Black Friday

by Jan Stryvant

  "I make them up as I go. You see, tantric magic is pretty flexible. Well, at least as flexible as the caster. I've got all the basics down pat, and when I have, say a very handsome lion, and a very sexy cheetah to work with, and I can throw all the energy I want at a problem, well then I just brute force my way through it, until I find what I want. Then I look at what I've learned and use my finesse."

  "I got a bunch of lists and books I need to go through," Sean sighed and rolled off her on and back onto his side.

  "Where?" Jolene asked, looking around the room.

  "In my head," he said, tapping his temple. "Apparently whatever you got rid of had been blocking some sort of teaching spell my dad had put on me that was supposed to activate when I turned eighteen."

  "Wow, I've heard of those, from a few young wizards I met a few years back. They told me that they have this form like thing that they have to use to progress into anything new."

  "Oh? They mention anything else?"

  "Well, you can study anything you want to, really, though most families tend to follow certain paths in their studies. All they can do is learn spells with it though, which is kind of sad. I can use my magic on myself, my body, to help keep healthy and in shape."

  "I can use it on my physical abilities, my 'stats' if you will," Sean admitted.

  "That sounds different," Jolene said slowly, after thinking about it a moment. "You might want to talk to some other wizards or magic users to see if that's the same for them."

  "Right now, I'd rather keep a low profile," Sean confessed. "I've already got one set of enemies out there, and if that spell was blocking my abilities, then who knows who else will be unhappy to hear that it's gone."

  Jolene's eyes widened a bit when he said that, "Or that there's a lycan who can practice wizard magic!"

  "Aren't there any lycan magic users?"

  Jolene shrugged and Sean leaned over to kiss one of her breasts as her movement made it jiggle, "Minor ones, simple alchemists, lay healers, hedge wizards. Ooo, that felt good, do that again."

  Sean was more than happy to comply.

  "Also, lycans are looked down on by most magic users and the greater magical community."

  "Why?" Sean asked, and then gave her a little nip that made her gasp.

  "Because you're animals, of course."

  "Animals?" Sean growled and gave another, harder, nip, enjoying the way Jolene arched her back and moaned.

  "Oh, they have a low opinion of tantric magic users too; they say we're all sluts and whores."

  "They sound pretty stuck up then, if you ask me."

  "And if your father's best friend was a werelion, then he probably already had a strike against him," Jolene moaned and started putting her own hands to good use.

  "Time to pay up kitty cat," she said and shivered as he nibbled at her nipples again.

  "With pleasure!" Sean teased.

  "Oh, yes. With lots of pleasure!"

  It was noon by the time he got out of the shower and dressed, so grabbing his meal plan tickets, Sean headed down to the college cafeteria, while keeping a wary eye on his surroundings. He noticed that there were a lot more cops on campus today, and campus security was being very visible.

  Piling his tray rather high with food, he went and found a quiet corner to sit in, with his back to the wall so he could observe all of the comings and goings.

  "Sean!"

  He looked up and saw Alex, who had his own lunch and was heading over to where he was sitting.

  "Oh, hey Alex, what's up?"

  "I didn't see you in classes this morning; I was wondering if you got caught up in all that shit that went down at the mall yesterday."

  "Eh, I decided to sleep in, had a very late night last night," Sean shrugged.

  "Stayed up late playing with your new girlfriend?" Alex joked.

  Sean nodded and looked around the room; no one was paying them any attention. "Yeah, that was most of it. After everything that's gone on this weekend, well I think I needed a break."

  "My mom told me that Mrs. Grady said that the cops were at your mom's place yesterday? And that they blocked off your neighbor's house?"

  Sean sighed, how the hell he'd managed to forget about all of that, even for a few hours, was beyond him.

  "That didn't sound good," Alex said as Sean set down his fork.

  "Sampson was found shot to death on Saturday. My mom's missing, no one knows where she is, and someone absolutely trashed our place. Sampson must have caught them in his place, because not only was it trashed, but there were two dead bodies in it."

