by Neena Jaydon
"River? Which one?"
Max's cheek gave a nervous tic. "The Grand. There's weird shit in the air lately. I been hiding a fair amount."
"On the Grand? Where? Down by the cutbanks or—"
"Yeah. Where those farms are. Off the highway there. I'm goin' now."
"Sure," Theo said, coming around the car at speed. Max stumbled back when Theo snatched the car keys from him. Theo had missed the transition, but it was clearly Max blinking back in puzzlement. "In the car."
"Okay," Max said. "Sorry, Wallace makes things unclear when he rides you, so I'm not sure what he told you. We got something?"
"M-maybe a place I can find a scent trail. I hope." Theo jammed the keys into the ignition of Max's car.
*~*~*
Wallace was an old family favourite. He'd been a young native man, and it was hard to know what he would have been if the alcohol and drugs hadn't warped his body and mind before ultimately killing him. Max and Anastasia occasionally let him possess them because he was either unwilling or unable to speak without borrowing a body. Max first grew to like him as a teenager because Wallace made his mind a trippy place, but now he admired how helpful Wallace was despite how life had treated him.
Theo drove with his game face on, gazing at the road like he was chasing something down it. The car hurtled along at a speed that matched the urgency in Max's own mind. Wallace's mellow aura had calmed him, but now Max's skin crawled with the need to get there, to find Anastasia, to know if she was all right.
"What did he say?" Max finally shook off the cobwebs enough to speak. Wallace really was like taking something mind-altering.
"The flats," Theo said curtly. "I'm pretty sure I know where."
"Pretty sure?" Max's tone sharpened. "Theo, we can't be wasting any—Jesus!" The car whipped into the opposite lane to overtake a car. Max saw the oncoming truck and clutched at his seatbelt. Just as horns started to sound, Theo slid the car around the vehicle they'd passed and opened it up again. Max decided not to look at the speedometer as he clutched his chest. "Do you usually drive like this?"
"No. This is different." Theo's eyes were too busy to give him any attention, scanning the rearview, the highway ahead, and their surroundings. "I've got better, uh, reflexes than you do. Don't worry."
"I know," Max said. "I know."
When Theo ran a red light and cranked the car hard to the left, Max felt the opposite tires leave the road. He closed his eyes. The car lurched back onto all-fours, now heading down the long, low road that followed the river. Theo finally slowed the car. Just to be perverse, Max's adrenaline-fuelled state didn't change to relief, but impatience.
"Maybe we should have asked somebody to help us search."
"I trust my nose better than I trust strangers," Theo murmured. He glanced at Max, rolling down the driver's side window as he drove slowly along. "He said she was around here."
"Okay," Max said, feigning calm, "let's look around." He stared into the bush at the side of the road, squinting when it occasionally thinned to reveal raggedly shorn hayfields and weathered barns and sheds. He became aware of a heavy sniffing sound next to him and looked at Theo, just managing to stop himself from asking what he was doing. Nostrils flared, inhaling deeply, Theo was looking distracted. Max opened his mouth to suggest he take over the driving, then grabbed Theo's arm. "Hey, stop the car."
"What?"
"That's Anastasia's car!"
Theo pulled over, and they both ran to the sedan parked crookedly on the side of the road. Max peered inside the car, then tried the door and found it unlocked. The keys were still in the ignition.
"Jesus," Max said. Acid tore up his gut, generated by new and real fear. "Oh, Christ." He started when Theo took a vice-grip on his wrist. "What?" Theo was looking around alertly. "Theo, seriously, what? This is Ana's car, let go—"
"I've got her." Theo spoke with tense certainty.
Now Max grabbed back, his fingers digging into Theo's jacket. "Don't screw with me, Theo. Are you—"
"Shut up." Theo didn't relinquish his wrist as he pushed past. "Don't distract me. It's super weak." He pulled Max along at a sharp pace, straight down the road, his head held high. Max pressed his lips together tightly and just tried to keep up.
She's my sister. I should be the one making the decisions. He spared a look at Theo's serious expression. If he was always this guy, he'd never be single long enough for me to get near him. Max took an emotional hit, for the first time considering that he might not be the better catch in their relationship; it shamed him that he resisted the idea, or that it could even come to mind. I need to find you soon, Ana. Who else is going to smack me back into adulthood?
