by Ben Reeder
“Oh, that’s mean,” I said. She made an affirmative-sounding murmur into my shoulder and laid her hand on my chest. A few seconds later, she curled her legs up beside her and wrapped her other arm around my back, then held tight, which meant my ribs creaked for a few seconds. When she breathed in deep, I put my hand on her hair and just stroked gently. Her body relaxed a little as she let out the breath, and she took a few more slow, deliberate breaths.
“What happened?” I asked her.
“Bad dream,” she said. “I shouldn’t have gone back out to the chapel.”
“It’s okay,” I said. I wanted to know more, but I wasn’t sure if I should ask or not. “It was just a dream, right?”
“Does it work when you tell yourself that?”
“Not really,” I said. “Hell, we both need some serious therapy or something.”
“Who’d believe us? You got sold to a demon and I got molested by a perv werewolf. That would get us both a one-way ticket to a padded room at Twisted Oaks.”
“Didn’t say we’d get it, I just said we needed it.”
“You ever try to talk to Corwyn about it?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “He gets it a little too well from walking around in my head. Half the time it screws him up as much as me.”
“At least we have each other,” she said.
“That’s more than enough,” I said. I felt her expression change against my shoulder, and I guessed she was smiling.
“More than you deserve, too,” she said.
“But not more than I can handle,” I told her as I moved my hand to her side and poked a finger into her ribs. She yelped and jumped off the swing. Of course I chased her. She led me around the big oak tree and back to the swing before she turned and faced me again.
“I’m the Wolf Queen,” she said with a giggle. “I’m more than any mortal man can handle!” She came at me as she finished, and I side-stepped to keep myself out of her clutches.
“I’m no mere mortal,” I told her. “I’m a great and oof!” I managed before she pounced on me and dug her fingers into my stomach, the one place I was the most ticklish. “… powerful … wizard!” I said between laughs as I grabbed for her wrists. There was no way I was going to overpower her. If I wanted to carry the day and survive against such a powerful foe, I was going to have to cheat. I let go of one of her hands, and she immediately went for the belly again.
“Ha!” she said as I broke into a fit of laughter. “Great and powerful wizard, my sweet ass!”
I wrapped my right hand in the thick auburn hair at the back of her head and pulled. Almost immediately, her eyes closed and her mouth opened as she bent her head back and arched her shoulders into the direction I pulled her, until she was on her back in the grass.
“I know your weaknesses,” I whispered to her as I rolled onto my side to look down at her. She squirmed a little, but she didn’t try all that hard to get away. Once I laid my left hand on her stomach, she went still, and her eyelids snapped open. Caught between wolf and human desires, her eyes were a deep green. As long as they didn’t go gold, I was still just at the edge of dangerous territory. Her breath came in short little pants, and her gaze somehow managed to be wide-eyed enough to be vulnerable and placid enough to be absolutely trusting. I leaned down and kissed her parted lips gently, then did it again. When her eyes opened after the second kiss, they were gray again.
“And you’re not afraid to use them against me,” she said as she put one hand against my face.
“I’m a bastard that way,” I said, lifting my hand from her stomach to touch her cheek. My lips touched hers again, then I kissed the tip of her nose. “And it is a sweet ass.” Our eyes locked again, and my heart pounded. Suddenly, I didn’t have anything funny or romantic to say, but I wanted to say something, except for the words I was too afraid to just blurt out. I wasn’t even sure if they were true.
The fateful phrase was just on the tip of my tongue when I heard the back door open. Mom’s shoes scuffed on the back porch, and her voice came on its heels.
“Dinner’s almost done,” Mom said. “Alexis, would you like to eat with us?”
“Yeah, Mom, she’s staying for dinner,” I called out as we got up.
“I am?” Shade whispered with a little bit of menace in her voice. The alpha wolf in her wasn’t always fond of being told what to do, and even as her gothi, I didn’t get much leeway where that was concerned. An adviser can only get away with so much before wisdom is more wise-ass.
