Calluna

by Jewels Arthur

  I pull myself off the bed and grab some pants for myself, skipping the shirt as it’s not needed for a run in the woods and it’s easier to just magic a pair of pants in and out of existence versus a whole damn outfit. I look over to see that Damian is forgoing a shirt too.

  “You are so fucking sexy,” he says to me, stealing the words straight out of my head.

  “You too, babe,” I growl back, my voice still thick with lust. “Let’s go.”

  When we get to the edge of the woods, just a short walk from my home, Damian shifts. His form drops to the ground, flashing a bit before I see the small animal that lives inside him.

  “Well, hello there, little guy,” I croon, reaching out to pet the small meerkat’s head. He makes a barking noise at me, biting at my hand. “Don’t be so uptight. You’re small,” I reply with a laugh, stretching my neck to the side before I let my body shift. I drop down to about the size of Damian, my fennec fox rubbing against his meerkat. He makes that barking noise again, and I reply with my own chirping sound.

  Then we’re off, sprinting through the darkness of the forest faster than most of the animals around us. Our little legs easily dodge through the underbrush, running as if we were prey. Which we are. There are quite a few species of shifters that would enjoy chasing us, just to be assholes. That is just one of the joys that Damian and I have to live with, something that has bonded us together.

  The loud sound of a pained screech causes us both to freeze in place, our heads snapping in the direction of the noise. We slowly creep towards where the sound came from, our bodies close to the ground and ready to move in the other direction if needed. We have no fear of the natural wildlife around here, although many coyotes would love to catch us, but as soon as we shift back to our human forms, they run away in fear.

  As we approach the edge of some brush, there is a clearing in front of us with a stone in the middle. A man in all black stands before a small animal, his figure somehow shrouded in an equally black colored smoke. He mumbles words that I don’t understand as his hand hovers above the animal, once again pulling another yowl from its throat. I take a small step forward, leaning in to try to see what the animal is, when I see its tail flip agitatedly. It’s a fucking dog. Without thinking, I lunge, but a twig snaps beneath my small paws as I leap into the air. The man turns to face me, a growl leaving his lips, his face shrouded in the dark smoke. He spits out more of the foreign words before swinging his hand at me, causing a plume of the same smoke to slam into me. More of the strange words leave his lips, then everything in my vision turns black.

  Calluna

  I look over at the clock and see that it’s already almost ten o’clock at night. I sent Lars home a while ago when I realized that today was going to be a slow one. I had planned to read that book, but instead, got distracted by my phone. Stupid Screech. Ever since the supernatural version of Facebook popped up, I got sucked in, like most of the town it seems. I mostly scroll through to see if there’s anything strange going on with the pets in town. I don’t know what I’m expecting to see. It’s not like the asshole cursing animals is going to just throw up a status update.

  Cursing animals for fun lolz.

  I shake my head to myself as I scroll through the newsfeed. Seeing that Jewels Cafe has a coupon for five percent off, I use the clip function to save it, then do the same when I see Highway to Spells also has a deal going on. Most of my antidotes, including Klaus’ rash cream, are made with ingredients I get there.

  My phone nearly drops from my hand as my front door slams open. I leap to my feet, adrenaline rushing through me as I stare at the man bursting into my shop. His skin is a dark tan color, and he’s showing off more of it than I’m used to seeing in a public place. He stands in the doorway, shirtless, holding a small fennec fox and a dog. I immediately rush to him, looking over the animals closely.

  “What happened?” I ask, observing the fox that seems to be unconscious and has black tendrils of smoke leaking from its small mouth.

  “He’s a shifter,” the man gasps, shoving the fox into my arms. “We were running and came upon a man torturing this dog. He turned and attacked us before vanishing into thin air.”

  I nod my head, trying to examine the fox for wounds, then moving on to the dog. Gashes are cut into the dog’s skin, leaking the same black smoke. I pull up its eyelids to find them cloudy and skin failing to snap back as it should. “The dog is dead,” I say quietly, my heart wrenching in pain.

