by Lynn Red
He was falling into something I can only describe as a trance. Both of his eyes were rolled back in his head and he was swaying gently from side to side.
“Conduit,” he said in an airy, space-cadet sort of voice. “The energy from the ball goes through his hand and then fires the neurons in his brain. My fingers make a circuit and...”
Jenga fell silent. In a moment of panic, I realized that the old man looked like he was having some kind of fit. And, with his fingers jammed in Rex’s nose, that was probably a pretty horrible experience. I reached for him, thinking I could help, though not really knowing how.
The second I touched him, Jenga hissed at me and recoiled. “No! No, child! You mustn’t!”
I pulled back like I touched a hot stove.
“I’m seeing in his brain,” Jenga said in his tranced-out voice. “I’m seeing a... a car, a big, Blazer? Are those still made? Some sort of large car. Black windows, black paint, black—”
“That’s the car,” I said, biting hard on my lip. “That’s the one that dumped Winter at my place. Can you see anything else?”
“There are two people in the front. One of them... No, there’s only one person. Or...” paused, and starting waggling his jaw back and forth. “I can feel the man we’re concerned about. I feel his emotions, sense his fears. He’s scared of something, but I can’t tell what.”
“It doesn’t matter,” I said. “Who gives a shit what he’s thinking about or feeling? He’s got my sister! He’s got—”
Jenga shook his head. “There’s more to it than that,” he said. “There’s more going on here than I can tell right now. It seems like there’s some kind of power in the car with him.”
“He’s a sorcerer, so wouldn’t it just be him?”
Jenga shook his head. “Going east, like he’s going toward Clinton, or...”
“The school!” I said. “He must be going to the school for some reason. But why would he be going there? Seems like a bad idea to try and do some evil ritual, or whatever he’s doing, at a university.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time,” Jenga said with a wry grin. “But let’s avoid my babbling about higher education for now. He must have some kind of set up there, or he wouldn’t be going. But that’s not what most concerns me.”
He pulled his fingers out of Rex’s face. My huge bear had the strangest look on his face after a couple blinks. He closed his eyes almost all the way and opened his mouth like he was about to sneeze. He looked back and forth, like he was waiting for that tiny release.
“Is he okay?” I asked.
Jenga shook his head and raised an eyebrow. “Something seems to have happened in his head. I hope I didn’t cross any wires in there.” He let out a nervous chuckle.
“I don’t like that laugh,” I said.
Atlas groaned. He was still being incredibly serious.
Rex curled up in a ball, He closed his eyes tight and then he let out the most ridiculous, squeaky, unimpressive screech of a sneeze I’d ever heard.
A second and then a third followed immediately, and when he was finished, he had a look on his face of complete, utter bliss. When he remembered where he was, he looked around, appearing more than a little embarrassed.
“Uh,” he said with a nervous laugh. “I guess you know my deepest, darkest secret now.”
“That you sneeze like a baby?” I asked.
Rex took a deep breath. “What can I say? We can’t all be as cute as me.”
Jenga pinched the bridge of his nose, and I fought to keep from laughing.
Atlas though, didn’t do as good of a job. One single, solitary “Ha!” bellowed out of him, and then another. Before long, the huge zombie was doubled over, howling and slapping his leg. “He... sneeze! He sneeze... like a... mouse!”
“Well now that he’s completely out of control, you two have something to do. And if you find anything curious... actually, I’m going with you.”
“You’re... what?” Rex asked.
Jenga put on his stupid face again. “Ol’ Jenga’s comin’ along for the ride! Just wantin’ to see what I can see. You two might need more help than you know, ‘specially if what’n I think you’re goin’ to find, you actually do. You don’t want to mess with whatever that professor has under his belt.”
Rex shot me a glance and then shrugged. “Can’t hurt,” I offered.
“I’m not so sure,” he said, shooting one of his trademarked grins at me that made my knees wobble, that made my heart ache.
*
“What in the hell is this storm?” I asked, as Rex and I crested the last hill before the Jamesburg College spread out before us. “This wasn’t happening a few minutes ago.”
