Jacob Michaels Is Trouble (A Point Worth LGBTQ Paranormal Romance Book 5)
Author: Connor, Chase
Date: 2019-08-21

Jacob Michaels Is Trouble

A Point Worth LGBTQ Paranormal Romance

Book 5

By: Chase Connor

© Copyright 2019 Chase Connor by Chase Connor

All characters depicted in sexual situations in this publication are eighteen years of age or older. These stories are about fictional consenting adults. Nobody involved in the creation of this ebook, including authors, editors and models, support immoral or illegal acts in real life. Cover models are not intended to illustrate specific people and the content does not refer to models' actual acts, identity, history, beliefs or behavior. No characters depicted in this ebook are intended to represent real people.

Models are used for illustrative purposes only.

Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

AUTHORS’ NOTE:

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors’ imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.  Point Worth is a fictional Ohio town.  None of this is real.

Cover Design by Dean Cole/Twitter @DeanColeWriter

To crazy ideas and the stupidity to try them.

Also by Chase Connor

Just a Dumb Surfer Dude: A Gay Coming-of-Age Tale

Just a Dumb Surfer Dude: For the Love of Logan

Gavin’s Big Gay Checklist

A Surplus of Light

The Guy Gets Teddy

GINJUH

A Tremendous Amount of Normal

The Gravity of Nothing

A Point Worth LGBTQ Paranormal Romances

Jacob Michaels Is Tired (Book 1)

Jacob Michaels Is Not Crazy (Book 2)

Jacob Michaels Is Not Jacob Michaels (Book 3)

Jacob Michaels Is Not Here (Book 4)

Erotica

Bully

Jacob Michaels Is

Trouble

A Point Worth LGBTQ Paranormal Romance

Book 5

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Back Matter

Chapter 1

Putting myself in front of Lucas to protect him, I threw an arm over my eyes to shield them from the blinding light. Lucas didn’t exactly cower behind me, but his body seemed to shrink in on itself as I shielded him. Of course, having just been bitten by a werewolf, and having what seemed to be a spotlight shining in our eyes, it was understandable that he wasn’t at his best. Certainly, I wasn’t going to think less of him for needing a moment to collect himself before we faced something else. One more person present for me to also use as a shield for myself would have been nice, though.

The water was freezing, though I couldn’t spare worry on the iciness of the Maumee when my main concern was that we were bathed in light. We were in the icy water with two burnt-to-a-crisp dead bodies floating nearby. If there was ever a visual representation of “cluster fuck,” our situation would have nailed it. I felt Lucas’ hand on my side, gripping onto me for reassurance and strength as we stood there bathed in that harsh light. Unfortunately for Lucas, all I knew I was good for was being a shield. What to say or do completely eluded me.

“Fire fingers” was my next thought.

“What’s going on?” I heard a voice shout from the shore again.

A very familiar voice.

“Who’s there?” My voice was shaky as my arm dropped marginally so that I could glance into the beam of light. “Who are you?”

Abruptly, the beam of light lessened in strength and I could finally see that a mere high-powered flashlight of some kind was what had produced the spotlight. After a few moments of staring out beyond the less bright beam of light, I could see the shape of the shadowy figure that held it on us. Lucas’ fingers clenched at my side again as I slowly lowered my arm. The outline of the person on the shore came into focus as I lowered my arm to my side, but stayed at alert in case more fire was needed.

I was in the mood for more fire.

My mind was crazed with the thought.

“What in the…”

“Rob.” Lucas whispered into my ear. “Is that…”

My eyes turned to slits as the figure behind the flashlight became discernible. Jason, werewolf pack leader extraordinaire, stood on the shore of the Maumee, shining the flashlight in our direction, illuminating us as we stood prone in the icy water. One of us was bleeding and shirtless, one of us probably looked deranged with anger and power, and surely, he had spotted the two bodies floating nearby. Two choices came to mind. Lucas’ fingers clenching my side, warning me, kept me from being impulsive. I didn’t immediately raise my hand and aim it at Jason, though the compulsion was at the forefront of my mind.

“Jason.” The word carried heat as it left my lips, but it was a struggle not to shiver as I stood there in the icy water with Lucas.

“Who are those people?” Jason’s eyes were wide, nearly horrified as he took in the scene before him.

Unsurprisingly, a thought seemed to come to Jason as he stood on the shore, holding us within the beam of his flashlight. That confused and horrified look slowly started to change, the corners of his mouth slowly turning upward until he looked like the Grinch. When his eyes landed on mine, practically staring into my soul as Lucas stood behind me, I knew we were fucked. Jason had found us in the most compromising of positions, and only one thing would get us out of it. I started to raise my hand.

“Rob.” Lucas whisper-hissed, his fingers clutching at my wrist. “Don’t.”

“Seems you boys have been up to no good.” Jason grinned evilly, his eyes practically twinkling in the dark. “No good at all.”

Glancing angrily down at the fingers clenched around my wrist, it was all I could do to keep myself from screaming obscenities at Jason or yanking my arm free to send a column of fire in his direction. Lucas’ fingers squeezed my wrist firmly, yet lovingly, trying to keep me from doing something that might make our situation even worse. Of course, when I thought about it, burning Jason to a crisp would solve the third problem. Problem number one and number two were slowly starting to float towards shore. Keeping my eyes on Jason instead of the dead bodies floating toward him was an insane exercise of self-control. Visions of fire and a desire to create more destruction continued to assault my mind, speed my pulse, hurry my breathing. Lucas’ fingers around my wrist were the only things keeping me from going completely around the bend while we stood in the beam of light.

“Why are you here?” I demanded.

Jason gave an amused snort, the beam of light jiggling.

“Is that really what you want to ask me?” Came his reply. “Don’t you think you ought to get out of the freezing-fucking-river before you lose a toe first?”

Considering this for a moment, my first thought was to tell Jason how to apply suction to a particular part of my anatomy—only metaphorically, of course—yet I knew he was right, no matter how much I hated to admit it. Lucas was ashen-faced when I glanced over my shoulder at him. The pain, loss of blood, and cold were doing nothing for the love of my life. In fact, my pride was going to turn into the cause for one of us losing a toe to frostbite. Lucas’ teeth were chattering when I glanced over my shoulder at him, so I had nothing else to do but swallow down my rage and take a shaky step towards the shore.

Lucas’ hand slid down my wrist so that his fingers could slide between mine, holding onto me like a life raft as we headed towards shore. Jason lowered the flashlight to point at the water so that it wasn’t in our eyes any longer, and we quickly made our way out of the water. Both of the dead, original recipe men were beached by the gentle waves caused by the early Spring breeze, but we avoided them, averting our eyes from my handiwork. Or, my craftiness, I guess.

Jason grinned evilly and started to speak, but I silenced him with a glare, though the grin didn’t disappear. Doing my best to ignore the smug asshole standing next to us on the shore, I knelt next to Lucas and grabbed his socks. His hands went to my shoulders to steady himself as I struggled to get his socks on over his cold, wet feet. Once Lucas’ feet were covered up, I quickly pulled my socks and shoes on, glaring over at Jason as I worked. Then I was back on my feet and pulling Lucas into me, though holding my boyfriend against my wet, cold body was doing nothing to help bring his body temperature back up.

“You two are morons,” Jason stated, the flashlight dangling from at side, casting the ground next to him in a halo of yellow. “You’re both freezing. Wet. He’s bleeding all over you. Neither of you has made a move to get out of here and go back to your car. And your two murder victims are right. fucking. there.”

“Rob was defending us.” Lucas’ teeth chattered as I held him to me.

That statement gave me pause. Lucas was right, that I had been defending us and not just wantonly setting men…werewolves on fire…just for the hell of it. However…Rob. Rob did it. He didn’t include himself in the reason for the men’s deaths. Shaking my head to chase that thought away, I turned my attention to Lucas’ bite, which was still seeping blood. The seeping had slowed considerably, probably from how cold his body was, but it had not completely abated. I pressed a hand against Lucas’ chest where the teeth of the werewolf had entered, then attempted to press against the ones on his back with my other hand.

How to treat a bite wound from a werewolf was not exactly part of my repertoire, but I knew that putting pressure on a bleeding wound was usually the best thing to do. Lucas grunted and winced slightly as I pushed against both sides of the wound, hoping that the bleeding would stop on its own. Causing Lucas further pain was not optimal, but of course, he had no idea how to treat a werewolf bite either, so he wasn’t offering alternatives. The fact that an actual, live werewolf was standing next to us flooded my mind.

“What do we do?” I half growled, half pleaded with Jason, though my eyes stayed on my hands covering Lucas’ wounds.

“There’s nothing you can do.” Jason was rolling his eyes—I knew it without looking at him. “He got bit. He’s gonna turn, dumbass.”

“I’m talking about the blood, you fucking—”

“Rob.” Lucas stopped me. “What are we going to do? We need to get to the hospital. Or something”

“Jeeez-zus.” Jason groaned. “The bleeding will stop on its own. Our saliva helps our bites heal quicker—unless we decide to bite enough that even our saliva can’t help it. It makes it easier for us to turn others without worrying about accidentally bleeding them out. By morning you might not even be able to tell you were ever bitten.”

“Until the next full moon,” I mumbled angrily under my breath as I pulled my hands away from Lucas’ chest and back and twined the fingers of my right hand through his.

“Let’s just get out of here.” Lucas ignored Jason’s comments, though they had to soothe his worry a little.

“And go where, assbags?” Jason snorted, strolling grandly over to the shore to shine the flashlight on the beached and burnt bodies. “Are you just going to leave the evidence lying around like a couple of amateurs?”

Lucas’ teeth chattered as he gripped my hand tightly, his eyes piercing into mine. I squeezed his hand, trying to reassure him before I turned to Jason. He was pushing at one of the bodies with the toe of his right shoe, making a disgusted face and noises that matched.

“What do you suggest, Jason?” Lucas’ fingers squeezed mine. “Apparently you feel you have more expertise about what to do with dead bodies, so—"

“You’re going to have to weight ‘em down and get ‘em further out into the river. Or take ‘em out onto the lake. Or you’re going to have to drag ‘em out and hide ‘em somewhere else.” He shrugged. Finally, he crouched down and grabbed a handful of hair from one of the bodies and lifted it with a sickening wet sound so that he could examine the dead guy’s face. “Not one of mine.”

“Wouldn’t you know if one of your pack members had come to try and kill me and turn Lucas?” I snapped. “Or are you not able to keep your puppies in line?”

Jason laughed, curiously not in an angry way.

“My boys have gotten a little unruly lately.”

“Why are you even here?” I demanded, sliding my hand out of Lucas’ in case I needed it as I took a step towards Jason. “How did you know we would be out here?”

“I didn’t.” Jason stood up, affecting a bored expression as he turned his head to look at me. “I didn’t know anything until I followed you to that club to watch the drag show. Then I followed you here. So, I didn’t know anything until I followed you out here. Obviously, you exceeded my expectations. I thought I’d catch you two lovebirds out here giving each other Handy J’s by the romantic light of the moon, but—”

“You’re disgusting.” Lucas chattered behind me.

“—you came out here to kill two guys and…then, I guess give each other Handy J’s or something.”

“You sure you’re not mixed with pig instead of wolf?” I asked blandly.

Jason chuckled evilly, his eyes looking hooded in the moonlight as he stared Lucas and me down. I could practically hear my boyfriend’s teeth chattering behind me as I kept my eyes on Jason, wondering what his plan was now that he had found us. Why had he followed us out onto the peninsula anyway? Now that he had and he found out what had happened when we found ourselves out there alone and two werewolves from a different pack had attacked us, what would he do with that information? How much had he seen? Did he see Lucas and I standing in the water, Lucas getting his memories back? What was he going to do with any of the information he might have?

I felt my arm start to raise.

The water.

I had made Lucas stand in the running water when I had given him back his memories for a reason.

Was it safe to do much magic on the shore?

Slowly, my arm sank back to my side. My palm itched and burned with unused magic. The genie had been let out of the lamp and did not want to go back inside for long. Lucas must have sensed my desire to harm Jason—not that it would have taken a genius, especially now that he had his memories back—because he stepped up behind me and twined his fingers through mine once again. Lucas gave me a nervous yet loving smile as I glanced over my shoulder. Jason just stared impassively at us as the flashlight beam shone at his feet.

“What is it with you guys?” I barked at Jason. “Do any of you have fucking manners?”
That made Jason smile.

“I don’t even know why we’re still standing here looking at you, let alone talking to you.” I continued. “Obviously, I need to get Lucas home and—”

“And leave two dead bodies beached on the bank of the Maumee that could easily be tied back to the two of you?” Jason’s eyebrows raised precipitously. “Is that your plan?”

“How could they be tied to us?” Lucas asked suddenly. “We don’t even know who they are.”

Jason glanced at the dead bodies.

“Bet it’ll take a couple days to identify them.” He shrugged, looking back over at us. “But I imagine they’re carrying identification of some kind. So, it probably won’t take a few seconds for the police to figure it out. And you were just going to leave them here for the police to do just that. You two really are stupid.”

“Why do you care?” I snapped.

“Because,” Jason replied evenly, “you killed two shifters on my pack lands. So, that shit’s going to come down on me first and foremost. And they won’t care if I know who really killed them, will they?”

“They?” Lucas asked, stepping up to stand by my side, his fingers still laced through mine. “Who’s they?”

“The Council,” I answered at the same time Jason did, which made him smile evilly at me.

“They’ll have my ass and then come for yours.” Jason shrugged. “Because I’m not going to lie for you. Not if this is how you want things to play out, anyway.”

Lucas’ fingers tightened, squeezing my hand.

“Why are you here?” I asked again.

The grin that flowered on Jason’s face begged to be slapped right off of it. With a two-by-four.

“Problems follow you wherever you go, Jacob Michaels.” He said.

“Rob. Wagner.” I spoke through clenched teeth.

“Rob. Jacob. Tits McGuinness—whatever you want to call yourself.” He snorted. “Everywhere you go, trouble follows. It was here when you were in high school…and now it’s back. I have no fucking idea what is going on, but I know something is wrong. And it has something to do with you.”

“You couldn’t have said something when I was at your house the other night?” I spat.

“You were at his house?” Lucas peeped.

“I hadn’t quite put two-and-two together then.” Jason glanced at Lucas; then his eyes were back on me. “But it finally dawned on me. You were trouble before. Every time I ran into you, it was a fucking shitshow. Then you disappeared suddenly and things…things changed…now they’re changing back. I want to know what the fuck is going on, Rob Wagner, and what it means for my fucking pack. Are my guys in danger?”

“If they keep fucking with me, yeah.” I sneered.

Jason started to step forward, so I raised my hand. He stopped moving but didn’t look happy about it. Lucas’ fingers clenched my other hand as Jason and I glowered at each other, both of us ready to tear the other limb from limb. So…Jason didn’t have all of his memories, but he was, surprisingly, smart enough to take notice of things changing around him. Apparently, magic could mask problems but not completely solve them. Not when you had a werewolf with more curiosity than brains.

“What have you been up to, Rob?” Jason demanded, ignoring my threat. “I thought maybe you just came to my house the other night—”

“Why were you at his house?” Lucas asked again.

I held a finger up to him, pleading with my boyfriend with my eyes.

“—because maybe…well, whatever.” Jason looked away for a second, conveying everything he was thinking without saying another word. “But then it came to me. You know—when you made my sink explode? Jacob Michaels is trouble.”

“For the last time,” I growled. “My name is Rob Wagner.”

“A rose by any other name.” Jason spat back.

Lucas was tugging at my arm. I turned to look at him, all pale and troubled, his fingers clenching at mine.

“What?” I asked as gently as possible.

“Why were you at his house?”

Jason snorted derisively, which made me shoot him a glare.

“To give him money for Katie’s funeral.” I turned back to Lucas quickly. “You know, that woman who wandered up in the yard naked and burned up? Then he tried to put the moves on me, and I made his sink explode.”

It took Lucas a second, but a grin slowly bloomed on his face.

Oh, yeah.

My boyfriend knows things.

Probably, like, if someone is lying.

And he knew I wasn’t.

“Whatever.” Jason snarled. “You’re a fucking disaster zone. And there’s two bodies right here that prove it.”

Lucas and I smiled at each other a moment longer, and then I turned back to Jason, my glower in full force.

“What do you suggest, doggy?” I waggled my head at him, refusing to let go of Lucas’ hand. “I have bigger problems than two dead bodies. Lucas got bit, and that means—”

“I know what the fuck it means.” Jason interrupted angrily. “I think out of the three people standing here, I have the best understanding of what being bit means, asshole. But he’s not going to turn at the next full moon, so why don’t you stop shitting in your shoes and focus on the real problem. Dead. Bodies. Two of ‘em.”

“I thought the problem was that I’m trouble?”

“That’ll be the next issue we’ll address.” He glared at me. “Trust me.”

My body jerked towards Jason automatically out of anger, but Lucas pulled me back.

“What do you mean?” Lucas asked quickly. “Why won’t I turn at the full moon?”

“It takes a couple of lunar cycles to kick in,” Jason answered Lucas, though his eyes stayed on me. “Making magic is hard work, isn’t it?”

I just glowered back.

“How many?” Lucas asked quickly.

Jason stared at me a moment longer, then rolled his eyes and turned his attention to Lucas.

“Two or three.” He sighed. “Three is the most I’ve ever seen.”

“Well, what determines how long it will—”

“Ladies!” Jason boomed. “This isn’t a coffee klatch. I’m not here to answer your stupid ass questions about your bite. It ain’t from one of mine, so I really don’t give a shit if you turn or not.”

“What does that mean?” I brought Jason’s attention back to me.

“Your boyfriend there turns?” Jason grinned evilly and jabbed a finger at Lucas. “His pack is going to come looking for him. And I have no idea what pack these guys belong to—so…good luck with that.”

“Fuck.” I stomped my foot.

Lucas stammered. “How will they know? I mean, those guys are dead now. Rob killed them. So, who is going to tell them?”

My eyed twitched at Lucas’ proclamation once more. Again, he had laid sole blame for what had happened on me. How he would hold up in a court of law if someone did find out about the two dead bodies ran through my mind. Was my boyfriend the “plea deal” type or the “ride-or-die-bitch” type?

What all didn’t I know about Lucas?

“He’d make a horrible pack member,” I added. “He’s a vegetarian.”

Jason grinned.

“I don’t think that matters right now, Rob.” Lucas snapped, though he couldn’t put any anger behind it.

“Yeah,” Jason smirked. “We’ll see when the cravings come.”

Lucas made a retching noise. By the time I had turned to him, he was doubled over in the opposite direction, the contents of his stomach spilling out onto the inky ground below. I kept my eyes on Jason, but slowly rubbed Lucas’ back as he vomited what looked like a week’s worth of meals onto the shore of the Maumee. Jason rolled his eyes at us, then turned his back and crouched down next to one of the bodies beside his feet. Since he wasn’t watching us, I felt better taking my eyes off of him.

Rubbing on Lucas’ back as he puked made my stomach turn, especially when the smell wafted up to my nostrils, but I steeled myself and played the stoic boyfriend who was immune to being grossed out. It seemed to go on forever, but finally, Lucas’ stomach stopped expelling its contents, and he slowly straightened up. He practically fell into me, his arms wrapped around my middle as I held him against me. Whether I liked it about myself or not, I was embarrassed that Jason saw my boyfriend being scared. I didn’t want him to think that Lucas was weak. Also, I couldn’t help but think about how I wished Lucas had rinsed his mouth first.

“Fuck, Rob.” Lucas whimpered into my ear.

“It’ll be okay, babe.” I rubbed his back gently as he held me. “It’ll be okay. We’ll talk to Oma. We’ll figure something out. Maybe there’s—”

“Well,” Jason interrupted again, “you guys lucked out. There’s not a single thing in either of these guys’ pockets. Unless their wallets fell out while they were still in the water, I guess. But the odds of that happening to both of them would be pretty low, so I’m guessing they don’t have I.D. with them.”

“Could you give us a second?” I barked.

“Sure.” Jason stood and gave an exaggerated smile and nod of his head. “Let’s take our time dealing with the evidence of your crime here.”

“Rob was defending us.” Lucas managed to mumble loudly into my neck.

God, I hoped his mouth wasn’t covered in puke.

“It was self-defense.” I clarified.

“If they’d been shot, sure.” Jason shrugged, bending down again to one of the bodies. “These guys look like they’ve been tortured. Unless you want to show the cops your little laser hands there, give ‘em a display, I don’t think they’re going to believe this was self-defense, Rob.”

Whether I liked it or not, Jason was right. The scene did not scream “self-defense,” and there was no way that the police would believe in magic. Or that the bite on Lucas was from a werewolf—if it was still there when we talked to them. Also, if I started shooting fire out of my hands, the cops would probably just shoot me and ask questions later.

“Fine.” I relented. “Now what?”

Jason was yanking something out of one of the bodies’ hands.

“Well,” Jason sighed, “this is part of your boyfriend’s shirt.”

He held a scrap of cloth towards us. Lucas pulled away from my neck and let go of me slowly. We both just stared at the scrap of fabric in Jason’s hand; both of us aware that it was indeed part of Lucas’ shirt.

“I’m betting there’s other forensic evidence here,” Jason added, then smiled. “I sound like I should be on one of those procedural cop shows or something, huh?”

“Why are you here, Jason?” I demanded.

“Right now, I’m helping you decide how to cover up murder.” Jason spat. “At least, that’s the way the cops will see it. After that, we can get back to our little talk about what the fuck is going on with you and the bullshit that hovers over you like a nuclear cloud.”

Swallowing hard, I refused to respond.

“So,” Jason tossed the cloth, which Lucas caught, examined for a moment, then shoved into his pocket, “I’m going to take your two friends here and dump them. The pack lands are full of wooded areas. These guys don’t have I.D.; I don’t know who they are, no one but us three knows what happened here—I don’t think anyone is going to find out about this anytime soon. In fact, no one may ever come looking for these guys. They don’t exactly look like they were the deacons of their churches, so maybe no one will even miss them.”

“How kind.” I frowned.

“Kinder than what you did.” Jason retorted. “Why don’t you take your boyfriend home and kiss his boo-boos for him? We’ll talk later.”

“Listen here, you piece of—” Jason smiled wickedly as I started to move towards him again.

“Rob.” Lucas jerked at my hand firmly. “Let’s just go. Please. You guys can fight later.”

Turning to Lucas, I saw the desperation in his eyes, his desire to get off of the peninsula and into the car in front of the heater to warm up, and forget about our night. At least, the best he could after having been bitten by a werewolf. I wanted to tell Lucas that Jason would probably just screw us over if we left him with the dead bodies, but then I remembered that Lucas knew things. If he felt safe leaving Jason and the bodies alone, he must have known how things would turn out. The fact that it didn’t worry him made me feel less nervous about leaving.

“Fine.” I replied gently to Lucas, then over my shoulder: “We’ll fight later.”

“Bet your ass.” Jason snickered.

My hand was raised in a one-finger salute over my shoulder as I let Lucas lead me away from the shore of the Maumee. Jason’s flashlight beam bobbled in the distance as Lucas and I walked away quickly, putting distance between us and the biggest clusterfuck imaginable. Getting Lucas into the car and turning on the heat for him was all I cared about at that moment. That, and getting back home so we could get clean and put on dry clothes.

Chapter 2

Lucas had his hand on top of mine as it laid on his chest and the hot water cascaded over us. Steam filled the shower and was spilling over the top of the shower wall into the bathroom. Green, gilded-jade eyes were locked on mine as the flesh of my palm stayed against the raw bite wounds on his chest. Already, I could tell that they were healing. The puncture wounds from each individual tooth were not as deep as they had been. They weren’t as red and angry looking as when we had first entered Lucas’ house. Lucas didn’t seem to notice nearly as much as I did, but I was also concerned that he might be in shock from everything that had happened throughout our evening.

The attack had come so suddenly, out of nowhere, he hadn’t even had the chance to process the sudden return of his memories. A werewolf was chomping down on his shoulder before he could even think about what all of those memories meant. Before he could even mentally sort through all of the events of his past that had been stripped from his consciousness. Then he was watching two guys get burnt to a crisp. Then he was bleeding and freezing and bathed in a flashlight beam. Everything had gone to shit, and there was no way that my boyfriend had been able to take it all in without going a little cuckoo in the process.

