Were-Geeks Save Lake Wacka Wacka

by Kathy Lyons

  Okay, that made sense. He’d have to meet this Wiz and Stratos to judge how well he could work with them, but he had no problem handing off the dangerous part to the more experienced fighters. He’d had enough danger from the pixies to last a lifetime.

  “So that explains the mission parameters. Now tell me what’s going on with you.”

  Laddin didn’t answer, but his jaw clenched hard enough that his neck bulged.

  “If you’re supposed to be the sunshine and light person, you’re not doing a good job right now.”

  “I know!” he huffed. Then he visibly relaxed his hands on the steering wheel.

  Bruce waited, watching as Laddin drove hard and dangerously fast on the country road, as if he was trying to outrun something. But the only thing following them was the full moon.

  Oh shit. The full moon. He wouldn’t have put it together if Laddin hadn’t also glanced—repeatedly—out the window at the bright orb.

  “Um… you’re a moon werewolf, aren’t you? You said I wasn’t but that you—”

  “Yes.”

  “So what happens to you?”

  “I rampage around killing rabbits. No people so far.”

  “So far?”

  Laddin shrugged as he gestured ahead. “Everything’s wonky out there.” He again took a deep breath and relaxed his hands. Then he also shot a hard glance at the moon. “Here’s what I know. During a full moon, everything feels more intense. Feelings, hungers, desires.”

  “Desires?” Bruce echoed as he put the pieces together. “Desires like….”

  “Like love.” He shot Bruce another look, this one filled with confusion. “With you. It’s intense and real and—”

  “And it’s only been two days.”

  “I know.”

  “It can’t be real, Laddin. We’re just….” What? Just getting to know each other? True, but in that time, they’d saved each other’s lives and had conversations he’d never have with his closest friends. He’d talked about his father, Josh, and the fucked-up way he was raised. That wasn’t something he spilled to anyone, but he’d felt like Laddin knew it all before he spoke. The guy saw through his bullshit to the stuff underneath. So he’d talked, and once the words were shared, he felt closer to Laddin than he did with his own family or anyone at the firehouse.

  But while he was thinking how it might be the L word, Laddin was busy reiterating their previous arrangement.

  “Just friends. A quick fuck to release the tension. I know.”

  “That’s not what I meant,” Bruce said, though he sure as hell didn’t know what he did mean.

  Laddin wasn’t waiting. “Look, what I feel is just that. My feelings. The moon doesn’t give me new emotions, it simply accentuates the ones I have. So yes, I feel love for you. And lust. Like over-the-moon kind of lust.”

  “No pun intended.”

  Laddin flashed a grin, but it didn’t last long. “I kind of like that part.”

  Yeah, Bruce did too. “But what does that mean?”

  “Hell if I know. I’m telling you that my emotions are really intense right now. I didn’t realize it until I stepped outside and saw the moon.” He took a deep breath. “But that could be a good thing.”

  That was Laddin, always looking on the bright side. But that wasn’t Bruce. “Intense feelings, as we’re walking into a zone of depression while looking for a demon? Tell me how that’s a good thing.”

  “Because assuming we’re still good and that you’re not freaked-out by this—”

  “I’m not.” And he wasn’t. Or he hoped he wasn’t. It was new and hard to process quickly.

  “Then I can focus on the good parts of love. The warm feelings and the sexy times.”

  “You find it easy to search for a demon while sporting a boner?”

  “It’s better than thinking about slitting my wrists. Look, we need me to stay upbeat while everything around us is telling us to give up. I can do that by thinking about you. About how I feel about you and what we just did, and what we’re going to do when we get back. That kind of stuff.”

  “Because love is upbeat.”

  “Yes, it is. Look, we’ve all had heartbreaks, me included. But this part of love is easy for me. It’s the fun part. And no matter how you feel about me—good, bad, or indifferent—I still feel good about you.”

  Bruce blew out a breath. “That’s got to be the most civilized thing I’ve ever heard. About feelings.” So why wasn’t it settling right with him? “You really don’t care how I feel about you?”