“Yes, you are,” I said. I brushed grass off my pants and stood up. “Unless you want me to end up killing poor Winthrop.”
“Oh, we can’t have that,” she said with a mischievous smile. “I’ll do my best to distract you.” As she said it she arched her back, and I failed miserably at the whole not-ogling-her-thing as her body did interesting things to her shirt.
“By the way, we’re heading to the Underground tomorrow,” I said as we headed for the back door. “And then we’re going to the Hive. I … want to show you … what my world’s like.”
“You mean, when no one’s trying to kill you,” she said flatly.
“That, too,” I said a little too casually and held the door open for her.
Gage skipped out on dinner, and on the rest of the evening, too. He slipped in late, waking up Mom when he rang the doorbell. He was about as quiet as a dump truck as he crept into my room and got in the bed. Junkyard and I laid there, still and quiet, until I heard his breathing slow and fall into the rhythm of sleep. A few minutes later, I closed my eyes again. He yawned and stretched at an unholy hour, and I propped myself up on one elbow. Junkyard got to his feet and headed for the door, waiting to head outside.
“You snore,” I said
“What the ..?” he yelped. He rubbed his eyes, then looked more closely at the blanket I was sitting on. “Is that where you slept?”
“Yeah,” I said as I got to my feet.
“You didn’t have to sleep on the floor,” he said. “I could have taken a couch or rented a room.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I said as I grabbed my running shorts. “I always sleep on the floor.” His mouth was still working on making words as I left the room. The next time he managed to make his mouth work was when we were in the car and pulling out of the driveway.
“Why do you sleep on the floor?” he asked.
“Because I do,” I said, which was a lot nicer than what I wanted to tell him.
“Where are we going?” he asked.
“To meet my friends at the park.”
“Do you involve mundanes in everything you do?” he asked.
“They’re my friends,” I said. “Not mundanes, not cowan or any other shitty thing you want to call them. And yeah, we do a lot of stuff together. Deal with it.”
“Mun—normal people, people like Lucas … in the end, when it counts, they will turn on you.” He sounded almost sad as he said it, and he shook his head like he was telling me some unfortunate truth.
“You don’t know Lucas and Wanda,” I said as I pulled into the parking lot for Founder’s Park.
“I know cowans,” Gage said. “They envy us as much as they fear us. We wield powers they can barely comprehend, and they destroy what they can’t control or have for themselves. They’ll blame you for anything that goes wrong in their lives, and they’ll betray you to the first thing that offers them an easy way out.”
“You,” I laughed, “still don’t know my friends.”
“Neither do you,” he said as he got out of the car. Junkyard followed me as I got out and we headed over to the bench where Lucas and Wanda were waiting. Both of them had on gray sweat pants, but Wanda’s tank top was red while Lucas wore a baggy white t-shirt. As usual of late, Wanda had her head bent over her phone, and Lucas was leaning back with his arms across the top of the backrest. As soon as we got close, Wanda put her phone away and got to her feet to close the distance between us.
“I’m glad you made it home
okay,” she said as she wrapped me in a hug. I squeezed her close for a few seconds and felt the warmth of her press against my aura. Ever since I’d given the Goddess’s gift to her, she’d felt like that, like a ray of sunlight that warmed the soul. She pulled back and turned her smile on Gage. “Hi, I’m Wanda. You must be Chance’s proctor.”
He took her proffered hand in his and tilted it so that her fingers were draped over his, then inclined his head slightly.
“Winthrop Gage,” he said. “I’m delighted to meet you. Chance speaks highly of you.”
Her smile warmed up a few notches from merely radiant to something just shy of needing welding goggles to protect my eyes.
“Come on, guys,” I said. “Let’s get moving. Those miles aren’t gonna run themselves.” I set an easy pace, just fast enough to start a burn in my legs and make me sweat. Our morning runs weren’t about training for a marathon, they were mostly to build endurance and keep me in good shape. Dr. Corwyn had insisted that I start running when he first started training me, and lately, Lucas and Wanda had joined me. I didn’t bother checking on Gage. Lucas and Wanda kept pace with me with ease, and Junkyard ran along beside me like it was nothing.