Right?

“Rob.” Lucas leaned forward to lay his forehead against mine. “Thank you for saving me.”

“Did I?” I asked, chewing at my lip.

Lucas looked up at me, his eyes boring into mine for a moment, then he gently kissed me on the lips.

“You stopped him before he could do worse.” He sighed against my mouth.

“I didn’t save you, Lucas.” I shook my head jerkily. “All he wanted to do was bite you. He did that.”

“He might have—”

“If he had wanted to kill you, he would have.” I stopped him. “He was looking to turn you. I didn’t save you.”

Lucas stared at me as he kept my hand held against his chest and water poured over us, creating sheets of liquid warmth over our bodies. Against my desires, I was aroused, and I could feel that Lucas was feeling the same way. Standing there in the shower with my hand against his relatively fresh wound made me feel anything but aroused inside, though. Sex was the furthest thing from my mind. All I could think about was that wound that one day would mean so much more to both of us.

“I wasn’t fast enough.” My head was still shaking remorsefully. “You shouldn’t have been bitten.”

“Shhh.” Lucas pressed his lips against mine once more. “Rob. You can’t protect me from everything. And I can’t protect you from everything either.”

“Then what?” I asked after another gentle kiss. “This is my fault. If I had just left you alone…”

“Do you really wish you had left me alone?”

“No,” I said. “I just don’t want you hurt. And you’ve been hurt. I’m trouble, Lucas. Jason wasn’t wrong.”

“You must be upset if you’re agreeing with him.”

The attempt at humor was half-hearted at best.

“I remember everything, Rob.” Lucas’ forehead was against mine again. “You can’t convince me that everything is your fault anymore. If this had happened last night…maybe…but not now. And if you hadn’t given me back my memories, you would have lied to me.”

“I know, but—”

“You promised you’d come back.” Lucas gave me a sharp look. “And you brought my memories with you. You did exactly what you said you would do, babe. No more. No less. You did nothing wrong.”

“It feels like everything I do is wrong.” I sighed, the sound of the water nearly drowning out my words. “Coming back to Ohio was bad, Lucas. We both know it. If I had known when I got into my car to drive here what I know now, then…”

Lucas just stared into my eyes, his hand still over mine as it rested against his chest. I sighed and slumped forward, my forehead falling against his again as I considered what a mess I had made of everything over the last several weeks. Hell, the last decade. Everything that I had done in the last ten years was going to come back to bite everyone in the proverbial—and maybe literal—ass. All I had done was cause confusion and chaos—delayed the inevitable. There was no way that I would be able to keep Lucas from getting hurt in the process. The bite on his chest was proof enough. I slid my hand out from under his and let it drop to my side.

“Why did you take me out into the Maumee to talk to me, Rob?” He asked softly, just audible above the water. “Was it to shield the magic?”

“Sh,” I stated quickly, though it lacked energy. “Yes.”

“Does it have to be a natural body of water?” He asked.

Frowning to myself, I moved my head so that I could look my boyfriend in the eyes again. The corner of Lucas’ mouth was turned upward, and he glanced at the showerhead.

“I…I don’t know,” I said cautiously. “I didn’t even know that running water did that until…someone…told me.”

“But now I have my memories back,” Lucas said. “That’s all that matters.”

“I guess.” I shrugged, staring into those curious green eyes.

“Do you want me to show you something amazing?” Lucas grinned.

I wanted to frown—getting frisky seemed inappropriate, all things from our night considered—but a smile crept to my face instead. Anything amazing that Lucas wanted to show me, I wanted to see it. Of course, I had seen everything on Lucas—and it was all amazing—but he seemed to be implying that he had something amazing hidden away for a special occasion. What better time to pull a trick out of the bag than when I needed cheering up?

“What?” I asked, my voice huskier than usual. “What is it?”

“Give me your hand.”

My smile widened, and I lifted my hand once more. Lucas laid his palm against the back of my hand and pulled the palm of my hand against the bite wounds on his chest once more.

“Before they have time to heal,” Lucas said.

“Okay…”

“This might feel weird.” Lucas turned his eyes to mine.

“Huh?”

“Do you trust me?”

“Of course.” I frowned. “I trust you with everything I have, Lucas.”

A smile bloomed on his face a mere fraction of a second before it felt like someone was tugging my skin on my arm. Instinctively, I started to jerk back, but Lucas kept my hand held to his chest. My eyes grew wide as I stared into his. He wasn’t pulling at my hand or my arm, and nothing was trying to pull the skin off of me. Something was being sapped from me.

My magic.

I didn’t know how I knew that was what was happening. Something inside of me, something ancient and primal told me instinctively.

Lucas stared into my eyes, trying to wordlessly comfort me as dull green light leeched out around the seal our hands created on his chest. Bit by bit, the light seemed to glow brighter and brighter, filling the shower, then the bathroom, growing brighter until all I could see was that green light. I couldn’t even see Lucas inches in front of me, but I could feel his hand holding mine tightly to his chest.

Lucas was drawing magic out of me and into his wound.

A gasp escaped my mouth, but I couldn’t see Lucas. I was blinded by the green light that was so bright that I finally had to shut my eyes or risk going blind. Wincing, I didn’t fight Lucas holding my hand against his chest as my magic leeched out of me and into the wound. I didn’t know if him drawing magic from me was just a matter of “borrowing” or “taking.” Would the thing he was doing steal my magic from me, or was he just…using it?

What the fuck?

Lucas knows how to use magic?

Why didn’t I remember this?

I had my memories, too.

When it no longer felt like my skin was being tugged at, I let my eyes open to slits. The green light was slowly fading, and Lucas’ form was coming back into view, the falling water starting to become visible as well. Slowly, I let my eyes open at a pace with the light fading away, creeping back to hide away beneath our hands against Lucas’ chest. My eyes went to my boyfriend’s—and for the briefest of moments, they were not green. They were brown. Lucas stared back as the light slid back under our hands, then he slid his hand off of the top of mine.

He blinked.

His eyes were green once more.

They hadn’t changed to brown and back to green for real. It was a vision. Like my boyfriend, sometimes I just knew things.

I just stared at Lucas, my hand still held against his chest, neither of us saying a word. Finally, I let my hand slide from his wet skin as the water continued to cascade down around us.

“Your eyes,” I said.

“They weren’t always green,” Lucas said.

I nodded as though that was the most rational thing I had ever heard in my entire life and turned my attention to his chest. There was absolutely no evidence that he had been bitten. His skin was intact. Perfect. Just as it had been before. I didn’t bother staring since I knew I wasn’t seeing an illusion, nor was I confused or crazy.

“You know magic.”

“I know how to use magic,” Lucas spoke in a small voice. “I have none of my own.”

“Did you…take…some from me?”

“No.” He shook his head softly. “Just borrowed it. I promise.”

Nodding again, I glanced at his chest for the briefest of moments.

“Did you just heal the wounds, or…”

“I was never going to turn into a werewolf, Rob.”

My eyes shot back to his.

“But we don’t want Jason to know that.” He gave a cautious smile. “If those guys weren’t his pack…then we need to know who they were, right? If they think I’m going to turn…maybe they’ll show up. Right? If they really were his pack, and he’s lying to us, we need him to believe that they did what they set out to do.”

My head nodded of its own accord again.

“Would you have turned into a werewolf if you hadn’t just done that?” I asked gently.

“No.”

“Why not?”

He shrugged. “I’m immune.”

“I can’t nod again,” I said it aloud. “This is weird. Even for me, babe. Why don’t I have this memory? Why don’t I know this about you?”

“I never told you.” Lucas turned his eyes from mine. “I’ve never told anyone. Except…grandpa.”

“Right.” I shrugged.

The water was slowly getting cooler. We were using up all of the water in the hot water tank.

“Don’t be upset.”

“I’m not upset.” I shook my head. “I’m…confused. Why wouldn’t you tell me, Lucas?”

With a sigh, he reached behind himself and shut off the now cold water, then he turned back to me, and his hand went to my chest.

“You’re not the only one here who’s trouble, Rob.” He sounded defeated. “And I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to make more trouble for you. Not back then. There was already…so much. And I would have told you as soon as you came back, but…”

“You weren’t yourself.”

“I wasn’t myself.” He agreed.

“You seemed to think you were going to be a werewolf earlier.” I frowned. “I mean, you upchucked all over the place.”

Lucas cringed. “Not because I thought that…I just couldn’t imagine having cravings for meat. Especially human meat or something.”

Together, we stood in the shower, which was no longer running, and stared at each other, slowly getting cold without the hot water to keep us warm. It was probably less than a minute that we stood there, staring at each other, with Lucas’ hand against my chest, but it felt much longer. When I could no longer take the silence and curiosity, my lips parted once more.

“Is tonight the night we unpack everything?” I asked gently. “Or…do we want to make love for only the second time as two people who have loved each other for a very long time—and actually remember it?”

Lucas’ expression softened further.

“I remember that night.” He choked out. “You were so brave.”

“So were you.”

“I really thought I’d never see you again, Rob.” He gave a pained sigh. “Will you hate me forever if I tell you that I let you go into that basement, truly believing that you were lying about coming back to me?”

I shook my head slowly.

“There is no way he is going to come back for me,” Lucas whispered. “That was the last thought I remember having. I thought you lied to me to make me not be sad to see you go. It didn’t make me hate you. It just made me sad anyway. And, maybe, a little proud. You were my boyfriend, and you were going to take that risk…”

“I was proud to be your boyfriend,” I replied. “I am proud to be your boyfriend.”

“I missed you so fucking much, Rob.”

“Oma kept an eye on you.” I smiled gently. “But I missed you so fucking much, too.”

He smiled. “She did, didn’t she? I think…I mean, I’m not sure…but I think I wanted to be around her because something inside of me told me that being around her meant that I would know as soon as you got back. Or at least, pretty quickly after.”

“I guess that was something you just knew.” I teased. “And you were right.”

“I don’t think I ever really forgot you.” He said. “At least, my body didn’t. Maybe my mind was scrubbed, but something way too deep to be scrubbed away didn’t forget you. It never would have forgotten you.”

“Hey,” I said, “if you’re trying to get into my pants, I don’t even have them on, babe.”

Lucas laughed and glanced down.

“We should probably get out of the shower.” His eyebrow raised. “It’s kind of cold in here.”

I glanced down at my junk.

“Hey!” I leaned forward quickly, wrapping my arms around him.

Lucas did his best to pretend to get away, but my lips found every inch of his face as I kissed him over and over and he laughed uproariously there in the cocoon created by my arms around him. Maybe we had some unpacking to do. Eventually. But Lucas had his memories back. And he wasn’t actually going to turn into a furry, fearsome creature at the next full moon. Unpacking could wait until after we had taken time to become familiar with each other’s bodies again. Now that we both remembered them fully.

The room was cold.

Bitterly cold.

And I had no memory of the room.

But that didn’t keep me from opening my eyes to find that I was lying on the bed in the middle of the room.

It wasn’t apparent at first, due to my confusion at waking up in a strange room, chilled to my bones, but I wasn’t even in Lucas’ house. In fact, I wasn’t sure whose house I was in, actually. The room did not look familiar—but it looked somewhat familiar at the same time. Maybe because it looked like a child’s bedroom—the dark shape of an overflowing bookcase in the corner. A desk for homework along one wall. A toy chest that was overflowing. Cartoon sheets of some kind that I had kicked off in my sleep.

With my child-sized feet.

I gazed down at my body only to find that I was not staring at my body but that of a child—or a very young teen. Maybe a tween? This revelation should have sent a shock of terror up my spine, but I was getting used to the odd things in my life. Instead of screaming out in shock or panicking in any way, I sat up cautiously and swiveled my hips to let my legs dangle off of the side of the bed. Giving a quick glance around the room, looking for any sign of danger, I lowered myself to the floor.

Icy cold floorboards slapped against my feet, and I winced, though I made no noise. It was dark, I had no idea where I was, and there was no way for me to know if there was anyone else in the house. Would someone come to investigate if they heard me? And if someone did come to investigate, would they be dangerous? Harm me in some way? I let my feet adjust to the cold of the floorboards as I scanned the room slowly with my eyes.

Just a typical tween’s room.

Nothing unusual.

Other than the darkness.

Nothing looks normal in the dark.

As I stood there, my feet adjusting to the cold and my eyes adjusting to the darkness, my ears began to pick up the voices.

Beyond the door positioned at the opposite side of the room, someone was talking. Low and rumbly, the voices sounded muffled and hollow. My feet began to move without me willing it, and I found myself being drawn towards the bedroom door. The cold was pervasive, making my feet—well, the feet I now had—feel like blocks of ice. It pushed through the cotton of the pajamas I was wearing. It slid over and around my body, doing its best to compel me back into bed. To forget the voices and the door.

Suddenly, I found myself in front of the door, my hands reaching out to brace myself against it as my ear moved towards the cold, smooth wood. My ear connected with the icy surface, trying to hear the voices better. To try and figure out what it was they were saying.

The voices became louder with my ear pressed against the door, but I still couldn’t make out what it was they were saying. After a few moments, listening to what sounded like two voices quarreling or, maybe, debating, I crouched down next to the doorknob. I leveled my eye to the keyhole and looked through into the room beyond.

What I saw…was I really seeing this?

In the room beyond, seemingly lit by fire or candlelight was a pile of raw bones, gleaming white and splattered with blood. Sat upon what could only be described as the “throne” of bones was a hooded figure.

I knew that figure.

As if he knew I was watching, the hooded figure’s head turned towards the door.

Red eyes peered out of the hood and into the keyhole.

Then I was falling backward.

“Wake up, babe.” Lucas’ voice sounded muffled. “You’re having a dream, Rob.”

Red filled my vision as my eyes flew open, and I jerked awake in bed. A second later, the ceiling of Lucas’ bedroom came into view, illuminated by early morning sunlight streaming in through the windows. Jerkily, I looked around, checking the room for the hooded figure and those red eyes and the throne of bones. All I found was Lucas, in bed next to me, propped up on his elbow, smiling down at me like I was a dullard.

“Good morning, crazy.” He smiled wickedly.

“What the…”

“Bad dream?” He suggested.

Again, I found myself glancing around the room, making sure that I was really in Lucas’ bed, and the sun had washed away the darkness of the dream. Lingering in the back of my mind, I could practically see the room like an aura superimposed over the view of Lucas’ bedroom in his house. My first instinct was to tell Lucas about the dream, to explain how it made me feel. Something in the back of my mind told me that doing so would sound crazy. At the very least, it would not be received well. So, I kept my mouth shut, closed my eyes tightly and shook my head gently, clearing my vision, and chasing away the thought of the dream.

“You okay, babe?” Lucas had a furrowed brow when I opened my eyes.

“Yeah.” I gave a shaky sigh, then smiled. “Weird dreams because of a weird night, I guess.”

Lucas grinned. “It wasn’t all weird. Some of it was good.”

“There were some pretty good parts.” I agreed, propping myself up on my elbow so that my lips could reach his. “Did you sleep well?”

“I always sleep well with you beside me, Rob.”

The expression on his face let me know how stupid he thought the question had been.

“Same here.” I agreed once more.

Lucas’ eyes lingered on me, hungrily taking me in as I laid there beside him.

“Don’t you have work?”

“Yes.” He grumbled. “I wish I didn’t. But grandpa will be fit to be tied if I am not on time. Last week I was a few minutes late—because I had to run a mower down to Fremont. He about tore me a new asshole when I showed up at the store.”

A laugh escaped my throat, and Lucas silenced it with a kiss before he slung his legs over the side of the bed and slid away from me. He walked around and stood at my bedside, looking down at me, completely nude, creating a problematic situation for both of us. Grinning up at him, I attempted to act innocent.

“You better go,” I said, reaching up to push my hair back on my head.

Lucas reached down, his fingers finding their way into my hair. His fingertips massaged my scalp, and I couldn’t help but notice the proximity of my face to a particular part of him.

“Is there something you needed before you left?” I bit my bottom lip playfully as I gazed up at him.

Lucas groaned with frustration and his hand fell away from my head.

“I don’t have time.” He moaned.

“You underestimate my skills and overestimate your staying power.” I teased.

“Rude.” He leaned down to kiss me again with a laugh.

His lips lingered on mine for a moment, then he pulled away with another groan and stepped away before he could be dissuaded. I watched his bare backside as he went to his dresser and began finding his clothes for the day. The sun was barely over the horizon, and golden light was shining through the window, illuminating one of the many parts of him I loved. Lucas had a nice ass, there was no denying it. Every time I saw it—clothed or not—I wanted to grab ahold of it, give him a squeeze. Use those handfuls of him to pull his body roughly into mine.

I had to shake my head to chase away the tempting thought.

“It was weird that Jason was out on the peninsula last night.” Lucas state blandly as he pulled a pair of underwear out of the top drawer.

“It would be weird if it was a coincidence.” I nodded to myself. “It is fucking gross since we know he followed us out there. I thought that after I gave him that money that he’d—”

“Why did you go to his house, Rob?” Lucas sighed, turning to me finally.

Lucas bent and pulled his underwear on, but his eyes were on me.

“To give him the money for Katie’s funeral.” I frowned. “Okay. And maybe to threaten him a little. Once I got my memory back and knew what I was capable of, I figured that maybe he needed a warning. Oma wouldn’t let me outright kill him so—”

I stopped when I saw the look of horror on Lucas’ face as he stood there before me in his underwear.

“What?”

“He…he’s a threat, right?” The realization that I had said too much dawned on me. Lucas had his memories back and knowing that fact made me feel comfortable speaking more openly than I should have been. “He serves—well, his pack serves…you know.”

Lucas’ expression softened, but he didn’t look any less horrified at the casual way I discussed contemplating murder.

“He doesn’t know that,” Lucas said. “You said he doesn’t have his memories back, so—”

“For now.” I shrugged as I sat up in bed, letting my legs dangle off the side. “It’s only a matter of time. I figured that we didn’t want him to keep growing the pack in the meantime, right?”

Lucas frowned.

“Look.” I sighed. “I know you’re kind of against harming other living creatures and all, but—”

“This is more than Lucas is a vegetarian, babe.” Lucas gave an incredulous laugh. “You were seriously considering fixing a problem with…murder. Doesn’t that seem…batshit crazy to you?”

“Is there any way I can answer that without admitting I’m crazy?”

Lucas shook his head.

“It was just a thought,” I explained. “You, me, and Oma know where this story is headed. I was just trying to think of some things that might turn things in our favor before it’s too late to try. That’s all.”

“Murder is not one of those things, Rob.”

“Not even, like, a little?” I grinned impishly.

“Not even a little.” Lucas couldn’t help but crack a smile.

I rolled my eyes.

“I probably wouldn’t have done it anyway.” I was chastened. “I mean, it was merely a thought. Okay. Maybe I had a plan formulating in my brain, but I hadn’t gotten to the charts and graphs stage of the plan.”

“Don’t go past the ‘thinking it’ stage, babe.” He replied before turning to his closet. “So…you didn’t go to…just see him?”

Lucas ducked into his closet, and I let a frown overtake my face as I considered what it was that he was getting at with his question. It took longer than I was proud to admit before I figured out what Lucas had meant. The frown on my face was replaced with a wide grin.

Lucas was jealous.

“Are you jealous?” I asked.

“Of course not.” Lucas’ voice was muffled.

“I don’t know,” I said, sitting back, bracing my hands against the mattress. “You were upset about Andrew—who is harmless, by the way. Probably not even a douchebag like we thought. I mean, it was the full moon, so…anyway, now you’re being all cagey about me going to Jason’s house to give him money for a funeral.”

“Do you know what cagey means?” Lucas stepped out of the closet, a pair of work jeans in hand. “Because I think you got lucky.”

“It means guarded.” I waggled my head. “You’re being guarded in asking me about Jason. You don’t want me to know you’re jealous. Worried at best.”

“I am not jealous or worried.”

I just stared at him.

“Fine.” He spat, though there was no heat in the word. “I’m worried.”

I continued to stare.

“Jealous.” He hissed. “Are you happy?”

“Immensely,” I stated blandly.

“The guy is good looking, okay?”

“So are you.”

“And you’re good looking.”

“Thank you.” I smiled. “So are you.”

“Maybe I’m worried that your hormones will get the better of you and you’ll…fumble.”

I laughed. “Like slip and fall on his dick? Or slip and slide mine into him? I don’t think people can fumble when it comes to cheating, babe. You either do it, or you don’t. And I didn’t. I won’t. And it takes more than a guy who is generically attractive for me to have sex, ya’ know.”

“He’s not generically attractive.” Lucas sighed. “He’s hot.”

“Are you planning to cheat on me with Jason?” I quipped.

Lucas couldn’t help but smile then.

“Stop it.” He said. “I’m trying to be serious. I don’t like you being alone with these guys. Even if I didn’t worry about your hormones—”

“Kind of you.”

“—I still worry about them.”

“They can’t make me do anything I don’t want to.” I shrugged. “So, if you’re not worried about me, you shouldn’t be worried at all, Lucas.”

With a frustrated sigh, Lucas began pulling his jeans on a little more roughly than was necessary.

“It’s funny, isn’t it?”

“What’s that?” Lucas huffed.

“We both have been through some really traumatic shit over the last decade, and you just got your memory back last night, then a werewolf bit you and Jason is hiding two dead bodies,” I explained. “And we’re here in your bedroom after a night of lovemaking arguing about you being jealous of two guys I have no interest in. We haven’t even talked about your memories. How you feel. All of that. Do you think we’re fucked in the head?”

“Obviously.” He was buttoning and zipping his jeans.

“Seriously.” I stood and walked over to him, still nude, and took his face in my hands, making him look at me. “Isn’t it weird that we’re just like ‘tra-la-la just another day in Point Worth?’ This is some really heavy shit, Lucas. Magic, werewolves, dead bodies, recovered memories, Kobolds, witches, fire-laser shit coming out of my hands…the person we won’t talk about out loud…a handful of months ago, I was finishing up filming a movie in Morocco and now…this. What the fuck is life, ya’ know?”

Lucas smiled warmly, and his eyes lowered.

“I’m sorry, babe.” He sighed before looking up at me once more. “I know this isn’t the best time for my jealousy. I’m really sorry, okay?”

“Don’t be sorry,” I said before leaning in to give him a quick kiss. “Just promise that we’re a team, Lucas. Because…that’s all I care about. I want to know that no matter how this all ends, my hand will be in yours.”

Lucas stared into my eyes and reached up to take one of my hands in his as my other stayed against his face, cupping his cheek.

“Our story isn’t about jealousy and cheating.” He nodded. “I know that.”

“It’s more of an erotic novel.” I winked.

“With a bunch of weird paranormal romance shit thrown in, right? Like Laurell K. Hamilton.” Lucas laughed.

“Hopefully more Anita Blake than Merry Gentry.” I rolled my eyes. “But only if she had sex with just Jean Claude. Or Richard.”

Lucas cackled.

“Hopefully we won’t be executing any vampires.” He added.

“It’s still kinda early.” I shrugged. “We’ve got werewolves, so…who knows, right?”

He just smiled.

“This hand in mine ‘til the end?” I asked, squeezing his fingers with mine.

“This hand in yours ‘til the end, babe.” He leaned forward and kissed me gently.

When we finally separated so that Lucas could find a shirt to wear to work, all I could think was: whatever that end may be.

Chapter 3

There were three people sitting at Oma’s kitchen table when I walked into the house through the backdoor, and only one of them was Oma. While I had no real way to explain it, I had known that Jason would be waiting at Oma’s house for me. S0, seeing him sitting there was not that unnerving at all. The fact that he was sitting peacefully with Oma in her own home was unusual, however. Of course, the two of them acting civilly towards each other could be explained away by the third person at the table.

Nelda Hammersmith.

My manager.

That was definitely a plot twist that I had not seen coming—my manager flying in from Los Angeles to make a surprise visit. Honestly, I hadn’t known that people in the entertainment business even knew that Ohio existed, let alone how to get there. Well, maybe that wasn’t fair. A lot of people in entertainment know where Ohio is on the map and how to book a flight there. But for people like Nelda Hammersmith—high-power, high-profile talent managers—asking them to go to Ohio was like asking them to go to Narnia. It was a magical land which existed only in storybooks about Middle America where everyone wore bib overalls and work boots.