  “Of course I care! I’m praying you want to keep fucking me every spare moment you get. And I hope we can make something of this in the future. But for right now, I’m settling into loving you.” He glanced over. “Assuming that’s okay with you.”

  “How could that not be okay with me?”

  Laddin shrugged. “People get weird when the L word shows up.”

  Fair statement. And in truth, he was a little weirded out, but only because this conversation was so mature. He couldn’t remember a clear discussion of feelings that wasn’t muddled, tearful, or nearly violent. But he could meet Laddin on an equally logical plane. “If you’re okay with me not being ready to say it back, then I’m okay with you feeling whatever it is you’re feeling.”

  Laddin released a sigh. “You can’t even say the word.”

  “Love. That you feel love. For me.” God, that was hard to say. The words came out stilted and a little angry. Damn it, what right did Laddin have to throw love into the middle of a mission to find a demon? But that was the problem with people as openhearted as Laddin. They felt things and let them spill over everywhere.

  “Why are you angry?” Laddin asked, his voice low.

  Good question. “I’m not angry, I’m….” He didn’t know what. “I feel bad for you.” Then, to cover, he gestured ahead. “Take a right at the stop sign.”

  Laddin followed the direction, then continued with their conversation. “You feel bad for a guy who is in love with you.” His voice was deadpan, but anger throbbed in the air.

  Why did he have to keep saying that word? It made Bruce twitch every time. “You know about my past. You know that I’ve been a shit to every lover I’ve ever had, and that’s a long list. You know how I treated my own brother. Hell, you even know how fucked-up I am over all of it.”

  “Yeah. So?”

  “So, I’ve been an asshole my entire life. And I may be trying to make up for it now, but I’m still an asshole. And no amount of love from you is going to change that.” Bruce slumped in his seat and delivered the final blow. “Falling in love with someone you want to change is never going to work.”

  “I don’t want to change you. I think you’re fine the way you are.”

  Bruce shook his head. It was all he could do in the face of such willful blindness.

  While he turned to stare moodily out at the full moon, Laddin pressed him with questions he didn’t want to explore. “You think you’re a monster, right?”

  “I said asshole.” Though monster fit.

  “And did you think of yourself that way before coming to Wisconsin?”

  Of course he had. Or had he? He’d happily slept with girl after girl. At least he’d been honest with every one of them. As for his relationship with Josh, it was complicated and confused.

  He suddenly realized that he’d never actually thought of himself as a monster until recently. Sure, he’d been a jerk and a bastard, but he’d never thought “monster” until he’d eaten the fairy fruit and it had opened his eyes to a world full of them.

  He turned to gape at Laddin. “You think this is because of that fairy asshole?”

  Laddin shook his head. “No, I think it’s the demon’s field. I think it takes normal bits of guilt and magnifies them into words like monster. Look deep, Bruce. Do you really think that badly of yourself?”

  Yes.

  No!

  Maybe?

  Bruce rubbed a hand over his face. “This magic stuff is fuc
ked-up.”

  “Yes, it is.” Then he flashed Bruce a grin. “But it keeps us on our toes, right?”

  “And buried in cheese.”

  Laddin shuddered. “Let’s not go there right now, okay?”

  “Okay.” They lapsed into silence for a bit while Bruce fed Laddin more directions. There was more traffic here. Press vans and cops. No one stopped them yet, but that would come soon enough. “What does all this mean?” Bruce asked, not really expecting an answer.

  “It means you need to remember that you’re not a monster.”

  “I’ve been an asshole at times for sure. But you’re right—I’m not a monster.” Saying it aloud helped solidify it in his mind.

  “And I love you.”

  Bruce winced, but he tried to take it in without arguing. As he did, the tension inside him eased—and the part that kept insisting he was a monster dimmed. It didn’t go away, but it wasn’t front and center in his thoughts anymore.

  With that realization came understanding. “You’re using positive thought to fight the depressive field.”

  Laddin nodded. “Effective, isn’t it?”