In the adjacent lane, Jenga honked the clown horn on the front of his side-car equipped motorcycle. Atlas opened his mouth, letting the wind catch his flapping jowls. A long tendril of bear saliva trailed behind him, but I’ll be damned if I ever saw anything in the world looking that happy.
He pulled up beside us where we were stopped in the middle of the road. There were, notably, absolutely no other cars around. That seemed odd, but then again, apparently a hurricane had decided to pop up out of nowhere, so maybe ‘weird’ isn’t exactly out of the ordinary around here.
I gestured overhead. “The storm!” I yelled to Jenga, when he pulled up beside us, near enough to hear me. “When Graves gave me that weird tunnel vision, and all of that, there was the huge storm outside that came from out of nowhere and raged until he was finished.”
“There’s a storm!” Jenga yelled back. “Damn bad one, too! Wonder if this has something to do with your wizard?”
I took a deep breath and smiled as I let it out. Kind, maybe; weird, certainly. But hard of hearing? Absolutely. I shook my head. “Let’s keep going. Where do you think he’ll be?”
“If he’s doing what I think he’s doing – trying to suck the power out of these shifters, like what’n he messed up on your boyfriend there – he’ll need some room, and he’ll need access to the elements. These rituals, they’s, uh, complicated, to say the least. I wonder if the storm’s got anything to do with it?”
I couldn’t help but wonder if he was still playing dumb.
“You may want to call the hyenas,” Jenga said.
“Why?” Rex asked. “I’ve been wanting a piece of this asshole for a long, long time. I can take care of myself.”
At that, Jenga laughed his rattling, meandering sort of laugh. “Oh boy, I’m sure you can handle yourself and I’m sure you want to make a mess outta this feller, but I’ll tell you something. You’re gonna want the backup, even if it’s just to distract him.”
“Distract him?” Rex asked. “From doing what?”
Jenga shrugged. “Beats the hell outta me. But someone what’s able to whip up a storm like this?”
I shook my head. So, okay, note to self, he’s absolutely not as stupid as he looks.
“I think you’d be as whacked out as Atlas here if you charged in without a thought to your safety. But then again, I’m just saying things. Tell you kids what. You call ‘em, and I’ll get a lead on you.”
He kicked his moped, and began to roll away, albeit slowly.
“Why don’t you call?” Rex yelled. “I’m more worried about you than I am me!”
Jenga shrugged and looked back, not paying any attention at all to the road. “No phone!” he shouted, and was gone.
Letting out a long, slow breath, I fished the phone out of my pocket and dialed Cooper. He promised to send ‘some cars’ our way, but then, just as we were about to keep heading in the right direction, I felt Rex stiffen up in front of me.
“I never thanked you,” I said. “I’m... I’m sorry I didn’t. I know you’re putting yourself in danger to help my sister and I never meant to be ungrateful. I’ll never forgive myself if something happens to you, I—”
In one smooth motion, the huge bear in front of me spun around and slid my legs up over the top of his. Rough, worn denim slid against
my thighs, and he clutched my face between his hands. “Lilah,” he said. “I’m here to help your sister, but that’s not the only reason. I’m doing this because I can’t be sure that anyone I love is safe as long as someone like this – someone who can, I guess, read my brain waves or whatever he can do – is around. Alive.”
“Don’t say that,” I said. “I don’t want him to hurt anyone, but I don’t want you to murder anybody either.”
Rex clenched his fists. “I’m doing this for the people I love. I’m doing it for Leena, and for me, and for my family.”
I looked down, biting my lip. I wanted so badly to tell him right that second that, to me, he was family. He was the closest thing I’d ever have.
“And you,” he said, cutting my mental anguish right in half. “As far as I’m concerned, you’re family all the same. I love you Lilah, more than my awkward, stumbling attempts at saying things in a meaningful way can ever indicate.”