We rounded a curve near a wooded area, and I slowed when I felt something at the edge of my mystic senses. Wanda and Lucas slowed too, both of them looking around as if they felt something off as well. Lucas had some Talent, and Wanda’s communion with the Goddess on the Equinox had left her a little more perceptive to some things than normal people. It was Wanda’s reaction that worried me more, since her sensitivity was more in tune with the Celestial and Infernal than to magick.
“You guys feel that?” she asked as she came to a stop. Lucas and I stopped as well and nodded. Gage jogged up behind us, then blinked as he came to a stop and scanned left and right.
“Feels … nasty,” Lucas offered. “Kinda like that thing we ran into on the way home, but …”
“Weaker,” Gage finished. “Much weaker, like an old summoning circle.” Wanda turned toward the opening of a trail and pointed.
“That way,” she said, and plunged ahead. We followed and twenty yards later came out in the middle of an old clearing. An outline of chalk sketched a rough circle near the middle, and a pile of ash marked a fire that had been lit in the center.
“I was right,” Gage said as he pointed to his right. “You can see the summoner’s circle of protection over there, and that must have been the portal itself in the center.”
I walked over to the smaller circle and knelt down to take a closer look. What Gage had described as the summoner’s circle intersected the main circle, so that part of it was inside. The ash pile was only a few steps away, and I nudged it with the toe of my sneaker. The overturned ash floated like a small cloud and revealed black squares of charred wood.
“Clearly someone summoned a demon here,” Gage was saying. “There’s no telling what Infernal errand they sent it upon.” He stopped when he heard me laugh. “Is there something about summoning demons that you find amusing?”
“Oh, no, I’d take this very seriously,” I said. “If this was a summoning circle instead of a conjure circle.”
“A distinction without a difference,” Gage said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “I’m clearly the senior mage here, plebe. Shut your mouth and open your ears and you might actually learn something.”
“Sure,” I said with a grin. “What year do they teach demon summoning?” I waited while he sputtered for an answer, then shook my head. “A conjure circle pulls a demon’s presence without calling their form. The summoner’s circle intersects the containment circle, and the fire creates a sort of medium for the demon’s presence to take shape in. If they were trying to bring the demon’s form through, the summoner’s circle would be tangential, not intersecting.”
“So, whoever did this was …” Wanda said.
“Consulting with a demon, not inviting them to drop by,” I said. “Or at least, they were trying to. When you’re successful in opening even a narrow portal like you need for a conjure, you get spiral patterns in the ash.”
“This was a failed casting?” Lucas asked. “I’d hate to see what a successful conjure feels like.”
“Yeah, you would,” I said. “So far, there’s nothing to worry about, but let’s tell Dr. C and we’ll look into it a little later on.” I headed back to the jogging trail, still concerned that someone was trying to call up demons in my city.
I kept a relaxed pace the rest of the way. Still, running a five-mile circuit, even at an easy pace, will take the wind out of you. We were all panting by the time we made it back to the bench and slowed to a walk.
“So,” Lucas said between breaths, “what are we all up to today?” He put his hands behind his head as we walked.
“I’m going shopping for a piece of wood,” I deadpanned.
“Just one?” Wanda asked with a grin.
“Yes, but it’s a magick piece of wood.”
“Are you buying a wand?” Lucas asked.
“No, just the magick wood for one, like I said.”
“Right, magick wood. Well, I’m going to be bored to tears at the lake with my folks. My dad’s insisting on ‘quality time’ as a family, so we’re going to go swim and frolic while Dad chars meat on a grill and calls it bar-be-que.”
“Let me guess,” Wanda said. “No books?”
“No books, no cell phones, just a deck of cards, a box of dominoes, and good old-fashioned, awkward-as-hell togetherness. What about you, Wanda? Please, give me something exciting to wish I was doing!”
