Of Humans and Monsters

by Candace Blevins

  “He gets grumpy as shit,” I told him with a smile. “Most shapeshifters run the risk of losing control if they get too hungry. Nathan’s always in control of his lion, but he isn’t any fun to be around when he’s hungry.”

  “Before that... thing came, they mentioned something about you fighting someone before I was recruited.” He paused and gave an uncomfortable shrug. “It sounded significant, like maybe it’s why they took me.”

  I looked at Nathan. “Is there food on the island?”

  He nodded and we started walking. I was bound and couldn’t tell Josh about Surtr, but I hoped I could give him an idea of what happened. Or, maybe he’d been bound. Nathan told him about being a lion, so perhaps I could speak freely.

  “Did the vampires do something to you, so you can’t tell anyone about them?”

  He nodded. “Yeah. At first, they didn’t want me talking to anyone from home. Eventually, they let me call my family and a few friends. I don’t remember them doing anything, but I couldn’t tell anyone about them or the things they can do. I tried once, and the words wouldn’t come out of my mouth.”

  “Okay, I’ve been bound, too. I think the binding somehow knows if I can tell you stuff, so I’m going to try.” I looked to Nathan and he nodded, so I gave an abbreviated version of the story.

  “Surtr was once worshiped as a god. He isn’t as powerful now, without people praying to him and giving offerings, but he’s still immortal. I couldn’t kill him, but I turned him to ashes and the...” Something kept me from telling him the ashes were scattered around the planet. It felt important to tell him that when at least half of his ashes were back in the same place he’d come back to life, but all I could tell him was, “As far as humans are concerned, he’s no longer a problem. Not many people knew what I could do before I fought him, but word gets around when a human takes out an ancient god.”

  “I wouldn’t have believed you six months ago.”

  “And now?”

  “I’ve seen some strange damned things.”

  “They’ve taken you through Hell, right?”

  “No.”

  “How did they get you to China?” I couldn’t imagine the Celrau booking flights and dealing with airports and layovers while making sure it was nighttime wherever they happened to be during the long-assed trip.

  He shrugged. “I don’t know. I went to sleep in America and woke up in China.”

  I glanced at Nathan and looked back to Josh as I stopped walking. “Hell smells like burning sulfur. Did you by chance have that smell in your nose when you awakened?”

  He nodded as if in slow motion, and I turned and kept walking.

  “I had on different clothes, too,” he said, his voice thoughtful. “I mean, they looked the same, so they didn’t want me to know I’d been changed, but I’d scorched my shirtsleeve on an eye while cooking, and it wasn’t scorched when I woke up.”

  “When you fought the tiger and they made a quick escape with you, they took you into a portal to hell,” I told him. “If you don’t remember it, they must’ve erased your memory of it.”

  I followed Nathan through the scrub without slowing more than necessary to avoid obstacles. Josh needed time to work it through and come to his own conclusions.

  “Aaron brought me through Faerie to get me here,” he said, working it through aloud.

  “Yes.”

  “They could’ve taken me to China through Hell in the same manner?”

  “Yes.”

  We followed Nathan up a small rise and into a brown concrete hut. Aaron owned this island, and I was assuming this was a hidden safehouse. Even I didn’t know how to get here, or what part of the world we were in. I was guessing tropical based on the temperature and plant life, but that covered a huge area of the planet.

  Nathan pulled lettuce, several cheeses, and a large chunk of meat from the refrigerator. “There’s enough solar for basic living,” he told Josh as he settled everything on a small counter. “Aaron stocked the fridge before we brought you, and I’m thinking a roast beef sandwich sounds good. I’m assuming you aren’t a vegetarian like your cousin?”

  “They’ve been feeding me a vegetarian diet, but I’d love to eat meat again.”

  “Is there butter?” I asked. “I’d like to make myself a grilled cheese sandwich.”

  “Pans are in the cabinet to the right of the stove. Spatulas are in the drawer just above.”