  Yes. But that made him wonder, were Laddin’s feelings real? Or was he latching on to love as a way to fight depression? Was everything they’d just discussed a tactic to be used in the field and nothing more?

  Shit, now he was more confused than ever. But they’d run out of time to discuss things, since the next turn brought them to the first checkpoint. It was time to stop thinking about feelings and start looking for the demon that was ending the world.

  Chapter 21

  HOW MANY FAIRYLANDS ARE THERE?

  LADDIN PULLED up to the first checkpoint and forced himself to smile at the guard. He handed over his ID and waited while Stratos came out to meet them. Her hair was tied back into a short ponytail and her eyes had a haggard drag to them, but she smiled and tossed Bruce his Wulf, Inc. ID dog tags as she climbed into the back seat of the car.

  “Don’t lose that,” she said. “Wiz used the last of his magic last night to make them for you. They’ll even stay on you if you go wolf.”

  Laddin watched Bruce stare at the tags, then swallow. It was like he was stuffing all extraneous thoughts and feelings into a mental box labeled Later so he could deal with the problem at hand.

  Laddin respected that. Not many people could be that tidy, but Bruce knew how to prioritize even something as immediate as emotions. A moment later he put the tags over his head and tucked them under his T-shirt.

  “Where’s Wiz?” Laddin asked.

  “Waiting at the last checkpoint.” Then, before Laddin could ask, she held up a hand. “We’re taking a break from each other.”

  He wasn’t surprised. Even back at headquarters, the two bickered all the time. They argued about everything—from who was supposed to grab the whiteboard markers all the way through complex magical theory. He could barely remember a time they weren’t at each other’s throats. And it must be even worse this close to the lake. Unfortunately, right now, they needed Wiz. He was the only experienced field operator among them.

  “Stratos—” he said.

  “He thinks he knows everything.”

  “That’s because he often does.” Wiz was Sheldon, Doctor Strange, and Sherlock Holmes all wrapped together in one handsome, arrogant package.

  “I know that!” Stratos said. “Still, that doesn’t mean I’m going to let him get away with acting like he’s all that.”

  “Even when he is?”

  Stratos growled low and deep in her chest. “Just shut up and drive. We’ll pick him up soon enough. See if you can stand him.”

  She slumped back into her seat, but Laddin was watching her reflection in the rearview mirror. Her body was tired and her expression bleak. She was not the firecracker of a woman he knew, the one who had once ruled the WOW gaming circuit as much for her attitude as her skills. “How long have you been in this zone?”

  “Since well before you got here.” She looked at Bruce. “You going to solve all our problems?”

  Bruce flashed a cocky grin. “Absolutely not. You’ve got way too many issues for me to fix.”

  “Great,” Stratos muttered. “Another guy who thinks he’s funny.”

  They were both fronting. Laddin could tell Bruce was acting cocky to cover up how shaken he was by the L-word discussion. Stratos was doing much the same, resorting to her angry persona rather than admit she was afraid. They all were.

  That left him to infuse some sunshine and light into the discussion or watch his teammates self-destruct.

  “What do you call cheese that isn’t yours?”

  His teammates stared at him like he’d lost his mind.

  “Nacho cheese.” Only he pronounced it not yo’ cheese.

  Dead silence. Then Bruce twisted in his seat. “Did you seriously just make a bad cheese joke?”

  He shrugged. “Tough crowd.”

  “Don’t you mean, tough cheese?”

  Now it was Laddin’s turn to stare. “What?”

  “Tough cheese. You know, like tough nugget. Or tough love. Or, I don’t know, tough noogies. Don’t they say that in LA?”

  “Never. But then, we don’t have murderous cheese like you do in the Midwest.”

  Stratos lost her temper. “Have you both lost your minds? You’re supposed to be looking for the world-ending demon! And the expression is tough nut to crack!”

  Bruce and Laddin looked at each other, then shook their heads. “No, it’s cheese,” Laddin said.

  “Definitely cheese. That’s way more dangerous than nuts. Especially in Wisconsin.”

