I scowled at the phone. “Are you talking from personal experience th—“
I can only blame the combination of fatigue and my focus on the conversation for my not seeing the figure who came up behind me and slammed something hard into the back of my head.
I staggered forward, raising my hands up to shield myself from another attack. It never came. My attacker instead snatched my phone, ripped my book bag from my arm, and took off.
Without thinking I took off after him. Everything I’d been feeling all afternoon provided kindling for white hot anger. Nobody took what was mine. I didn’t consider how dangerous it was to go after a man who’d attacked me, I just moved. I was going to catch him. I was going to take back my stuff. And I was going to punish him.
Only he didn’t get very far because another figure—this one a fucking giant—came out of nowhere and clotheslined the bastard. My would-be-mugger took the arm to the throat so hard he actually flipped over backward and crashed to the pavement on his stomach.
The giant reached down and picked up my book bag, then held it out to me as I’d approached.
I guess it was all the belated adrenaline suddenly pumping through my system but I’d half way been about to conjure up some fire to roast the guy. Judging from his grin though, that wasn’t going to be necessary. I took a couple deep breaths, trying to calm down. The guy who’d robbed me was down, barely groaning, and this guy was offering me my stuff back.
“You okay?” the big man asked, handing me my bag. “You really should be careful. Got to keep your head up at night.”
I caught sight of an enormous, gaudy-ass ring on his hand as I took my bag and slung it over my shoulder. “You’re on the football team.”
It was about the dumbest thing I could have said but it seemed important. Sports had never really been an option for me because of my antlers. Helmets simply couldn’t accommodate my antlers and frankly, the protrusions were kind of dangerous. Even in something like soccer there was a chance I could put someone’s eye out. Not only had my antlers excluded me from sports, but they had painted a giant target on my back for those who did. I can honestly say that this was the first time a football player had been nice to me.
“Tight end,” said the giant. “You a fan?”
I shrugged. It seemed a more politic answer than outright saying no. Then because he had just beaten the shit out of a mugger said, “Congrats on last year.” Because that’s when he’d gotten that ring. I wasn’t a fan, but everyone knew how we’d done.
His grin widened. “You’re Caleb, right?”
I felt my brow furrow. “You know my name.”
His grin turned a little sheepish and he eyed my antlers. “You kind of stand out.”
Touché. “Afraid I don’t know your name.”
“Bruce Fletcher,” he said, extending a hand. I shook it and nearly got my fingers crushed. Not because he was trying to, but because he didn’t seem able to not. I mean, he could have palmed my skull in his mitts.
I’m not quite sure how we ended up walking together, but we left the mugger face down and gasping for breath as we talked videogames. Turned out, Bruce was a hardcore gamer. He even recorded his gaming sessions and put them up on YouTube as “Let’s Plays”. I made a note to check some of his videos out later. He was actually pretty easy to talk to and quick to drop a joke, despite looking like, well, a dumb jock. Everything about him from his body to his voice to his personality were larger than life.
We stopped when we reached my place and he mentioned that his fraternity was having a party tomorrow night.
Fraternities were something that I had deliberately decided against joining when I’d been accepted to college. I’d had enough bullshit from good old boys and idiots in high school to want anything to do with something as moronic as frats were made out to be. Hazing? No thank you. I didn’t need to go through that kind of bull shit to make friends.
But maybe I’d been wrong. I mean, I’d have completely misjudged Bruce just by looking at him. Maybe I should give this a go. At the very least there’d be free beer.
I called Sarah back to let her know I wasn’t dead and reassure her that everything was okay, but I was no longer interested in talking. If I kept thinking about this heavy stuff my brain was going to implode.
“I understand,” she said. “When you’re ready, Caleb, you can talk to me. I’m always here for you.”