Not that that was entirely inaccurate.

At least, not as far as Point Worth was concerned.

“Good morning,” I stated neutrally as I stood in the open doorway and stared into the eyes of each person at the table in turn.

“Jacob.” Nelda gave a relieved exhale.

I smiled tightly at her.

Oma’s face was blank and unreadable.

Jason was smirking.

Obviously.

“Hi.” I nodded before turning to shut the door. “What are you doing here, Nelda?”

Oma presented a raised eyebrow surreptitiously as Nelda rose from her seat dramatically, her actual, honest to goodness, fur capelet nearly twirling all the way around her neck like a Hoola-Hoop. I thanked my lucky stars that Lucas had not come home with me to see the menagerie of dead animals around my manager’s neck.

Nelda Hammersmith was Old Hollywood, though she had actually been born in the early fifties and was no older than Oma. However, the way she presented herself, from her dress to her demeanor, to the flourishes she gave her speech and body language, you’d have thought she attended the premiere of the first talkie and sat on Jack Warner’s lap for the entire showing. The fact that she had the fur capelet and a fucking turquoise headwrap on did nothing to dispel the myth that she was a one-hundred-and-twenty-year-old woman in the body of someone nearly half that age.

“What is on your head, Nelda?” I asked evenly.

One hand gently went to the side of her head, laying lovingly against the material of the wrap. Diamond teardrop earrings hung from her ears.

Alzheimer’s or Delusional. Those were the only excuses.

“It’s vintage, Jacob.” The blood-red gash on her face parted, and the vibrant blue lids of her eyes danced as she answered. “Do you like it?”

“It’s…a look.” I tried to be polite, then turned my attention to Jason. “What are you doing here?”

“Just getting to know your Hollywood manager here.” The smirk deepened. “Hearing all about your time out there in California while we waited on you this morning, Jacob.”

He pronounced “Hollywood” as “Hall-ee-wood” and “California” as “Cal-ee-for-nee-ya.”

It took all I had to not roll my eyes. And then punch him in his.

“Jacob—” Nelda began.

“Robbie,” Oma spoke, startling Nelda. “Mrs. Hammertoe here—”

“Hammersmith, dear.” Nelda corrected her with a sniff. “Hammersmith.”

“Mrs. Hammersnatch.” Oma nodded. Nelda sniffed again. “Seems to think that you need to be back out in California instead of out here with us country bumpkins.”

I sighed. Nelda Hammersmith didn’t have the wherewithal to look offended at the butchering of her name or the insinuation that she thought everyone in Ohio was a rube. Of course, if I knew Nelda, she had probably declined any offer of drink or food from Oma, attempted to smoke in her house, and refused to let Oma take her fur capelet for her. Nelda Hammersmith was not known for knowing how to blend in, conform to social norms other than the ones she had made up in her head, or generally, just be polite. If she didn’t know everyone in Hollywood and hadn’t gotten me project after project to work on, I wouldn’t have put up with her over the years. Harmless, yes. Asshole, definitely.

“Nelda.” I reached out, offering my arm. “Why don’t we go to the living room to have a talk? In private?”

That red gash on her face split again, her shockingly white, bleach-enhanced teeth beaming out at me.

“Oh.” Jason leaned back in his chair, making Oma give him a quick glare. “We’re all friends here. Whatever y’all have to say we sho’ don’t mind, do we, Mrs. Wagner?”

Oma’s lips curled up in distaste as she stared at him and shook her head in response.

“Jacob—” Nelda said.

“We’ll go in the living room, Nelda,” I said as she laid her hand on my arm.

Classy.

Leading Nelda to the kitchen doorway, I pointed out the living room to her, gesturing towards the sofa, indicating where she should have a seat. The look on her face let me know she wished she had brought a drop cloth for the occasion. Maybe she thought the critter around her neck was going to catch fleas from the davenport.

You really are reverting to your old self, Rob.

“I’ll be in to talk in just a second, Nelda,” I assured her, patting her hand as it laid on my arm. “Then we’ll get squared away. Do you want me to bring you a drink or something to eat?”

Nelda gave a last glance back at the kitchen as her hand slid from my arm.

“No.” She said dismissively. “I wouldn’t think so.”

Oma started to rise from her seat. I shot her a look and eased Nelda through the kitchen door with reassurances that I would be along “in just a minute” to have a little chat with her. Oma lowered herself to her seat begrudgingly as I watched to make sure that Nelda found her way to the sofa and hesitantly found an acceptably clean spot to perch upon. Once it was clear that she was settled for the time being, I spun around to face my grandmother and my nemesis du jour.

“What are you doing here, assface?” I whisper-hissed at Jason as I stomped over to the kitchen table.

“Assface?” He snorted. “Are you twelve?”

“Shut up, assface,” Oma answered for me. “What are you doing here? He ain’t told me shit since he showed up here.”

“That dinosaur was here.” Jason shrugged and gestured vaguely at the living room. “Not like I could talk much with her around now, could I?”

“She’s Oma’s age.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “Are you implying my grandmother is ancient?”

“Assface.” Oma gave a firm nod in his direction.

Jason rolled his eyes. “We have unfinished business from last night, Rob. So, don’t act surprised to see me.”

“I thought you was with Lucas last night?” Oma’s attention was suddenly on me.

“I was.” I waved her off. “We ran into assface here while we were out.”

“Oh.” Oma nodded, then frowned. “Where the hell did you run into assface? It’s not like any establishments around here let him inside.”

“Can we all stop calling me assface?” Jason seethed.

“Dicklick?” I offered.

Jason sighed.

“Do you prefer ‘dicklick,’ assface?” Oma leaned in. “I can call ya’ ‘dicklick’ if ya’ like.”

He just ignored her. Oma and I could be like cats and dogs, but we knew how to gang up on someone we mutually hated.

“What unfinished business y’all got anyway?” Oma sat back in her seat, crossing her arms over her chest to match my body language. “Ya’ gave him Katie’s funeral money, didn’t ya’?”

“Yes,” I answered. “It’s complicated.”

“Mm.” Oma hummed.

“You want a fancy new nickname, too, old woman?” I grumbled.

“Bet,” Oma warned me.

“Where the fuck are you learning these things?” I threw my hands up. “Who’s fucking grandmother talks like this?”

“The T.V.” She jabbed a finger in the direction of the living room, which actually made Jason smile. “I got a life outside of putting up with your uppity ass, ya’ know.”

“T.V. is a life?” I asked.

“It’s one of my hobbies.” She was picking at a fingernail.

“Right.” I shook my head, then turned my attention back to Jason. “Look, assface—”

“I’m not leaving until I talk to you.” He said firmly, then glanced towards the living room. “As well.”

“Fine.” I snapped. “Oma, keep assface in line while I go get rid of Nelda.”

“But—” She started to stand.

“Please.” I snapped once more before whipping around like I was trying to twirl a capelet myself.

Nelda was still sitting in the living room, looking around the room as though she had never seen what looked like the inside of an L.L. Bean catalog. Frowning to myself, I walked over, pulling her attention from the interior design around her, and sat down a reasonable distance from her on the couch. My manager, though I hadn’t seen her in over a month, looked and smelled the same. Flowery, gaudy, and clueless to the things that happen in the real world outside of Hollywood and the entertainment machine.

“Did you fly out here alone, Nelda?” I asked, genuinely concerned for her well-being. “That’s a long flight for…you.”

“Of course not, Jacob.” A laugh that sounded like tinkling bells emanated from that red gash on her face. “Randy came with me. He’s waiting in the car.”

A delicate hand waved towards the front door.

Randy was Nelda Hammersmith’s personal assistant. He was also her much younger husband. He had tried to get in my pants once. It’s a long story.

“You made Randy wait in the car?” I frowned, though I was glad Randy had not been invited into the house.

“He’s fine.” She gave a dismissive wave again. “He has his games on his phone and the radio, I suppose. Now, dear—”

“I’m not coming back to Los Angeles right now, Nelda.” I shook my head. “I have…family stuff…I have to deal with and making movies or new music right now is just—”

“We just got an offer, Jacob.” She indicated that she did not want to hear my excuses. “That movie you made…what’s it called…the one with the terrorists who are trying to blow up…the White House…or…something?”

“The Statue of Liberty.” I shrugged. “What about that piece of shit?”

“Well,” Nelda reached into a pocket to withdraw an actual cigarette case, “they want to make a piece of shit sequel.”

She opened the case, which made my mouth water, but I reached out and took the case from her, snapping it shut gently.

“No smoking in the house,” I said evenly as I held onto the case.

“Of course, of course.” She said as though this was perfectly reasonable, though her facial expression said otherwise. “Anyway, they want to pay you double what they did for the first one. Piece of shit, eh?”

“You can add a sunroom to a shack, but it’s still a shack, Nelda.” I shook my head. “I don’t want to go on a special diet, work out six days a week for four months of my life, then go to Toronto, pretend it’s New York City of D.C., and fight imaginary terrorists just because the price was right. The first movie was shit, this one will be shit, too.”

“They don’t make these movies for the Rotten Tomatoes scores, Jacob.” She laughed as though everything I had said was ridiculous. “They make these movies so everyone gets rich. Including yours truly. So, do us all a favor and get your ass on the next plane to Los Angeles and get ready to swallow your pride.”

“Nelda.” I sighed, trying to control myself. “You came all the way to Bum Fuck Ohio for no good reason. I’m not coming back to Los Angeles. So, go out there, get in the car, and let Randy drive you back to the airport.”

“Jacob—”

“Just call me Rob, Nelda.” I sighed, my body deflating. “Jacob Michaels is long gone at this point.”

“You can’t mean that!” She brought a hand to her chest. “If you walk away now, who knows if you will ever work again, Jacob?”

“Who cares?” I shrugged. “It’s not like I have to have the money. I mean, not to be a snob, but it’s not like I need any more money at this point.”

“You’re not even thirty yet, Jacob—”

“Rob.”

“—why would you even think about quitting now?” She squealed, the gash of red on her face flapping wildly. “You have decades of work ahead of you! Millions! You could be richer than a Middle Eastern Crown Prince!”

I rolled my eyes. “That’s not offensive. Look, Nelda, I’m done. There are a million generically good-looking guys with good features and palatable acting skills waiting in line behind me. Sign a new Jacob. You’re acting like you’re watching Jack Nicholson walk away when I’m more like a Kellan Lutz.”

“Well, you were never that buff.” She replied earnestly.

“Fair enough.” I had no other way to respond to that.

“But none of that matters, Jacob.”

“Rob.”

She waved me off.

“No one cares that you have no talent, and there is nothing truly remarkable about your looks.” She said. “You just have…that thing…that producers and directors are looking for in a star, dear.”

Ouch.

Well, actually, it would have been an “ouch” if I hadn’t already gotten used to the way actors got treated in the business.

“That thing…” I stopped.

What I had wanted to say, I kept to myself. Because “that thing” that Nelda was referring to, was magic. Only she didn’t know that. Casting directors didn’t know it. Producers and directors didn’t know it. The moviegoing public didn’t know it.

“I can’t, Nelda,” I said. “I’m done.”

Nelda huffed, the red slash across her face turning into what looked like the mouth on a Tragedy Mask. She snatched her cigarette case from me and stood angrily. Damnit. It was fun holding the cigarettes. I was actually hoping she’d forget that I had them and leave them with me. Then I could have one. Just one…

“You are a pain in my ass.” She snapped down at me. “I will ask them for more money if you want to play hardball.”

“Ask them for the Taj Mahal, Nelda.” I shrugged as I peered up at her passively. “But it won’t make me change my mind if they say ‘yes’ to anything you demand. Besides, if you push back, they’ll just get Vin Diesel to replace me in the sequel.”

But Nelda was already in motion, stomping angrily towards the front door. Her claw reached out and turned the knob, ripping the front door inward—which was quite a feat for someone of Nelda’s age and stature.

“We’ll see about that!” She snarled triumphantly. “The next time you hear from me, I’ll have an offer you can’t refuse!”

Then she was gone, and the door was slamming angrily, a gust of Ohio Spring air blowing into the living room to ruffle my hair. Sighing to myself, I listened for the sound of a car door opening and closing, the sound of an engine roaring to life, and then the tell-tale sound of tires crunching on the driveway. I stood from the couch and went over to the door to lock the deadbolt. I certainly didn’t want Nelda coming back inside unannounced, uninvited, and unwanted.

Back in the kitchen, Oma and Jason were still sitting at the table, glaring at each other, though they both had mugs of coffee in hand. The thought of each of them having a solid object to launch at or hit each other with made me nervous, but I went to the cabinet to get my own mug. If things started getting thrown, I wanted scalding liquid and heavy porcelain as a weapon, too. Once I had pulled a mug down from the cabinet and filled it with piping hot coffee, I strolled over to the table as though all was right as rain, and sat down in the chair across from Oma, putting Jason to my right. Since I’m righthanded, I figured that would make it easier to throw the mug at him or send a ball of fire splashing into his face.

“Talk, assface.” Oma barked before I had the chance.

Jason squinted angrily at her, but he was soon turning his attention to me.

“You owe me.” He stated simply.

“I owe you shit.”

“I hid two bodies for you.”

“What?” Oma gasped.

“You hid the bodies of two of your kind who tried to kill Lucas and me.” I brought my coffee mug to my lips and blew at it before taking a sip. “I mean, what are you going to do? Lead the cops to the bodies and tell them that you were an accessory to murder? That you hid dead bodies for the person who killed the two men out of self-defense? Good luck with that, assface.”

“Why do we have dead bodies?” Oma snapped, turning her glare to me. “Again?”

“Two werewolves attacked Lucas and me last night.” I sipped my coffee again. “One of ‘em bit Lucas. Both of ‘em got dead in the process.”

“Lucas got bit?” Oma’s eyes grew wide.

Jason was smirking again.

“Yes.” I nodded, though I wasn’t looking at either one of them directly. “And assface over here said he’d hide the bodies. So, he hid the bodies. Now he expects me to be grateful.”

“I could have just called the cops.”

“Or I could have roasted your ass, too.” I snapped at him. “Then the cops would’ve had three deaths to investigate. What’s your point?”

Jason actually snarled.

“Keep it in your pants, puppy,” Oma warned him. “Why the fuck are your people attacking Lucas and Robbie? Answer me that. I thought we already settled this shit about your quarrel with them?”

“They weren’t my pack.” Jason snapped.

“I didn’t recognize the guys,” I added for good measure.

Oma looked back and forth between Jason and me several times before she responded to what we were saying.

“Who the fuck was they?” She bellowed. “You’re telling me we got another pack of shifters in this damn town now?”

“Seems to be.” Jason shrugged, though the anger was still etched all over his face. “They weren’t my guys, so…”

I sipped my coffee.

“You’re taking this well.” Oma snarled at me from across the table.

“I don’t think we should discuss theories with assface present.” I jabbed a thumb at him.

“Stop calling me assface!”

“Oh, shush.” Oma waved him off. “What do you mean, Robbie? What theories? You talkin’ about maybe we had the wrong werewolves in mind when we was…talkin’ ‘bout what we was talkin’ ‘bout the other day?”

I nodded.

“What are you two talking about?”

“Shut up,” Oma ordered, then her attention was back on me. “Well, fuckin’ hell, Robbie. Why didn’t you come home immediately and tell me?”

“Lucas and I were busy tending to his bites.”

“Amongst other things.” Oma snorted. “I think playing Pass the Pickle ain’t nearly as important as letting me know we got another damn shifter problem on our hands, damnit.”

I shrugged.

“It is what it is, Oma.” I sipped my coffee. “Unless you have a way to turn back time, then—”

“What are you two talking about, goddamnit?!” Jason growled.

“Shut. Up. Assface.” Oma snapped.

Before I could blink, Jason had slid both hands under the table and pushed upward. As if in slow motion, the table began to flip end over end in the air between the three of us. Oma pushed back in her chair, the legs squealing against the linoleum as I dropped my mug, slid from my chair to my knees, and held my hand out towards Jason’s solar plexus. With a force of will, I sent a column of green light crashing into his gut. A loud “ooph” sound emanated from Jason as he took the full force of the blow and he and his chair slid backward until he hit the kitchen counter.

Oma raised her hand to the table in the air, and it suddenly stopped spinning end over end. She glanced at Jason, flicked her hand to right the table, and it landed back on all four legs on the linoleum. The legs of the table squealed loudly on the floor as she sent it towards Jason, effectively pinning him against the cabinet. Jason was grunting in pain again as the edge of the table bit into his sternum, trapping him against the kitchen cabinet. With anger, but also fear in his eyes, he looked up at Oma and me on the other side of the kitchen.

“Ya’ couldn’t take one of us, assface!” Oma admonished him. “Why the fuck would you mess with both of us at the same time?”

Jason growled angrily, his eyes starting to glow red.

“I see any fur, assface, and I’m burning it off,” I warned him, raising my hand once more.

An actual whimper escaped Jason’s throat, and he went still, though his hands still gripped the edge of the table. Oma let out a frustrated sigh and turned to me, a concerned expression on her face.

“You just sit there and think about what you done now.” She spoke over her shoulder to Jason before speaking to me. “Well, you done screwed the damn pooch again, Robbie, ain’tcha?”

“How is every damn thing my fault, Oma?” I crossed my arms over my chest, trying to look her in the eyes while keeping Jason in my peripheral vision. “Everything that goes wrong, you just conveniently blame on me. You seem to forget that none of this would be happening if you had just been honest with me when I was a kid. Maybe I would have made better choices. Or…better wishes, actually.”

“Maybe you’d be pullin’ at your pud wondering what the hell to do, too!” She retorted. “You ain’t exactly reliable when it comes to makin’ decisions, are ya’?”

“Oh my god.” I groaned and looked at the ceiling. “I didn’t make two werewolves—shifters, whatever—attack Lucas and me when we were out walking along the peninsula, did I? That’s not my fault.”

“It’s your fault you didn’t come tell me that—” She froze.

“What?”

“Why was y’all out at the Maumee last night?”

“We were talking.”

“About what?” She was squinting at me angrily, and her arms were folded over her chest once more. “What the fuck did y’all need to go out to the Maumee to talk about?”

“We were at Lounge watching Carlita perform and—”

“Carlita.” Oma hissed.

I rolled my eyes.

“That bitch.” Oma actually shook her fist.

All I could do was grin evilly.

“So,” Oma snapped at me, “I guess you did what I think you did out there in the Maumee.”

“Depends on what you mean.” I feigned innocence with a shrug and glanced over at Jason, trying to warn Oma with my eyes. “I mean, all kinds of sordid things could have happened out there, Oma.”

“Oh, fuck him.” Oma dismissed the thought of Jason listening in on our discussion. “Does Lucas have his memories back now, too?”

“Oma,” I warned her again, my eyes darting to Jason.

“Assface won’t remember none of this.” She snarled. “I’ll make sure of it.”

“Stop calling me that,” Jason grunted, trying to push the table out of his chest.

“Stay still, assface,” Oma growled at him this time.

“He does,” I said when Oma turned back to me.

“Who?” She hooted.

“Lucas.” I gave her a deadpan look. “Memories.”

“Fuckin’ great.” She threw her hands up wildly. “Just fuckin’ great, Robbie. I told you not to do that, and you did it. Do you ever just listen to what the hell I tell you?”

“I guess I’m just a rebel.”

“You’re a goddamn idiot is what you are.”

I shrugged.

“You’re the band on the Titanic, Robbie.” Oma admonished me. “The boat is sinkin,’ and you reach for your violin. No, actually, you’re shooting holes in the deck is what you’re doin’.”

“Nice analogy.”

“And now you act like you don’t even care that you’re helping things along.” Her eyes were wide with disbelief. “What the hell has gotten into you, Robbie? You’re reckless and careless at times, but this is just downright batshit crazy.”

“He had a right to his memories, Oma.”

“It. Don’t. Matter.” She snarled.

“We’re going to have to agree to disagree on this one, lady.”

Oma shook her head, her eyes piercing into me as she considered everything that we’d said to each other. The things I had done the night before—actually, all of the things I’d done since I was a teenager. She was not happy with me. I wasn’t entirely happy with myself either, but that was beside the point. When I was old enough to find out about magic, my family history, what was expected of me, I had been cornered. All I was doing was my best—both to survive and also not go down without a fight.

“So…now what?” Oma asked sharply. “What’s the big plan, Robbie? We’re just gonna wait around until you know who shows up with some strange pack of shifters we don’t even know about? This one over here ain’t even a threat, and we’re havin’ to deal with his bullshit right now. This is one big clusterfuck.”

“It’s not my fault,” I said. “No matter how you slice it, Oma. I’m making things up as I go, sure…but what else can I do?”

Oma sighed and looked down, her whole body seeming to deflate before me as she considered that statement.

“Robbie, no matter what you do…son…he’s gonna come. And you can’t stop it. You won’t be able to stop him. It’s just a matter of when.”

“Then why does it fucking matter that Lucas and I were in the Maumee last night?” I snorted.

Oma shook her head.

“Wait. Are you two talking about the man in the black hood?” Jason grunted.

Oma’s head shot up and her eyes locked on mine. Together, we slowly turned to look at Jason. He had stopped trying to push the table out of his chest to free himself, having realized that Oma’s magic had effectively and permanently trapped him against the kitchen cabinets.

“What the hell do you know about the man in the black hood, assface?” Oma asked him.

“He came to me.” Jason swallowed hard, fear filling his eyes. “Once.”

Oma shot a look at me, which I returned.

“He offered me—the pack—power,” Jason said. “I said, ‘no.’ He…he scared me.”

Oma and I didn’t laugh at Jason.

His fear was well-founded.

“He scares everyone,” I said gently.

“He said his name was Bl—”

“Don’t say that name!” Oma hissed quickly. “Never say that name.”

Again, Oma and I were exchanging glances.

“I didn’t believe him,” Jason said. “I mean, I’d heard stories about…that…but I didn’t know it was more than just a scary bedtime story. Something parents tell their kids to make them stay in bed at night. Are you two not shitting me right now? He—he’s coming?”

For several moments, Oma and I continued to stare at each other, wondering what options we had, trying to speak nonverbally. Finally, I sighed, and Oma flicked her hand, the table sliding slowly away from Jason. Gently, so as to not startle one of us into doing something else to harm him, Jason rose from his chair and stood before us.

“Let’s have a talk, assface,” I said.

Chapter 4

Oma went about pushing the chairs in around the table after I had centered it back in the kitchen. Jason watched us cautiously from his position backed up against the kitchen sink. Apparently, he thought he could escape down the drain if the two of us decided to throw a bit of magic his way again. As far as I was concerned, he had been lucky that neither of had decided to just burn the whole house down out of frustration. Neither Oma nor I had dependable temperaments, so a ball of fire being slung around the kitchen for nothing more than a table being flipped was not out of the question.

“Acted like you was auditioning for The Real Housewives of Toledo, flippin’ my table like that,” Oma grumbled as she lowered herself back into her chair. “You’re damn lucky you ain’t hurt nothin’. This table and these chairs are worth more than twenty of you. And your pack.”

Jason’s Adam’s Apple bobbed as he just stared at her.

“Come sit down.” I sighed as I lowered myself into the chair across from Oma. “We probably won’t hurt you.”

“To Hell.” Oma snorted. “He flips one more thing, and I’m gonna flip my chicken.”

Jason blinked at Oma, confused, then looked over at me. I shrugged.

“Old people are folksy,” I said. “Or so I’ve been told.”

“Sit the hell down already!” Oma boomed, nearly coming out of her seat with frustration. “If one of us has to tell you again—”

Jason scuttled over—which was quite a feat for someone of his build and ego—and sat down in the chair to my right again.

Stupid, stupid werewolf.

“Anyone need more coffee?” Oma barked, her eyes on Jason, then me.

“I could use a cup,” I said. “Jason?”

He shook his head jerkily.

Oma got up from her seat, the legs squealing against the floor again, and she set about the task of getting two fresh mugs of coffee for her and me. The three mugs that had been toppled in our little scuffle had somehow found their way into the sink. The coffee that had been inside of them had been cleaned up as well. Either the Kobolds were quicker than even I knew—and even better at making themselves invisible—or Oma had used a few tricks of her own. Either way, fresh coffee had to be poured for the two of us.