  She gaped at them, and they grinned back. Laddin would have held the pose longer, but they were approaching the second checkpoint. As he pulled the car to a stop, he heard her grumble, “Crazy. The world’s fate is in the hands of crazy people.” But there was a lightness in her tone that hadn’t been there before, and when he glanced back through the rearview mirror, her lips were curved in a slight smile. A very slight one, but it was something.

  It disappeared the second Wiz jumped into the car as they crossed through the gate.

  “You were supposed to meet us at the third checkpoint,” she snapped.

  “Change of plans. Park wherever you can. We’re getting out here.”

  “What? Why?”

  He turned dark eyes toward her, but his voice filled the car. “Because something strange is going on, and it starts before the third checkpoint. Don’t ask me what it is. I’m still thinking, but my guess is it’s some sort of fairy shit. Nothing else can confuse my brain like the damned fae.”

  No one spoke for at least a minute. Laddin was busy finding a stretch of ground to park on. The others, presumably, were noticing how the road stretched ahead for maybe a half mile, then ended in a gray haze, like thick smoke. Only it had flashes of color that fuzzed out his brain. Whatever was ahead, it was too chaotic for him to make sense of. And he wasn’t alone. He caught a glimpse of a pair of confused-looking reporters stumbling down the road toward them. One carried a mic, the other gripped a camera, but neither seemed able to function. They rambled forward, wearing shell-shocked expressions. A moment later, others followed—some in National Guard uniforms; some wore lab coats and carried laptops. No one spoke, and they all looked like they were escaping the apocalypse.

  That was when Bruce started cursing. It was soft and low, but the sound filled the inside of the car with frustration.

  “What?” Laddin pressed. “What do you see?”

  Bruce didn’t seem to want to answer, but Laddin wasn’t going to let him get away with it. They needed information and they needed it now.

  “We’re going in there,” Laddin said clearly. “And we need to know what you see.”

  Bruce shot him a heavy stare filled with dread. “Fireworks.”

  Laddin was so horrified, he couldn’t speak. But neither Stratos nor Wiz knew anything about what had happened.

  Wiz spoke first, his voice commanding
. “Is that a joke?”

  Stratos answered. “They don’t look like they’re joking, but I can’t see anything but smoke.”

  Laddin shook his head. “We’re not. He’s not.” He squinted as he looked forward. “I can hear some booms and see the smoke, but nothing else.”

  Then Bruce jerked his arm forward to point into the haze. “I see people down. I count six, but there could be a lot more.” His expression tightened as his gaze kept moving, looking everywhere at once but never landing anywhere. “I think they’re tied down like I was.”

  “So how do we get them out?”

  Bruce put his hand on the car door even though Laddin was still easing the car forward, trying to get as close to the smoke as possible. “One at a time, that’s how.”

  “Wait!” Wiz exclaimed. “Fairies are unpredictable, and they’re dangerous. We need a plan.”

  Like they didn’t know that already. Meanwhile, Bruce started issuing orders. “You three get the people out. I’ll handle the fairies.”

  “Hell no!” Laddin snapped.

  “Why you?” Wiz asked, his voice sharp.

  “Because I’ve got experience with them.”

  Wiz reared back. “Since when? You’re a puppy.”

  Laddin slammed the car into Park. “Since earlier today, when he offered up his firstborn child!”

  Stratos’s voice hitched slightly as she opened her door; then she looked at Wiz. “I don’t think we’ve been getting the full action reports.”

  “We’re werewolves,” Wiz returned. “Nobody does the paperwork.”

  Laddin did the paperwork, but now wasn’t the time to point that out, because Bruce was already heading for the haze. The firework booms were there, but not nearly as loud as they should have been, given the amount of smoke.

  Bruce shot him a concerned look. “You okay?”

  “Yeah. Sure.” Just because he was walking into a repeat of last night’s nightmare, that didn’t mean a thing. But then he happened to look up. Or maybe it didn’t just happen, because something was pulling at him. Something strong.