by Jill Sanders
“It was pretty much the turning point in what happened with all of us. Brianna was the last piece to the puzzle,” Ethan finished.
“I got here before you did.” She nudged him then held in a yawn.
Mason glanced at the clock on the wall and winced. “We didn’t mean to keep you all up so late.”
Joleen looked at the time and gasped. “How did it get so late?” she asked, standing up. “We’d better get going.”
He stood up and gathered his things and tucked his notepad back into his jacket pocket.
“It’s no bother,” Jacob started saying.
“When possible, I’d like to take some readings around the place.” He glanced around the room.
“The best place might be the silo. That’s where everything went down. So, to speak,” Jacob said, following them towards the front door.
“The silo?” Mason asked. “Is it possible to get in there?”
“It’s about a mile from here,” Jacob said as Mason helped Joleen on with her coat. He remembered reading about how Xtina had been taken to the old military missile silo by the cult and held there.
“That’s where all that happened? Where you got rid of Thanatos?” he asked.
“Yeah.” Jacob sighed and glanced towards Jessica. Something passed in the man’s eyes that had Mason realizing that he’d been missing out all these years by not letting someone get close to him. Love. It was written plainly on the man’s face. “We almost lost a lot that night. If you want, I can meet you there tomorrow afternoon. I keep the place locked up tight after what went down in there with the cult. We ended up purchasing the property from the current owner, since he didn’t want to deal with the mess of kids breaking into it all the time now that the word was out that it was there.”
“I’d appreciate it.” Mason shook the man’s hand.
Joleen was quiet as she drove back to her place. He was so busy playing over the last few hours events that he didn’t notice she seemed upset until she parked in the driveway.
“You seem upset. One of my many faults is not being smooth. If I offended you when I questioned the science behind what you were saying…” he started.
“No,” she broke in with a shake of her head. “It isn’t anything you’ve said or done. I was thankful you were there tonight.” She sighed and looked at the house as she leaned her head back against the headrest. “I don’t think I’d believe it was all really happening if I was alone.”
“Tell me about it.” He chuckled. “Witches, teleportation, gods living in the moon.” He leaned slightly to see the night sky, only to realize that it was still cloudy. “I’ll never look at the moon the same way again.”
She shivered. “You believe it then?” She turned slightly towards him.
“I don’t know what I believe. Up until yesterday, I didn’t believe in large black creatures from outer space.”
“I’ve been thinking about that. It’s like they said. What if the creature we saw wasn’t from outer space, but…”? She locked eyes with him. “Sent down here from…” She nodded towards the sky.
He swallowed. “Then I suppose we’ll have to deal with it. There’s no use speculating. Not until after I take some readings tomorrow.”
“What does all this have to do with the birds?” she asked, hugging her arms around herself.
“I’m not sure.” He took her hand in his until she looked up at him. “But I can promise you I won’t leave until I find the answers.”
She smiled. “Thanks.” Then she laughed. “I mean, this is kind of crazy. We just met last night.” She rolled her eyes. “I swear I don’t often invite strangers to move in with me, but…” She glanced back at the house.
“I’m not an axe murder or a serial killer. Honest, you can call my grandmother,” he joked.
Her eyes moved back to him. “I never thought that for a moment. There’s something…” She shook her head. “I can tell you’re a good one.”
His eyebrows shot up as she turned beet red.
“I mean…” She rolled her eyes. “I’ll just shut up now.” He chuckled. “It was Stinky,” she admitted. “And how you treated Lane and Charles. You won’t believe how many people in town turned their noses up at the couple because of… well, for obvious reasons.”
He sobered remembering one of the men who had gotten him through his first year of college. “One of the most important professors in my life is gay. He’s my mentor” He smiled over at her. “I never put my noise into anyone else’s sex life…” She glanced sideways at him and he felt his heart skip a beat. “Just as long as they don’t judge my sex life or the lack of it over the years.”
Chapter Eleven
Joleen felt like laughing. “Right,” she said and rolled her eyes. “You can’t sit there and tell me you haven’t had women knocking down your door since the moment you stepped foot on campus. It’s something I just can’t buy.”
“Believe it,” he said as he looked towards the house. “I was thirteen years old when I first arrived on campus. It was not easy to get dates.”
“Yeah, but now, you must be fighting them off. I mean, you’re basically Channing Tatum with sexy glasses and a huge brain. What woman doesn’t want to go after that?” she said, feeling her own heart beat faster at the description and just remembering him in those sexy glasses.
She could tell that she was making him uncomfortable and, since the rain had let up, she reached for her door handle and climbed out.
They walked up the pathway, and she laughed when she noticed Stinky standing on the back of her sofa, watching them from the living room window.
“Guess he got bored.” She motioned to the house.
Mason looked relieved that she’d changed the subject. They walked towards the front door as Stinky happily barked at them.
“He only barks when he sees or hears someone,” Mason said to her. “The hotel manager had probably been standing outside the door or passing by earlier.”
She chuckled. “I don’t have any neighbors to complain about the noise. Besides, dogs are supposed to bark and scare people away, right?” She opened her door.