  This is completely different from what I’ve seen so far in the cursed animals brought into my shop, and it causes fear to rush through me. “Can you rouse the fox to shift back?” I ask, knowing it will be easier to help a man in human form versus shifted form.

  The man looks at me with concern, his fingers grazing against the fox’s fur. “I’ve tried, but he won’t wake up!” Fear radiates off him in waves, and I touch him gently on the arm, hoping to calm him. He gives me a weak smile before turning back to the fox.

  “Give me your number and leave him with me. I’ll do my best and call you in the morning,” I tell him, stiffening when I see his head immediately begin to shake in defiance.

  “I will not leave him!” the man growls, looking at me with anger and suspicion.

  I eye him warily, as I’m scared to perform any kind of magic in front of the stranger. Especially dark magic. His eyes plead with me, pulling at my heartstrings, and I sigh loudly before giving him my nod of acceptance. Maybe he won’t recognize what I’m doing. Maybe he won’t realize.

  I rush over to the small cabinet in the back where I store all my dark items, pulling keys from my pocket to unlock the door. The items inside range from typical smudge sticks and crystals to items of the more sinister variety. I grab a bottle of neem oil, coarse sea salt, anise, and a darker vial containing blood. My blood. I rush over to the table where the man stands next to the two animals, his focus now solely on the fox.

  “What is your name?” I bite out, looking at him seriously and considering whether he is trustworthy.

  “Damian. My name is Damian,” the man gasps out, his voice sounding thick.

  “Lock the doors, Damian,” I demand. “Close the curtains and turn off the lights.”

  Without a word, he immediately begins following my directions, rushing through the motions. After he steps away, I grab a knife and cut a small chunk of hair from the fox and put it into a small bowl, pouring the neem oil over it. I begin chanting the words that have become all too familiar to me lately, my hand hovering over the bowl. A spark releases from my hand, igniting the hair and oil with a loud pop. Damian’s attention snaps back to us, and he moves over to stand near me. I mix the anise with my blood, adding the salt to the mixture and holding my hand above. The mixture calls to me, its whispered words telling me what it is missing—more blood.

  “Give me your hand,” I snap, reaching for Damian’s hand that he hesitantly moves toward me. With one swift motion, I slice his hand with my knife, squeezing it into a fist and holding it above the mixture, watching as his blood drips into the bowl.

  “What the fuck—” Damian spits out, but I push his hand away, muttering more words over the bowl before pouring it over the burning neem oil. When the liquids meet one another, they begin to bubble and pop loudly, turning into a thicker liquid that’s more like syrup.

  “Hold him,” I growl as I grab the bowl. Damian looks at me questioningly, but does what I say and holds on to the tiny fox. I pry the fox’s jaws open and pour the bubbling liquid into his mouth. Seconds pass where nothing happens, then it screeches. Barks and yips mix to create a gut-wrenching noise that appears to destroy Damian. He holds the fox closely to his chest, looking at me angrily.

  “What the fuck did you do?” he yells, anger marring his otherwise handsome face. “What is wrong with him?” I cringe as he bellows the question before he moves on to chanting the fox’s name. “Rhett. Rhett. Please wake up. Rhett.”

  One last screech sounds loudly and rattles in my ches
t, just as the small animal coughs and retches, allowing the black smoke to billow out of his mouth. Blood sprays from its mouth with the smoke, and I relish in the knowledge that it is mine and Damian’s being pushed out with the vile smoke.

  “Rhett. What the fuck, man?” Damian sobs, holding the fox closely to his chest. The fox coughs one last time, deep and hard, forcing the last of the smoke out, and then within seconds, he shifts. Damian no longer clutches a tiny fennec fox to his chest, but instead, a completely naked male with blond-streaked hair and sun-tanned skin. “Rhett,” he croons, the words no doubt coming from a lover as they caress their intended recipient.

  I make to back away, to leave Damian with Rhett and to give the men their moment. I also need to dispose of the poor dog that I was unable to save, but Damian stops me with a single word.

  “Thanks,” he rasps, his fingers sliding through Rhett’s hair and gently grazing the skin on his face.