Max bumped into Theo when he abruptly stopped. He turned left, then right, sniffing audibly.
"Go back," he mumbled, pushing Max out of the way. "Lost it."
"You lost it?" Max hissed. "How could you lose it? Jesus, find it again. I have to know if she's okay!"
"Just give me a minute!" Theo snarled with sudden intensity, and Max staggered as Theo let go of his wrist. "I just need to—" Theo threw off his jacket, then his T-shirt. "I need a better nose."
"What are you going to do?" Max hated being so off-balance at such a crucial time.
"Find her." Theo dipped down, shoving off his jeans and boxers. He rose, nude, and briefly touched Max's arm. "Go back to the car and bring it here." Then he handed Max his clothing.
Before Max could say anything, golden light exploded in front of him. He was too slow to throw up a protective hand and had to watch Theo lope away through great splotches on his vision.
"Find her." He shifted closer to the side of the road, numbly compressing the bundle of cloth in his arms. "Yeah. Find my sister for me. Shit." He was out there alone now, which made him feel vulnerable. He wasn't used to that. With a very few notable exceptions, the things that went bump in the night just wanted to chat. Even as a child, he hadn't seen any need for fear.
Gratefully he got into his car and the civilization of its interior. Then he began to drive, slowly and carefully, roadside grasses pinging against his car's undercarriage. Eventually, a great shape galloped into view. Max braked, but Theo gestured broadly with his head and whirled, trotting back the way he'd come.
"Okay, okay," Max muttered. "Lead the way, then." He inched awkwardly along in the car, keeping Theo in sight. He tried not to think about anything beyond what he was doing. Theo seemed to have found something, but he had no way of knowing what. There was no guarantee that he'd find Anastasia unharmed.
Theo made an abrupt turn into the bush; Max hastily stopped and got out.
"Theo, wait!" He ran to the edge of the greenery. Just into a clump of dried-up berry bushes stood Theo, eyes gleaming. "I'm going to hang onto your tail, all right?" Theo obligingly lifted his bushy tail for Max to grab its tip. When Theo shoved forward into the trees, Max yet again just did his best to keep up. They cleared the bushes and hurried through spindly poplars. Max's breathing was loud in his own ears, the sound of the river competing from nearby. Here the moonlight didn't reach them at all. He wished he'd remembered to grab the flashlight from the glove compartment.
Even so, the figure slumped against the base of a pine tree was clear enough in the darkness. He let go of Theo and ran to it even before he recognized Anastasia's fuzzy brown boots. She was still as he crouched beside her, but he felt her warmth and the movement of her breath as he grabbed her shoulders.
"Ana!"
Her cheeks were cold to the touch, but she wore a jacket and gloves, as well as her boots. Immediately her eyes opened, and she gazed blearily at him. Max let out a loud exhalation, nearly a laugh.
"Anastasia, it's me. It's Max. Can you stand up? We have to get out of here." Tears of relief prickled behind his eyes as her mouth shaped crackling words.
"Max? Be careful, they forcibly possess."
"They? There's nothing here."
"The shadows," she moaned as he lifted her to her feet and wrapped h
is arm around her waist. "Like before. Why is there a dog here?"
"It's okay, he's helping. What are you doing out here?"
"I—one possessed me, and—it was dark, I got lost. Oh my god," she whispered, pressing her face into his shoulder. "I was so scared."
"Okay. We'll talk later. It's going to be okay."
"Oh, Max," she said, her voice crumbling. "You're so full of it." Smiling in deep relief, he escorted his weeping sister up the hill. Let's get you home before Mom's head explodes. And think of what to tell her before we get there.
*~*~*
With a full night's sleep, the worst of the moon sickness had passed. Theo didn't remember much of the previous night beyond getting back to the car. He'd woken as Max got him out of the back of the car. The next thing he remembered was coming out of a deep darkness on his couch, fully dressed and under a blanket.
Exerting himself so soon after a full moon had left him completely wrung out. Neither his muscles nor his brain worked without protest, and he felt like he could use another full day of sleep, but at least he could drive. Max hadn't answered his cell, and Theo had grown too impatient to stay home and wait for updates. He turned up the music, hoping the dance mix he'd picked would shake off some off the fog.
