by A. L. Tyler
I thought he was going to say something snarky and inconsiderate, like how I really was a huge nerd, or how we might as well because neither of us was ever going to get a date given our current predicament, or how he was actually planning to ask my blessing to make a pass at Martha in all of her low-cut sheer glory, but he didn’t.
“Yes,” he said. “I would. And I think it looks however you want it to. Is that okay?”
I didn’t know what to say. I had thought about dating Vince, and what it would be like, at least a dozen times. Somehow, I had never imagined this moment, or what I was supposed to say. I never thought he would be asking me from a hatch door in my bedroom floor, either.
“Yeah,” I said finally. “That’s okay.”
We stared at each other. I still didn’t know what to say.
“I’ve got a week left,” he said. “Before Charlie says I’ll be going downhill again. We could watch a movie or something, no homework. My place, tomorrow?”
“Sure,” I said quickly.
“Great. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.”
And he disappeared into the hatch, closing it as he went. I stood in my bedroom, wondering what that moment would have been like if I had never met Charlie. It might have gone better. Or, it might never have happened at all. Vince and I were two people inclined to go with the flow instead of taking huge risks, and Charlie knew that. The only way we would have ended up in any sort of dating situation was if we were forced into it.
For example, if he ended up living in my basement.
I went to my little library, and cracked the door just a little. Charlie had been spending more time in there since Martha’s arrival, and I found him curled next to an open book on the chaise.
“Thank you,” I said, half defeated. “I know you don’t like werewolves, but—”
“I have no clue what you’re talking about,” he said shortly. “I’ll move the stairs tomorrow. And we have to do something about Martha.”
“What?” I asked. “Charlie, she knew Kendra. There’s no other explanation.”
“There has to be,” he said, moving to sit up. “This doesn’t sit right with you, either. I know it doesn’t.”
“She can help us.”
“She keeps saying that she’s going to help us,” Charlie reminded me. “She never says how she’s going to do it. Her friends, the ones that are going to help Vince, don’t exist outside of theory right now. She talks about breaking my curse like she already has the spell in her back pocket, but she won’t tell me what it is. I can’t read her thoughts and I don’t know what her game is, Thorn. I’m preparing for the worst, and I think you should do the same.”
I thought about it. I wanted to trust Martha, but it had been a week without any delivery on her promises. I was clinging to the little hope she had given me, but Charlie was right.
I nodded. “I guess that makes sense.”
Chapter 9
Saturday morning I woke to the smell of bacon and eggs. I looked at my door, confused, because Charlie hadn’t bothered making breakfast since Gates and Lyssa left. I usually preferred lighter fare.
The hatch was already open, and I was embarrassed thinking about Vince sneaking past me in my sleep. I slipped out of bed and collected some clothes, changing in my closet before I went out.
Charlie was sitting on the table while Vince and Martha ate breakfast. Martha was beaming, and she withdrew a hand from Vince’s shoulder when she saw me. He looked over with the slightest hint of a grin, apparently amused by the whole situation.
“I heard back from my friends!” she said, delighted. “They want to meet Vince. I set up the introductions for this afternoon.”
“This afternoon…?” I trailed off, looking at Charlie.
He blinked at me very slowly, and I knew we were both thinking the same thing. It was awfully convenient that Martha’s friends had suddenly come through. The very morning after we had discussed her lack of proof that she was going to help us, no less.
I tried to recover. If Martha really was up to something, I didn’t want her knowing that I was on to her. “That’s great. Vince, isn’t that great?”
“As long as they understand that I might choose to stay here,” he said firmly, but still smiling. “Then yeah, that’s great.”
“Oh, geez…” Martha swatted him on the arm as she got up to fix me a plate from the kitchen. “We’re not shipping you off to be institutionalized, Vincent. They’re offering you help. This is just to introduce everyone.”
I pulled a chair from the table and sat down, and Charlie gave me another slow blink.
“Martha thinks it might be best if I don’t go to this meeting,” he said in a fixed, calm tone.
I cocked my head as Martha set a plate in front of me. I picked up my fork. “I’m not sure if I’m comfortable with that.”
“Sorcerers who keep company with demons tend to make werewolves nervous.” She sat back down and flashed another smile, looking from me to Vince. “I’m sure you can understand that.”
“The only werewolf I’ve ever met decided to infect my friend as a preemptive warning, and they make me nervous,” I replied. “I’m sure you can understand that. No, neither of us is going without Charlie. I’ll risk the consequences, and apologize, and kiss whoever’s ass needs it to make it right after the fact.”
She gave me a long look. “If that’s how you want to do it.”
I ate a few bites in silence, wishing that there was some way that Charlie and I could communicate with each other without the others knowing. He could read my thoughts, and reading his might have made life easier. When I really thought about it, though, I wasn’t sure it was a fantastic idea.
Charlie chuckled, and I frowned as Martha glanced over at him.
“Nothing,” he cleared his throat.
I looked for anything to change the subject, and saw one of Kendra’s journals open face-down next to the sink.
“You found Kendra’s spells?” I asked innocently.