“I … have a date,” Wanda blurted after a moment of hesitation. Her face turned almost as red as her tank top as she looked over her shoulder. “I’ve wanted to talk to you both about this for a while, but …”
“We kind of suspected,” I said as I waved Gage back. He frowned but his steps veered away.
“Really? Because we’ve been really low-key about it. We’ve both been trying to keep it quiet. Did you go through my phone or something?” Her expression hardened as she turned to face us.
“We didn’t have to,” Lucas said. “Every time you get a text, you get this big smile on your face, and it’s like we’re not even there. I don’t know about Chance, but I’ve been a little disappointed that you didn’t even tell us who it is.”
“I’ve just been insanely jealous because it wasn’t me,” I told her. “But seriously, when are you going to introduce us? I mean, we’re behind the curve here. We still have to threaten him if he breaks your heart.”
“And there’s all that silent judging we still need to do because he’s not good enough for you,” Lucas added.
Wanda turned and put a hand on each of our shoulders. Her eyes flicked back and forth between us as they welled up. “Please,” she said, her voice wavering.
“What’s wrong, Wanda?” Lucas asked.
“Promise me you won’t be upset with me,” she said.
“Sure, you know I won’t be,” he said, his voice low and laced with concern. “Are you okay?”
She turned the full force of her attention to me.
“I won’t be upset with you, whatever it is.” I put my hand over hers and the first tear slid down her cheek.
“It’s Giselle,” she said softly. Her wide-eyed gaze went back and forth between Lucas and me, and her breathing was shallow.
“The girl Damian was mind-fucking?” I asked. Wanda nodded and then looked to Lucas, her eyes searching his face.
“You’ve got good taste,” he said a little too casually.
“I don’t … this is important, Lucas. Please, can you take this seriously?”
“I’m sorry, Wanda,” Lucas said. “I’m trying to act like this is no big thing because it’s not. I don’t care if you’re dating a girl. I’ve got your back no matter who you date.”
She turned back to me, and my heart broke a little at the worry I saw in her eyes.
“You’re my friend,” I said. “Who you date do
esn’t change that. You could sell your soul, and I’d help you get it back.”
She took a shaky breath and wiped the back of her hand across her cheek. “Goddess,” she said softly, “I didn’t think I’d be this much of a wreck over this.”
“Were you worried that we’d freak out or something?” Lucas asked.
“Kinda,” Wanda said as her face went red again. “Giselle’s folks went totally apeshit when one of her friends came out. They really don’t like the whole Goth thing to begin with, and if they found out about us, they might kick her out. She’s scared to tell any of her friends because she’s afraid someone will tell her mom and dad.”
“What about your mom?” Lucas asked.
“She’d be cool with it,” Wanda said. “But I needed to know you guys were gonna be able to deal with me and Giselle being together.”
“Why wouldn’t we be?” I asked.
She shrugged and blushed even more. “I don’t know. This is my first time coming out about this to anyone. You guys are like family to me, but … people get weird about this.”
“Well, we’re about as weird as it comes,” Lucas said. “And we’re not kicking you out of the club or anything.”
Wanda smiled at him, her eyes brimming again, and hugged him. I heard him grunt as she squeezed him tight, then she let him go and wrapped her arms around me. “Thank you soooo much for being cool about this,” she said into my shoulder. When she pulled back, her eyes were red but the smile on her face was mirrored in them. “You didn’t even ask to record us or for pictures or anything.”
Lucas slapped his hand against his forehead and made an exasperated sound. “I knew I was forgetting something!” he said. “Dude, a golden opportunity, gone. You’re supposed to have my back on this kind of thing. If we screw up like this again, we’re going to have to turn in our man cards.”
“I figure we’re going to get plenty of opportunities for a live show,” I said as we turned and headed back toward the cars.
Wanda put her fist into my arm, but her heart wasn’t in the punch. “Jerk,” she said.
“Prude,” I shot back.