Chapter Five
I took Jadeite’s suggestion and jogged to my potential job the next morning since the house wasn’t that far. This neighborhood was a little closer to the center of town but at the same time a little more isolated, branching off from the usual gridline of streets into an arcing cul-de-sac with some of the nicest houses I’d seen in Woodhurst. Clearly these were not the sort of residences rented out to college students or even regular townies. Whoever owned these had a little more green than the average Woodhurster, and not just in terms of money. These quaint houses had some pretty big yards on them, with more than a few elaborate gardens.
I felt completely out of place jogging up the little road up to the address Jadeite had given me in my shorts and no shirt. Like I should have been wearing a button up and a tie. But as I got deeper in I saw Jadeite standing in a yard, her bike on its side as she talked to a tall man with scruffy facial hair that was making a valiant effort at beard-hood but didn’t quite make the mark. He wore a pair of tattered old jeans and nothing else, which made me feel a little bit better about what I was wearing, even if we both stood out like sore thumbs amidst the upscale architecture.
Jadeite waved when she spotted me and quickly introduced us. “Mr. Morrow, this is Caleb Marshal. Caleb, Dale Morrow.”
We shook hands and I tried my best to match the man’s firm grip and dark eyes. I swear he almost looked possessed his eyes were so black. More than a little spooky.
“Jadeite said you know how to do yardwork,” Mr. Morrow said. “You ever clean a pool?”
“Yardwork, sure. Pool, not so much,” I admitted.
He shrugged. “Basics are easy enough. You able to come down here every weekend?”
I glanced at Jadeite, who gave a very deliberate nod of her head behind Mr. Morrow’s back, and I told him that wouldn’t be a problem.
“Great,” Mr. Morrow said. “And if anything comes up, give me a call. A call, you understand, not a text. Kid who was supposed to be doing this job got an out of state internship and didn’t say nothing until two days ago. I’ve been covering for the asshole. I mean, good for him getting that gig but shit, the little fucker could have given me a heads up so I could find someone else.”
I decided then that I liked Mr. Morrow, even as I made a mental note to check my own tendency toward chronic procrastination. It wasn’t like my Saturday mornings were so busy though that I could see myself missing work here.
“Won’t be a problem with me, sir,” I said, hoping I wasn’t lying.
“Great,” he said. “Here’s what I need from ya.”
And he told me. It was a hell of a lot more than I’d expected. This wasn’t going to be just a quick lawn mowing followed by checking the chemicals in the pool. He wanted a mowing, a weed eating, a pruning of the shrubs, various fertilizers put out or plants planted, and holiday decorations put up or taken down. And that was just the front yard and didn’t include the pool work.
It wasn’t going to be just for his house either, but the one next to it as well. The owner was apparently out of town more often than not and had asked Mr. Dale Morrow—“Call me Dale”—to have whoever was looking after his own property take care of it as well.
Jadeite left when Dale started to take me around to show me to the pool, a smug expression on her face. She could keep it. The money from this job wasn’t half bad for what would amount to half a day’s worth of work. Enough that Happy Burger with Jadeite was definitely doable again, and if I saved up and managed some sort of replacement scholarship for the one I was probabl
y going to lose next semester, now that my curse was broken, keeping on with school was a definite possibility. Let her be smug—she’d saved my ass and knew it.
Dale had been right about the pool being simple to take care of. Mostly I’d have to remember a few numbers on a pressure gauge behind the shed when I pumped the systems clean and the right amount of chemicals to put in. Of course, there was more yard and garden work as well and Dale even pointed out the gutters around the edge of the roof. Clean them? Sure, I could do that. Like I was about to tell him no at this point. I think he knew it too because he grinned.
I was too glad of the work to be irritated.
“And it’s all the same for next door,” he said when we were through. “All the tools you’ll need are in the shed by the pool house, try not to make too much noise getting them. My son’s living there. Don’t understand what he does but I’m pretty sure he actually makes more money than anyone else in the neighborhood and he needs quiet to work.”
