. Sounds like a hell of a show.”

  Joining me at the ropes, Reid bumped my hip with his. “It wouldn’t have happened without you. For which, I am exceedingly grateful, believe me. What I still don’t understand is… why? Why would you put yourself at risk for some random guy you barely know?”

  Now it was my turn to shrug. “I don’t know, it’s kind of my thing. Resurrect a nurse to find out why a child was aging rapidly. Wake the victim of a jinn to stop him from hurting anyone else. Call forth the spirits of a serial killing siren so they can exact their revenge. Everyone’s got a hobby, right?”

  Chewing on the inside of his cheek, Reid shook his head. “It’s not the same. In each of those situations, you were using the abilities you have. This was something else. You went toe-to-toe with a guy who fully intended to snap you in two. Watching you tonight, taunting the entire room? If I didn’t know better, I’d think you had a death wish.”

  That simple sentiment knocked the air from my lungs more than Gigantor’s punch ever could. After glancing behind me to make sure I was no longer in the pee zone, I sank down on the mats and stretched my legs out in front of me. The truth laid just beneath the surface like a festering wound that had long since scabbed over.

  Dragging my tongue over suddenly parched lips, I struggled to put into words the feeling that had haunted me since I rode back into town. “The last time I was here was right after my fiancé was killed. I’ve never told anyone this, but I didn’t grieve when he died. I didn’t see any point, when I fully intended to bring him back. Then, I broke into the funeral home, and his body was… gone.”

  Easing down beside me, the warmth of Reid’s arm brushed mine. “Where did it go?” he asked in a barely audible whisper.

  “I have no idea. His family ended up burying a box of rocks, not that I would ever tell them that.” Lost in my own miserable thoughts, I drew one knee up and fiddled with the laces of my motorcycle boot. “After that, it hit me that he was truly gone, and I couldn’t deal. I got on my bike and rode. This was the first town I stopped in. During my time here I picked fights, drank too much, and did some seriously shady shit that probably should have gotten me killed. When Jack and Stormie cared enough to try to intervene, I got on my bike and moved on. From town to town, I kept moving, thinking I could outrun the pain.”

  “How’d that work out for you?”

  Letting my head fall back against the ropes, I huffed a humorless laugh. “I’m back here, aren’t I?”

  Shifting his weight, Reid turned his upper body to face me. “You’ve come all this way, done all these amazing things, and you honestly think you’re the same hot mess you were when you left here? I don’t buy it.”

  “I’m not,” I agreed, eyebrows raising with conviction. “In some ways, I’m not the same person at all. Some for the better, and some far, far worse.”

  “How so?”

  Biting my lower lip, I fought back a crushing wave of emotion. “I’m on this hunt to find Elba, but it’s been over a year since he died. I don’t know who has him, what happened to his body, or if there’s even a chance I can bring him back now. If I didn’t run before—if I pulled up my big girl panties and hunted for him instead of drowning my sorrows with any distraction I could find—I could have found him already. He’d already be back. Now,” my voice cracked with the raw blade of truth that ground deep in my gut, “I don’t know if I ever will.”

  Without a word, Reid slid his arm around my shoulders and pulled me to him. My head slumped against his shoulder, tears freefalling from my lashes.

  After allowing myself a moment, I pushed away—instantly missing the quiet tenderness of being held.

  Only then did he curl one long leg under him and lean my way. “You can be sad, Octavia, downright crushed, even. Anyone would be. But don’t ever diminish the amazing things you’ve done. You not only saved lives, but souls. That’s not just amazing, it’s otherworldly.” His hand drifted up to tuck my hair behind my ear. “Like it or not, you’re a badass superhero. And I, for one, am better for having met you. In fact, if you weren’t on a life or death quest to bring your fiancé back from the dead, I might even make a move.”

  Through my tears, I snorted out a wry laugh. “Oh yeah? That’s all
that’s preventing me from seeing your swagger?”

  Planting his palms on the mat, he bounded to his feet with lupine grace. Hand extended, he offered me help up. “Absolutely. If I thought there was even a chance, I’d be tossing out every move I had to get you out of those panties.”

  Fingers closing around his, I let him yank me to my feet. “And if I wasn’t in love with a dead guy, I’d tell ya to slam a Gatorade and take off your pants.”

  “Keep talking like that, and you’ll make me swoon.” Ducking under the ropes, Reid held them up for me. “Come on, let’s go check on that pig of yours.”

  Gathering my swords, I slid them back into their sheath and covered them with my hoodie. “That reminds me – now that you’re actually the Big Bad Wolf, a little disclaimer: I’m going to need you to huff, and puff, and stay the hell away from my pig.”

  Chapter Eleven

  “You mean to tell me that no matter how long we’re friends—five, ten, twenty years down the line—I will never be able to drive your motorcycle?” Strolling to the entrance of the boxing club, Reid combed fingers through his windblown hair.

  Hand on the door handle, I paused to admire the brand new window Jack had installed. “Sorry, them’s the rules for being allowed on my Scrambler. You ride bitch, or you don’t ride at all.”

  Further conversation halted the second we caught a glimpse of the horror unfolding within Jack’s sanctuary.

  Reid pulled up short, his mouth falling open with a gasp. “What in the fresh hell…”

  Eyes bulging, a yelp choked from my throat. “This is… scarring.”

  “No it’s not!” Jack chortled, scratching Bacon’s chin. “After getting your call that we were in the clear with those thugs, we took a celebratory walk and saw a few things at the pet store across the street that this dapper little gentleman desperately needed. Look!” Digging through the sea of shopping bags that surrounded them, he pulled out two Bacon-sized shirts. One was a tiny hockey jersey with a red maple leaf, the other a brilliant yellow Hawaiian shirt. “If he wears this one, he’s Canadian Bacon, and this one he’s Spam! Get it? Isn’t that a hoot?”