“So,” I started as Oma busied herself at the coffee pot, “how do you know about the man in the black hood? And don’t say his name. Unless you want to see him again. Real soon.”

Jason swallowed hard again.

“I don’t know him,” Jason stated finally. “I just, well, he came to me once. In a dream.”

“That’s how he usually travels,” I stated blandly.

“He likes flair.” Oma deadpanned from across the room.

Jason glanced at her before his eyes landed on me again.

“He…he just came to me in a dream.” Jason shook his head, his eyes closing tightly as though trying to drum up an old, painful memory. “Once. I never saw him again after that. But…once was enough.”

Oma had finished pouring fresh mugs of coffee for her and me and was standing next to the counter, both mugs in hand, staring across the kitchen at the man we had just tag-teamed in the world’s quickest fight. Examining Jason, I could tell that he wasn’t lying—and he hadn’t been lying just so we would let him loose from being trapped by the table. Something in his eyes let me know that he had seen the man in the black hood and it had stayed with him ever since. Even without his past memories—what had happened the night the man in the black hood had disappeared—hadn’t erased the memory of the man. Something like that just stays with a person.

I found myself wondering what my options were in discussing everything with Jason so openly. As things stood, he was still an enemy to Oma, Lucas, and me. He may have hidden the bodies of the two werewolves who had attacked Lucas and me the night before, but he had done so with the intent that we would owe him for that service. Altruism had not been his intention when he had offered to help us out of our mess. Additionally, there was still the matter of things Jason had said to me when I had been at his house alone. Obviously, there was some…sexual tension…at least on his part, between the two of us. I hadn’t been candid with Lucas and Oma about what had happened at Jason’s house.

Furthermore, even if there was some other pack of wolves that the black-hooded man had been referring to—it wasn’t Jason’s pack he controlled after all—that presented another question. Why had Jason and his pack been at Oma’s house the night the black-hooded man had attacked a decade previously—the night I managed to pull a metaphorical rabbit out of my metaphorical ass? That couldn’t have just been coincidental. Had Jason and his pack decided that they were tired of Lucas refusing their offers to let him join their pack? Would things have been different if they had known that Lucas could never turn into a werewolf?

Was that even true?

Was I choosing to believe a lie Lucas made up?

Or maybe it was a lie he thought was the truth?

Would we really know the truth until we had lived through a few more moon cycles?

Question upon question began piling up in my brain, and none of them seemed close to having an answer. Being unable to talk too openly about the man in the black hood made things even more difficult. The fact that Oma and I had to be careful who we told anything to compounded that fact. Everything had changed since I had come back to Point Worth, yet everything was the same as it had been before I left Point Worth. A decade had not been long enough to truly change anything about the danger we found ourselves in by merely existing.

More disturbingly, I felt angry. All of the time. As I sat there looking at Jason and Oma in turn, all I could feel was frustration and anger at my present situation. Had I always been so angry, or just since I found out my life was not like other kids back when I was a teenager? Even though I had my memories back, none of them told me that I had felt perpetually angry before. Now, as an adult, and having returned to Point Worth, everything upset me. Of course, I conveyed that anger through removed indifference…but it was there. Just bubbling under the uppermost layer of who I was.

I was beginning to be afraid of myself.

What the hell can happen to someone who loses themselves so quickly and deeply?

“Robbie?” Oma’s voice was gentle, obviously concerned with my mental removal from the situation. “Ya’ still with us?”

Shaking my head to chase away the ghosts of everything in my head, I turned my full attention back to the two people physically present with me.

“What did he say to you?” I asked Jason since Oma’s question had been made rhetorical by me responding at all. “When he came to you just the once, Jason? What did he want?”

Jason appeared to be going over his options in his head, obviously reluctant to share any information with the two people who had just attacked him with magic as though it were no big deal. Logic won out over attitude and Jason gave a sign, finally indicating that he was going to answer.

“Look,” He stated defensively, “it really was just once. I’m not jerking you around here, okay? He came to me in a dream. Offered me and the pack power if we would help to build him an army. But I refused.”

“An army for what?” I asked.

“You know what for.” Oma snorted.

Jason glanced at Oma quickly before answering. “To help him destroy a couple of witches. I’m now assuming that is you two.”

Oma bowed her head with a grin.

“What’s he got against you two?”

“Long story,” I stated evenly. “Why did you refuse?”

“I’m not crazy, Rob.” Jason spat, though there was no heat to his words. “I know real trouble when I run into it. I knew the guy in the black hood was not someone I wanted to attach myself to. I knew he was trouble just as much as I know you’re trouble.”

“Of a different sort.” I shrugged.

“Trouble is trouble.” Jason shook his head though a small grin reached his lips. “Doesn’t matter how you dug the hole if you end up stuck in it, does it?”

“You and Oma should trade folksy sayings sometime.” I rolled my eyes, but before Jason or Oma could respond, I continued. “So, if you refused him—to create this army of puppies—why are you still taking on members? Why did you go after Lucas so much when we were younger?”

“We’re a pack.” Jason looked at me like I was an idiot. “It’s like a family, we just reproduce differently.”

“Gross,” I responded blandly, to which Oma chuckled. “Why Lucas?”

Jason was chewing at his lip. A tell-tale sign that he either didn’t want to say what he was thinking or he had no idea how to answer the question.

“He was one of us,” Jason responded suddenly. “On the football team. We knew he’d make a good pack member.”

“That’s a lie,” Oma replied.

“No shit, Shirley,” I answered her, though my eyes never left Jason’s.

“I’m not lying.”

“You already know we’re witches, assface,” Oma responded. “Do you think we’re goin’ to buy some cock-and-bull story that you just felt like you had to have Lucas in your pack because he played football with ya’?”

Oma’s statement gave me pause as I sat there, helping her to stare down Jason and intimidate him into talking.

Witches.

She had said I wasn’t a witch before…

“Fucking fuck.” Jason groaned as he reached up to run his fingers through his hair, which he had obviously not bothered to stop by his house to wash after disposing of the two bodies. “Look, Lucas…we were just supposed to make him part of our pack, okay? That’s all.”

Oma looked over at me, a frown adorning her face.

I stared back at her, thoughts of witches on my mind.

Pushing away my questions—for the moment—I squinted at Jason.

“What do you mean you were supposed to make him part of your pack, Jason?” I demanded. “Who told you that was something you were supposed to do?”

Jason’s head fell back in defeat and he stared up at the ceiling, as though saying a silent prayer.

“When I told the…guy…that I didn’t want his offer of power, he got mad, okay?” Jason explained, almost pleading for understanding. “I guess not many people turn him down and when they do, I guess it pisses him off.”

“Yeah.” I nodded slowly. “He’s been pissed at my family for a while now.”

Oma agreed with a firm nod.

“Yeah.” Jason shrugged. “He told me that he was going to destroy my pack, make me watch…then he was going to kill me. I mean, this was a…a…dream, right? But I knew he meant it. I knew that the next time I would see him it was because he had come to kill me and my guys, right?”

“He doesn’t make idle threats, no,” I replied.

“Before I could tell him I was sorry and that we would accept the power—or ask what could be done to appease him—he offered a solution, Rob. He told me if I did him a favor, he would leave us alone forever.”

“What favor?” I asked, leaning in.

“He gave me a name.” Jason nearly shivered.

“Lucas Barkley?” I seethed.

Jason nodded.

Glancing over at Oma was all I could do to keep myself from instinctively punching Jason is his, well, punchable face. Oma looked as though she had picked up on the fact that I was feeling murderous, her eyes warning me to keep myself under control. When it came to magic, Jason didn’t stand a chance against me, most likely. In a fistfight, he’d probably kick my ass. So, it wasn’t fair to punch him in the face and then defend myself with magic.  Even if he had been begging to be punched in the face for over a decade.

“Get out,” Oma answered the two of us when my eyes stayed on hers. “And don’t come back ya’ miserable little shit.”

“What?” Jason squeaked.

“Get the hell out of my house, assface.” Oma turned her head to growl at him.

In the corner of my vision, Jason made a movement as though he might protest being told to leave Oma’s house. Another sharp look from her made him rethink his decision, and he was quickly removing himself from his chair. Oma’s eyes followed him as he got up, pushed his chair back in cautiously, and moved toward the backdoor. My eyes stayed on Oma, keeping tabs on her as well as following Jason’s movements by following her eye movements. Then I heard the backdoor squeak slightly, and a fresh Spring breeze met the back of my neck.

“We’ll talk soon, Rob.” Jason had the nerve to speak. “You still owe me.”

“We’ll see about that,” I answered simply, my eyes still on Oma.

Jason’s footsteps sounded, the door closed, and Oma and I were left staring at each other once more. Thoughts swirled through my head, and I couldn’t separate one emotion from the next, so I simply sat there, staring at Oma with her staring back for a moment before I lifted my coffee mug to my lips. My hand shook slightly, and I had to pause for a moment to collect myself before I took a drink so as to not spill the steaming liquid down my front.

Oma sighed to herself and brought her own mug to her lips.

Once upon a time, I had been a sixteen-year-old kid with two very different and tough choices. Neither of which had been acceptable to me. So, I had made a new choice for myself. A choice that no one in my family before me knew was even an option. And my memories had been stolen from me. Sure, that had kind of been the deal when I had made the choice I had made, but with those memories back, I had even more questions than I had before I had jumped into the well in the cellar the first time.

“Oma.” I managed to speak without my voice cracking. “I had a dream last night while I was at Lucas’.”

“Yeah? So?”

Thinking of what I had seen in my dream, I felt my ability to speak being siphoned from me like water from a well. The scene of the darkened child’s bedroom, being inside of a body I was unfamiliar with, feeling the ice-cold floorboards beneath my feet, the throne of bones, the hooded figure, the red eyes…it was all too much for me to verbalize. The fact that something inside of me told me that it wasn’t so much a dream as a memory made it even more challenging to consider speaking of it. Worst of all—it wasn’t one of my memories. It was someone else’s.

“I—I need the book to not be blank,” I said. “I need to see what is inside of it again.”

Oma pushed her chair back and stood up gruffly, her coffee mug held in her fist like a shield.

“Well, good luck with that.” She snorted as she made her way to the counter. “That thing’s been as stubborn as you for the last ten years.”

Oma dragged the sugar jar across the counter and began searching through the utensil drawer for a spoon.  Apparently, Oma needed more than just caffeine to get through the day this once.

“Did it just…go blank when I…left?”

“Well,” She looked thoughtful as one, then two spoons of sugar got dumped into her mug, “I’d say ‘yes,’ but I ain’t certain. It was blank the first time I looked at it after you run off to Hollywood, though.”

“That’s weird, right?” I asked, my stomach suddenly feeling like lead. “I mean…why?”

Oma chuckled to herself as she stirred her coffee and shoved the sugar jar back to its place on the counter next to the flour and brown sugar. With the amount of cooking and baking Oma did, I never did understand why she poured the ingredients into decorative jars from their original sacks.

“’Bout par for the course, I’d say.” She turned around with her sweetened mug of coffee gripped in her hand as she propped herself up against the counter. “You decided to take things into your own hands, ran off to Hollywood—things have been weird for a long time, Robbie. Hell, if something wasn’t weird around here at least once a day I’d probably cream my britches.”

“You’re the weirdest thing around here,” I mumbled to myself.

“What’s that?” She glowered.

“Nothing.”

“Mm.” She eyed me warily.

Sitting there in Oma’s kitchen, thinking of the previous night’s events, I found myself pouring through my old memories that still seemed to be adjusting to being back in my brain. Things that Oma had said when I was a teenager. Things Lucas and I had done when we were younger. Things I had seen, things I’d been taught, things I had known on a deeper level than I seemed to know them at present. There was a nagging pull at the back of my skull, something telling me that I should remember something that I couldn’t. Not because the memory wasn’t in my mind but because I was human and humans are forgetful. At best, humans don’t have the extraordinary brainpower to connect the dots that link memories together.

With no better obvious course of action, I slammed back a swig of my coffee, wincing at the slightly too warm liquid, and stood from the table. Oma watched me from her place by the counter as I walked over and emptied my mug down the drain and rinsed out my cup before setting it in the sink. I laid my hands against the counter edge and stared out of the window that provided a view of the backyard. The white picket fence that surrounded the garden looked so pitiful with no garden to protect. Frowning to myself, I thought about all of the years Oma had tended to the garden dutifully, and how I was sad that she seemed to have no intention of ever doing it again.

“What are you thinkin’ about?” She asked. “All the money you’re losin’ by not takin’ your dumbass back out to Hollywood?”

“I don’t need the money,” I said, then corrected myself. “I don’t want the money.”

A sharp whistle emanated from Oma’s lips.

“Ain’t you fancy as shit?” She waggled her head slightly. “Guess your retirement plan is good if you decide to give up work before thirty?”

“I don’t have a retirement plan.” I looked at her out of the corner of my eye. “Just a shit ton of money.”

Her face twisted with disapproval.

“Wouldn’t have said it if you hadn’t pushed.” I shrugged, looking out the window at the barren garden once more. “Like you always do.”

“Well, what are you gonna do when you run out of money, smartass?” She asked though she wasn’t trying to be rude.

She was just being Oma.

“Unless I lived to be a thousand, I should be okay.” I retorted. “But the way things are going, I’ll be lucky to make it to twenty-eight.”

“You’ll be lucky to make it to twenty-seven, ya’ brat.” She replied nonchalantly. “If you keep sassin’ me you won’t make it another two weeks.”

“Oh. Yeah.” I said, vaguely remembering that my birthday was not far off.

“Mm,” Oma repeated her go-to humming noise. “What kind of cake you want for your birthday anyhow?”

Turning with an incredulous look, I pushed my hip against the counter and crossed my arms over my chest as I stared my grandmother down.

“Really, Oma?” I snorted. “Do you want to get me a cake and throw a party? Play Pin the Tail on the Donkey?”

“There’ll be more than one jackass gettin’ something stuck in its ass if you keep being a shithead.” She replied. “Thought it might be nice since we ain’t seen each other on your birthday for ten years. Have a cake. Blow out some candles.”

“Make a wish?” I teased.

“Oh, fuck you.” She dumped her coffee mug in the sink.

“Think it’d work?” I continued. “Close my eyes tight, wish with all of my might and blow out a whole bunch of candles, and everything will be hunky-dory once more?”

“That ain’t what I was getting’ at, and you know it.”

I shrugged.

“Why are you such a damn jackass lately?” Her hands went to her hips. “Can’t say two damn words to you without getting’ a load of sass.”

“That’s rich, Oma.” My mouth turned into a wide grin. “Unless you want to go get the tiara out of the box in the attic and dust it off, I think you can hold onto the title.”

When I felt the hand on my leg, I nearly came out of my skin. Jerking sharply, I looked down to find Ernst next to me, his head coming up to my hip, his eyes wide with shock. Oma jerked in surprise at my movements, saw Ernst, and let out a string of muffled curses. When Ernst realized that I had only jumped from surprise and not anger, his shocked expression turned into a happy one, and his hand went back to lay against my leg. I reached down and patted his head with a smile while Oma cursed a few moments longer.

“Hey, Ernst,” I said, ignoring Oma’s prattling on.

“Mornin’, Rob.” He squeaked back.

“Where’s everyone else?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Ev’ryone’s been keepin’ to themselves. S’pose they’ve all ‘ad enough excitement for a while.”

I laughed gently.

“Makes sense.” I shrugged. “Sometimes, I wish my family knew how to keep to themselves and give me some peace.”

Ernst’s ears wiggled happily.

“At least you know where your kin are, though.” My mind wandered, bringing up thoughts of my mother and father.

“S’pose,” Ernst said simply.

As if lightning had shot out of the sky and struck me in the forehead, a memory came back to me. Not an old memory, but a recent one. An important one. Ernst frowned up at me as my eyes grew wide with excitement. Quickly, I gave Ernst another pat on the head and stepped away from him and Oma, turning towards the main part of the house.

“Well, where the shit is you goin’?” Oma asked.

“I need to go see a man about a wolf.”

“What?” Oma coughed.

I was already taking the stairs two at a time before the word finished coming out of Oma’s mouth.

Chapter 5

Andrew’s office was nicer than I had imagined it would be. When I had only been back in Point Worth for a little over a week, Oma had introduced us while we were volunteering at the Toledo LGBTQ+ center. Probably because we were both gay and for no other discernible reason, such as she thought we’d actually get along. Regardless of our compatibility, Andrew and I went to dinner, he acted like a douchebag, and then he turned into a werewolf on the drive back to Oma’s house—after trying to grab my junk and generally act like a turd. Just like any other normal first date, really.

Due to the epic failure that was our first date—Andrew essentially trying to murder me when he was in wolf form—I had decided immediately that Andrew was not to be trusted. Of course, a short amount of time and regaining my memories had given me some perspective. It’s funny how that happens, really. Someone pisses you off, and you try to push them out of your mind, relegate them to the “distant memory” file, and then when you forget that there was information in that file when it becomes possibly useful later. Andrew’s and my date, and our few discussions afterward pointed towards information that I likely needed.

“Well,” Andrew reached up to rub his head which had recently been shaved again, giving it a nice, clean sheen, “now that you kind of demanded that I see you, Rob…what’s up?”

I sat back in the chair, crossing my legs gently as I stared across the desk at Andrew.

“Did you recognize me the first time we met?” I asked though that was not why I had come to Andrew’s place of employment.

“Uh,” Andrew seemed perplexed, “yes.”

Slowly, my head started to nod. “It kind of dawned on me that you were poking around for information about my job and financial situation during the date because you wanted me to admit who I was. Of course, I didn’t realize it until much later. Thought you were just a massive douche at the time.”

Andrew frowned.

“Is that why you came all the way from Point Worth?” He asked evenly. “To ask if I knew you were Jacob Michaels and insult me further?”

I waved him off.

“Not especially.” I shook my head. “I realized that people often say things without actually saying them. Or they say something that kind of relates to what they want to say, hoping that the other person will pick up on it and do the talking for them.”

Andrew just stared at me.

I figured there was a button for security under his fancy desk and soon his manicured hands would be groping for it.

“You don’t have a pack,” I said, leaning forward.

“No.”

“That’s weird, right?”

“How would you know if that’s weird?” His brow furrowed so deeply I worried his face might crack and bleed. “You’re not exactly an expert. Are you?”

“No.” I shook my head. “It just seems that all shifters—werewolves—belong to a pack or ‘family’ of some kind, right?”

“I guess.”

“You don’t,” I said. “Why?”

“There’s only one pack around here that I know of and I don’t want to be a part of it.”

“Jason’s pack?” The corner of my mouth turned up.

“Uh, yeah.”

“You don’t have a problem giving them information, though.” My eyebrow raised against my will as I stared Andrew down from across the desk. “I mean, Oma is pissed at you. Like, super pissed. She already threatened to…uh, flip her chicken…on Jason. Her words. Not mine. Obviously. You will probably be the next person she goes batshit crazy on.”

“What did she do to Jason?” Andrew’s eyes were like saucers.

I waved him off.

“After I blasted him into the kitchen counter, she just pinned him there with the table.” I rolled my eyes. “Nothing all that drastic. He walked out of the house on his own two legs. Nary a scratch.”

Andrew gave me a horrified look yet said nothing as I smiled evilly at him.

“She was all upset because he disrespected her multiple times, nearly broke her kitchen table, yada yada yada.” I gave a vaguely bored flip of my hand. “She might be madder at you for running to Jason and crying about Lucas plowing into you with his truck. Like you aren’t perfectly fine.”

Andrew’s horrified expression changed to one of “fight or flight.” Maybe I was lying a little to him in order to put him on edge, but the fact was that Oma had been pissed off about Andrew talking to Jason after the whole incident with Lucas’ truck. Of course, she had probably forgotten all about being upset with Andrew due to other things that had occurred since. Oma had a good memory when it came to getting even with people who had pissed her off, so maybe I wasn’t entirely off base.

“But,” I said, holding a hand up as Andrew started to rise from his seat, “if you were maybe able to help me out a little, maybe she’d be less pissed off when the time came for her to talk to you.”

If she remembered.

Big “if.”

Andrew didn’t have to know that Oma had probably already forgotten about being mad at him.

“What do you want, Rob?” Andrew sighed, his exhausted eyes closing slowly. “Jacob. Whoever you are?”

“Where is your pack? Family? Whatever you call them.” I asked. “Back in New York?”

“That’s where they are based, yes,” Andrew replied, his eyes sliding open cautiously to appraise me from the other side of the desk.

I smiled.

“Things have happened in the last week. A few days ago,” I shook a finger at him, “I would’ve missed what you just did there, Andy.”

“What?”

“Where are they now?” I asked. “I don’t care where they are based out of regularly, I want to know where they are now.”

Andrew rolled his eyes and sighed, sinking back into his seat.

“I don’t know.”

“Sure ya’ do.” I grinned goofily as I laid my hand on his desk, palm down, and pushed out a little magic.

When I raised my hand, the scorch marks were very noticeable.

“Jacob…Rob.” Andrew pushed his chair back slowly. “Don’t.”

“I wonder if I set this office on fire with magic if anyone would believe you?” I asked thoughtfully. “Or would they think you’d gone ‘round the bend and haul you outta here in a ‘Me Time’ jacket?”

Andrew stared at me, nearly emotionless, as we sat across the desk from each other in his fancy-schmancy office in the tall, fancy building. I’d had many a meeting with self-important people in fancy-schmancy offices in tall, fancy buildings. Typically, I used my charm and charisma to deal with their bullshit—especially since my memory had been a problem during those meetings—but that would not work with Andrew. Magic was the answer.

“You seemed like such a nice guy.” Andrew finally sighed, his head slowly shaking as he stared into my eyes.

I frowned.

“But you’re kind of a douche, too, ya’ know.” He said.

“I don’t think the guy who verbally and physically assaulted me on a date has a right to tell me about my manners.”

“What’s happened to you?” He asked, his head cocking to the side marginally. “I mean…I’m getting a vibe from you now that wasn’t there before. That trick there is new, too.”

He pointed at the scorch marks.

“It’s funny what happens when someone remembers how exhausted they are, Andrew,” I replied evenly. “I’ve been tired of my circumstances for a very fucking long time. And I’m looking to correct them. Immediately. Where is your fucking pack?”

With each word spoken, I leaned in closer and closer, pushing myself into the desk and further into Andrew’s space.

“What’s that even mean?”

“Don’t worry about it.” I clenched my teeth tightly. “I got—well, we—got attacked by two werewolves the other night. I want to know whose pack they’re a part of because Jason doesn’t claim them.”

“That’s convenient.” He snorted.

“Why would he lie?”

“Why wouldn’t he?”

“Don’t you think I’d recognize local boys, Andrew?” I quipped. “Even if he were lying, I’d know if the guys looked familiar. These guys were bigger than any of Jason’s—even in human form—and they weren’t from around Point Worth. So…where is your fucking pack? They in town for a visit?”

Andrew chewed at his lip.

“What do you want me to burn first?” I asked, sitting back nonchalantly. “I can start with anything that I think looks super important.”

I reached to grab a stack of papers off of Andrew’s desk. When he reached out suddenly to grab my wrist to stop me, I didn’t jerk away or react with violence. I just looked up at him, waiting to see what he would do.

“Don’t.” He pleaded. “Please. This is my fucking job. I can’t lose it because you’re a fucking psychopath.”

“Pot meet kettle.”

“I’m not a psychopath.” He sat back, his long fingers sliding from around my wrist. “I’m a werewolf.”

“Tomato, tomato.” I shrugged.

“You mean tomato, tomahto.”

“No.” I chuckled. “I really don’t. They’re too interchangeable for that.”

Andrew squinted angrily at me.

“Look,” I sighed, leaning in even more, my ass barely hanging onto the edge of the seat, “I don’t give a shit what you and your furry brethren do when it doesn’t involve me. I don’t care if you’re bathing in other people’s blood under the light of the full moon and getting your rocks off to it, either. What you guys do has absolutely no effect on me whatsoever, puppy. But…we were attacked. Lucas got bitten by one of these assholes. I want to know who they are and why they are here if they are not part of Jason’s pack. That simple.”