Dale said all of this with a weird mix of bashfulness and undeniable pride that I’d never heard before. I’d never have guessed that someone could be both proud and embarrassed of a person at the exact same time. How did that even work? It wasn’t any of my business so I just nodded and promised to try and keep the noise down around the pool house.
And I did my best to keep quiet around it too. Every time I took out or put back a tool I tiptoed and took extra care with the squeaky door. It was almost like a game, something that gave me a change of pace and a chance to break from work. Three hours later, I definitely needed a bigger break.
Most everything Dale had asked of me I’d gotten done, no problem. The gutters would have to be cleaned out next weekend when his cousin could loan him a ladder but otherwise he seemed pleased enough with my work. All that was left was to go next door and repeat everything all over again for his out of town neighbor.
I hadn’t paid the neighbor’s yard or house any attention while I’d been working but now that I was getting ready to get started on it I took a moment to take everything in. The Morrow’s back yard was separated from it by an ivy and honey suckle covered privacy fence with a gate, the only part that was kept clear of the plants.
When I opened the gate, a tingle ran up my fingers and into my forearm, like the after effects of getting zapped by electricity. Only instead of leaving a stringing-near-numbness, my arm felt rejuvenated. As if my hand hadn’t been digging through dirt or handling garden tools all morning. I hadn’t even realized that my hand was tired until that little burst of energy had struck and I could distinctly feel the difference in fatigue between my left and right hands.
On the other side of the gate, the house’s backyard seemed normal. A fee flower shrubs and trees, a little fake waterfall with a pool and a hot tub…a fragrance like the wilderness. Like spring and autumn all at once with a mineral undertone that stank of life. Breathing it in eased all the tension I hadn’t known I’d been carrying in the muscles throughout my body.
There was power here, something I didn’t understand, but crossing over into the yard felt as though I was walking around a sleeping predator. One that, for whatever reason, didn’t mind my presence so much in its layer. My own magic shifted about inside me, as though waking up to sniff at this sleeping beast. Whatever it detected, my magic liked it.
“What are you doing?”
I turned to find a guy about my age standing behind me. He was about my height, definitely heavier and pale from not spending much time outside. His appearance wasn’t helped by a mop of dark hair and baggy clothes that only made him look heavier than he was. He held a tablet in one hand and a beer bottle in the other. I couldn’t get a read on his expression, which I realized, was odd. Because I’d gotten used to having a good handle on people.
I’d been awkward as all get out before breaking my curse, and still felt that way a lot, but people had, without my realizing it until now, become easier to read. Tone, posture, expression, little details I’d never really noticed before had been registering, giving me a better read on those around me than I’d realized. Except that none of that was happening.
I pointed, a little stupidly, at the neighbor’s yard behind me. “Yardwork, then cleaning the pool.”
It came out almost like a question, my uncertainty about this guy bleeding over into my voice. It made me stiffen and straighten up a little bit taller. I was not weak, I was…what? What the hell did I think I was that I had to puff up my chest and prove I wasn’t somehow less than this guy?
He walked over and handed me the bottle. It wasn’t beer, as I’d thought, but an alcoholic lemonade. “Thought I detected some odd magic acting up. Lady who owns this place is a little…eccentric. Never seen anyone use wards like she does.”
I accepted the drink with a thanks and looked back over the neighbor’s yard. It looked innocent enough. But this guy, who took to be Dale’s son, was right. There was something, a subtle charge that hung over the yard that I’d never encountered before.
“Weird,” I said, then offered my hand to shake. “Caleb. Thanks for the drink.”
“Thomas,” he said. “You’re welcome.”
And then he disappeared back into the pool house. I glanced down at the drink. Wasn’t it supposed to be a totally stacked MILF that brought the sweaty pool boy a drink? Figures.
I got back to work…and discovered when I’d finished that it had taken me only an hour to do the same amount of work on the neighbor’s yard that it had on the Morrow’s. Maybe some of that was because I’d had a little bit of practice with the tasks but two hours less work? On only my second time doing it? And I didn’t feel tired at all. In fact, I kicked off my shoes, dove into the Morrow’s pool, and did a few laps too cool off and popped out invigorated.
