by MJ Caan
“What? No way,” Gar huffed. “I’m not a kid anymore. Wherever you’re going, I’m going too.”
I was sitting in the passenger seat of Cody’s car, and I spun around to face Gar behind me. “No, you’re not a child anymore. But you’re not quite an adult either, and where we’re going might be a little dangerous. I would never forgive myself if something happened to you.”
“I thought we settled this,” said Gar. “Where you go, I go, remember? Besides, I feel safest with you.”
He was right, of course; I did feel better keeping him with me, but under the circumstances I knew that wasn’t an option. With everything I had just learned about myself—and more importantly, what I was learning about Cody—I almost felt the safest place for Gar would be as far from us as possible. But there was no way I was telling him that.
“Gar,” I started, “I promised I would always be truthful with you moving forward. So you’re going to have to believe that what I’m telling you now is the absolute truth. You are better off not knowing what we have to do.”
He didn’t immediately respond as he seemed to consider my words. “At least tell me where you’re going. If it’s as dangerous as what you’re saying, there’s a chance you could get into trouble. If I know where you are and you don’t come back, I can at least send help.”
Surprisingly, I couldn’t find any fault with his logic. I really hadn’t thought through everything, but it made sense that if something happened to Cody and me, Gar could at least tell our aunts where we had gone. I looked over at Cody, who just shrugged his shoulders.
“We’re going to see Cody’s father.”
“That doesn’t seem dangerous,” said Gar. “Why can’t I come along?”
“Because I’m a werewolf,” said Cody without taking his eyes off the road. “So we need to ask my father how that can be.” He cut his eyes in my direction just long enough to get my attention. “What? You just said the two of you are being honest with one another.”
“Well I didn’t think we were being that honest,” I replied.
“No shit! You’re a werewolf?” Gar said. “So when the moon gets full, you turn all hairy and fang-ish?”
“No,” I said, “he doesn’t need the moon to change. But that does raise a question; if you can change against a full moon, what other werewolf stereotypes are wrong?”
“Well as long as the most important one holds true, that’s really all that matters,” he said. He glanced down at the silver, corded belt I wore around my waist. “Don’t think I didn’t notice that.”
“So obviously there is more to this than just visiting Cody’s father,” said Gar. “Oh and what kind of werewolf Is Cody? Are you the kind of werewolf that gives into his bloodlust and would kill the both of us given a chance? Or are you the kind of werewolf that remembers who he is, and more importantly, who we are?” He ignored the look I gave him. “What? I do read, you know.”
“I think it’s a little of both,” said Cody. “I remember after the fact. I remember what happened when I’m in my wolf form, but during the act it’s like...I give in to the feral part of me. I become all wolf, and I’m afraid of what I might be capable of doing.”
“We had another run-in with those men that were with the Bear-Shifter that attacked us at the falls,” I said. “That was when Cody Shifted for the first time, trying to protect me. We are hoping that his father can fill in a couple of blanks and maybe provide some leads as to who’s behind this. But I can’t go out there knowing that I have to keep an eye on you as well, and I don’t mean that to be offensive. I know you can take care of yourself, but this is something that not even our aunts can explain.”
Gar was quiet in the back seat. I continued looking forward out the window, hoping that my words had sunk in. “So you’re basically going to follow up on whatever information you get from Cody’s father, right?” he said.
I nodded, not sure there was any reason to speak.
“Then what you’re saying is that you could be…I mean, you promise you’re coming back, right?” Gar said, his voice choking off just as he completed the sentence.
I spun around in my seat to look him in the eyes. “No, that’s not going to happen. No matter what we need to do, no matter where this takes us, I’m coming back for you. Tell me you believe that.”
“I believe you,” Gar said. He remained quiet for a moment, staring out the side window. “I know you’ll be back, but since we’re all sharing, I want you to know something as well.” I didn’t say anything, just continued to look straight ahead. I swallowed hard, waiting for him to finish his thoughts.
“You should know, I, uh…I’ve been seeing someone,” he said softly.
I closed my eyes, trying to stem the flow of tears that threatened to roll down my cheeks. I nodded slightly before I found my voice. “Thank you for telling me that, Gar. Does she have a name?”
He was silent for a moment before responding. “Jhamal. His name is Jhamal.”
“Oh. Cool name,” I replied.
“You’re not gonna freak out on me, are you?” he asked. “And don’t tell the aunts; I want to be the one to tell them.”
“I’m not freaking out; I’m just happy for you. I’m happy that you are not only accepting who you are, but you’re trusting me to accept you as well. You know I love you no matter who you are.” I dabbed at the tear that escaped my eye before turning to look at my brother. “And I’m not saying jack about this to our aunts. That’s all you, little brother.”
“And you? Are you bothered?” Gar asked Cody. “I mean, you just shared your secret with me; I figured the least I could do was return the favor.”
“Oh hey, it doesn’t bother me,” said Cody. “I’m all about respect. I say live and let live. As long as you are being true to who you are, who am I or anybody else to tell you otherwise?”