Stinky rushed towards them, did a couple of circles, then bolted outside and peed on the dead flowers in the pot of dirt on her patio.
“Sorry,” Mason said quickly. “I’ll clean—”
“Don’t bother. Maybe by him watering them, they will grow back.” She laughed and stepped into her house, quickly looking to see if anything was out of place. “He probably just curled up on the sofa and slept the entire time we were gone,” she said to the room.
“I think he was holding it for a while,” Mason said from the doorway as he watched Stinky roaming the front yard for a spot to finish going. “I’ll clean that up in the morning when I can find it.”
She walked into the kitchen and pulled out a bottle of wine. She wasn’t ready for the night to end. She was having too much fun talking to Mason. “So, when was the last time you dated?” She glanced over at him, picking up the conversation from before.
Stinky had just jogged back in and climbed back onto the sofa like it was the most comfortable spot in the world. Mason shut the front door and then turned to her.
She held out a glass of wine for him and then sipped from her own glass.
He tilted his head as if thinking about it.
“I guess it was about a year ago.”
“Dated or just went on a date?” she asked, sitting next to Stinky. The dog immediately inched over and laid his head on her lap.
“Just a date.” Mason walked over and sat down in the chair facing her. His eyes ran over her. “You?”
“Kevin and I broke things off last fall,” she said with a shrug. It still stung, remembering the hurtful words the man she’d trusted had said to her.
“That bad?” Mason asked.
“Hm?” she asked as she took another sip of the wine.
“The look on your face tells me you were hurt.”
“In my book, bre
akups are never easy.” She continued to pet Stinky. “You?”
“The last time I broke up with anyone, it was amicable. We’re still friends. She, Carrie, attends classes, and I bump into her every now and then. Her and her new husband,” he added with a shrug. “Where is Kevin now? I know the dynamics of a small town are different than city life.”
“He still works as a mechanic down at Rusty’s Autobody,” she answered. “And his girlfriend is pregnant.”
Mason paused a moment then lifted his glass. “To the exes.”
She smiled. “We’re better off without ’em,” she added and sipped. “Sooo…” She dragged out the word. “Tonight, that was fun.”
He laughed and set his glass down. “I have so many questions.” He pulled out his notepad and those sexy glasses of his. When he placed them on his nose, she sighed with appreciation. His eyes moved up to hers.
“Surely someone’s told you how sexy those are before.” She nodded to his glasses.
He frowned. “No, actually, the last few women I’ve dated have hated them.” He removed them and she frowned.
“They’re stupid,” she said quickly, causing him to chuckle. “Their loss. Smart men are a big turn on.”
The corner of his mouth twitched, and she realized just how sexy he was with or without the aid of the glasses. She couldn’t be drunk this soon. Setting down her wine glass, she motioned to his notepad. “What questions do you have?”
He slipped on his glasses again and opened the small notepad he carried around with him everywhere.
“There are such things as smart phones.” She held up her phone and wiggled it. “It has note capabilities.”
He nodded. “Yeah, so I’ve heard.” He flipped the pages, then glanced up at her. “Witches.” He took a deep breath.
“That’s the question?” she asked with a chuckle.
“Seriously.” He shook his head. “Okay, I still need to wrap my brain around that one. Oh, and don’t get me started on them saying that they fought off a god.”
“Thanatos,” she said with a shiver. Something about that name caused her to flinch when they’d said it earlier.
“Right.” He wrote something down in his notepad. “Greek Mythology wasn’t really my genre. I’m going to have to go back and do some research on him.”
“He’s the god of death. Brother to Hypnos, son of Nyx, goddess of night,” she blurted out. When Mason glanced up at her, she shrugged. “It was my genre,” she said with a smile.
“Fair enough.” He wrote a few more things down. “What else can you tell me?”
She sighed. “He’s merciless, hates mortals, and caries them off to the underworld when their time is up, which is decided by the three Fates. He was cast into an eternal slumber by his brother and father, Erebus.”
Mason set his notepad down and leaned back. “Did you learn anything about creatures like we saw the other night?”
She leaned back and thought about it. “The closest I can remember is a Chimera. But it’s all wrong. That was a lion with a goat’s head on its back and a tail with a snake’s head.”
He laughed. “Seriously?” He shook his head, then she watched as his face paled. “Seriously? If Thanatos is real and that creature was real, then…”
She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. “Don’t go there.”
“Okay.” He ran his eyes over her. “Why do you think they said there was something off about you?”
She shrugged. “I’ve been wondering that myself since then.”
“Tell me a little more about your past. I’ve met your parents, they seem… normal.”
She chuckled. “They may seem like it, but…” She shook her head and reached for her wine. “I doubt they’re gods or… witches.”
“Okay, so normal humans. I didn’t ask anyone else if their parents were… unique,” he admitted with a frown.
“Jessica did say she came from a long line of witches,” she said with a frown. “You’ve met her grandmother.”
His eyebrows shot up. “I have?”