  “Anytime,” I reply, my voice cracking on the words. “I’ll give you a moment…” I lift the dog and carry it toward the back of my shop. My fingers swipe at tears as they streak from my eyes, several emotions attacking me at once. Witnessing the love between the two men was heart-wrenching, especially seeing Damian as he believed that Rhett was lost. Losing the dog, even though it was mostly gone before they even arrived. Then the knowledge that I just performed dark magic in front of a stranger. Fed another stranger my blood along with that of Damian’s. Fuck. I am so screwed.

  Calluna

  When I walk back into the main room of my store, I see that Damian has pulled Rhett onto one of the couches I keep along the wall, still holding him to his chest. I smile slightly at the sight, walking over to the table Rhett and the dog just vacated to clean up the mess I’d left. I wipe away the remains of blood and other…debris left over from removing the curse from Rhett. I’ve performed the ritual several times, but never on a shifter. All of the cursed animals I’ve seen thus far have been true animals, mostly animals belonging to those of magical backgrounds or animals that have the potential to become familiars. This…well, this is completely unprecedented. That a mage, whether dark or not, would attack a shifter is risky. Riskier than I have seen of this monster so far.

  “What are you?” Damian asks, and I turn to him to see that he’s staring at me.

  “I am a pet store owner,” I reply tersely, going back to my task at hand.

  “Bullshit,” Damian growls. I hear his hand rubbing against Rhett’s back, and it softens my frown a bit.

  “Why did you bring him here? Why not take him to a hospital?” I question, turning to face him again.

  Damian shrugs. “Because I’ve heard of what you can do. That you specialize in cursed animals.”

  I sigh loudly, grabbing the rest of my items and shoving them back into the cabinet and locking the door. “Is that what I’m known for?”

  “It’s well-known that you sell cursed animals, although they’re always much less cursed than when they were brought to you. You were the only person I could think of,” Damian explains, still looking at me suspiciously. “What you did to him—”

  “I’d appreciate it if you kept that between us,” I respond tersely.

  He looks at me carefully, staying silent for what feels like an eternity. “Okay.”

  “Thank you. I’d suggest you stay out of that forest, as he will hold a mark. Not a physical one, but whatever attacked him may still be drawn to him,” I explain, then pause. “What forest were you in?” I ask, hoping to gain more information on the monster doing this.

  “Just on the northern edge of town. I believe some bears are living out there, as well as some other shifters. It’s near Rhett’s home, so we tend to run there a lot,” he explains, his eyes drawn back to Rhett.

  “Bears,” I repeat. “I have a friend that lives out there. I’ll see if he’s ever seen anything unusual like this. In the meantime, you both can stay here tonight. I have a few air mattresses in the back. It comes in handy when I need to watch an animal all night. You’re welcome to one of them.”

  “Thank you, for everything,” Damian says before quietly whispering sweet nothings to Rhett.

  I wake up when the room is drenched in so much sunlight that squeezing my eyes shut doesn’t help to block the light out. I listen as heavy footsteps that I recognize well walk towards me, stopping at the edge of my makeshift bed.

  “Good morning, Calluna,” Lars says with laughter in his voice. “There is a naked man in the bed over there. Care to explain?”

  “Mmmhmm,” I moan, trying to open my eyes in the bright light.

  “These guys last night and Landyn the night before? Damn, I’ve never been prouder!” His voice cracks mockingly, and I open my eyes enough to see him dramatically clutching his chest.

  “If I’d fucked them, wouldn’t we all be in a bed together?” I ask in annoyance.

  Lars shrugs. “I dunno, you don’t seem like the type that would be up for sharing a bed. I can see you taking a bed to yourself after you’ve been satisfied.”

  I make a tsk noise as I pull myself up from the bed, stretching and pulling my hair into a messy bun on the top of my head. I try to think of a reason to give Lars for the men being here, since I’m unwilling to tell him that I’ve been doing dark magic, let alone performing it on and in front of strangers.