If the tears weren’t flowing before, they certainly were after that. I reached over and gave his hand a squeeze. “Thank you,” were the only words I could manage.
“I do have a question,” Cody said, looking in the rearview mirror at Gar. “I have a cousin who’s gay. He lives in the city. His name’s Mike. Do you know him?”
“What? You’re shitting me, right?” said Gar. “Gay Mikey that lives in the city? Yeah, we all know him.”
I couldn’t help but laugh as Gar slid his headphones back on and once again returned his attention to his phone and the world that was whizzing by his window.
Cody eased the car to a stop in front of Hope’s house. I was happy to see someone once again stationed in the little house that guarded the gates to the community. Cody had shown the man his badge and we had been waved through without question. Before we got out of the car, I turned to Gar one last time.
“Okay, so Hope knows a little bit about what’s going on,” I said to him, “but not everything. For now, we need to keep it that way.”
“Are your wards still in place?” asked Cody.
I closed my eyes and reached out, gently probing with my magic. As far as I could tell, everything I had set before we left was standing strong and undisturbed. I nodded reassuringly to Cody as we exited the vehicle and headed up the sidewalk to the house. I reached for the doorbell, but before I could press it the door swung open.
“Oh no,” said Hope, standing in the middle of the doorway. “You are not coming back in here. And you most definitely are not coming in,” she said to Cody. For emphasis she crossed her arms, lowered her head and stared at him without blinking.
“Hope, I’m sorry,” I said. “But I’m in a bit of a bind. Can Gar stay here, just for a bit? My aunts are out of town, and Cody and I have business that we need to take care of.”
“Is it the same kind of business that came knocking on my door the other day?” said Hope. I nodded, and she softened, but only a little. “Shit. Come on in.” She stepped aside so that the three of us could make our way into the house. She leaned closer to me and whispered in my ear, “You’re not running from an
ything, are you? I mean, nothing is going to come after him in the middle of the night, is it?”
I shook my head. “We aren’t hiding from anything. There are some things about Cody that we need answers to, and we’re hoping that those answers will lead us to finding out what’s really going on around here once and for all so we can put a stop to it.” I figured there wasn’t really any point in going into too much detail. I had put my best friend through so much already. I couldn’t bear the thought of adding to her fear. “Also, the wards that I placed around the house are still active. Whatever those things were that attacked us, they were only after me, so you and Gar should be perfectly safe here.”
“Hope,” someone called from the other side of the living room, “who’s at the door?”
Hope dropped her voice to a whisper once again and quickly said, “You owe me big time. You would not believe the shit I caught when my parents came home.” She spun around quickly and put a smile on her face. “It’s just Allie, Mom. Her aunts are out of town and she has some trouble that she has to take care of regarding the coffee shop. Do you mind if Gar stays with us for a bit?” I smiled politely and waved to Hope’s mom as she stepped briefly into view.
“Oh, hello, Allie,” she said. “Of course, he’s welcome here anytime. I suppose Hope told you about the little get-together she had while her father and I were out.” I couldn’t help but shrink back a little, and looked down at my shuffling feet.
“She might’ve mentioned something about having a few friends over,” I said, my face suddenly turning red.
“A few friends indeed,” her mother said. “She told us that you were unable to make it. I wish you had been here; maybe it would’ve kept things from getting out of hand. You always were the level-headed one.” Hope gave me a look, and in spite of myself I couldn’t help but smirk.
“But come on in and make yourself comfortable, Gar,” she said. “We were just about to order some lunch. There is a marathon of Real Housewives playing all day on Bravo. As long as you don’t mind sitting through that, we’ll be just fine.”
“Oh,” said Gar excitedly, as he pushed his way between us and headed for the living room, “I guess if I have to watch it, I’ll suffer through.”
“Hope, call me if anything at all happens. We will be back tonight but I can’t promise what time.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Hope said. “I’ll just put all this on your tab.” She stopped me in the doorway. “Just be careful, Allie. I hope you know what you’re doing.” She hugged me, and while the words were directed at me, I couldn’t help but think she meant them for Cody’s ears.
22
Cody’s father lived an hour and a half north of Trinity Cove in a small town called Susquahana. Cody had told me that once his father retired from the police force, he had moved to the middle-of-nowhere town to get away from everyone. He retired at the same time that Cody had graduated from the police academy and joined the department. That fact wasn’t lost on Cody. His father had paid cash for a double-wide trailer, and used his pension to support his alcohol and gambling addiction. Cody admitted that contact with his father had been limited to holiday phone calls and check-ins on his birthday. Other than that, the two of them had had very little contact with one another.
We were fairly quiet on the drive there. Despite knowing that there was so much more to be concerned about, all I could think about was the kiss we had shared in the early morning hours in my aunts’ study. Before leaving the house, I had swiped the leather journal that contained the history of Trinity Cove. Taking it out of my denim jacket pocket, I spent most of the drive lost in its pages. To my great disappointment, the page that I had hoped would explain the darkness that was coming to Trinity Cove had been ripped out. There wasn’t much more to learn about our town or the community of witches that settled it.
“Anything else in there that we need to know about?” said Cody.