  "Holy shit, man!" Alex gaped, "How are you even here today?"

  Sean shrugged, "Not much I can do, and where else I can go? Other than my girlfriend and you guys, I don't have anybody."

  "Wow, that's just the worst, man. Here I thought the big excitement was that terrorist attack over at the mall yesterday. Boy did those suckers walk into it, only way it could have been worse was if they had picked a mall in Texas!"

  Sean smiled a little wanly at that. "How many people got killed?"

  "Five people were shot; two are in critical condition, but the terrorists? I think it's six dead, two in comas, and a couple more who got shot up pretty good."

  Sean shook his head, "Roxy and I were shopping when it started, we ran out the back, came home, and decided life was better in bed for the rest of the night."

  "Damn, Dude! Talk about a bad day!" Alex commiserated, "You went from one bad thing right into the next!"

  "Yeah, so what did I miss at game night Saturday?"

  "Zack's monk got killed," Alex grinned, more than happy to change the subject to something a bit less of a downer.

  "Again?"

  "Yup! That makes the sixth time. John and I are trying to get him to start a new character. Bringing him back is gonna be hella expensive this time."

  Sean snorted, "Yeah, but who else has a kamikaze hobbit monk in their group? Was it as funny as the last time?"

  "Oh yeah, you should have been there. He had us all in stitches. Even Chad lost it at one point and couldn't run the game for like fifteen minutes!"

  Sean shook his head and chuckled, just a few days ago life was so damn simple. Go to school, study, play games with his friends.

  'You got Roxy, and Jolene soon too,' his lion pointed out, surprising him. Sean had even forgotten about him. But now that he remembered he realized that his lion felt a lot more, well, there. He kinda liked it.

  "So, you going to classes this afternoon?" Alex asked starting in on his food.

  "Yeah," Sean agreed and went back to eating as well, he was starving and he'd already gone through half of what he'd bought. Classes were a good idea, he knew everyone who belonged in them, and anyone who didn't belong in the building would stand out like a sore thumb.

  Plus, sitting in class, maybe he could just forget all about his troubles for a few hours more.

  Roxy smiled at her father. They were sitting in the back of the same Denny's that she and Sean had lunch in yesterday, and while her father wasn't in uniform, the haircut, clothes, and whole demeanor just screamed 'COP' to everyone in the place.

  "Okay," he started, "tell me about him."

  "Why?" Roxy grinned, "So you can tell me how I'm wrong and how you know everything about him? Come on, Dad. I know that you've had everyone in the department searching all the records for every little scrap of information on him. So let's just cut to the chase and you can tell me how bad he is for me, and why."

  "Honey, I'm hurt that you would even say that!" Her father protested, looking the very picture of wounded innocence.

  "Save it for the judge, Dad!" Roxy laughed, "I stopped falling for that when I was thirteen!"

  "Honey, I'm you're father, it's my job to look out for you."

  "Un-huh, sure, fine. But your little girl is all grown up now, Daddy. You know I can take care of myself, you taught me after all."

  "Still, this could be dangerous, Honey."

  "Oh? Anymo
re dangerous than being the Sheriff's only daughter?" Roxy looked up at her father and shook her head, "You know, I used to be really mad at you for that time Paulson and his men grabbed me to try and pressure you. Now? I'm glad it happened, because it taught me how to deal with those kinds of people."

  Roxy had the pleasure of watching her father stiffen for a moment. The Paulson gang hadn't realized that things like lycans existed. After she'd finished with them, they were no longer able to care.

  "I'm sorry about that, Honey, really, I...."

  Roxy waved her hand cutting her father off, "Water under the bridge, Dad. I'm not letting go of this one. Someone threw him in the deep end and thank god I was there to keep him from drowning."

  "There's going to be trouble, Honey, I can smell it."

  "There's already been trouble, Daddy. He's mine."

  "You've only known him since what, Saturday? How can he be yours already?"

  Roxy shrugged and grinned, "He's a lion, he laid claim to me pretty damn quick, I don't think he even realized he'd done it. He'd only been bit the night before."