  He handed me the butter, bread, and mayo, and I started building my sandwich with multiple types of cheese.

  There was a single eye on the stove, but it was still a luxury considering we were on an island in the middle of nowhere. Had Aaron bought this island, or just started using it and claimed it as his own? Dragons of yore might like collecting gold, but Aaron was more into collecting things. My guess was his net worth was likely split amongst dozens of identities, otherwise it’s possible he’d show up on those “richest men” lists.

  We were silent as we fixed our sandwiches, but Nathan started the conversation when we were all settled around the small table.

  “No one else will be likely to find you here. The Siabhra found you because he had your essence, which is basically a piece of your soul. I don’t sense a piece of your soul missing, so I’m not sure what’s up with that. Maybe they just shaved a sliver off, not enough for me to notice?” He shook his head. “Unless someone else has another piece, you’re safe here. I’m assuming Aaron will work with Titania and Mab to make sure the Siabhra can’t come for you again.”

  “How can you be sure no one else can find him? I don’t know where we are, but...” My binding wouldn’t let me discuss the Concilio in front of Josh, which was frustrating, because they seemed to be able to find anyone, at any time. If they could, it was likely others could too.

  “There are natural mineral deposits in the area to thwart most ways supernaturals can locate those who belong to them or are under their protection.” He turned to Josh. “You can’t live here forever though. With your approval, we’ll work out a plan to take you somewhere else. We’ll have plenty of round-the-clock protection hidden around the new location so we can keep you safe if they come for you.”

  “And if they don’t come for me, it’s likely they don’t have a way to locate me?”

  Nathan shook his head. “It could also mean they want to wait until we let our guard down, which means it’ll be a while before we can.”

  “You’re smarter than my Uncle Glen,” I told Josh. “We’d have had to explain to him what that meant. He can’t take a bunch of facts and come to a conclusion. Once he’s told something, he knows it, but that’s memory, not intelligence.”

  He looked at his plate a few seconds before meeting my gaze, his eyes sad. “That box of pictures, and any other information about my sperm donor, is kind of an emotional bombshell for me. I’ll talk to you about him at some point, and I’m interested in my grandparents and would like to hear about them when we have time, but can you do me a favor and let me get through this crisis before I have to deal with... him?”

  Fuck. I’m the therapist, and he’d had to tell me to back off. I’m usually better than that, but I was rushing things, trying to get through the crisis instead of focusing on his emotions. “Thanks for letting me know where you are emotionally. I’ll do my best not to cause you more pain than necessary. You’ve avoided that side of the family all your life, and I’m sorry I probably represent it for you, but it can’t be helped.”

  I’d walked people through their emotions while they explored ties to parents and other family they’d never known. I knew how difficult it was. I needed to do better.

  “We’re going to have to build trust going both directions,” I told him. “Us taking you to our places is a risk, and you turning your back on the people you thought were the good guys is a risk.”

  He nodded but didn’t say anything, and I looked to Nathan with a sigh. “I hate to say this, but I’m going to have to get home soon. I know Sophia has my cellphone a
nd will stall for me if Lauren calls, but she’s due home soon and I need to be there.”

  “Lauren’s your daughter?” Josh asked.

  I nodded and he asked, “You aren’t married?”

  “No. I adopted Lauren. I’m a single mom.”

  “I was afraid I’d be a terrible father, so I never...”

  “I’m sorry, Josh. Parents can fuck us up, even when they aren’t around.”

  Nathan reached for the satellite phone at his waist and called Sophia to let her know I was ready to go home.

  “I’ll stay in touch,” I told Josh. “If you need anything at all, Nathan or Aaron will do their best. If you want to talk to me, let them know.” I turned to look at Nathan. “If he wants me, he gets me, right?”

  Nathan nodded and I told him, “I can find my way to Sophia. Take care of my cousin.”

  Chapter 6

  Sophia carried me through Faerie without problems, though I admit I was worried the Siabhra would be waiting for us when we entered. Once we were back at her house, she insisted I let one of her bodyguards drive me home, assuring me she’d be fine with three instead of four.