Martha glanced at it. “I did. I hope you don’t mind. She taught me a few things, and it’s kind of interesting to see where she went over the years. I can tell the exact moment when she took up with Stark.” She winked. “And when she took up with Charlie.”
“Okay,” Charlie stood up, stretching. “Don’t talk about me like you know me. You don’t.”
Martha held up her hands. “I wasn’t! I was just pointing out that you had an influence, and I feel like those books are filling in a life story that I missed out on. Annie doesn’t mind me reading them, do you, Annie?”
I didn’t see the harm. Most of them were too mixed up to mean anything, anyway. So far Gates was the only person to have deciphered anything relevant from them.
“No,” I shrugged.
“See?” Martha said. Her eyes lit up. “There aren’t any others, are there? Could I see them?”
Charlie froze. It was only for a split second, and then he flicked an ear and sat back down, suddenly looking much more relaxed. I hoped that Martha would take my sudden glance at him as annoyance that he had tried to start another fight.
“Yeah,” I said, shaking my head and trying to focus on her again. “Yeah, there are plenty. I’ll find them for you. Enjoy.”
Vince asked her a few questions after that point, and I ate my breakfast. Apparently Martha’s friend was a woman named Adeline, a werewolf, and the granddaughter of the elder of the pack she hoped to ingratiate Vince with. They lived a long ways into the mountains, and while it would have been nice for Charlie to just transport us there, he couldn’t transport Vince.
Martha read Kendra’s journals until it was time to drive. If Vince was nervous, he didn’t let on.
Martha entertained us the whole way, telling us stories about Kendra and dumb things she had done in college. Trouble she had gotten into, and more than one close call she had managed to escape. Kendra had apparently been the one to introduce Martha to Adeline’s mother, Terra.
Terra and Kendra met in the late ‘70s, when they had both been young teens sneaking out to attend rock concerts.
“You knew Terra?” Charlie interrupted, baffled. “Terra Joyner?”
“And you sure as hell didn’t,” she chuckled. “Or she wouldn’t have told her daughter stories about you before she died. And they’re some pretty gruesome stories, Charlie.”
My heart sank. I didn’t want to ask, and I didn’t have to.
“It was a different time, Thorn,” he said with a heavy sigh. “I killed a lot of them, but I didn’t kill Terra. Kendra was still mourning her passing when we met. Terra died from cancer.”
“You killed a lot of them?” Vince said with sudden interest. “Excuse me?”
I looked over and saw his frown. I hadn’t told him about Charlie’s history.
“It was a different time,” Charlie repeated more forcefully. “It was wrong, but it’s not like I was sneaking up and killing them in their sleep. The easiest way to find a werewolf is by the carnage they leave behind, and that was my hunting tactic.”
“So we’re driving up to meet a bunch of people, and we’re bringing a notorious serial killer with us?” he asked.
He turned to me. I didn’t know what to say.
“Well, that’s great,” he muttered.
“He’s a cat,” I finally managed.
“Even better,” Vince said. “We’re bringing a cat to a dog fight.”
“I meant he’s not going to do anything!” I said. “It’s not like he can wield a knife with paws!”
Charlie laughed derisively, and for the first time, he and Martha seemed to agree about something. Neither of them was certain what was going to happen when we got there, bringing a demon into the midst of werewolves. It wasn’t going to be appreciated, and that was if things went well.
Martha made a last-ditch effort to convince us to leave Charlie waiting in the woods, but we wouldn’t hear it. If it ended badly and we had to run, then so be it.
Even as we drew near to the camp, doubt still lingered in my mind. It was possible that Martha had brought us all the way out here to kill us. I found myself wishing that I had told Lyssa where we were going, just in case, and pulled out my cell phone to send her a text.
There was no signal.
When we got out of the car and started to walk into the trees, Charlie’s calm pace helped me to relax. He had been laid back since breakfast, but we hadn’t had the opportunity to talk alone yet. I could only assume that he had figured something out about Martha.
We came upon a small settlement of cabins. Several of them were overgrown with flowering wisteria that looked out of place on the bed of fallen pine needles. They were like a little colony of storybook cottages hiding in the drought-blighted forest.
Charlie stayed close to my heel as a woman came out to greet us. She looked older than I would have thought, maybe slightly older than Lyssa, with a thin frame and a braid of graying hair that hung all the way to her waist.
She studied me with a shrewd expression, and then her eyes landed on Charlie. Behind her, I could see more shadows moving through the windows of the cabin she had emerged from.
“I told you not to bring that here,” she said, though her tone was surprisingly gentle. She was like a mother chastising children.
Martha held up a palm in apology. “Her friend was attacked. This was her first experience with werewolves, and they didn’t feel safe coming alone.”
“They’ve got you,” Adeline accused. “A necromancer would have been more than enough firepower, if they had needed it.” Her eyes flashed to me. “You won’t. There are people here who won’t want to let him leave, and that means keeping the bridge, too.”