  "He's been a lion less than a day, and you're already hooking up for life with him?" The disbelief on her father's face was palpable.

  "Well, first off I've known Sean for years, just he wasn't one of us, so I never really pursued anything with him. So it's not like I didn't know him, and Dad, really, he's a lion! Trust me on this one, Dad. The guy that bit him had helped raise him, Sean's got his head screwed on right and while you may be my father and all that, if you laid a finger on me in front of him, he'd probably rip your arm off and beat you to death with it.

  "He's got a pretty serious thing for me."

  Her father sighed, conceding defeat, "Yeah, lions are like that. They fill their prides with kick ass women and then go absolutely mental if anyone even looks at them sideways." His daughter was the most headstrong of all his kids, his wife Gloria said Roxy took after him too much. He guessed he shouldn't be surprised that a lion would snag her.

  "So who was the lion?"

  "His neighbor, Sampson," Roxy told him.

  "The dead guy?"

  "I guess I better tell you what I know," Roxy sighed, "and this is family now, Dad, got that?"

  Her father nodded, being a sheriff was one thing, but when you were a lycan, family obviously came first.

  Thirty minutes later and Bill Channing was wondering if he could hit his daughter over the head, stuff her in the back of the car, and lock her up back home.

  "Just what have you gotten yourself into, Roxy?"

  Roxy smiled winningly at her father, "That, Daddy, is what I want you to find out."

  Her father shook his head, "You know that the different councils that oversee the wizards and other magic users don't care much for us, Honey. They're not going to want to tell me anything about Sean's father, and this definitely sounds like the kind of screwed up mess that they'd cause with their politicking."

  "It's been over a decade, people aren't good with secrets, I'm sure somebody has talked, or is willing to talk. Besides, isn't secrecy supposed to be some big thing with those guys?" Roxy pointed out. "With that attack yesterday, they definitely drew a lot of attention. You could just tell them that once again, the lycans are trying to cover up their mistakes.

  "I mean really, Dad, didn't you tell me that they're always trying to get you to cover up their dirty work for them?"

  He nodded slowly and sighed. "Well, the governor did call me this morning, wants to set up a task force, and as Vegas gets the lion's share of the state budget," her father almost winced as he said that, "the governor figures we probably have some experts on staff to help him. I'll set Kenneth on it. That'll give me a line on things."

  "How's Kenny doing?" Roxy asked.

  "He's going to be crushed when he finds out you're off the market."

  Roxy made a face, "Sure he is, Rebecca told me he's all but moved into her place."

  Her father laughed, "I still think he'll be crushed. So when do I get to meet this Sean?"

  "My Sean," Roxy corrected.

  "Okay, your Sean."

  Roxy got out her phone and sent Sean a text, to see when he'd be free to meet her and her dad.

  She got a reply almost immediately.

  "His last class gets out at three," she said, it was already after one.

  "He's got people hunting him, and he's still going to classes?" Her dad had to laugh at that, "Either he's really ballsy, or he's really stupid."

  "Or maybe he's just really smart," Roxy smirked. "The campus is crawling with cops today, and you can't just walk into a classroom if you're not a student. Everyone knows everyone else there, Dad."

  Her father nodded and conceded the point, it actually did make sense.

  "Well, come on, let's go shopping," her father said, signaling for the bill.

  "I don't need another pistol, Dad. I already have two."

  "Maybe your boyfriend might like one?"

  "He's only twenty, he can't carry concealed yet."

  "When's his birthday?"

  Roxy, shrugged, "I haven't asked him yet.

  "March twenty-third," her father grinned.

  Roxy sighed, "I should have figured." She sat up suddenly, "That's...."

  "A week and a half away," he finished.

  "No, it's in the middle of Spring break! I'd forgotten all about spring break! I need to cancel my plans!"

  Her father blinked, "Plans?"

  Roxy smirked at her dad, "I usually go to Daytona with all the other gals and engage in a week of drunken debauchery. You know, like your sons, my brothers, do?"