He set off a different kind of loud when he got out of his car. Nerves worn thin from fatigue, he glared at the kennels.
"Shut up!" he barked, and a shocked silence fell. Before he got any farther, the back door opened, and Kaitlyn leaned out to wave.
"Hi, Theo!"
"Hello," he said as he crossed the driveway, looking sheepishly up at her.
"What brings you by?" She beamed at him, wiping her hands on a towel.
"Uh, just wanted to see how Anastasia's doing."
"Hm?" Kaitlyn's expression shifted from puzzled to shocked. "Oh, no, Max didn't tell you? Come in, come in."
Alarm spurred him up the stairs after her, but he caught himself up short at the sight of a stranger in the hallway. A tall, fit, older man, he had neatly styled silver hair and an easy smile on his face.
"Ambrose, this is Theo," Kaitlyn said, as Theo hesitantly removed his shoes and let her take his coat. Ambrose's smile brightened.
"Oh, so this is the famous Theo! Ambrose Shevchenko, Theo. It's a great pleasure to meet you." He padded over sock-footed to shake Theo's hand with a confident grip.
"N-nice to meet you," Theo said.
"Come sit in the living room," Ambrose said. "We were just about to have some tea. Would you like some?"
"Sure." Surrounded by friendly goodwill, Theo didn't have the strength to deny them anything. "Is Max…?"
"He's taken the two house dogs for their yearly checkup." Ambrose disappeared into the kitchen; Kaitlyn came in with tea for Theo. Once he was in the chair by the window, teacup in hand, she sat down with her own.
"I'm really going to have to get after Max. I'm sure you were just as worried about Anastasia as anybody else."
"Yeah," Theo said, puzzled.
"It turns out one of her coworkers had just gone through a terrible family situation, and Anastasia stayed with her for the night. She thought she'd texted me, but she forgot, and then the battery on her cell died." Kaitlyn shook her head in exasperation. Theo stared into his tea; its creamy surface trembled.
"I'm just so relieved," Kaitlyn went on. "Anastasia's obviously tired, but she felt well enough to go to work today. Unlike her poor mother, who lost about eight years' life."
"They're both adults," Ambrose said, sitting down next to her. "I suppose we don't have to have them checking in all the time, eh, Theo?"
"Yeah," Theo said woodenly. This isn't right.
"I don't think I ever asked," Kaitlyn said. "Do you have any brothers or sisters?"
"No," Theo said. "I'm an only child." The matriarch of the family has to know these things. It's his duty to tell her. How is keeping things from his family going to protect them?
"Oh, I'm sorry. Is that an uncomfortable subject?" Kaitlyn peered into his face, then blinked in surprise as he drew himself up. The couple sat together in perfect comfort, Ambrose's hand resting lightly on his wife's thigh. To Theo's eyes, they were the image of honesty and kindness. There was only one correct response to that.
"It's not," he said. "I'm—I—" He shook his head in frustration, wrestled with his tongue, and tried again. "I think there's something you should know about Anastasia."
CHAPTER SIX
"Theo?" The moment the front door slammed open, his name shot through it.
Sitting bolt upright in his chair, Theo stared at his monitor with wide eyes. He drew a bracing breath.
"I'm downstairs." He quickly put his hands back on the keyboard and resumed typing an e-mail as he heard Max come down the stairs. He could hear Max's anger in his subtly quickened breathing, even in his stillness.
Keep it together. You expected this. Maybe not the same day, but you expected it.
"What the hell, Theo?"
"Eh?" He had no idea what to say. He stiffened when Max grabbed the back of his chair and turned it. Mouth in a tight line, Max put a hand on each arm of the chair and looked him in the face. His eyes glittered, looking very hard and more brown than green. Now the faint creases raised by his narrowed eyes seemed more worrying than charming.
"Don't play stupid. Why did you tell my parents about what happened?"
"They needed to know," Theo said.
"That wasn't your decision to make."
"I—I just did what I thought was right." Pushing aside one of Max's arms, he got to his feet and put some space between them.
"And you figure you know how to deal with my family better than I do?"