I started to respond, but he stopped me short with a kiss so hard and deep that it pushed my head backward. I held on, grabbing his huge shoulders and holding tight. I swirled my tongue into his, and he explored my mouth, hooking his tongue around my bottom lip. We danced that way, motionless except for our hungry, desperate kisses, for what felt like eternity.
When he pulled away, sucking my bottom lip as he did, I was left immediately hurting for him to come back to me.
But he couldn’t. Not right then.
No matter how much each of us hurt for the other, ached to be close, we had something else to do just then.
“I love you too, Rex,” I said as I stared into his eyes. His breath caressed my neck, my cheeks, and he squeezed my thighs with his huge hands.
There was something I’d never seen before in those deep brown eyes of his. If it were anyone else, I’d think it was fear. But no, that wasn’t it – that wasn’t even possible, I don’t think.
“What are you thinking?” I finally asked when it became obvious we were going to have to get back to reality, even if neither of us wanted to leave our quiet repose. “All I can think is how scared I am, but then I have you, and it doesn’t seem so bad.”
“All I’m thinking about is how I’m going to protect you,” he growled, turning around. “And how I’m finally getting revenge.”
-25-
Lilah
“Get down!” Rex shouted. He forced my head down just in time for me to feel the buzz of something going over me.
In the next second, he shoved me to the ground as gently as you can push someone onto asphalt, and shielded me from a four-wheeler that was dangerously close to my head. Looking to the side of the road, I noticed two ramps were set up, presumably in some sort of hillbilly ambush.
Almost immediately my senses flared and I felt myself half-shift. The tail pushing against my jeans hurt a little, but tugging down my waistband helped some. I wished I could call out to all the world’s raccoon population and have them attack, en masse, whatever just flew over my head, but then I remembered how silly that was.
I looked at Rex when I lifted my head to take a breath, and his eyes were absolutely burning. The gold flecks in his irises were yellow and orange and looked a hell of a lot like magma burning inside his soul. “God am I ever glad these clown shoe idiots decided to show up. I’d ask why, but who gives a shit?”
His shoulders were hunching and getting thicker by the second.
“What are you talking about?”
One of the four wheelers revved on the other side of the motorcycle we were using as cover, and then Davis Edgewood let out that bizarre, whooping, ululation I’d heard him make when he unsuccessfully attacked Rex in front of the jail.
“Come back for ya, boy!” the decidedly uncouth bear shouted. “We gettin’ paid, and we get to beat the livin’ shit outta you!”
“Paid?” Rex shouted from our cover. He was watching my face, holding my hand. That’s when I first noticed that his hand was getting bigger and hairier, and the whiskers on his face were quickly turning into fur. “By who?”
“Who gives a shit?” Davis yelped. “Some dumb Yankee-ass professor gave us five hundred dollars to jump you!”
The way he emphasized the five hundred part made it sound like a whole lot more than five hundred bucks. “Inflation’s a bitch,” I said. “Someone should tell him that won’t buy ten tanks of gas these days.” Rex grumbled a little, laughing at my stupid joke.
“I think he’s more interested in Coors Light than anything else,” Rex said. “Listen to me, Lilah. You stay the hell down here. You got it? These two are stupid as all hell, but they’re dangerous.”
“I can fight,” I said. “I don’t look like much, but I’m scrappy.”
“I know you are,” Rex said softly. “But I’d never forgive myself if you get hurt. Tell you what. I get in trouble? You go nuts. But until then, you stay put. Got it?”
Before I could respond, Darrel Edgewood, the skinnier and probably smarter of the two Edgewood bears, was chastising his brother. “You’re so goddamn stupid, Davis, just grab him. We get extry for the girl.”
“Yeah boy!” Davis was almost squealing with excitement. He sounded like a six year old who just opened a Nintendo. “Yeah buddy!”
“You already said that,” Rex growled, standing up from behind his motorcycle.
He threw his head back unleashing a savage roar as his jeans ripped from cuff to about three inches from the top of the thigh.
“Watch out, cowboy,” I said. “You’re about to show them more than you probably mean to show off.”