Andrew stared at me impassively.

“Or I burn this fucking building to the ground with us in it.” I sat back with a sigh, my ass squeaking against the leather of the cushion.

Rolling his eyes, Andrew sighed. “They’re Jason’s people, Rob. He’s finding new members outside of Point Worth, obviously. I know for a fact that my people are not anywhere near here, though I would rather you burn me alive than tell you where they are.”

“He’s recruiting elsewhere?” My head fell back in frustration. “I should have thought of that. Could-a saved me from having to look at you.”

“I’m surprised you and Esther Jean hadn’t thought of it,” Andrew said.

“Fair enough.” I relented as I rose from my seat. “Of course, you could have saved both of us a lot of trouble if you had just said that when I first asked. So…you’re still a major douche.”

Andrew glared up at me as I stood before his desk.

“Have a nice day, Andy.” I gave him a half-wave as I went to turn towards the door.

“I guess,” Andrew’s voice stopped me, “the question you aren’t asking that you should be asking is why they’re attacking you and Lucas, right? I mean…shifters usually only care about business that involves shifters. Neither one of you is a shifter, are you?”

Turning to look at Andrew, one of his eyebrows was raised, questioning.

“That’s yet to be seen,” I said. “I know I’m not. Lucas did get bit, though.”

Andrew smiled.

“Your boyfriend is not going to be a shifter.”

My brow furrowed deeply as Andrew snickered to himself, very confident in what he had just said.

“What do you mean by that?” I asked, pretending I didn’t know what he said was the truth. “He got bit by one of those ass—”

“Everyone in Point Worth knows about those people.” Andrew shook his head, amused. “There’s no point in pretending that he has to worry about something like a bite, Rob.”

“Those people?”

“The Barkley’s.” He replied. “But…if shifters are acting out of the ordinary…that is a concern, isn’t it?”

I swallowed hard. Apparently, not everyone knew about the Barkley’s—whatever that meant. A million questions spilled into my head, but I didn’t have the first clue as to whether or not I wanted to ask them of Andrew. Nor did I know how to ask those questions. Anything I asked or said would only give him more information about my family and Lucas’. Something in the way Andrew was looking at me and smiling let me know that he knew more than he ever let on. In fact, I was beginning to think that he wasn’t actually afraid of me burning down his building at all.

“Go fuck yourself, Andrew,” I said simply.

“Close the door on your way out, Rob.” He winked.

Chapter 6

The horizon was that lazy red color that’s trying to decide how long it will be before it turns purple. Higher in the sky, the deep, nearly black, blue color was encroaching on the blood-like color pouring towards the ground. Somewhere between the two colors, a pale-yellow moon was climbing higher into the sky, watching the war between the two colors. Day and night fighting each other as the moon stayed out of the way and did what it was created to do. The sky could fight with itself as long as it kept out of the moon’s way, for it had to bring forth destiny.

Nearly a quarter of a million miles beneath the moon, a scream of agony cut through the woods as the man fell to all fours. Writhing and gnashing, the man screamed out as his bones shifted, and his skin crawled. Popping joints and stretching sinew, like being stabbed repeatedly with hot pokers, the man knew that the pain alone would be enough to kill him. The moon shone down, indifferent to the man’s suffering as he went through the transition—the first to ever experience a pain so unique…so exquisite. A pain that demanded to be felt, for reward was on the other side of that wall of agony.

Throwing himself back to his elongating knees, the man looked up at the moon, his eyes wide and yellow, lengthening and glistening as his mouth opened wide. Teeth, impossibly long, glistened with drool that fell to the ground in fat, viscous globs. His yellow eyes connected with the yellow light of the moon, and his soul learned a truth that had never been whispered to another soul. He was now part of the night—a part of the frightening uncertainty of darkness that forced the first people to walk on two legs to hide in caves when the God in the sky went to sleep each night.

As the first patch of fur split the skin on his back, the knobs of his spine spilling forth from that crevice, he understood everything. His eyes were drawn to the edge of the clearing, where a man in a black hooded cloak watched, his red eyes glowing out from the shadows of that hood.

Magic.

It was connected to everything.

His wish had been heard.

Carlita slowly slid her hand out of mine, her fingers trailing across the top of the table between us in the corner booth. My eyes opened, and I looked over at her, wondering what there was to say.

“He’s been around for a very long time, baby,” Carlita said as her fingers found her coffee cup.

It was evident that she was trying to keep her hand steady, but she couldn’t quite manage it as her shaky hand nearly upended her cup before her fingers latched onto it. My own hand was cold and clammy and just a little shaky as I slid it back across my side of the table and into my lap. She brought the disposable to-go cup to her lips and took a sip from the minuscule hole in the plastic lid, but her eyes did not lose their hold on mine.

What she had just shown me didn’t answer many questions, it merely added more to the growing “List of Things Rob Doesn’t Know.” So, my friend in the black hooded cloak was around when the first man became a werewolf. What did that mean? Had he created the first werewolf? Or was he merely an observer to something that the magic of the world had brought forth of its own accord? Why would someone wish to become a creature like a werewolf and where would such a primitive person get such an idea when no such thing had existed before? Someone doesn’t just wake up one day and have such a thought, nor make such a wish.

Why are the shifters acting weird in Point Worth?

That had been my question for Carlita when I had found her at the LGBTQ+ center in downtown Toledo. Instead of answering, she had led me to the coffee shop—the same one I had been to with Andrew before—and ordered us both a coffee. Then we had slid into the corner booth, mostly out of everyone else’s sight since it was the middle of the day, and business was slow. Her hand had reached for mine, and I had placed mine in hers willingly. My mind had been treated to a memory that wasn’t my own.

But whose memory was it?

Memories were a tricky thing. What is a memory comprised of? Are they flickers of electricity being fired by synapses in the brain? Then again, does the brain contain memories…or is it memories? No matter the answer, I knew one thing for certain, the memory had to be Carlita’s. How else would she have it to share with me? My hand was finally steady when I reached for my own disposable cup and lifted it to my lips. As the warm, black liquid flooded my mouth, I found myself wondering if anything would ever make sense again.

When I had first gone off to Hollywood, all of my pertinent memories about magic and the history of my family taken from me for safe-keeping, things were rough. But they made sense. I didn’t wander through each day blindly, wondering what this thing or that thing meant. I didn’t develop one question after another about every event in my life. One foot in front of the other was how I lived my life because everything was linear and logical. Now…I felt like, with my memories returned…I understood nothing.

I was worse off than I had been before.

“Why don’t you people ever just give simple answers?” I sighed as I set the coffee cup back on the table.

“I’m an oracle, baby.” Carlita smiled as her cup was set back on the table. “Not Dear Abby. Knowing my role in all of this doesn’t mean I can just tell you any-damn-thing that pops into your handsome little head.”

“Thank you,” I said quickly before launching in on her again. “Carlita—”

“Yes, baby?”

“Why did someone become a werewolf?” I reiterated. “Why do they exist?”

“You saw why they exist, Rob.” She replied.

I had to keep myself from rolling my eyes.

“When the first,” She looked around and leaned in, “magic, was used, someone had to be around to keep that shit under control, right? I mean, you can’t have people just running around batshit crazy doing whatever the hell they want without someone there to make sure they didn’t go too far.”

I wasn’t sure she was answering the question I had asked.

“So,” I said, “they came about because some guy wished to be a wolf?”

“No.” She looked at me like I was stupid. “And yes. They came to be because some guy wished to be a wolf without realizing that magic is everywhere. It sees everything and hears everything. Be careful about what you wish…because you might just get it.”

“Why was…he…there?” I asked quietly, nervously reaching for my cup.

“Baby,” The look didn’t leave Carlita’s face, “he’s been around for a lot longer than you know.”

“Like you.” I sighed.

“Like me.”

“Is that your memory?”

She smiled at me, took another sip of her coffee.

For several moments we stared across the table at each other, enjoying sips from our own coffee cups in amiable, comfortable silence. I tried making a timeline in my head but found it too complicated. With everything that had happened throughout my childhood, all of the unexplained, weird things, then my teenage years, discovering my sexuality, meeting Lucas, then…the well…it was driving me mad. Having been gone for ten years with the effects of what I’d done, then coming back and having all of those memories back…my mind just couldn’t handle it all.

The things in my past never got talked about, even with Oma. Everything was vague and referred to as though something we’d best just forget for fear of making things worse for ourselves. We were always on eggshells, doing our best to not draw attention to ourselves. At first, I thought it was just Oma’s way. When I was a little kid, that made sense to me. You just followed the lead of the person who was your guardian, whoever that may be. As I got older, I realized that we were trying to be discreet. In my mid-teens, I found out whose attention we were trying to avoid.

I just wanted to say things to say them.

I needed to process everything I knew.

But my head wouldn’t allow it.

Was that a side effect of being a kid and suffering through tremendously tricky events? Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or something? Is that why things seemed to be somewhat blocked in my brain, keeping me from processing them? Was it a side effect of having my memories wiped clean when I jumped in the well the first time? Doing my best to think back to my life before I had jumped in the well at sixteen-years-old, I knew that I didn’t have PTSD or anything really psychologically wrong with me. My brain had just been programmed to push these things away, out of sight, out of mind. So much so that when I tried to think about them, my brain threw up a type of veil to keep me from thinking too hard.

“When I was a kid,” I said in a whisper, speaking to no one and everyone, “my mom just disappeared one day. My dad was at work. Mom was making breakfast, and The Police were playing on the radio.”

Carlita looked over at me, her face a blank slate.

Like my brain had been wiped clean of memories right after I jumped into the well the first time.

Tabula Rasa.

“I remember the house shaking.” I shook my head in frustration, trying to conjure up thoughts and memories that hadn’t been in my head for years and only came to me in dreams. Nightmares. “Lights and loud…fucking loud…sounds. Like a freight train and an earthquake all in one. Things were falling to the floor.”

Carlita was still staring blankly at me, and I was staring back as I spoke, as though in a trance placed by my own thought processes. I didn’t know why I was speaking so openly with Carlita, but I assumed oracles tended to have that effect on people. A drag queen oracle, even more so.

“Everything stopped, and everything was really still.”

Carlita waited.

“What happened after that, baby?” Carlita asked gently, her hand reaching for her coffee cup once more.

“I don’t know.” I shook my head jerkily. “I don’t remember seeing anything. But…I don’t remember anything after that until my dad was putting me to bed that night. He was tucking me in and reassuring me that mom would be back.”

No follow-up questions from Carlita.

“But she never came back.” My eyes locked on Carlita’s. “And Dad was gone in the morning. That’s when Oma showed up. To take care of me.”

“Who called Esther Jean?” Carlita asked lowly.

“I guess Dad?” I shrugged shakily. “I mean…I guess he knew someone had to watch me at that age if he was just going to up and take off as well, right? Grandparents are usually the first choice in those situations, right?”

“I suppose.”

Chewing at my lip, I stared at Carlita.

“I don’t remember Oma before she showed up. We were living in that house before Oma came to take care of me.” I said dryly. “I’ve never not lived in that house before or after Hollywood.”

Carlita stared.

“That’s not Oma’s house. Is it?”

More staring.

“A lot of my life is a lie,” I said with finality.

Carlita gave me a tight, concerned smile. With a shaky sigh, I slid from the booth seat and came to stand beside the table, looking down at the drag queen oracle known as “Carlita.”

“Thank you.” I shrugged.

“For what, baby?”

“Listening,” I responded. “I guess.”

She stared at me for a breath. “What will you do now?”

Again, I shrugged.

“About which problem?”

Then I left.

Chapter 7

Nelda Hammersmith was using an honest to goodness telescopic cigarette holder as she stood before me outside of the Sunny-Side Up Café. My phone had been vibrating sporadically in my pocket since the sun had begun its march towards the horizon, but I knew the list of suspects was small. Honestly, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to speak with anyone on that list anytime soon, so I just continued to ignore the vibrations emanating from my pocket as I took in my manager’s outfit right there on the main thoroughfare of Point Worth, Ohio.

Full evening dress, another fur capelet, a headwrap, alabaster skin with a red gash for a mouth, bright blue eye shadow, high heels, actual opera gloves, and sunglasses so dark I doubted she could see anything. My manager was a walking, talking caricature of what people thought Hollywood talent managers and agents looked like. Well, at least the female ones. It was probably all tailored suits, greasy, slicked-back hair, and chomping cigars for the male managers. Then again, I had no idea what gender stereotypes everyone had in their heads, so I could have been dead wrong. Also, I had no idea if people would have pegged Nelda Hammersmith as having anything to do with Hollywood at all.

Maybe people just think she’s batshit crazy?

My phone buzzed again, and I ignored it once more.

“Now I see why you never return my texts or calls, Jacob, dear.” Nelda cooed as she unclasped her tiny satin clutch purse to fish for a lighter. “You’ve been positively ignoring your phone since we got here.”

Since we got here was two minutes prior. Nelda had been standing outside of the Sunny-Side Up Café when I had been driving down Main street towards home. When I had seen Nelda standing there, draped in her Old Hollywood cosplay regalia, I had to stop. Not just because I was afraid she would be accosted by backwoods Ohioans with asinine questions about her provenance—not to mention her mental state—but because a thought struck me upon seeing her there. So, I had pulled into the parking lot of the café and approached my manager as she stood in the middle of Point Worth, looking as though she was waiting for the bus from the rest home.

After speaking with Carlita in the coffee shop in Toledo and having the revelation that I had, my mind was racing. When I drove home to Point Worth, to the house, I would be faced with Oma. Knowing what had transpired at the coffee shop, remembering the things that I remembered, I wasn’t sure that was something I was prepared to do. In fact, I wasn’t sure if seeing Oma was something I was incredibly keen on.

What I had said to Carlita had been true—as far as my memory served. My mother had disappeared one day after something…violent…had happened at the house. Then I remembered nothing until my dad was putting me to bed. When I awoke, Oma was there, prepared to watch over me since my father was gone as well. Both of my parents disappeared in less than a day after something shook the house and made a light show of epic proportions. What had happened at the house that would cause such an event—and make both of my parents run for the hills?

Had they even run away—or had they been chased off? Worse…had something terrible happened to them, and I had spent the entirety of my life thinking they were negligent and irresponsible parents? That’s what Oma had led me to believe for two decades, anyway. Oma had told me that my mom was a trifling ho-bag, and my dad was dumb enough to fall in love with her. It all led me to believe that my parents had just been horrible at the job and had decided that they were meant for different things besides raising a child. But I had enough of my early memories to know that my mother had not been negligent. In fact, she had been very attentive. She had been warm and loving, to both my father and me. There was no way she had just run off in the middle of the day. Even if she had, my father wouldn’t have followed suit, knowing that I had already lost one parent to a whim. Would he have?

If everything I had remembered, everything I now believed to be true was real, what did that mean for me and Point Worth? Where did that leave Oma and me? What about Lucas? The Kobolds? Any of it? Why did anything in Point Worth, Ohio even matter to me anymore? Couldn’t I just disappear like my parents had? Make a clean break? I had all of my memories. My magic. I could just go back to being Jacob Michaels, make movies, live in California, and pretend that none of this had ever happened. Oma had insinuated that it was possible I should just go back to Hollywood.

That was curious, though.

Maybe even more curious than other thoughts swirling through my brain like a gathering storm.

No one who was looking to cause me harm would tell me to take myself out of imminent danger’s way.

Right?

“Let me help you.” I sighed to myself as Nelda’s shaky hand extracted a silver-plated lighter from the small clutch.

Nelda smiled vaguely as I pulled the lighter from between her fingers and clicked it open. One cupped hand created a windscreen around the end of her cigarette as the other operated the lighter. I spun the wheel of the lighter…and nothing. Instead of trying again, I simply pushed a little magic into the lighter, making it produce a small flame on which Nelda could light her cigarette. I waited as she puffed a few times, then exhaled a plume of smoke, before I pulled the magic back, extinguishing the flame. Clicking the lighter shut, I held it out to her, which she readily accepted and dropped back into her clutch before clicking the purse shut once more.

“What’s waiting for me, Nelda?” I asked. “Is it just action movies and bullshit like that? I mean…if I came back?”

“Bullshit like that makes us millions of dollars, Jacob.” She clicked her tongue at me, disapprovingly. “I think—and don’t quote me—but I think if this sequel does as well as the last one, maybe we can get you in one of those awful Marvel movies.”

“Don’t say that too loudly,” I mumbled, though not unamused.

“Marvel movies?”
“No.” I frowned. “Don’t call them awful. You’re in middle-America for God’s sake, Nelda. Superhero movies are up there with Hot Dish and Jesus on Sundays.”

“What,” She gave a distasteful look, “is a Hot Dish?”

“A casserole.” I waved her off.

My stomach grumbled at the thought of greasy meat, cheese, and tater tots. Obviously, I needed to eat. If I was getting hungry thinking about Tater Tot Casserole, then I was starving.

“I don’t want to go back to Hollywood,” I shook my head slowly, “but I really don’t want to stay here. But, I guess, even Hollywood is better for me than staying here and being…me.”

“That’s perfect.” Her brow raised, and surely her eyes lit up, though the sunglasses kept me from confirming the fact. “They’re going to film the sequel in Turkey of all places.”

“Seriously?” I cringed.

“Mm.” She nodded and delicately spat a piece of tobacco from the tip of her tongue. “We’re going to have to put some weight on you, of course. Get you back into the shape you were before. If the producers see you like this—”

“If I did it once, I can do it again.” I waved her off. “Where’s Randy?”

“He’s waiting in the car.” She gestured vaguely at the Town Car parked a few spots down from mine. “I told him to wait while I checked to see if they could seat us. I figured that since we had to stay here tonight before our flight out tomorrow, we may as well have a decent meal.”

Glancing at the Town Car, Randy beeped the horn at me sharply and waved from the driver’s seat. He looked as out of place and clueless as Nelda Hammersmith did, though he seemed to be dressed more appropriately for Buttcrack Nowhere. I waved back with a confused smile before turning my attention back to my manager.

“Nelda.” I sighed. “This is Point Worth, Ohio. It’s a diner. It’s a walk-in place. They have never even thought of the idea of reservations. You seat yourself when you go inside.”

Nelda frowned, confused at the concept as she glanced at the squat, though charming building behind us.

“Quaint.” She stated magnanimously.

“It is that.” I agreed, not wanting to defend the café since it would distract from my point. Trying to explain that the rest of the world didn’t work like Hollywood elite believed was not on the agenda, either. “Look, what’s the latest I can come back? I have some…things…I need to do before I hop a flight.”

“No later than a week, Jacob.” She was shaking her head admonishingly. “You should just fly back in the morning with Randy and me, though. I can book you a flight right now.”

Nelda reached for her clutch again, probably to pull out her iPhone or some other device she had no clue how to use well enough to buy airplane tickets on the spot. Holding my hand out to slow her down, I drew her attention back to the matter at hand.

“I’ll be back before a week is up.” I nodded slowly, my hand on hers as she clutched her tiny bag. “I promise. And I’ll get my own ticket.”

“Well,” She turned her nose up, “if you insist. Personally, I would make my assistant do it if I were you. What else do you pay him for?”

“Her,” I said blandly. “Jessica is a woman.”

Nelda shrugged and brought her cigarette holder to her lips once more.

“It’s not even a unisex name.” I shook my head. “Nevermind. Look, I’ll see you in a week, Nelda. Okay?”

One shoulder rose and fell as Nelda blew out a plume of bluish smoke, right into my face.

God, I missed cigarettes.

“See you in a week, Nelda,” I state hurriedly as I turned and headed back towards my car, pulling my phone out of my pocket in the process.

“Hopefully sooner!” She stated grandly in response.

As I was sliding into the driver’s seat of my car, Nelda was waving for Randy to get out of the car and join her. Randy was exiting the car as Nelda plucked the cigarette from the telescopic holder and dropped it daintily to the ground before crushing it with the toe of her shoe. As Randy approached, he held an arm out to her, and together, they made a grand entrance into the Sunny-Side Up Café. I shook my head as I watched them disappear inside, wondering what they would think of Midwestern café food. Hopefully, they both would end up puking after eating more grease than they’d both collectively ever had in their lives. At the very least, a nasty case of The Trots was in their futures.

Once I was certain that they were safely inside and making asses of themselves in the café, I unlocked my phone and brought up my notifications. Several from Oma—which I had no intention of returning quickly—one from Jessica, probably to warn me about Nelda’s impending arrival, and two from Lucas.

You are still coming over for dinner, right?

The question was followed by the grinning devil emoji.

But I didn’t know if that little devil would still be smiling after I told Lucas what my future plans were going to be. Then again, I wasn’t so confident that I knew how to tell Lucas that I was giving up on my previous idea of staying in Point Worth. My head fell back against the headrest as I groaned, thinking of everything that had happened in the last few weeks. If I had been smart—which was something no one had ever accused me of—I would have left to go back to Hollywood as soon as I had gotten my memories back. Staying and giving Lucas his memories back had been the worst decision I had ever made. Really thinking about it, I felt that it might have also been the cruelest as well.

My phone got tossed into the passenger seat, and I pulled out of the Sunny-Side Up Café parking lot. Meeting Nelda Hammersmith outside of the café had helped me make a decision about my future—and how I really felt about staying in Point Worth. Lucas, on the other hand, was a major fly in the ointment. It was one thing to give Oma “deuces” and jump on a plane. I’d done it before without so much as a single word, so it wasn’t beneath me. Telling Lucas I couldn’t stay any longer and keep my sanity was another issue. Not just because it would be cruel to him…but because I genuinely did love Lucas.

That was one thing my memories didn’t contradict.

Chapter 8

Upon entering Lucas’ house, one thing was made clear to me once again. My boyfriend knew how to be alluring to the point that all other thoughts were pushed from my brain, and I was left in a hormonal puddle of stupid. Lucas was in the kitchen, peeking into the oven, clad only in boxers. When I came through the front door, his eyes came up to meet mine, and he smiled widely, the sheer joy at seeing me plastered all over his face. How could I possibly say or do anything to hurt him in any way? It would be like kicking a dog…well, no…my boyfriend wasn’t a pet. But he always looked as happy to see me as a beloved family pet would. How do you say or do anything cruel to someone who loves you as deeply as you love them? Aren’t those the people you are supposed to go out of your way to be as loving and kind to as possible?

“Hey, babe.” He greeted me. “How does pork chops, roasted potatoes and carrots, roasted Brussels sprouts, and warm, buttery biscuits for dinner sound?”

“Amazing,” I responded automatically. “What are we having?”

Lucas laughed.

“Everything except the pork chops.” He bit his lower lip, making lower parts of me stir. “But I did pick up a cake from the Super Walmart on the way home from Toledo this afternoon. Double Double Fudge.”

“Ooooh.” I wiggled my hips suggestively as I sauntered toward the kitchen. “You treat me so fine with your big city store-bought cake.”

My boyfriend tried not to look amused.

He failed.

“Bite me, city boy.” Lucas teased as I hopped up onto the barstool on the other side of the counter from him. “I wanted to get home in time to get cleaned up so your second dessert would be fresh.”

“When you put it that way.” I pursed my lips as he leaned over the counter to give me a kiss.

“I thought you’d see it my way.” He spoke against my lips before pulling away. “Second dessert is always more important to you than first dessert.”

“I don’t even give a shit about dinner if you want to skip right to second dessert.” I teased, though my stomach grumbled at me, admonishing me for saying one of the dumbest things I’d ever said in my life.

“I heard that.” Lucas jabbed a finger at my stomach. “Tummy Robbie is not going to let you just lie and not call you out, babe.”

“Tummy Robbie?” I scoffed. “I have a flat stomach, thank you very much.”

“I wasn’t implying otherwise.” Lucas admonished me. “But, for the record, I wouldn’t care if you had a gut, ya’ shallow turd.”

I laughed loudly as Lucas winked at me as he slipped on an oven mitt. Lucas turned his attention to the oven, which he opened smoothly to pull out a sheet pan full of roasted vegetables as if doing a magic trick which involved a rabbit and a top hat. As my boyfriend found hot pads to place on the counter and placed the sheet tray of vegetables atop it, I unfurled my napkin and laid it in my lap. Lucas ducked again and another sheet tray with the buttery biscuits he had promised upon it. My mouth watered as I thought of stuffing one biscuit after another in my mouth, savory the warm, liquified butter dribbling down my chin and throat as I chewed hungrily.