  Lauren hadn’t called, and I got my phone back from Sophia, gave her an extra-long hug as I thanked her for everything, and climbed into the black Explorer the bodyguard pointed me towards.

  “I’m guessing I have you because Aaron gave Sophia an extra guard for the day?”

  “You have me because they wanted you driven home by someone who could keep you safe.”

  “I work at Drake Security but I haven’t seen you around? Are you new?” I usually interview people during the hiring process, but I didn’t point that out.

  “I’m part of Queen Sophia’s team.”

  I tried to start a conversation a few times, and when he politely shut me down, I remained silent and looked out the window. He walked me inside and said, “I’m told you have a dog?”

  “He stays in the backyard when no one’s home and it isn’t raining.”

  “I need you to let him in before I go, please.”

  “Did you find those orders odd?”

  He didn’t shrug, nod, or answer, and I rolled my eyes as I turned to walk to the backdoor. This man gave me the heeby-jeebies, and I was happy to have someone in the house with me so the two of us weren’t alone. Smokey stood between me and the bodyguard, and I asked, “Happy?”

  “No. I was instructed to call your regular guard if something seems off, and to stay until she arrives.”

  “What seems off?”

  He shook his head. “Something has me wanting to look behind me. I don’t know what, but I’d rather not leave you alone.”

  “Can I ask what you are?”

  “No. Please call your regular guard.”

  I looked at him a few seconds without doing anything, and he asked, “Should I call the control room at Drake and have them do it?”

  I reached for my cellphone and told Cora what the asshole bodyguard had to say.

  “I’ll be there in about twenty minutes. I’d kinda like to hear how it went with the sexy wolf last night anyway.”

  “It’s quite a story. I’ll see you soon.”

  I needed to do something to keep from being weirded out by the untalkative bodyguard, so I put eggs on to boil and unloaded the dishwasher. Egg salad always gets eaten in my house.

  When Cora arrived, she walked the property before coming inside. “I smelled Celrau at the back corner, in the woods where he wouldn’t have been easily seen. I’m guessing they were here sometime in the past two to three days, possibly last night, but I can’t be sure.” She turned to Mr. Talkative Bodyguard. “I called it into the control room. If you can take up a post outside until they send someone, please?”

  He nodded and went out the backdoor, and I tried hard not to panic. The thoughts of the enemy outside my house — I wanted to pack Lauren up and move her somewhere safe. I grabbed my phone and called her, needing to hear her voice.

  “Mom, I have another hour until I have to be home.”

  Relief flooded my system, but I worked hard to keep my tone light. “I know, I just hadn’t heard from you all day and wanted to check in. Where are you?”

  “We’re at the mall. I’ve had a ton to eat today, so don’t make a big dinner, okay?”

  “Okay, I’ll see you soon. Love you.”

  “Love you too.”

  I disconnected, closed my eyes, and took a few breaths to try to calm my nerves.

  “You’re panicking,” Cora commented.

  “I don’t want them near Lauren.”

  Cora nodded and called the control room on speakerphone so I could hear both sides of the conversation. “Pull Kirsten’s daughter’s location up and keep an eye on her. She’s at the mall and should be heading home in the next thirty or forty minutes. If she deviates off-course to come straight home, please send people to check on her and let us know immediately.”

  “Roger that. I have her at the mall, and I’ve just put her on a separate screen so I can watch.”

  “Thank you,” I said as Cora disconnected. “Anything we can do to make things safer here while we wait?”

  “Xiaolan is still staying at her boyfriend’s house on the weekends?”

  I nodded. “And sometimes a few nights during the week too.”

  “In strategy meetings, the consensus has been that since Lauren isn’t biologically related to you, they won’t go after her for the same reasons they apparently went after your cousin. There’s a chance they might get her in an attempt to bring you to them, so we’ll make sure she’s protected. Still, if we need to move you somewhere else, you’ll have the choice of bringing her with you or having her stay at your parents’ house.”