  “Our dog was cursed last night. He didn’t make it,” Damian says sleepily, pulling himself into a sitting position on the bed and looking over at Rhett to make sure the sleeping man is okay. I close my eyes and try to pull from his energy, finding it much easier now that he has ingested some of my blood. “My boyfriend was wounded in the process and shifted unconsciously, without his clothes it seems.”

  Lars’ lips form a frown, and he nods, not unused to cursed animals being brought into the store, although their owners don’t usually stay the night. “I have some clothes in the back.” He eyes Rhett slowly…much too slowly for Damian’s liking, causing the man to growl. “They’ll be big on him, but they’ll work.” Lars walks to the back of the store to grab the sweatpants he keeps stored there.

  ‘Thank you,’ I mouth to him, not daring to say the words out loud as I know Lars would hear them.

  Damian nods his head, then turns to wake up Rhett. “Rhett. Rhett, we need to go home,” he says, shaking the man. Rhett startles awake and looks around the room warily.

  “Where are we?” he asks, looking to Damian with no fear, only confusion. It’s clear he feels safe with the other man.

  “I’ll explain everything when we get home,” Damian whispers to him, and Rhett nods back. As Lars walks into the room, Rhett finally notices that he’s stark naked on the bed. He grabs a blanket to cover up his cock, looking at Lars and me awkwardly. Lars throws Rhett the sweatpants, and we turn to allow him to put them on. I walk over to the checkout counter and grab one of my cards, flipping it over to write my cell number on the back. I hand the card to Damian as he and Rhett walk to the door to leave.

  “Call me if you need anything or if anything changes,” I say in a low tone.

  Damian takes the card, nodding to me and shoving it in his back pocket. “Thank you, Calluna.”

  Calluna

  When they’re gone and I can no longer see them walking down the street, I turn away from the front windows and walk back into the main area of the store. Lars looks at me curiously, a knowing smile on his lips.

  “Very sexy men,” he says, bending over to let the air out of the mattresses.

  “Yes, I suppose they were,” I reply, folding blankets and shoving them in the back room.

  “Spent the night?” he goes on, drawing this out.

  “Mmhmm.”

  “Calluna, what the fuck happened here?” he asks, finally cutting the bullshit.

  “What Damian said. Their dog died,” I reply as I sit down on the couch.

  “I saw the dog, so that part checks out. But they stayed the night? This all seems very strange,” Lars goes on, looking at me oddly.
“Did you have a threesome last night?”

  “What? No, of course not,” I say dismissively. Although all the crazy shit aside, both men were very attractive. “Lars, I’m tired as hell, and my body aches something fierce. This is the second night I haven’t slept for shit. Think you can handle the store today?”

  “Of course, I will. Go home. You need a day off anyway,” he says, motioning towards the door.

  “Thank you,” I tell him sincerely, then put my face in my hands. He walks over and lays his hands on my shoulders, rubbing them gently.

  “I know how hard it is for you when you lose one. You can’t save ’em all, Cal,” he tells me in an attempt to make me feel better.

  “But I should. This shit shouldn’t be happening,” I groan, rubbing my forehead. “Thank you, Lars. I really appreciate you. Call me if you need anything.”

  “Go. I won’t need anything.” He pushes me toward the door, grabbing my purse with the hand that isn’t currently shoving me toward the door.

  I walk home without any trouble, relishing the fact that none of my neighbors see me walking into my apartment in the morning after having been gone all night for the second time in a row. Two nights spent with very sexy men? Very unlike me. Granted, I didn’t have sex the second night. Still, that’s a new one.

  I jump when Jake leaps into my arms, making me drop my purse. “Hi, baby boy,” I coo at the small capuchin monkey as he rubs his face into mine. I kiss his cheek and he meows loudly in encouragement. I smile widely as he immediately jumps out of my arms and begins galloping through the apartment on all fours like a horse. I follow the small galloping monkey into my bedroom and watch as he jumps into my bed and points at the pillow and then at me accusingly. “I know, I know. Two nights in a row is a bit much, isn’t it?” He nods at me in acknowledgment, as if he understands me.