“Is that look for me or the food?” Lucas asked, pulling me away from my thoughts.

“Huh?” I looked up.

“You’re drooling, babe.”

“Oh, shut up.” I rolled my eyes as I chuckled and reached up to wipe my mouth to make sure he had been joking.

“I’m glad that what I have to offer appeals to you.” Lucas was biting his lip again, making lower parts of me tingle once more. “There’s nothing like seeing my man enjoy my goods.”

“If you keep biting your lip, I’m going to start thinking one of two things,” I said as I reached for my fork, trying to control my urges.

“Which two things?” He was smiling wickedly as he leaned against the counter.

“Either you are trying to seduce me—which is unnecessary—or you are secretly Anastasia Steele.” I raised my eyebrows questioningly as Lucas started shoveling roasted carrots, potatoes, and Brussels sprouts onto my plate with a large spatula. “Seducing me is okay, though.”

“Who is Anastasia Steele?” Lucas asked as he piled my plate with vegetables. “Did we go to high school with her?”

“Really?” I frowned as I pierced a potato with my fork.

Lucas looked over at me briefly, his shoulders rising and falling as he transitioned to making his own plate.

“What kind of English teacher are you?”

“Substitute.” Lucas corrected me. “Literature usually. Is Anastasia Steele some famous book character?”

Lucas looked at me imploringly as he filled his plate and it dawned on me that there was no reason why Lucas would know who Anastasia Steele was. Of course, there was no reason that I should have that knowledge stored away in my brain, either.

“Fifty Shades of Grey.” I cringed before shoving the potato in my mouth.

A sharp, genuinely amused laugh escaped Lucas’ throat as he pulled up a barstool to sit down across from me. Once he had his own fork poised over his plate, he looked over at me with a sly grin.

“How dirty is the book?” He asked, then skewered a vegetable. “I’ve never read it. Obviously.”

“I shouldn’t have.” I sighed.

My boyfriend chewed and urged me on.

“Not that dirty.” I shrugged. “I mean, other than people thinking BDSM is taboo and everything, it’s not that bad.”

“They tie each other up?”

“Um, I think he tied her up,” I replied, focusing on my food as we discussed one of the worst—but most fun—books in American literature. “I don’t think the BDSM went the other way.”

“Doesn’t seem fair.”

“True.”

“Does he spank her?” Lucas asked. “Mr. Grey, I presume.”

“Well, duh.” I chuckled as I skewered a carrot. “I mean, it’s BDSM. You have to have a little spanking, right?”

“Agreed.” Lucas chewed. “Blindfolds?”

“I think, yeah.”

“Whips and chains?” Lucas asked. “Handcuffs?”

“Probably.” I shrugged as I chewed and skewered another vegetable and reached for a biscuit. “I can’t remember specifically, but that sounds right.”

“Toys?”

I made an “mm” sound as I bit into the biscuit. Warm, melted butter greeted my lips and tongue, and my eyes closed in ecstasy as my stomach growled appreciatively again.

“What would Mr. Grey—”

“Christian,” I mumbled around the mouthful of half-masticated biscuit.

“—Christian make Anastasia do while she was all tied up?” Lucas asked. “I mean, after he spanked her, of course.”

“Sex stuff.” I shrugged.

“Babe,” Lucas said.

“Yeah?” I looked up and stuffed more of the heavenly biscuit into my mouth. “What?”

Lucas stared at me blandly.

“What?” I laughed nervously, barely understandable due to the mouthful of buttery biscuit in my mouth.

Lucas merely shook his head, an amused grin creeping onto his face as he stood from his barstool and slowly rounded the counter. Once Lucas was around the corner of the counter, and my view was unobstructed, I realized that Lucas Junior had joined our party. I swallowed the half-chewed biscuit in my mouth, nearly choking at the sight of my boyfriend’s boxers straining out towards me as he approached. Lucas stopped short of actually pushing against me, but he was close enough that one slight movement and part of my body would be touching one of my favorite parts of his.

“Oh,” I said simply, clearing my throat.

“You should have known better.”

“Talking about literature really does it for you, huh?”

“Literature?” He laughed.

I shrugged as a grin formed on my face. I was having a tough time keeping my eyes on Lucas’. Keeping my eyes from trailing down to lower parts of him was more than difficult.

“Isn’t any book technically literature?”

“Debatable.”

“Webster’s definition?” I teased.

“Maybe.” He grinned.

“Yay me,” I stated simply.

“Do you want to be Christian or Anastasia?” Lucas asked suddenly, making my eyes take on a saucer-like quality.

“Like…I mean…you want to do that?”

“Why not?” He was biting his lip again.

“I’ve never done those kinds of things before,” I said though I was already turning on the barstool to face him, intrigued. “I’ve barely done anything before, really. What if I do it wrong?”

“What do you think will go wrong?” Lucas moved closer, positioning himself between my knees.

We were definitely touching, and Lucas was getting closer.

“What if—what if I spank you too hard?”

“So, you want to be Christian?” Lucas’ mouth was so close to mine. “I can be Anastasia. I’d love to be your Anastasia.”

I grunted as Lucas’ groin ground against me.

“Okay.” I moaned. “But let’s use a different name. I’m one-hundred-percent gay here. And you’re definitely not an Anastasia.”

Lucas chuckled against my mouth before kissing me. His arms weren’t wrapped around me, but he was still grinding against me. I moaned into Lucas’ mouth, realizing that I was hard as a rock and had no idea when that happened.

“What do I call you?” Lucas asked, barely pulling away from my mouth in his effort to speak.

“Huh?” I moaned, trying to seal my lips over his once again.

“Do I call you ‘sir’?” He teased. “Or is ‘master’ more appropriate?”

I groaned.

“Baby steps, Lucas.” I chuckled, though I was more aroused than I’d ever been in my life. “I don’t know if I would know how to handle that right now.”

“I’ve got other things you can handle.”

Without even willing it, my hands shot out and grabbed ahold of Lucas’ ass through his thin boxers and pulled him into me roughly. Lucas gasped as his groin connected with my stomach, a particular appendage of his sliding up and getting squeezed between our two bodies. Hungrily, I looked up at him as Lucas looked down at me, first in surprise, then with excitement.

“Don’t get smart with me.” My voice was gravelly as I squeezed his ass with both hands and held him tightly against me.

“Okay.” He exhaled with a slight shiver.

“If you get smart with me, you’ll have to be punished.”

Lucas gave a slight smile.

“Then maybe I should.”

“Maybe.” I agreed.

“Do you need more motivation?” He asked lowly as he moved his hips slightly, sliding himself between us.

The movement made me throb and him gasp. Before Lucas could do anything else, I hopped off of the barstool and moved my hands to his wrists, pulling both of his arms behind his back roughly. The length of our bodies were still pressed together as I stared at him. I tried to look intimidating, though Lucas was just slightly taller, as I squeezed my hands around his wrists and held his arms behind his back. Lucas groaned and tried shifting his hips again to rub himself against me once more. With a wicked grin, I moved back just enough to deny him that pleasure.

“Babe.” Lucas moaned.

“You have to earn that.”

“How?”

“Go to the bedroom,” I commanded in a growl, my mouth against Lucas’ suddenly.

Lucas gasped again as my hands tightened around his wrists.

“Now,” I said firmly.

“Okay.” Lucas eagerly nodded.

Jerkily, I let go of Lucas’ hands, having to keep myself from grabbing him and having my way with him right there on the kitchen floor. The front of Lucas’ boxers was still announcing his excitement and willingness as we stared at each other hungrily for a moment. Lucas looked as if he could attack me as much as I probably looked like I was debating the idea myself. Before I could command Lucas to do as I said again, he hesitantly and jerkily stepped away from me, towards the bedroom. My eyes burned into his as he made his way toward the bedroom, walking backwards so that his eyes didn’t have to leave mine. When I saw him approaching the bedroom door, his eyes dropped to my crotch, and a slight grin appeared on his face. That was the rest of the motivation I needed to complete this experiment of Lucas’.

“Get in there,” I commanded firmly again.

Lucas jumped, though the grin didn’t leave his face and he darted into the bedroom as I began stomping across the room towards the doorway. When I stormed into the bedroom, Lucas was standing at the edge of the bed, his boxers no longer on. He was standing at full attention, the tip of him glistening. I did my best to not lick my lips as I sauntered over to him, prepared to provide my boyfriend with the release for a fantasy I hadn’t known he had held onto since…whenever.

“Did I tell you to take off your boxers?” I asked as I stepped into my boyfriend’s space and put my face in front of his. “Why would you do that if I didn’t tell you to?”

“I guess you’ll have to teach me to listen better.” He grinned slightly.

Reaching up, I ran my fingers through his hair as he sighed and looked into my eyes desperately. When my hand got to the back of his head, I tangled my fingers in his hair and pulled just roughly enough to be on this side of pleasure. Lucas’ mouth opened, but nothing escaped as my eyes burned into his. As my eyes lingered on his, I felt resolve fading away. My desire to do anything that might be painful melted away like ice on a hot summer sidewalk. Lucas’ eyes were pleading with me to do the thing I wasn’t sure I could without feeling poorly for it.

“Please, Rob.” Lucas exhaled, obviously aware that I was having second thoughts. “But only if you want to.”

His exposed cock was pushing against me, surely leaving a wet spot somewhere on the tail of my shirt. I leaned in and kissed him roughly, my lips forcing his lips open so that my tongue could slide into his mouth. Lucas moaned against my mouth as our tongues fought and his body moved desperately against mine. Groaning, I pulled at his hair, yanking his mouth away from mine.

“You’ll tell me if you don’t like it,” I grunted.

Lucas nodded.

“Please.” He nodded jerkily. “Please, Rob.”

“I want this,” I confirmed.

“I really want this.” He parroted.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” I whispered huskily. “At least, not more than you want me to.”

“You won’t.” He gasped again, making my pants feel even tighter.

“Because you’ll tell me if it goes too far.” It wasn’t quite a command but not quite a question.

Maybe a firm request.

“Yes.” He was nodding desperately again. “I’ll tell you.”

Grabbing Lucas’ upper arms, I pulled him into me a final time and kissed him deeply, no tongue, no tricks, just a loving, deep kiss. When I gently pushed him away from my lips, I looked deeply into his eyes.

“Then I need you to turn around and put your hands on the bed, Lucas.” I was biting my lips this time.

“Yes.” Lucas sighed dreamily. “Yes, sir.”

Lucas’ head was on my chest as we laid naked on the bed together, both of us worn out yet satisfied. My boyfriend’s ass was a slightly brighter shade of pink than a slight sunburn would provide, but the dreamy smile on his face let me know that he didn’t mind in the slightest. Every now and again, Lucas would turn his face so he could tenderly kiss my chest, as though thanking me over and over again for what we had just done. My mind reeled at the thought of everything we had done that I had never thought of doing before. I wasn’t so sure that either of us would ever do those things again, even with each other, but the evidence that we both had enjoyed the experience immensely was evident.

Only once had Lucas told me that it was all too much during our session in his bedroom. But it wasn’t because he couldn’t physically take the pleasure bordering on pain. It was because he was so turned on that he needed me to stop so that he could turn around and drop to his knees in front of me. He needed to do things to me to show how much he was enjoying what we were doing. And I was happy to let him. My fingers had twisted, curled, and tugged at his hair as he used his mouth on me in a way that only he knew how to do. After that, my mouth was on him as I held his hands behind him against his ass. Then he was on the bed on all fours again, but for an entirely different reason than punishment.

It was all too much and not enough for both of us. Lucas and I were not known for ending our sessions too quickly, but this once I think we both would have been unhappy to go all night. Our experiment had aroused us both too much for that to be a possibility. Our excitement made it impossible for us to not thrust and suck and stroke and spank towards one goal as quickly as possible. Things ended much more rapidly than usual, but I was pretty sure that neither one of us was going to complain.

“Can it be like this forever?” Lucas whispered against my chest before kissing it gently again. “You and me. This? I want this to be our life, Rob. I don’t want to never not have life be like this.”

“It can be like this as much as you like, Lucas.” I sighed happily.

“Promise?” He asked with a sigh.

Responding to Lucas was not the easiest task once my mental processes started to catch up with me. When I had come to Lucas’ house for dinner as we had planned, I had also been keenly aware that I needed to tell him that I wanted to go back to Hollywood. I needed to leave Point Worth, Ohio—put everything behind me and go back to the life that I thought I hated. After being in Point Worth and everything that had happened in such a short amount of time, Hollywood was looking better than it ever had. It looked better than it had after I jumped into the well in the basement, my memories got stolen, and my wish had been granted. Now that I knew I had the charisma and personality—enhanced by my innate magical abilities—to be a movie star, I knew that I could escape all of the craziness of my hometown once more.

The Kobolds were one thing. Discovering the things creeping around Oma’s house was jarring before I had retrieved my memories from the well, but I could have dealt with it. Finding out that there were werewolves…I probably could have dealt with that as well. I mean…there are tons of things out in the world that a lot of us know nothing about. Only five percent of the ocean has been explored, so there could easily be things living in the deep that would turn a person’s hair white as they shit their pants.

Having the encounters with Jason, seeing strange visions, pulling my teenage self out of Lake Erie…I probably could have learned to deal with those things. Oma being a witch, the same. Once I jumped into the well and recovered mine and Lucas’ memories and really understood about the man in the black hooded cloak, things got unbearable. Now I knew that unknown werewolves were roaming Point Worth, looking to cause trouble. Lucas had some odd powers. Jason and Andrew would never stop being a bother. Oma would never stop keeping secrets. And sticking around Point Worth would lead to its decimation made my path clear.

Leave.

Get on a plane.

Never look back.

The man in the black hooded cloak will have no reason to return if you are not here, Rob.

He won’t have the ability.

In the furthest, deepest corners of my mind, I knew that my plan was full of holes and there were a million problems that Lucas and I should probably deal with before we made any major decisions. Together, we had a lot to discuss, questions to ask, things to tell each other, but I just didn’t care. I had come to Point Worth because I was tired and done with Hollywood. What would be so wrong about going back to Hollywood for the same reason? Point Worth and everyone and everything in it was going to have the same effect eventually. In fact, Point Worth would probably lead to mine or several other people’s deaths.

Get out while the getting’s good, Rob.

“Lucas,” I whispered into his hair as he kissed my chest again.

“Mm.”

“Do you want to live in California?” I asked gently.

Lucas’ lips froze against my chest. As if time was moving at a snail’s pace, his head slowly turned, and I was greeted with his confused, and possibly horrified gaze.

“What?”

I chuckled nervously.

“Would you want to live in California?” I asked again, refusing to lose my resolve. “With me. I want to leave Point Worth. Soon.”

“Rob.” He started to pull away.

Tightening my arms around his body, I kept Lucas’ body against mine as we stared into each other’s eyes. Lucas’ started to look slightly aghast at what I had been suggesting, but he stopped trying to pull away from me.

“How soon?”

“Tomorrow if we could.”

“Oh my god.” Lucas’ lips parted in shock. “You told me you wanted to stay here. Find a guy to live your life with. Who loved you. Travel. Live to be old and happy, and live a quiet life. What changed, Rob? I mean…did you not mean all of that when you said it?”

“Lucas.” I shifted in the bed, bringing myself to a seated position against the headboard. Lucas slid from my arms but did not pull away as he came to kneel in front of me. For once, his nudity presented to me in such a way was not a distraction. “I meant every word when I said it. But you know everything that’s happened since then. Can you honestly say that you want to stay here now? After everything that’s happened? Now that we know everything that we know? Again? We have our memories back, babe.”

Lucas stared warily at me.

“Don’t tell me you don’t remember everything that led up to me going into the cellar when we were sixteen and why. And don’t tell me thinking about not knowing me when I came back out doesn’t break your heart now that you have those memories. We loved each other, then and we love each other now. Those ten years away from each other were the worst ten years of my life. I want to leave this town—again—and never look back. Fuck Oma. Fuck the house. Fuck Jason and Andrew and werewolves and Kobolds and Oracles—”

“Oracles?”

“Fuck magic.” I finished. “I want to leave. But I don’t want to leave without you. I don’t want to do that again.”

“Rob—”

“I don’t know what is up with you and knowing how to use magic and all of that.” I shook my head. “I don’t care why werewolf bites don’t affect you, okay? I don’t care if I know your family history or any of that. Because…if we leave here…together…it won’t matter. We’ll just be Rob and Lucas—well, I’ll be Jacob Michaels again—but we’ll be together. Living a normal life. Well, kind of normal. Don’t you want that, babe? Don’t you want to forget about all of the weird things that happen here and having to deal with them just so we can be together? We can ditch all of that shit and just have the being together part. Isn’t that what you want, Lucas?”

“Rob—”

“Please.” I pleaded, a single tear dropping from my eye. “Please, please, please Lucas. Don’t tell me, ‘no.’ Okay? I can’t hear ‘no.’ When I decided this, there was something inside of me telling me it was okay because I knew you would go with me if I asked.”

Lucas looked as though he was going to cry as well.

“Of all things I know—the one I know the strongest is that I’m meant for you and you’re meant for me.” I shook my head, refusing to think of any alternative. “And I know that will work even better in California. I promise.”

“I have a job here, Rob,” Lucas said gently. “Two jobs. I’m a substitute English teacher, and I sling hardware for grandpa. What would I do in Los Angeles, Rob?”

“Nothing,” I answered quickly. “Or anything you wanted. I have money. I’ll work, babe. I’ll do whatever it does to make you happy or nothing at all. Whatever you want. Anything you wish is my command, Lucas. I swear.”

Lucas stared into my eyes.

“Wishes got us into this, babe.” He answered softly.

“Don’t.” I slowly shook my head, both eyes leaking now. “Please don’t blame me for all of this.”

“I’m not.”

“I know it’s all my fault. Okay?” I was on the verge of sobbing. “All I can think of is…shit…how we got here. I can’t even have a coherent thought about most of it because it’s all too much. I couldn’t explain it if I wanted to. And I know it’s my fault. I get that. I thought I was doing the right thing, babe.”

“The road to Hell is paved with good intentions, Rob.” Lucas sighed.

I swallowed hard, willing myself to accept that Lucas had made up his mind about me. He had made a decision. The blame for everything was squarely on me in his mind…and California was the last thing he would choose. I sniffled, hoping that I could save some of my dignity.

“But I don’t blame you.” He looked up at me. “I know it’s not your fault. What happened.”

Hope filled my mind and my heart as I looked at my boyfriend cautiously, wondering if he was being honest.

“This whole town is full of secrets, Rob.” He whispered. “Everything here is…fucked. No kid should have had to make the decision you were forced to make. You found an alternative. I don’t blame you—because that’s not your fault at all.”

My eyes were freely leaking now.

“You did what had to be done when other people just ran away, babe.” He shook his head in disgust. “And it worked. Maybe not great, but it worked. How can I blame you for that?”

I gave a wet laugh.

“And you came back.” He smiled gently. “Just like you said you would. You brought me back, too. If you want to make a new wish for the future, I will be by your side for that one, too.”

“Are you saying…”

“I’ll go to California.” He gave a firm nod, though he looked nervous.

A heavy, relieved exhale poured from my throat as I pulled Lucas forward so that I could hold him against me. He chuckled as our bodies pushed against each other’s once again.

“I don’t know what the hell I’m going to do in Los Angeles.” He grumbled. “I mean…the people. The lights, cars…it’s pretty…uh…busy, right?”

“I’ll buy you a house in Hidden Hills or Calabasas with a big yard and a swimming pool and hills and trees around us so you can still feel like you’re not in the big city. I’ll buy you any fucking house you want, babe. A mansion if you want it.” I laughed as I started kissing his face, which made him chuckle. “If you don’t want to drive, I will, or we’ll get Ubers or hire a driver. We can have groceries and dinners delivered. We can do whatever needs to be done so that you’re comfortable there, okay? Anything.”

“Promise?”

“Anything.”

“Just make sure that I can look out the backdoor without seeing a stream of cars driving by on a highway and I won’t complain about a single thing, Rob.” He smiled at me.

I laughed. “I can do that.”

“What if you—uh, what’s it called?” He frowned. “You have to shoot on location or something? Like in some other country for months on end?”

I looked at him like he was crazy. “You’ll come with me, babe. I mean, unless you want to find some job and stay home while I’m off on location, you’ll come with me. But that’s totally up to you, too. Anything you want, remember?”

He smiled.

“I mean, I guess I could be your personal assistant and just travel with you.” He said. “You’ll have to fire the one you have.”

“I could use two.” I teased. “Besides, you’ll be assisting me with things that Jessica doesn’t have the qualifications for.”

Lucas laughed and gasped as I grabbed a particular part of him as I held him against me, overjoyed that he had agreed to my request. I kissed Lucas repeatedly, kisses he happily returned as we smiled and held each other, confident in our decision. We probably would have ignored our cold dinner in the kitchen, forgone showers, and laid in bed together, kissing and snuggling until we fell asleep, completely exhausted. In fact, we probably would have been more than happy to kiss and snuggle until dawn came. The loud boom that echoed through the house, right before all of the lights fizzled out, kept us from doing that, though.

Chapter 9

Lucas and I were frozen in time, startled into a near-catatonic state as the darkness overtook the house, and the booming sound echoed off of the walls. As quickly as it sounded, the booming sound disappeared, and the echo of its existence stopped bouncing off of the walls. Lucas and I turned our heads to look at each other, our eyes not used to the darkness that was suddenly thrust upon us. The two of us knelt there together, listening, barely seeing, waiting for something to pop up out of the darkness, to clue us in on what had caused the sound and the lights to go out. There was nothing but the darkness and the silence, other than the sound of our own breathing, however. Slowly, I indicated to Lucas to get out of bed and put his pants on.

Quietly, and in unison, the two of us let go of each other and shifted to the edge of the bed, making as little noise as possible. My brain started to concoct reasons for the noise and the sudden extinguishing of all of the lights in the house. Maybe a transformer blew outside. There was no rain or storm of any kind to have caused problems, but it was totally possible that an equipment malfunction happened randomly. A flipped breaker was also possible, especially since Lucas had built the house himself—I had no idea if he did the electrical work himself—so that was added to the list.

It was also possible that a storm was starting to roll in that we had not noticed due to all of our fun and dramatic talking in the bedroom. A sudden rainstorm, accompanied by lightning and thunder, was not an oddity in upper Ohio in early Spring. More times than I had fingers to count, crazy, violent storms had popped up out of nowhere during Spring in our neck of the woods. It was not totally out of the question that we had Mother Nature to worry about more than anything else. The only problem was the twisting and turning in my gut, letting me know that whatever happened was not natural.

As though I could simply sense it, I knew something was very wrong, even though I had no evidence to support that feeling. With everything that had happened in my lifetime, though, I did not feel in that moment that I had to be rational. All things considered, I had every right to be as irrational and come up with as many crazy theories as I wanted. The first thing that came to mind was:

Magic.

Whether what had happened was a genuinely intentional act committed by a magical practitioner or some other type of act accompanied by magic was beyond me. I knew of no one—besides Oma and myself—who could cast magic in Point Worth, though my knowledge was limited. It wasn’t like I went to the monthly conventions to network or simply to make new friends in the community. I wasn’t even sure that those in the world who could do magic wanted others to know about it. Oma and I were pretty damned secretive about it, after all. As far as I knew, it was a pretty rare ability, so I was guessing that any convention I could have gone to would have been pretty lame and not worth the cost of admission. Of course, that thought only led to two other possibilities.

Black-hooded cloak.

Werewolves.

Lucas slid off of his side of the bed as I slid off of the other side, and together, we found our pants in the dark. Sliding into my jeans, I could see Lucas sliding into his boxers in my peripheral vision, though the darkness distorted things a bit. For all I knew, he was trying on a pair of yoga leggings. The thought, regardless of the seriousness of the situation, made me smile slightly, though I was still ill at ease.

“What was it?” Lucas whispered before looking around the bedroom floor in vain for something to put on over his boxers.