“And if that’s the case, they will need the firepower,” Martha said firmly, stepping between us. “You said you kept up with Kendra longer than I did, so I know you must know about Charlie. He’s stopped, and he’s repented, and he’s not with Stark anymore—”
“—And our memories aren’t so short,” Adeline finished. “We understand better than most about warlocks and demons, Martha. I know the difference between a weapon and the hand that wields it. All the same, you can’t bring him here and expect people not to be insulted. Charlie’s the reason I had a falling out with Kendra. And just because people will want to keep you here doesn’t mean I’m going to let them. Kendra’s the only reason for that.”
Martha relaxed, and Adeline’s eyes moved to Vince and me. She held out her hand.
“You must be Vincent.”
They shook, and she came to me.
“And Annie.”
She took my hand, and after everything that she had said, I felt compelled to apologize.
“I’m not a warlock,” I said, shaking my head and frowning. “The whole thing with Charlie, it was kind of an accident, because—”
“One hell of an accident,” she said gruffly. “But Martha already told me. She’s vouched for you. She told me that Charlie went out of his way to keep Vince alive when other options were available. She called in every debt my family owes to your aunt, so I hope it’s worth it to you.”
“Debt?” My frown deepened.
Adeline’s sharp eyes flashed to Martha again, questioning why I didn’t know.
“Kendra did everything in her power to save my mother’s life,” she said. “It wasn’t enough in the end. The cancer was too widespread, and werewolf skin is impenetrable to most magical forces, helping or hurting. But she gave her years more than she would have had, and they were quality years. I won’t forget that she did that for us.”
“I’m sorry for your loss.” The words felt wrong, and I felt like a child saying them, but the little twitch in Adeline’s eye and the small smile on her lips made it a little better.
“Vince, go on back to the cabin. They’ll show you around and talk about what we can do for you.” She nodded in the direction of the cabin, and Vince started to move off.
I made a small noise in protest, and went to grab his hand. He gave mine a quick pat and said he would be okay, and I was once again amazed at his courage.
Adeline focused her intense stare on me, and waited until Vince had gone inside to speak again.
“You’re together?” she grunted.
I nodded my head to the side, shrugging a little, but Adeline seemed to be waiting for me to speak. “Yes, I think so.”
“You think so?” She shook her head. “Oh, honey. This is going to be just as bad for you.”
Chapter 10
Adeline refused to let us back around the cabins, but she did walk with us through the forest. Knowing that Vince and I were in some capacity more than friends made her open up a little more about what life would be like for him, but she was still hesitant to share too many specifics. I kept asking for details, and she finally snapped at me that she wasn’t going to give Charlie any more information than absolutely necessary.
Then she apologized, and quickly changed the subject. She wanted to know how Vince had become infected.
I told her about meeting Walter. Charlie held his tongue the entire time, but when I got to the part where Stark had showed up using Walter as a bridge, and she called me a liar, he couldn’t stay quiet any longer.
“He knew me when he saw me,” he said from the ground. “I should have made more of it, but I didn’t. I think he went after the only weapon he thought could defeat me, and summoned Stark.”
Adeline stopped walking, considering his words. I saw thin beads of sweat forming on her brow. “That’s really it for Stark, then? He’s gone to the Other Side for good?”
“If I can help it,” Charlie said.
“And that boy is out there, calling him up to see if demons can kill each other.” She wiped a hand over her face. “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“I suppose he saw some irony in it,” Charlie said bitterly. “If you don’t mind my asking, when did werewolves start summoning?”
“I mind you asking,” Adeline respo
nded. “Around here, it’s only been the last five or ten years, as far as I know. The thought was to fight fire with fire, but the ones who meddle with demons usually end up sold by the pound on the black market. Seems most of the demons would rather work for warlocks, and werewolves make good bait for finding new employers. It’s been a real lesson in natural selection to weed out the stupid. You said his name is Walter?”
I nodded. “He said his parents lived in Stonefall.”
Adeline grimaced as she looked at Martha. “I’ll see if I can find him. We have our own justice for these situations.”
“What are you going to do to him?” I asked. “He was scared. He didn’t know.”
“He infected a bystander,” Adeline said, unimpressed. “Our gift isn’t something to treat lightly. It’s for his elders to decide.” She looked at Martha, and then at Charlie. “I’d like to speak with Annie alone for a minute, Martha, if you wouldn’t mind taking that back to the car.”
Martha bent down to pick Charlie up, and he gave a low growl before stalking away from her.
“He reads my thoughts,” I said to Adeline. “If it’s something you don’t want him to know, you’d better not tell me.”
“It’s something I’d just rather say between the two of us,” she said, still eyeing Charlie as he left. “He’ll know eventually, anyway. When Martha asked if we could help your friend, that’s all she said he was. A friend.”
I took a deep breath, shaking my head. I wasn’t sure how any of this was relevant. “It’s kind of a new thing. Well, we’ve been friends for a long time, and I guess we kind of recently decided that maybe we’ve wanted to be more than friends for a long time, but—”
“This will probably destroy that relationship,” Adeline said. She looked me in the eye without blinking, and I knew that she regretted having to tell me. “If I had known, I might not have offered to help, but what’s done is done. I’m not saying you have to end it, because that won’t do any good. I’m saying that this is a part of him now. More often than not I find that late converts like Vince prefer someone who also has the gift. He has two lives, and he will never reconcile them. You’ll never understand that.”