I heard him laugh in a deep rumble that made parts of me feel really funny. The way he was looking I didn’t know if he was half wild or all wild, but it didn’t matter. In that moment, I was more scared for the two Edgewoods than I ever was for Rex. I turned and peeked out from between chrome bits on the bike that I don’t know the name for. Rex towered over both Davis and Darrel by at least a head-height, and his rippled muscles were more than a match for the two of them.
Rex started clawing the asphalt with his foot. He looked down, then lifted it up and shook it again. “Little help?” he asked.
I giggled when I figured out he meant with his boot, and pulled it off with a loud pop. The leather relaxed back to normal size as I yanked the other one off him. When I looked up at Rex with his ripped-to-shit jeans, he grabbed the collar of his tearing shirt and ripped it straight down the middle as his chest expanded and the light dusting of hair grew into golden brown fur.
Almost as an afterthought, he grabbed the dog tags and yanked the strained chain, popping it off. “Keep these safe,” he said, handing them to me. “I was gonna give them to you later anyway, but... this seems like a good time.”
Then, he stood again, and unleashed another roar. Looking through my little peephole, I watched the two Edgewoods start to shift in preparation for a fight. Neither of their pants tore, but Davis’s shirt split over his belly.
“Don’t... have... time for this!” he shouted, and dove straight over the bike, barreling toward the two dumbfounded bears.
He hit Davis square in the chest with the force of a locomotive fired out of a cannon. With a crunch and a loud grunt, Davis hit the ground and skidded painfully. Rex snarled, whipped his head around and then caught Darrel in the face with the back of a paw. Darrel’s head snapped around, but he only went to one knee before regaining his feet.
The scrawny, pasty-white bear began to transform into something that could only be described as the world’s saddest black bear. He might be pitiful, but he was still big enough to make a real mess of someone. He stood on his back legs, growling to challenge Rex, and for his trouble got a crushing blow to the jaw.
Swinging wildly, Rex thrashed the smaller Edgewood and spun with momentum just in time to duck underneath Davis’s lunge.
The two Edgewoods smashed together, their heads cracking with a sickening thud.
“I thought... that... only happened in movies,” Rex growled.
Edgewood bears peeled apart from each other, and got back to their feet. Both of them shook their heads, trying to clear the cobwebs. Too slowly though, they reacted to another of Rex’s deadly charges.
He barreled into Darrel, flinging the smaller bear back with such force that he struck his four wheeler, and then kept going until he hit the side of the embankment flanking the road, and collapsed in a heap. Rex followed the downed bear, lifting him off the ground and driving a shoulder into his gut to make good and sure he was down for the count.
As the pasty bear slumped to the ground, Rex stood over him, roaring and slapping at his own chest.
Ahead of us, down the road that terminated with Jamesburg College, some kind of... I don’t know, a vortex, or a funnel, or something, opened up in the sky. It was almost a tornado, but instead of wind it was made of swirling blue energy that came to a point behind the bell tower that marked the main entrance to the school.
Rex turned his head when a crack of unearthly thunder sounded, and for once, Davis Edgewood’s almost senseless stupidity worked for him. With all the commotion, he was somehow so single minded that he didn’t take his attention from Rex for a single second.
“Rex! Look out!” I shouted, but a second too late.
Davis Edgewood, somehow having hoisted a four wheeler off the ground, hurled it straight at Rex.
He turned just in time to see the first tire smash into his face. It rolled up his forehead, and Rex ducked, then took the brunt of the shock with his shoulder before flinging the vehicle backward. It struck the embankment and fell harmlessly about four feet from Darrel’s unconscious body.
Rex stuttered slightly in his step, and I immediately knew something was wrong. Well, I mean in a way other than because he just got hit in the head with a four wheeler. He grabbed his head in one hand and shook himself.
Davis could have done some real damage, but he was too busy looking proud of himself. He kind of cocked his head and snorted. I guess he did enough damage with his thrown car to keep Rex senseless for a second though, because he went for him and was able to get a thick, fur-covered arm around Rex’s neck before Rex reacted.