  "Maybe you should just take Sean with you? Get out of town for a little while?"

  Roxy nodded, "Yeah, but I don't think a beach in Florida, surrounded by a million drunk kids is the place for that."

  "Un-huh," her dad said as he took the check from the waitress and after looking at it threw a bunch of bills down on the table to cover everything.

  "Let's go, I'm sure we can find something that you think he might like."

  Roxy sighed and grinned, her dad loved to shop for guns whenever he was upset about something. Considering all the things she and her brothers had put him through, there was quite an arsenal in the family home.

  Father in Laws

  Sean's first impression of Roxy's father, Bill Channing was that he was a big man. That lasted for maybe a second as his lion whispered in his head that he, Sean, was bigger. And just like that, all of his fears, worries, and concerns went right out the window.

  It felt, different. Yeah, it was strange, Sean had never been one to stand up and stand out. He had always kept his head down, like his mother had constantly told him, but then again, he had always remembered the one rule that Sampson had told him, which was the most important he claimed in life: Don't Back Down.

  Ever.

  Standing there, shaking hands with Roxy's dad, a man who looked like he had earned his job the hard way, who was big, imposing, and looking at Sean the way fathers all through time had probably looked at their little girl's boyfriend, Sean just smiled. Sean had weighed himself this morning, he'd gained over twenty pounds since the last time he'd done that, and he really was starting to look strong, ripped. Just like Sampson had always looked.

  "So you're my daughter's latest?" Bill Channing said to Sean as they shook hands.

  "No, I'm her last," Sean said, still smiling.

  Her father, Mr. Channing, scowled at him for a moment, and then sighed. "Well at least you don't scare easily."

  Roxy interrupted, "Okay, Dad, Sean, enough of the dominance displays, lets go eat."

  "Yes, Honey," Mr. Channing said

  "Yes, Love," Sean replied, earning a look from her father.

  Sean earned another look when he dragged Roxy into the backseat of the car with him, and smiled at her father in the mirror.

  "Are you trying to push me, Son?" Mr. Channing said, as he put the car in gear and drove off.

  Roxy started t
o say something, but Sean held up his hand stopping her.

  "Actually," Sean said, "my dad died when I was eight, and suddenly after all these years I just got a new one. Roxy thinks the world of you, and I can see why."

  Sean watched as Roxy's dad, seemed to deflate a little and then grumbled as Roxy leaned over and kissed Sean.

  "Just what I need, another wiseass son," Mr. Channing grumbled.

  Roxy laughed, "You raised four of them, Dad, so you sure must like them!"

  Sean relaxed back into the seat and for the moment, everything seemed normal and right with the world.

  "We're being followed," Roxy said five minutes later, and Sean sighed and sat up.

  "Yeah, I had a few of the boys from the local PD assigned to follow me around in an unmarked car today," Mr. Channing said from up from as he turned into the parking lot for a rather pricey steakhouse.

  "Why'd you do that?" Sean asked.

  "Because with all of the trouble you two seem to have been drawing lately, I thought it might be a good idea."

  "I was kind of hoping that after yesterday, they would have backed off for a while."

  "If they were smart enough to do that, they would never have tried what they did at the mall," Mr. Channing pointed out. "Though something like that had to have sucked up a lot of resources, in which case things should quiet down for a little while."

  Sean just nodded. They parked without further harassment, and were quickly seated at a nice table in the back. It was still a little while before the dinner rush.

  Sean made sure to order a lot of food this time, and dinner passed rather nicely with pleasant small talk about the Channing family, and what Roxie's brothers were all up to.

  Dinner finished, they were eating desert when Mr. Channing brought the conversation back to the present.

  "So, Sean, what do you know about your father?"

  Sean shook his head, "Not much, really. I know now that he was a pretty accomplished alchemist, and apparently he was doing things that some people didn't approve of, while others wanted to get their hands on it."

  "What?!" Roxy said, looking at him.

  Sean blushed and turned to face her, "I'm sorry, Hon. After Jolene removed that, spell or thing on me...."