  “And the guards would be outside in the trees of my parents’ yard again?”

  She nodded and I asked, “Do you think they’ll go after Xiaolan?”

  “As luck would have it, she’s dating a Pack wolf, and Randall’s told him if he smells Celrau, he needs to call the Drake control room and get her to safety.”

  “No one orchestrated that, right? Please tell me he really likes her!”

  “They started dating first, and then we brought him in,” she said with a smile. “I like Xiaolan, too. This is real, and I’m happy for her.”

  “Okay, so now we figure out how to keep Lauren safe.”

  “And you.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, but I’m pretty good at taking care of myself.”

  “Lauren has some skills too. She’d kick just about any human’s ass who tried to hurt her — you’ve done well with her.”

  Lauren had taken to martial arts easily and it’s true she can be formidable. However, she’d have no defenses against a vampire or shifter.

  My phone rang and I didn’t recognize the number. My heart dropped to my feet as I recognized Aquila’s voice.

  “You have someone I want.”

  “I do? Who do you want? I’m home with a friend right now, and I’m pretty sure you don’t want her.”

  “Your wolfie friend, no doubt. Don’t play coy, kitten. You know who I want returned to me.”

  “How are you enjoying your time back on Earth?”

  “You’re changing the subject, kitten. You have someone I want.” He over-enunciated the last sentence, which meant I was annoying him. Good.

  “Who do you think I have?”

  “Are we really going to play games? You disappoint me.”

  Cora was texting someone on her phone, so I assumed the Drake control room was listening in. Perhaps I’d get farther by talking a little. Or at the very least, I could annoy Aquila more while I kept him on the phone. “I don’t have him, but I had an opportunity to meet him. I don’t believe he’s going to fall for your lies anymore. I’m not sure you’ll want him back.”

  “Erasing a day or two from his memory won’t be a problem. Tell your dragon I want Josh back. If he isn’t returned to us tonight, you won’t like what I’ll do tomorrow.”

&n
bsp; “You can’t do much of anything during the day.”

  “We have shapeshifters on our side as well, kitten.”

  Cora waved her fingers at her throat in the universal sign to cut it off, so I told Aquila, “I’ll pass along the message. Is there anything else?”

  “Not at the present time. You’ll eventually be mine again. I have all the time in the world to wait until I’m in a position to keep you.”

  “I look forward to chopping you up again. If there’s nothing else, I’ll be going.”

  “Bye, kitten. We want him back tonight.”

  He hung up and I met Cora’s gaze. “Is Aaron still in Faerie?”

  “The control room can contact Nathan. Aaron’s still unreachable. We’re good here for now, but more guards are being sent and Bran’s on his way.”

  The eggs were finished boiling, so I kept myself busy turning them into egg salad. I didn’t breathe easy until Lauren was home, and thankfully she needed a hug from me as much as I needed one from her. She still sensed something was wrong though.

  “What’s up, Mom?”

  “You know how sometimes I go all psycho about safety stuff?” She groaned, and I said, “I’m sorry. This is one of those times.”

  “I’m gonna get a shower and wash my hair. Do we have plans for tonight?”

  “Bran’s on his way to discuss the security situation. You might want to make it quick in case we go somewhere else tonight.”

  She rolled her eyes again before bouncing up the steps, and I returned to the family room to talk to Cora.

  “Don’t get comfortable,” Cora said. “I hear Bran’s car turning into the neighborhood.”

  I shook my head at her and sank onto the sofa. “Being able to hear a car two streets away, and identify who it is, is just...”

  “What’s really bothering you?”

  “I want a normal life.”

  “You have this life.”

  I sighed, thought about it, and smiled. “Yeah, I guess I do.” My smile faded and I told her what was really in my thoughts. “If something happens to Lauren I’m probably going to turn into... I’m not sure what I’ll turn into, but it won’t be pretty.”