“I don’t know,” I whispered over my shoulder as I started to creep towards the bedroom door.

“Don’t go anywhere.” He hissed desperately. “We’ll go together.”

I paused and turned my head slightly to watch Lucas as he scrabbled around for a second, finally locating what he was looking for by the large window that looked out at Lake Erie. He stood from his stooped over position, triumphantly holding a pair of what looked like basketball shorts. Time and darkness seemed to press in on us as I waited quietly for him to slip them on. Lucas tied the drawstring in the shorts, giving me a proud look from across the room, the whites of his eyes and his teeth the only clearly visible features in the darkness of the bedroom. I shook my head nervously with a smile at him as he beamed back from his place next to the window.

“Now we can—”

The window shattered, shards of glass slicing through the air towards me as Lucas’ eyes grew wide in horror. I crouched quickly with a scream, my hand flying up out of instinct, as I focused my magic outward. A halo of barely visible blue light appeared, and every piece of glass that hit it turned to sand. The other shards of glass flew past me, not connecting with my vulnerable, exposed flesh. Before I could pull my magic back in or stand from my crouched position, two arms, several times more massive than a normal man’s—and much hairier—came through the window and encircled Lucas’ waist.

He barely had time to look at me in disbelief.

“Rob.” He gasped.

Then my boyfriend was yanked out of the window and into the night.

Roaring with rage and fear, I darted to the window, launched myself through it, and landed on the soft grass below. Werewolves are fast. By the time I had landed, corrected my footing, and raised my hand in preparation to send some fire towards the werewolf, he was nowhere in sight. Neither was Lucas. A scream to the left made me whip around, hand at the ready, searching desperately for some sign of my boyfriend. My stomach sunk when my eyes landed on the werewolf, Lucas over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes with flailing human appendages. I screamed angrily as the werewolf jumped into the back of a pickup truck at the side of the house.

Taking off at a full run, I thought about sending fireball after fireball towards the pickup and the werewolf who had Lucas wrapped up in his arms. However, I knew that there was no guarantee that Lucas would come away from the assault unharmed, so I lowered my arms to my side, pumping them as I ran as fast as I could towards the truck. The taillights lit up red, casting the surrounding yard in an ominous shade and it took off, werewolf and Lucas in the back. Screaming with rage, I ran faster, doing my best to catch up to them, to give myself a clear shot at Lucas’ captor. But a human is no match for a pickup truck. Dust and gravel flew out at me as the truck sped off and I was forced to slide to a stop, barely staying on my feet, so that I could watch the truck drive off into the night.

Two red, rapidly shrinking eyes taunted me as they flew off into the night.

My whole body shook as I looked up to the heavens and screamed with rage.

Chapter 10

Jason barely had a chance to get out of the way as his door flew inwards. As soon as he had unlocked the door and began to swing it open to see who was banging away on it, I had violently kicked it in. He screamed out in shock as he jumped back and the door slammed into the wall behind it, the doorknob busting through and sticking into the drywall there. Jason stood there, merely in pajama pants, breathing heavily as he stared at his door now affixed to the wall. Heat and anger poured off of me as I stood framed in the doorway, glaring at him. I started to raise my hand, to do something to harm him. Not because I thought he had anything to do with Lucas being taken, but because he was one of them. He was a werewolf—just like the person who had ripped Lucas out of his own home and stolen away into the night as I pathetically tried to save him.

After the truck disappeared into the darkness, those two red eyes practically laughing at me, I screamed into the night sky. Fire shot from my hands into the sky, flying in an arc over the front lawn and landing far out from the shore into Lake Erie. There it sizzled and steamed and sent up more proof of my rage and fear. Why hadn’t I gone back to Hollywood sooner? Told Lucas that I didn’t want to stay in Ohio? He would have gone with me sooner—before it was too late. I had shaken those thoughts away. Too late. Lucas had just been taken, not harmed.

Hewasfinehewasfinehewasfine.

Please, God. Let him be fine.

He better be fine.

I will burn this entire state down if he is not fine.

He didn’t do anything to deserve this.

Slowly, I lowered my hand at that thought. Jason was a total douchebag, but he hadn’t done anything to be turned into a piece of bacon, either. Yet. His eyes shifted from the door and the wall to me, a look of anger trying to chase away the fear in his eyes. Glaring through the doorway at him, I stepped over the threshold into the house.

“They got my fucking boyfriend,” I growled.

“What?” Confusion shadowed his face. “Who? Who got Lucas?”

“Your fucking people.” I snarled. “Werewolves.”

“My pack?” He was actually shocked.

“I have no fucking clue.” I snapped. “You all look alike when you’re furry, you piece of shit.”

“No, we—” He stopped himself. “That’s not the point. A werewolf took your—Lucas?”

“Yes.”

“When? Where?”

“From his house, asshole,” I growled again, stomping closer. “We had just got done…stuff…and some furry shit-hook came through the window and grabbed him like a sack of potatoes.”

“Did he hurt him?” His eyes grew wide as he observed my menacing form stalking towards him.

“He jumped into the back of a pickup truck with Lucas, and it sped away,” I replied sharply. “I wasn’t able to stop them. But that means there was at least two of them working together.”

“Why would anyone want Lucas?”

“Why would anyone want to bite him, you dumb bitch?” I snapped.

“Fuck you.”

“Why have you always been after Lucas since we were kids?” I demanded. “You always wanted him in your pack. Because, it’s kinda fucking suspect now, Jason.” I stalked closer. “In the last day, two werewolves have attacked us and bit him. Now, one came through his fucking window to kidnap him. What the fuck is going on?”

“I told you and your crazy ass grandmother this morning why I tried to recruit Lucas when we were kids.” Jason snapped back, though he was slowly inching away from me, obviously not as dumb as he looked. “The man in the black hooded cloak told me to.”

“Yeah?” I hissed. “Partial bullshit, Jason. You might have done it to appease him, to keep him from doing you and your pack harm, but I think you also know why he wanted you to do it. And I swear to God you’re going to tell me.”

I raised a hand, red fire already encircling it, lapping and flickering, though not harming my flesh.

“Be careful!” Jason practically squealed as he backed into the island in his kitchen.

“Tell me, goddamnit!” I bellowed.

“Because Lucas was a distraction!” Jason spat, though his eyes were still wide with fear. “Because he was in the way, all right?”

“What does that mean?” I glowered at him, my hand and the fire staying in position, threatening him.

“Dude.” Jason was shaking his head violently. “Just stop. I’ve already told you enough, okay? Put your fucking hand down and let’s talk like normal people—without fangs, claws, or fire.”

“I’m beyond being civil, Jason.” I inched closer as menacingly as possible. “You’re going to tell me what the fuck you are talking about—what you actually mean, and not some half-truth bullshit—or I’m going to burn this whole fucking house down. And you’ll be the kindling.”

“Fuck.” Jason hissed to himself, aware that his choices were severely limited.

He realized he had to decide if he wanted to tell me what he knew and risk putting himself in danger…or not tell me and certainly get barbecued alive.

“Fine!” He growled back at me. “Put your hand down.”

“After you tell me, asshole.”

“Lucas made you more powerful.” Jason spat, firelight dancing in his eyes, I was so close. “He gave you something to fight for. To live for. He. Got. In. The. Way.”

“Whose way?” I demanded.

“Who do you think?” Jason shouted back.

“Him.”

Jason gave a single sharp nod.

“He wasn’t concerned about Lucas’ powers? How Lucas just knew things? Why he’s immune to werewolf bites?” I asked. “Do you think maybe that’s why he was so damn fixated on Lucas?”

Jason stared at me for a moment, the anger and fear melting from his face, leaving him bewildered by me. After a few breathless moments, a grin slowly started to form on Jason’s face.

“You really are a clueless son of a bitch, aren’t you?” Jason snorted sharply. “I always thought you were pretty fucking dumb, but—wow.”

“I’m still holding fire, fuckface.”

“He doesn’t care about Lucas’ powers. Or mine. Or anyone else’s.” Jason was on the verge of laughing. “There’s nothing for him to be curious about, you idiot.”

“What does that mean?” I asked, pushing the fire closer to Jason.

He didn’t even react.

“He’s the reason we have our powers, you fucking nitwit.” Jason chuckled. “He’s the reason this whole fucking town is the way it is. Why everything is upside down. I mean…God, you’re simple. I know it’s hard to believe that werewolves and witches and magic are all not real. But you know that they are. Didn’t you ever wonder why there are so many in the little fucking town of Point Worth, Rob? Did that ever cross your mind?”

“I’ve been kinda busy not having my memories for a decade.” I snapped.

“What?” Jason frowned.

“So,” I realized I had said too much, “that’s where this comes from?”

Indicating the fire in my hand, Jason’s eyes were drawn to it. He grinned so widely that his teeth reflected the flame, painting them in reds and yellows.

“No, you dipshit.” He turned his eyes back to mine. “You’re the one person in this town whose powers have nothing to do with him. That’s why he wants Lucas out of the way. To make it easier to get to you when the time comes. When your time comes. Your power is not his. And it makes you so…enticing.”

Jason sniffed the air as his eyes closed slowly, his tongue darting out to lick his lips.

I swallowed hard.

“What?”

“You’re only here for one reason, Rob.” Jason was shaking his head as he smiled, his eyes opening once more. “Your parents had no clue when they came here what drew them here…but…you’re going to release him. Finally. You’re going to open up the ground, and it’s going to swallow this whole fucking town, and out of that, he’ll be born again. When you sent him away, you just helped him out. He’s growing stronger by the day, man. And when he finally comes…it’s going to leave this place in ruins. You’ve seen it. I know you have. Because I’ve seen it, too.”

“You look happy about that.” It was the only thing I could think of to say.

“Happy?” Jason snarled suddenly. “Of course I’m happy!”

I inched back marginally at the fire-illuminated crazy expression on Jason’s face.

“Who the fuck wants to live like this?” He swept an arm vaguely through the air. “In this shithole town with limited opportunities, turning hairy off and on, walking the thinnest tight-rope in the world, hoping that you don’t anger him. Pray he doesn’t decide you and your family aren’t living up to the bargain?”

“Bargain?” I felt sick.

“Ask your boyfriend.” He snorted.

“I’m asking you.” I darted forward, shoving my flame covered hand into his face, nearly singing off some of his five o’clock shadow. “I’m asking you because I know where the fuck you are, Jason.”

“The Barkley’s have been here as long as my family has.” Jason didn’t even look scared anymore. “Do you think Lucas is the only one who is…special? His family knows him as well as mine and everyone else’s family in this town does, Rob. We all get powers…he uses us as he sees fit. Every damn person in this town is some flavor of strange. Some more so than others.”

Jason looked down when he said that part, obviously considering his own special “power.”

“Only problem is,” Jason looked up, squinting angrily, “Lucas doesn’t like playing the game.”

“You get powers you don’t want, and he uses all of you?” I was confused as I backed up marginally, pulling my hand away from him. “That’s it? Why do any of you play the game?”

I scoffed at him.

“I mean,” I continued, “if you don’t want to be a werewolf and the Barkley’s don’t want…whatever it is they have…why go along with it? What’s he going to do? Especially now that he’s gone?”

“He’s not gone,” Jason whispered. “He’s resting. You didn’t stop him. You just slowed him down. Sure. We all hoped what you did got rid of him for good. So we could all go on living as close to normal as possible. But…he’s been reminding us periodically that he’ll be back. And any of us who think we’re safe now will find out otherwise.”

“What’s in it for you?” I repeated like Jason was deaf. “Even if you know he’ll come back, he’s going to destroy this town and everything in it. Why play along?”

“Have you seen any homeless people here, Rob?” Jason asked gently. “Seen anyone go hungry? What’s the dropout rate at the high school? Who doesn’t have a job? Who can’t pay their bills? We’ve only had social problems in this town in the last ten years. Since you did what you did.”

“I see.” I swallowed.

“Maybe we’re all going to be fucked when he pops up again,” Jason said. “But we’re all going to die eventually anyway. At least here we know we’ll be taken care of until then.”

“Yeah.” I nodded, my hand dropping to my side as the fire went out, leaving us in shadowy darkness. “Because living under a bridge is so much worse than a fate worse than death, right? And you call me stupid.”

Jason just glowered.

“Everyone in this fucking town is a few red Solo cups short of a frat party, man.” I laughed bitterly. “I knew it when I was a kid…and these last few weeks have confirmed it. Especially now that I have—”

I stopped myself.

Jason grinned evilly.

“What are you smiling at, fucker?” I snapped.

“Nothing.” He snickered.

“Fucking tell me,” I replied. “Or do I need to threaten to burn you alive in this house again?”

“Your memory.” He snickered again. “It’s back.”

“What?”

How does he know anything about that?

“You wished to not know anything about any of this.” Jason was gesturing vaguely once more.  “You thought so hard about how you wished you and Lucas didn’t know about any of the stuff that happened when you were kids. To escape from what was coming. You wished your little friends in your house were safe, too. You thought, when you came out of that well, that you had stopped him. That everyone was safe.”

I stared at him, my gut sinking towards my feet.

“All you did was make everyone on your side dumber than ever for the next ten years.” Jason was full-on laughing. “And the rest of us just went along with it, let you believe it while he started planning his return. He’s inevitable, Rob. All you did was give him more time to plan. You fucked up. And you didn’t even realize it until Lucas was snatched and I told you. You’ve already lost and are just now realizing it, man.”

“Fuck you,” I grumbled angrily.

“And so few of you there were, right?” He was so amused that I wanted to punch my fist through his face and out the back of his head. “You, Lucas…and some creatures who live in that house. You better hope you can handle him on your own, Rob. Because those creatures are nothing…and Lucas will be dead by the time the sun comes up.”

A snarl started to build in my throat as I glared at Jason, the fear and worry for Lucas twisting my guts. But then a thought dawned on me, something I should have thought of long before that moment. Something that I’d been told but didn’t quite want to believe. Shaking my head at how stupid I was, I couldn’t help but smile bitterly.

“Of course, these guys are your pack.” I sighed, angry at myself. “The guys who attacked Lucas and me and bit him…the guys who took him just now. All of these wolves are your pack. You’ve been expanding for ten years.”

“Largest pack in the whole northwest.” He leaned forward and winked evilly. “Though, that’s not really saying much since no one comes close to our size.”

I nodded slowly.

“You really are simple, aren’t you?” Lucas sighed with a smile. “All you have is your magic and a blank book. You don’t even have Lucas anymore. Well, soon, no one will have Lucas.”

The book.

How does he…

Oh.

Oh, yeah.

“The book won’t be blank for long.” I shrugged. “And Lucas won’t be dead soon. I may be slow…but I’m steady, assface. I can win this race.”

Jason threw his head back and laughed with incredulity.

“But first,” I stopped him with my sharp tone, “I’m going to do what I told Oma I was going to do.”

“What’s that?” Jason rolled his eyes.

“I’m gonna cut the head off the Hydra.” I smiled sweetly at him. “I don’t care what happens.”

Jason gave me a confused look. When I smiled at him and drug a finger across my neck, his confused look turned to a mixture of anger and fear. Rage welled up in me as I started to lift my hands towards Jason. His head fell back again, but instead of a laugh, it was a howl that came from his throat. In less time than it takes to blink, Jason’s flesh seemed to explode from his body, his werewolf form bursting forth. The howl still coming from the wolf’s throat echoed off of the walls as his head tilted back down, much higher than it had been before, to stare at me with red eyes.

I wasn’t afraid.

Werewolf Jason leapt forward, and I stepped aside, making a slashing motion with my hand as he flew by. With a resounding crash, the werewolf that was Jason fell to the ground. Well, his body crashed to the ground. His head came tumbling after a split second later.

You don’t need silver to kill a werewolf.

Almost everything needs a head to live.

The puddle of blood began blooming around the beheaded werewolf as it laid there, motionless and useless.

So, I went to Jason’s kitchen to find some Tupperware.

Chapter 11

The front door of Oma’s house creaked only slightly as I pushed it open, cautious, attempting to be sly as I made my way into the house in the middle of the night. Darkness, like that in Lucas’ and Jason’s house, pervaded, but my eyes were adjusted to trying to see in the dark now. Cradled in the crook of my arm was the Tupperware I had taken from one of the cabinets in Jason’s kitchen, being careful so as to not drop it. Once I was inside, I gently shut the door behind myself, making sure that a mere click sound was made by the lock engaging. I knew that Oma would not hear the noises of the door opening and closing—I’d snuck in and out enough as a teenager and as an adult to know that. But I didn’t want to wake Ernst or any of the Kobolds, either. Especially Ernst, actually. He’d be inquisitive, and I couldn’t have that.

I didn’t bother kicking my shoes off, though my footsteps would have been lighter if I had. Sticking around Oma’s house was not in my plans, however, and kicking my shoes off just to put them back on in a few moments would only slow me down. Lucas needed me as quickly as possible, so I had to work fast. If I happened to wake Oma or the Kobolds up, that was something that I would just have to deal with when the time came. Until then, I was going to do things the only way that I knew how—like a bull in a china cabinet.

When I got to the bookcase, I knelt down, gently setting the Tupperware onto the ground beside me. The house was as quiet as a grave as I reached down and gently pried the false board away from the bottom of the case. My hands slid into the darkness of that cubbyhole, and my fingertips connected with the old leather of the book. I slid it out of its hiding place and set it onto the floor before me. I didn’t bother pricking my finger and trying to open the book the way that I’d always been taught.

The magic I’d done when I was sixteen fucked everything up.

It needed more than just a touch of my magic.

The book wasn’t going to do anything for anyone until it was satisfied with a significant bit of magic.

With more blood than I could give.

“Thirsty?” I whispered in a bland tone as I picked up the large, full Tupperware container and slowly peeled back the lid.

The viscous liquid inside—Jason’s blood—looked black in the dark of Oma’s house. I shut my eyes for a moment, saying a silent prayer—to who, I wasn’t sure—and tipped the container forward. Blood flowed over the edge and onto the book. Blood I had let seep into the Tupperware from Jason’s open neck. At first, all I could think about was how I was going to make Oma’s living room look like a murder scene—like Jason’s. But when the blood connected with the book, it seemed to disappear into the leather of the old book, as though it was being drunk into the book itself. I smiled to myself as I continued pouring the container onto the book until the very last drop dripped off of the plastic lip of the Tupperware.

Pressing the lid back onto the Tupperware, sealing it tightly, I set it to the side for the time being. The book was heavier than I ever remembered it being as I lifted it from the floor. It was almost as if it had a belly full of blood it was digesting, giving it more heft—though I wasn’t sure that was a bad analogy for what was actually going on. When I brought my fingers to the leather cover to open the book, it gave no resistance. Looking down at the book, I smiled at the sight of the dark shapes and words on the pages that I couldn’t quite read due to being in the dark, but could still see were now there.

The book was no longer hiding its secrets.

All it needed was more magic.

Rising from my knees to stand once more, I closed the book and bent down to grab the plastic storage container from the floor. Creeping again, I made my way to the kitchen and set the book on the counter. I methodically cleaned out the bloody container in Oma’s sink, once again being as quiet as possible, then shoved it into the dishwasher. Either it would be cleaned so thoroughly that no one would know what it had been used for, or by the time someone figured it out, I’d be long gone. Neither situation particularly bothered me in the slightest.

No Kobolds were in sight, and I hadn’t heard a single sound in the process of retrieving the book and washing out the Tupperware in the kitchen. So, when I started to tiptoe back through the living room towards the front door, I was startled out of my skin when the light came on suddenly. I jumped back, nearly dropping the book, when I saw Oma standing by the front door, her arms crossed under her breast, looking at me like I was crazy. Hiding the book or pretending that I hadn’t been creeping around didn’t even cross my mind. I simply adjusted my facial expression to a more normal one.

Not that it mattered.

“Where you been?” She asked.

Simple question.

“Where have you been?” I countered.

“In bed, of course.”

Looking her over, it was evident that Oma had not been in bed. She had on her button-down shirt and jeans, her makeup had not been washed off, her hair was still perfectly coifed. The only article of clothing that indicated she had been ready for bed was the hard-sole slippers on her feet.

“Okay.” I shrugged.

She just stared at me.

“Out of my way, old woman.” I gestured vaguely.

Oma’s eyes grew wide. “You gonna just come home and be bossy and sassy with me? What reason you got to do that?”

“Move.”

“You little—”

“Move, or I’ll move you,” I stated blandly. “I’ve got better things to attend to, lady.”

She scoffed. “Like you could. Where the hell you been?”

“Cutting the head off of a werewolf who had it coming,” I answered. “By the way, there’s crime scene evidence in the dishwasher. You might wanna let it run through a cycle before you use anything out of there. Not trying to be a jerk, but I’d put money on it that Jason had Hep-C or something. Ginga-vita-cockus at the least.”

I started towards the door again. Oma didn’t back down.

Oma should have been shocked at my statement about Jason, but she didn’t even try to pretend that she was.

“You got the book.” She looked the tome tucked under my arm.

“I got the book.” I nodded. “It’s my family’s book, so I’m taking it.”

Oma squinted at me, searching my face for more information than I was providing verbally. Outwardly, I was trying to project a calm façade, but my mind was racing with one thought.

Save Lucas.

However, I knew that I couldn’t get too rushed when dealing with Oma, especially when I had just killed Jason and was taking the book away from the house. She obviously hadn’t even gone to bed but instead had been staying up, waiting for me to come home. That, in itself, was an indication that the theories swirling around in my head were accurate and not just batshit crazy ideas my paranoia had cooked up.

Why had Oma been dressed and awake when I came home? Had she been doing something in the middle of the night that required her to be fully dressed and prepared? As long as I’d known Oma, anything past midnight was asking too much of the woman. But there she was, blocking me from the front door, fully clothed, looking as spry as I’d ever seen her. I couldn’t help but wonder if she knew that I would be coming home in the middle of the night.

And how would she know that?

“Move.”

“I’m not moving.”

“Oma,” I stared deeply into her eyes from across the expanse of the living room, “there are at least two other werewolves I need to fuck up tonight. My plate is full. So, unless you want to be on the list—”

“Where’s Lucas?” She interrupted. “Wasn’t you supposed to be at his house tonight?”

Fighting back the urge to let a groan of frustration and agony escape my throat, I just stared at Oma. There was nothing to say that I felt comfortable saying to her.

“Shouldn’t you be with him?”

“I should.” I nodded. “So, let me go be with him.”

Oma didn’t move, and her arms seemed to tense up in their folded position under her breast. Instead of fighting further with Oma, I shrugged and turned on my heels, pointing myself in the direction of the kitchen. As I started to stomp away towards the back door, I heard Oma grumble and then heard her footsteps padding against the floorboards to catch up with me. My feet moved faster across the kitchen linoleum as I made my way to the backdoor—the only other exit unless I wanted to go through a window.

“You stop right there!” Oma huffed as my hand connected with the doorknob to the backdoor.

“Goodnight, Oma,” I said simply as I pulled the door open.

The door had moved inward mere inches before it jerked back into place, pulled my hand with it, making my arm feel as though it would be ripped out of its socket. Instead of screaming out at the jerking motion applied to my arm, I swallowed it down and turned towards Oma, rage boiling up within me. Oma was standing in the kitchen doorway, glaring at me as I rounded on her. A stand-off was what she had in mind, I imagined, but I had no time for her questions or diversionary tactics. Lucas needed me.

Jason had something critically important when I had been in his house, speaking with him before he lost his head.

You’re the only one in this town whose powers have nothing to do with him.

I couldn’t trust Oma any more than I could have trusted Jason.

He hadn’t told me why because Jason hadn’t explicitly told me that Oma was not to be trusted. However, I had already figured that out for myself. All I had to do was remember my parents, the house, and their disappearance to know why I couldn’t trust Oma.

“Where does Jason’s pack meet?” I asked Oma, rage tinting my voice as I stared at her from across the kitchen. “They have Lucas, and I’m going to get him back.”

“You’re not getting him back, Robbie.” Oma shook her head. “What’s done is done.”

“I thought Lucas was a friend of yours, Oma?” I asked, not surprised in the least at her remark. “I’d have thought you’d want me to go save him. Hell, I’d have thought you’d want to come along and help out.”

“It’s too late to help anyone, Robbie.” She shook her head, her face pinched up. “I think you know that.”