Dale paid me and I jogged home, energized and more than a little relieved. Whatever was going on with the Morrow’s neighbor’s place, I definitely liked it. Especially since I wouldn’t be so exhausted I couldn’t go to the party tonight.
Chapter Six
I invited Lexus to the party with me. It was her kind of scene, not to mention of how we’d ended up together. Parties, college parties in particular, were something she loved. Her excitement over the phone had been palpable and I’d felt good about it until she’d told me she’d meet me at my place instead of letting me pick her up. Admittedly, my place was a hell of a lot closer and I didn’t have a car, but wasn’t I still supposed to pick her up? It seemed ungentlemanly of me to make her come to me, even if it was her suggestion.
I felt even worse when she arrived. Damn she looked hot, wrapped in a tight dress that showed off her lean, athletic figure. It was so short that when she sat down she’d have to keep her thighs pressed together or flash her panties. Her makeup was heavy but not gaudy—this was a girl out to have a good time and didn’t care who knew it. She’d walked over wearing a pair of cheap shower shoes and changed into heels that looked like they could be used to stab someone and clutching a…I guess it’s called a clutch. One of those tiny purses that’s barely bigger than a wallet.
By comparison, I was dressed in my usual button up shirt and jeans. I felt like a slob.
Lexus though gave me an appreciative once over while I picked my chin up off the floor and hoped my erection didn’t pop open my pants. “Shall we?” she asked.
We left to cat calls from my roommates, which made her do this thing where she smirked and rolled her eyes at the same time.
“Thanks for the invite,” Lexus said after we walked for a ways. I don’t know how she managed the pace she did in those heels.
“No problem,” I said. “I know you like this kind of thing.”
She shrugged. “There’s not really a lot else in Woodhurst to do. You grow up here you’ve only got so many ways to entertain yourself. Local sports and college parties are at the top of the list.”
“You make it sound pretty boring around here.”
“Oh God, it is,” she said,
throwing back her head to look up to the sky. “You have no idea. All I wanted for the longest time was a way out of this town. Then Jadeite got accepted into college here and I realized there is no way out. Um,” she gave me a bashful look. It was the first time that evening her confident façade had broken. “You won’t tell Jadeite about this will you? The party I mean.”
I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. “Where does Jadeite think you are right now?”
Lexus gave a huff and crossed her arms. “I already have a mother, I don’t need another one.”
“Does your mom know where you are either?” I couldn’t help the smirk that formed on my lips.
“Not the point.” She was quiet for a moment and then. “I make you uncomfortable, don’t I?”
She fixed me with her green eyes, the green eyes my magic had given to her. Had forced upon her. I’d already had some doubts about my connection with Lexus, but after my epiphany in the library, I realized how horrible I’d really been to her. Sure we hung out, but I didn’t really know her. We ran, we had sex, and she’d pretty much do whatever I told her to do. And now, I had to wonder if every single time we’d had sex hadn’t in fact been me forcing myself upon her, if my magic hadn’t somehow…uncomfortable didn’t begin cover it.
After a moment I said, “I’m worried that I may end up being worse for you than those assholes you used to hang around.”
She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, instead of hitting me you make me go to high school. You’re fucking evil.”
But I was making her, wasn’t I? How much power did she have to resist my commands? Somehow I didn’t think that it was a lot. Also, she was in high school. Sure she was a legal adult and I was only a year older than her, but still, that detail made me squirm.
“Look,” she said. “Whatever your hang up is, do me a favor and get over it. At least for now, alright? We’re going to a fucking party!”
We had arrived. Cars lined the street on either side going up and down from the frat house, which already had people spilling out into the yard. Everyone had at least one hand occupied with a red plastic cup while music blasted from inside the enormous house.
The Horned Mage: Books 1-5 Page 9