“Carla,” she added with a smile, then she frowned again. “Carla’s a witch?” She felt her heart skip a beat.
“No.” He pulled out his notepad. “Jessica mentioned that it had skipped her grandmother.”
“Right, I must have zoned out for that part.”
“You’re tired. I should…” He started to get up.
“No.” She waved him to sit again. “It’s not like I have to be into work in the morning. I still have four more days off before I’m due back.” She finished off her wine. “Besides, I think we’re finally getting somewhere.”
“Okay.” He opened the notepad again. “I drew a sketch of the animal.” He flipped a few pages. “Here.” He showed her.
She jumped up and grabbed her laptop then sat back down and opened the web browser to search.
He moved to sit beside her and watched while she ran a search. She glanced down at his drawing and stilled. “That… is a perfect replica of the creature,” she said, looking at him. “Very impressive.”
He smiled. “Thanks.”
“Smart and talented.” She sighed. “I just bet you can cook too,” she teased.
“Something tells me you have a lot of hidden talents as well. This whole Greek mythology knowledge is pretty useful.” He nudged her.
“Right. If someone would have told me that I’d need this knowledge to stay alive, I would’ve paid better attention,” she admitted with a chuckle.
“Something tells me you were an excellent student.” He ran his eyes over her. She felt her heart skip and became completely unfocused on the task as she gazed into his dark eyes.
“You’re a bigger mystery,” she admitted. “There’s something about you I can’t quite put my finger on.”
He turned completely towards her. For a moment, her breath caught in her lungs as he reached up and gently pushed a strand of her hair out of her eyes.
“You’re this warrior,” he said softly. “Willing to go toe to toe with mythical beasts.” His eyes moved to her lips for a split second. “The body of a goddess, the mind of a scholar.” She took a deep breath. No one had ever described her as such or treated her like she was anything beyond common. “They were right, you know.”
“Hm?” she asked, not trusting her voice. She’d gotten lost in his eyes and wondered how she’d ever recover if he walked away now.
“There is something about you,” he said, his voice dipping lower. “Something that seems to be drawing me in.” His hand cupped her face as he leaned closer to her. “I’ve been thinking of doing this, since before.”
“So have I,” she replied just before his lips covered hers.
As before, the warmth filled her when he touched her, no matter how lightly. Her entire body melted against his as he took the kiss deeper. Her fingers tangled in his thick dark hair, pulling him closer, keeping him where she wanted. She savored the taste of him against her tongue.
When she tried to pull him down on the sofa above her, Stinky shoved his face between them, and they both laughed.
“He’s just jealous,” Mason said, trying to shove his dog off the sofa.
For the first time that evening, she realized just what she wanted.
“I never do this,” she said as she ran her fingers through her hair, trying to calm the curls down from his touch. “I don’t just jump into bed with a man I met the day before.”
He chuckled. “If I thought you did, I don’t think I’d be this interested in following through.”
She ran her eyes over him and realized that she must have pulled his shirt loose. Seeing the small sliver of muscles cross his stomach had her closing her eyes on a moan as desire spiked.
“Okay,” she said after taking a deep breath. “I think I need to head in to bed.” She stood up and felt her body sway slightly. How could she have grown to want him so badly that it physically hurt thinking about not being with him?
“Right.” He stood
up as well and glanced around. “I’ll…” He cleared his throat. He looked nervous and anxious, like a man who wasn’t sure if she was turning him away. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
She smiled at him, then stepped closer and lifted to her toes to run her lips slowly over his. “Night.”
He looked more relaxed now, and he smiled down at her. “Night.”
After shutting herself in her bedroom with a very annoyed Fred, she spent some time giving her cat all of her attention before climbing into bed and trying to shut everything down.
However, her mind had other things planned. From the moment she drifted off, her dreams were filled with shadow creatures, tall thin figures that lurked in the darkness, and Mason.
She couldn’t seem to get away from everything that was chasing her. She was stuck in one of those dreams where she was being chased and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t escape.
Every turn she fled around led to another long pathway filled with shadows, black birds, or the thin figure of the man-like creature. It moved closer to her, like the vision she’d seen earlier. Its sharp teeth glinted and dripped with saliva as it stalked her.
She glanced around and in the far distance she could make out another figure. This one, she knew, was a human. She knew instantly that it was Mason and tried to warn him to run away, to save himself, only her body wouldn’t respond. It was as if she’d lost control of everything.
She hadn’t realized she was screaming, for real, until Mason shook her awake while he called her name over and over.
The moment her eyes opened, power shot through her. She had felt it building while she dreamed and knew that whatever was going to happen next was completely out of her control. Just before everything went black, she heard the voice scream.
“No! Don’t come here!”
Chapter Twelve
Mason heard Joleen struggling with a dream and debated going in to wake her. When he heard her cry out his name, he rushed to her bedside and shook her awake.
It was as it had been before, in the café. When her eyes opened, they were pools of white. He jerked back for a split second, but then held on to her as electricity shot through her straight into him. His head spun and he felt pain fill every pore of his body.