"Those things are dangerous." Theo folded his arms and glared at Max's knees. "The matriarch has to know about stuff like this."
"Well, I appreciate the concern," Max drawled. "And how much you obviously trust me." Stung, Theo hunched his shoulders. "But then, you didn't have to hear her screaming at you for an hour. I thought she was going to have a fucking aneurism. Why did you want to put her through that? Or me, for that matter? Jesus, Theo, I thought you were my friend."
Friend. The word came as a blow, a direct punch to the gut he was too tired to defend against. He dropped his gaze to the floor, miserably unable to move or speak. Silence reigned for an uncomfortably long time.
Then Max startled him by falling into the chair, making it roll back.
"God, don't look like you're a puppy and I just kicked you," he groaned, tilting his head back and putting his hand over his eyes. "I've got a right to be angry here."
"I'm sorry," Theo whispered.
"Why didn't you believe that I knew what I was doing?" By the word, Max's tone grew less chilled.
"I didn't think about—of it—like that." Theo rallied weakly. "Protecting family's a, a thing with me."
"Believe it or not," and the Max Theo knew came out of hiding, "it is for me too." He smiled faintly. "Family and friends."
That word, coming again so quickly, hit him like a blow. Theo licked his lips.
"I'm sorry, Max, but could you go?"
"What?" Max asked. Theo shook his head. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"Oh, bull. We need to keep talking to each other, especially with what we have in common."
"In common?" Theo's lip curled. "You think we're the same?" You, who can fit in anywhere, who can go home to a big loving family after taking somebody to bed for no other reason than...
"You think we aren't? Prove it." Far from looking offended, Max visibly relaxed into the chair. Theo barely dared look at him.
I've had casual relationships. I don't think I can do that with you. It didn't feel casual, being with you. "I really think you should go."
"Not until you talk to me," Max said.
"I said I was sorry, didn't I?" Theo tried, frustrated.
"What, me being around is like a punishment?"
"No!" Theo buried his fingers in his hair.
; "This has got nothing to do with me being mad at you, does it?" Max tilted his head.
"Max, c-come on, I don't want to talk."
"Come on, boy, speak."
"So not funny," Theo said, turning away.
"Theo," Max said in a stern voice. There was a new vibration in that easy tenor that hit him in the spine. Woodenly, carefully, Theo turned, his skin seeming to shrink three sizes in an instant. "Come here," Max said, and Theo's fatigue skittered away. "Come. Here." Max's mouth curled sensually around the words. Licking his lips, Theo shifted uncertainly closer.
Why am I doing what he says?
"Down." This was accompanied by a downward-pointed finger. He slowly knelt, unable to look at Max. Stiffening, he closed his eyes as a warm hand trailed down his cheek. His hair was ruffled, his cheekbones traced, and his lips pressed carefully apart.
"Lick." Max's voice was quiet but still firm, so firm it denied the possibility of resistance. Theo felt the word like a jolt of electricity. Goosebumps rose on his flesh. He slowly slid his tongue across Max's knuckles, then between his fingers, tasting nicotine and outside air.
"Good." Max shifted his hips in the chair. He tilted his head, tapping the side of his neck. "Now here." Theo rose up on his knees and stretched until he could taste Max's skin and find the hard curves of the tendons in his neck. With each breath, he inhaled faded aftershave, shampoo, and the spicy scent that was simply Max himself. With the tip of his tongue, he traced the shape of Max's jaw, resisting the urge to bite. Then he heard the sound of a zipper and slowly leaned back. "And here." Max looked him in the eye.
If we're just friends, then is this just some kind of a game to him? He couldn't pull free of the power of that potent gaze. Oh, god. I don't care. Sinking down on his heels, Theo looked at the shape Max's hardened cock made against his boxers. Leaning forward, Theo opened his mouth.
"No," Max said, pointing to his own inner thigh. "Just lick."
Frustrated, Theo clenched his teeth for a moment before he put a hand on each of Max's thighs and dipped his head for a taste. The scents there were thick and masculine and made his own cock struggle against the confines of his clothing. He explored Max's soft skin with small, lapping motions before moving into long, confident strokes of his tongue. He could hear from Max's soft exhalations that he was doing well.