I closed the book and sighed, placing it back into my pocket. “Not really. Other than what I told you, there doesn’t seem to be a lot as far as the history of Trinity Cove.”
“Actually, I think that told us quite a bit,” he said. “Even though it may not explain what type of dark magic could have been drawn to this area, it still told us how the town was created, and more importantly, why supernatural beings seem to thrive here. Or at least why they did.”
He was right, I had to remind myself. If this tome had been in my aunts’ study all this time, that meant that at some point, they had read about the history of the Cove. If that was the case, why had they not explained all of this to us in the beginning? I couldn’t help but think that there was still something my aunts were keeping from me, some missing piece of the puzzle that might help explain all of this.
“Hearing my mother brought up in all of this has really thrown me,” I said. “I was eight years old the last time I saw her. I can barely remember what she looked like, and all this time I had nearly given up hope that she would ever return to me or Gar.” I was shocked at myself. I didn’t know what it was about Cody that was causing me to open up to him this way. I had not even expressed this level of feelings to Hope. He must’ve sensed something because he reached over and placed one hand reassuringly over mine, giving me just enough of a squeeze to let me know that he was there.
“At least you grew up around someone who cared enough to take care of you,” he said. He never took his eyes off the road, though his voice seemed far away. “Trust me, having a parent that’s right there in the house with you but is never really present is much worse.”
I didn’t know how to respond, so I didn’t say anything. We made the rest of the trip in silence as I reread the sections of the journal that I had practically memorized at this point. I looked up as we turned off of the main road and onto a dirt street. It went on for a half-mile before dead-ending in front of a small, unassuming white vinyl, double-wide trailer with a small shed behind it.
The land itself was a mishmash of overgrown weeds and shrubbery. There was no way to tell where the property line ended, and the wild growth of saplings that marked the entrance to the woods beyond began. To one side of the trailer, I could make out an old, broken down Ford Granada sitting on cinderblocks, the hood open and its innards exposed to the elements. All in all, Cody’s father’s place had the sad feel of a stereotypical southern redneck dwelling that was on the precipice of becoming a salvage yard.
A surprisingly well-kept German Shepherd greeted us as we exited the car. The large canine padded silently up to Cody, its tail wagging excitedly.
“Hey, Jasper!” said Cody. “How’s my big boy?” He reached down and ruffled the shepherd’s ears and head, dropping to one knee to nuzzle it. Cody looked up at me and smiled. “This is Jasper. My dad has had him for the past ten years. He’s a great guard dog, but relatively harmless as long as you’re not here to cause any trouble.” I could tell that he wanted me to greet the dog in the same way, but I decided to pass. Present company excluded, I wasn’t in the habit of petting strange canines.
I followed Cody up to the door of his father’s home. He knocked lightly a couple of times, and when there was no answer he followed with several harder, more forceful bangs.
“Jesus,” he said. He reached into his pocket and drew out a ring of keys. He flipped through a couple before finding one and inserting it into the lock. As he turned it and pushed the door open slightly, he said, “Hey, Dad, it’s Cody. We’re coming in; do not shoot us.”
I didn’t know if he was kidding or serious, but I wasn’t going to take the chance. I held onto a thread of magic at the ready as we made our way into the small dwelling. The living room we walked into was nicer than I expected: it was filled with matching sofas, a small loveseat, a table, and drapes that coordinated nicely with an old shag area rug. Off to the right, a half wall separated the area from the kitchen. There were dirty dishes in the sink and on the countertops, as well as covering a small card table flanked by two folding chairs. The space
was dark; there were only two small windows in the living area, and their shades were drawn. The air was heavy with the scent of Febreeze attempting to mask the underlying smell of cigarettes on top of even more Wick air fresheners.
The sound of the toilet flushing followed by running water echoed down the hall, from where I assumed the bedrooms were. Heavy footsteps announced Cody’s father as he walked into the room. I was surprised by the size of the man. He was a full head taller than Cody, and carried an extra seventy-five pounds. Cody wasn’t a small man, but he seemed to physically shrink in the presence of his father.
“Dad,” Cody said, nodding. “We knocked but there wasn’t an answer.”
“Maybe you should’ve called first,” said the older man. “Of course, I knew it was you when I heard the door open and Jasper didn’t make a sound.”
He turned to face me, holding one massive hand out into the air. “Carson Hunter,” he said.
I took his hand in mine, greeting him with a shake as I said, “Allie. Allie Caine. Nice to meet you, sir.”
“Yeah, I know who you are.” His tone was guarded; I couldn’t read anything coming from this man. He headed into the kitchen, to the full-size refrigerator that dominated one corner of the space. He opened the door and took out a can of Budweiser. “Either of y’all want a drink?”
“Umm, no thank you, sir,” I said.
“Jesus, Dad,” said Cody. “Hitting it a little hard this early in the day, even for you.” I noticed the majority of the dishes cluttering the counter were bowls, interspersed with empty beer cans.
“Last time I checked I didn’t have anywhere to be today,” said his father. “If you came all this way just to rag on me, you can turn around and march your little ass right back out the door.”