“Fuck the big city,” I stated blandly. “Things move quickly in Point Worth, huh?”

Oma rolled her eyes.

“Let it go.” She replied. “Put that damn book back, go upstairs, get cleaned up, and go to bed.”

“Where’s Ernst and the rest?” I asked, realizing that Oma and I arguing should have brought at least one of them out to investigate.

“Gone.”

“Gone where?” I seethed.

She shrugged. “All the magic’s gone. It’s all getting’ sucked up. I think you probably already knew that.”

She gestured at the book.

“Everything in this town that’s got any bit o’ magic is disappearin’.” She continued. “Including Ernst and the rest. Pretty soon, it’ll be you and me, too, Robbie. Soon as he manages to come back.”

“I thought we had longer.” I felt my eyes watering as I thought of Ernst and the rest of the Kobolds. “The well…I mean, yeah, I used all of that up myself, but I thought we’d have longer before things started getting fucked up beyond recognition.”

“You guessed wrong, I s’pose.”

“This is crazy.” I shook my head as I reached behind myself for the doorknob. Oma’s eyes shot to the door, watching it closely. “Everything is fucking crazy. None of this makes sense, and everything is spiraling out of control. I don’t even know up from down. I have to go, Oma. I’m going to find, Lucas—even if you won’t tell me where Jason and his pack meet—and then the two of us are hopping on a plane out of this fucking state. And we’re never looking back.”

“You ain’t goin’ nowhere, Robbie.” She shook her head, looking guilty. “You know damn well I can’t let you leave.”

“I know,” I said. “But I’m going to. Are you going to tell me where Jason’s pack meets when they’re measuring their dicks or what?”

Oma didn’t answer, but her head slowly shook side to side.

“Fine.” My fingers connected with the doorknob. “But don’t try to stop me, either. I’ll burn this house down without thinking twice about it, Oma.”

“You won’t.” Her eyes grew wide.

“Don’t be the second person tonight who tests me, old woman.” My hand twisted the doorknob. “It didn’t work out so well for the last person.”

“You threatenin’ me?”

“That’s what it’s come to tonight, Oma.” I pulled the door open, cool Spring air greeting my backside. “You have no idea what I’ll do to save Lucas, so if you’re not going to help me—not even tell me where he is—it’s in your best interest to not get in my way. If the Kobolds are gone…”

I took a second to collect myself.

“And you’re the only thing left in this house I’ll burn it to the fucking ground if you force me,” I said. “I don’t even care if I’m in it, too. Understand?”

“You won’t burn down our family home.” She gasped. “What the hell you got left if you ain’t got that?”

Unable to help myself, a barking laugh escaped my throat.

“Our family home?” I cackled. “What are you even talking about?”

“This house.” She stomped her foot against the linoleum. “This is where our family made roots in this damn town. And you think I’d believe that you’d just burn it down without a second thought?”

“You’re worried about this house?” I shook my head in disgust. “I’m worried about Lucas’ life.”

“What are you hopin’ to achieve by goin’ after him, Robbie?” Oma snarled. “You gonna just saunter into a werewolf pack’s meet-up and take Lucas back? Is that your idjit plan? Is that how you think it’ll work out for you? You think you’re capable of takin’ on that many werewolves at one time?”

Slowly, a smile formed on my face.

Oma was showing one card in her hand at a time.

“I thought we’d agreed before that Jason’s pack was still relatively small, Oma?” I cocked my head to the side as I inched my way backward. “But you seem to think there’s more now? Why is that?”

A cloud passed over her face, as though she realized she had said too much or the wrong thing. Instead of trying to backtrack or explain herself, she just glowered at me.

“It don’t matter.” She snapped. “What’s done is done.”

“Where’s the pack?” I asked again.

“Most likely out at that damn football field.” She shrugged. “Waiting on Jason to show up, even though—I guess—he ain’t gonna.”

“Okay.” I inched further backward.

“You don’t need to worry about that, though.” She commanded. “Just get back in this house and forget about all of that, now.”

“You telling me to let Lucas go let’s me know that I shouldn’t listen to a word you say, lady.”

“Get back in this house.” She stomped her foot, the walls of the house rumbling. But I’d seen that trick before. I didn’t even jump. “We need to just stay home and figure out what to do to save ourselves. If you go and try to save Lucas, you’ll ruin everything, Robbie.”

“No.”

“Wouldn’t you rather be safe in your family home rather than out there gettin’ yourself killed?” She asked.

I smiled.

“This may be my family home,” I replied, “but there’s no family left in it.”

Then I ducked out of the backdoor and ran for it before she had a clear shot. I didn’t have all of the time in the world to argue with Oma about family homes, family, keeping myself safe, not saving Lucas…none of that was an option. Lucas was the only thing in the entire town of Point Worth that made it tolerable. Not saving him was never an option.

None of this makes sense.

Chapter 12

Locating Lucas so that I could start formulating a plan wasn’t nearly as difficult as I had anticipated, because when I got to the football field at the old high school, he was simply tied to the field goal post. Not the designated home team end, but the visitor end. Kinda like rubbing salt in the wound, I thought to myself as I peered down from the shadows at the top of the stadium. I did my best to keep myself out of view of any werewolves who were certainly watching and waiting for me. Even though none of them had probably figured out that Jason was no longer amongst the living, they would be angry to see me there, trying to save my boyfriend. If they found out about Jason before I managed to get to Lucas, things would be even worse for both of us, especially if we got caught trying to escape.

Looking down at Lucas, I could kind of tell that he had been stood up in front of the goal post, his arms pulled back and secured with rope around the post and affixed to his wrists.

Did you see that?

I shook my head, clearing away the thoughts.

What about that?

My hands went to the side of my head as I fought to concentrate on what was happening with Lucas. I needed to get down on the field and untie him, rescue him from the pack of werewolves. If I waited too long and one of them went to find out where Jason was, saw that he was dead, things would turn into a total shit show. They probably wouldn’t hesitate to simply kill Lucas and move onto whatever their next planned activity was. Maybe they’d go on a rampage and start indiscriminately killing everyone in town. Just go door to door and kill anyone who answered.

Were werewolves like vampires? Could they enter homes without an invitation?

Were vampires even real?

Searching my memories, I wasn’t so sure I had that knowledge stored away from some encounter with one in my past.

Then again, it didn’t really matter what was real and what wasn’t because my boyfriend was currently tied up and awaiting slaughter.

When I looked down at Lucas, I could tell, even from that distance that his head was slumped forward. As though he was passed out or knocked out. Or worse. Would I get down to rescue him, only to find that he was actually…not alive…and it had all been a trap to lure me out into the open? My eyes searched the stands of the stadium, and not a single person was in sight. There were no people slowly stalking the stands, waiting for signs of my arrival. There was nobody on the field. No one in the stands on the other side of the field as far as I could tell. That made me feel slightly better but was also concerning. If no one was at the stadium, watching over their captive, did that mean there was no reason to watch over him? Did it mean…

I stepped out of the shadows and slowly began my descent to the field. My eyes darted back and forth, searching the stands as I made my way down to Lucas. No one was stepping out of the shadows or popping up out of nowhere to cut me off or jump me. The only audible sounds were those of my feet on the aluminum steps that led downwards. A rhythmic “clunk” sounded with each step, but nothing else moved in the stadium.

By the time that I reached the bottom level of the seating on the home side, there was still no movement on the field or in either side of the stands. It was merely dark, quiet, and motionless. I waited a moment, making sure that I was not being overly confident, then walked to the stairs that led from the stands down to the sidelines for the home team. As I descended those stairs, my footsteps were the only sounds once more. I kept my eyes peeled but continued my trek to the goal post where Lucas was. No matter what Oma had said, there was nothing that was going to stop me from saving him.

No matter what condition I found him in when I got there.

As I got closer to Lucas, I could tell that he had been roughed up a little—there was a bruise on the side of his face—but I could see his chest slowly rising and falling as he hung loosely against the goal post. Whatever the wolves—the pack—had done to him, he was alive. He was fine. My heart soared, and my feet began moving quickly, bringing me closer and closer to Lucas at a pace that made a smile form on my face.

When I finally reached Lucas, I couldn’t help but grab his face in my hands and kiss him gently. The movement against his face woke him, and his eyes slowly fluttered open. Duct tape had been slapped over his mouth, but I could see the smile in his eyes. The shifting of the makeshift gag let me know that the smile was not just in his eyes. His body began to quiver with excitement as I reached up and starting to work at a corner of the tape.

“Fast or slow?” I winced as I spoke. “Blink once for fast.”

One blink.

I ripped the tape off without a second thought. Lucas, to his credit, merely cringed, holding back the scream that had probably begged to be released from his throat. Again, I leaned forward and kissed his mouth, now that I had access to his lips, hoping it would take some of the sting out the pain from me ripping off the tape.

“Babe,” Lucas sputtered when I pulled away. “They all left, but I know they’re coming back. Get me the fuck out of here.”

“They didn’t hurt you, did they?” I asked as I moved around him and started to work on the ropes at the back of the goal post.

“Not badly enough.” He stated simply. “How did you find me?”

“Well,” I said quietly as I worked on the knots. “It’s not like the football field is some random place, right?”

I laughed nervously.

“Where’s Jason?” He asked. “He wasn’t with these guys, but I know that they’re his pack. They were talking about it earlier. They said Jason would deal with you eventually. I wasn’t sure what that meant, but I knew it wasn’t good.”

“Jason’s been dealt with.”

“Did he try to hurt you?” Lucas gasped as the first knot came undone.

I just laughed.

“I guess that’s an answer,” Lucas stated lowly. “I probably don’t want to know the rest, do I?”

The last knot came undone, and Lucas fell away from the goal post, barely catching himself with his feet as he stumbled. I walked around the post and pulled him in for a hug, then kissed him roughly on his mouth. When I pulled back, I looked into his eyes as I smiled.

“You’re a vegetarian,” I stated simply. “You don’t like to hear about animals getting hurt. So, I won’t tell you what happened to Jason.”

Lucas cringed, but then a new look overtook his face.

A look that said: “Well, he probably had it coming.”

“Where’s Mrs. Wagner?” Lucas asked as I grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the stands.

“Home.”

“Why didn’t you bring her?” Lucas gasped as I drug him toward the stands. “Wouldn’t it be useful to have her if the pack shows back up, Rob? I mean, your grandmother—”

I spun to face him, stopping us both in our tracks.

“She’s not my grandmother,” I stated sharply. “Esther Jean Wagner is not and never has been my grandmother.”

Lucas stared at me for a moment, then a smile overtook his face.

“Rob…”

I tried to turn to lead us towards the stands again, but Lucas jerked my hand, pulling me around to look at him again.

“You’re being crazy.” Lucas shook his head. “I have my memories, remember? Mrs. Wagner has been with you since you were a little kid, Rob. She’s your grandmother. You started staying with her when your parents…um, left…remember, babe? What are you even—”

“I lived in that house with my parents before they ran off, Lucas,” I said sharply. “That isn’t Oma’s house. It was my parents’ house. Then they disappeared, and Oma showed up. I have no memory of her before she just showed up one day.”

“What?”
“That’s odd, right?” I asked, cocking my head to the side. “I mean, she’s supposed to be my dad’s mom, but I never met her before he disappeared. No family reunion where she showed up with potato salad. No Christmas visit where she brought a gift. No phone calls to catch up. She didn’t exist in my life before my parents were gone, Lucas. She is not my grandmother.”

Pulling on Lucas’ hand, I managed to get Lucas to take a few steps towards the stands while in his stupor before he was pulling on my hand again. With a groan, I turned to face him again.

“That’s insane, Rob.” He admonished me. “I mean…maybe you don’t have memories of her before then. You were young, right? Maybe you just don’t remember? Or maybe she wasn’t in your life before then—I mean, you said that she didn’t like your mom much and didn’t get along with your dad, so—”

“That’s what she’s told me my entire life.” I hissed. “But I have no proof of that—just what she told me. How am I supposed to keep believing someone without proof? Especially with everything that’s going on now? Lucas—everyone in this fucking town is in cahoots with the man in the black hooded cloak. Even…the Barkley’s.”

Lucas stared at me with wide eyes.

“And I think you know what I’m talking about but don’t want to admit to it,” I said. “You know where your particular type of powers come from. I’ve seen what happened to you when you were a kid in your bedroom late at night. You met him before you and I became friends…and more. Maybe you’ve forgotten. Maybe you’ve repressed it. I don’t know what’s going on anymore, Lucas. The longer I stay in this fucking shithole town, the stranger things get. The less anything makes sense.”

Lucas shivered.

“We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.” I said. “Especially here, right now. But we both know that things are getting worse by the minute in this town. We both know that he is coming back sooner rather than later. This is how things felt before he showed up the first time, right? So…let’s just go. Let’s get in my car, go to the airport, and get the fuck out of this fucking state.”

“Tonight?”

“You still want to leave me with me, right?” I asked.

“Of course.”

“Then let’s go.” I urged him on. “We can’t risk staying here any longer, Lucas. If we do…something really bad is going to happen. I can feel it. If we leave…maybe things won’t get better, but he won’t have any reason to return. I won’t be here. And if he still wants me, he’ll have to come to California. Because we won’t be here.”

“But, babe—”

“Let’s get into the car, Lucas.” I pleaded. “We’ll drive straight through to Hopkins. We’ll buy two tickets for the first plane going to L.A. and then we’re gone. We’ll never look back.”

“I don’t have clothes…”

“Babe.” I smiled at him. “I’ll buy you anything you need or want when we get to L.A. Fuck your house. Fuck my family’s house. Fuck our things. Fuck our families. Fuck this town. Right now is our one chance to get out of this town and stop what’s coming. If we don’t leave now…we’re never going to leave. And you know it.”

Lucas looked sick but nodded.

“Yeah.” He said, the nodding becoming more confident. “Let’s get the hell out of here, Rob. You’re right. You’re right. I just…okay.”

Grabbing his face in my hands, I looked him in his eyes.

“It’ll be okay,” I said. “I promise. If you’re worried about your grandpa, you can call him from the plane. Or once we land. He’ll understand.”

“I don’t think he will.” Lucas shook his head. “But that doesn’t matter, does it? We have to leave.”

“Exactly,” I said. “So…you are all in, right?”

Lucas nodded.

“Yes.” He said affirmatively. “Let’s go, Rob. Let’s just get the hell out of Ohio and never look back. It’ll be okay as long as I’m with you. I know that.”

“Just one of those things you know?” I smiled warmly before kissing him gently.

“Yeah.” He smiled as I pulled away. “I know it’ll be okay if we get out of this town, babe.”

Instead of saying anything else, I grabbed Lucas’ hand once more and pulled him towards the stands. We raced up the stairs to the stands and then up the stairs that led to the top of the stands towards the parking lot where I had left my car. Whether or not Lucas’ family would be upset that he stole away in the middle of the night with me didn’t matter to me in the slightest. We were leaving—together—and we weren’t looking back ever again. That’s all that mattered to me. That both of us would be safe.

Of course, when we reached the parking lot, and our eyes landed on the dozen men surrounding my car, I couldn’t help but laugh.

Of course, I should have expected that.

Chapter 13

Lucas gripped my hand tightly, his body freezing up as we slid to a stop several yards away from my car and the pack that surrounded it. He gave me a concerned look as I laughed loudly at the sight of the large men—all of them cookie-cutter versions of what werewolves in human form should look like according to movies made for horny teenagers. It wasn’t so much that the pack was waiting by my car that I found amusing—though it was funny that I hadn’t seen it coming—the fact that Jason was with them was the most entertaining part. And he still had his head.

Jason stood there, evilly smiling ear to ear as Lucas and I kept back, our hands clasped together for support and courage.

“So…” Jason began, “you cut off my head and just leave. Didn’t even shut the door.”

Lucas looked over at me.

“Rude.” Jason shook his head.

I half expected it to partially detach like a character from Harry Potter, lolling around like a balloon on a stick for a moment before he shoved it back into place. Surely it wasn’t completely healed and reattached so quickly after having been lopped off. It looked pretty secure as he grinned and chastised me, however, so I decided that the next time I took his head off, I wouldn’t leave it behind. Get a bowling bag, I thought to myself. Then you can carry it around like Melanie Griffith in Crazy in Alabama.

The thought made me chuckle, which caused Lucas to look at me with concern once more.

“Head in a bowling bag,” I mumbled to myself with a chuckle.

“Rob.” Lucas squeezed my hand.

“Sorry.” I glanced at him before turning my attention to the pack and its leader that had my car surrounded. “Get away from my car, assface.”

“Don’t think we can do that, Rob,” Jason said, reaching up to scratch his head.

Or reposition it, I wasn’t sure.

“We’re not allowed to let you leave.” Jason shrugged. “We have to keep you here until he comes.”

“Well, we have other things going on,” I replied, clasping Lucas’ hand tighter as I took a step forward. “So, please, give him our regards, but we don’t have time to wait around.”

Under our feet, the ground vibrated for a split second. Lucas gasped and moved closer to me. Jason just grinned over at us like the dipshit that he was. His entire pack started growling and yipping, their heads turning towards the sky. My heart started beating faster in my chest, but I did my best to appear outwardly calm as I stared down my rival.

Who should be deader than a doornail.

“Your head’s good.” I shrugged.

“That’s what they say,” Jason smirked.

“Fuck you,” Lucas responded for me.

Jason gave a barking laugh, which his pack echoed.

“I cut his head off earlier this evening,” I mumbled to Lucas out of the corner of my mouth as we stared at the pack.

“Really?” Lucas’ eyes were like saucers.

“Didn’t take, I guess.” I shrugged.

“Apparently not,” Lucas mumbled.

We waited for the bark-like laughs to grow silent and for Jason to turn his attention back to us before either of us said anything. There was no point in trying to talk over a pack of puppies that were all riled up. The ground shook faintly once more.

“Okay,” I announced once the barking had stopped. “Get the fuck away from my car. Maybe cutting your head off didn’t do the trick, but I know fire will do the job.”

I held my hand out, a flame blooming immediately from my palm. The red and yellow flame illuminated Lucas’ and my face with dancing lights, hopefully making me look way more intimidating than I probably did to such a large group of werewolves. Jason smiled at me a moment longer, then sniffed the air, his head tilting skyward. Frowning to myself and casting a glance at Lucas, I didn’t know what to make of the behavior. The ground rumbled roughly underfoot, and my heart began beating faster. Jason stopped sniffing the air and turned his attentions back to Lucas and me.

“He’s coming.” He said.

“I know,” I replied. “Move your asses or get used to ‘em being crispy.”

For the space of a few breaths, Jason and I stared at each other across those few yards that separated us. Then, he suddenly stepped aside. His pack didn’t even look confused by his actions but instead started to move away from my car. Lucas’ hand gripped mine tighter as we watched Jason and his pack give us a clear path to the car. When they moved, I fully expected the windows to be smashed in, the tires to be flat, wires and parts lying everywhere on the ground. However, my car looked fine, and they all continued to move until they were far enough away from the car for me to feel safe enough to start walking towards it.

I’m not an idiot. I knew that Jason and his pack giving in so easily was a bad sign. However, I had no further plan for how to make an escape from Point Worth, so my car was my only option. Lucas and I needed to be in my car and headed in the direction of Cleveland as soon as possible. With the way things were progressively getting crazier and crazier in Point Worth, every second we spent lingering in the fucked up little town brought us closer to a situation we couldn’t resolve. I squeezed Lucas’ hand and pulled him towards the car.

Easing our way into it, the two of us walked towards the car, keeping all of the pack members in our line of sight as we walked. They had given us access to the car too easily. Either they knew something we didn’t know, they figured we’d never get in the car and out of town quickly enough, or they were planning to pounce on us as soon as we got close to the car. However, Jason and his pack continued to stand clear as we made our way over to my car. Usually, Lucas would get in on one side, and I’d get in on the other, but I knew that separating was the worst plan.

As we approached the car, my hand still held out with the flame flickering in my palm, I indicated to Lucas to get the keys out of my pocket. Lucas’ hand went into my pocket, which drew some snickers from pack members and made Jason smirk, but I ignored them. He fished the keys out and let go of my hand to unlock the driver’s side door. The pack continued to just watch us as Lucas opened the door and I jumped in, sliding over to the passenger’s seat. Lucas followed quickly and slid into the driver’s seat, slamming the door behind himself.

We glanced at each other nervously as I mentally extinguished the flame in my hand. As Lucas started the car, I watched the pack members through the windows, my head jerking around to look at each of them, to make sure that nothing odd was going on. They were all still watching, which was why I had chosen to ride passenger in the car. If Lucas was driving, I was available to shoot balls of fire at anyone or anything that got too close to the car. The car started when Lucas twisted the key in the ignition, and I wasn’t sure if the rumbling feeling beneath us was the car or the ground beneath us. My stomach was in knots as the idea of the car blowing up entered my mind, though I knew there was no one in the pack smart enough to make and plant a bomb that would go off when the car was started.

“Go,” I stated when Lucas glanced over at me.

“They’re all around us,” Lucas muttered.

“They’ll move or get run over.”

Lucas looked at me for a moment, then gave a firm nod. He threw the car into gear and started to pull forward. For a second, it looked as though Jason and two of the pack members standing beside him would refuse to move aside for the car, but at the last second, they dashed to the side, letting the car pass. I stared out of the passenger seat window at Jason as we eased by. He merely smirked down at me as I squinted in anger up at him.

“Go.” I said again. “Faster. Get us out of here.”

Lucas gunned the car, gravel and dirt kicking up behind us at the pack. I smiled to myself as I watched pack members jumping out of the way, silently cussing and stomping angrily as debris pelted them. As the football stadium and the pack grew smaller in the rear window, I turned around in my seat to find Lucas smiling proudly. I couldn’t help but smile at his expression. He was happy to have caused a little pain and anger. I definitely couldn’t blame him. The ground was still rumbling. Or maybe it was the car?

“How much gas do we have?” I asked.

“Enough to get to Cleveland,” Lucas replied.

“Good.”

“Are we just going to leave your car here?” He asked. “I mean…won’t you need it in L.A.?”

“I have another.” I shrugged.

“Babe.” He glanced over at me with a grin.

“I know.” I chuckled. “But I never want to come back here. Ever. I don’t care if leaving a car behind is douchey.”

Lucas chuckled, but his facial expression betrayed him.

“They let us go too easily.” He said. “Why even bother meeting us at the car if they were just going to let us go?”

“They were killing time,” I said.

“Huh?”

“Don’t you feel it?”

“Feel what?”

“The ground,” I said. “It’s shaking.”

“Yeah.” Lucas looked sick again. “I felt it.”

“He’s coming,” I said. “We just have to get out of this town before that happens. If we get out of here quickly enough, we won’t have to worry.”

“What do you mean?” He asked. “Just because we’re gone doesn’t mean he’s not a problem.”

“He won’t come back if I’m not here,” I said. “Just trust me. Okay?”

Lucas gave a sharp but understanding nod.

“Gun it, babe,” I said, reaching over to squeeze his shoulder. “Drive like the police don’t exist, okay?”

“What if we get pulled over?”

“I’d like to see a Point Worth officer try,” I said.

I held my hand out again, producing another small flame.

Lucas looked at me with concern.

I gave him a wink.

“Don’t worry,” I said. “If you drive fast enough, it’s not something we’ll have to think about, babe.”

Lucas stared at me for several moments as the car carried us onto the highway, and he pressed the accelerator down. Finally, he gave me a smile and a nod, then turned his attention back to the road. I sighed to myself, extinguishing the flame, as I stared out at the road before us. I wanted to grab Lucas’ hand, to feel his hand in mine as we watched Point Worth fly by and felt the ground rumbling underneath us. However, I didn’t want to distract him on his mission to get us outside of the city limit in record time. So, I stared out of the window on my side of the car and counted the stars.

All we had to do was get out of town.

It was that simple.

A few minutes later, when I watched the “Welcome to Point Worth” sign pass by the car, I let go of a breath I hadn’t known I was holding. Lucas kept the accelerator down for several miles before easing off and letting the car drop to a reasonable speed. Finally, he looked over, a smile coming to his face much more easily than it had mere minutes before. He reached over, grabbed my hand, and laced his fingers through mine. I accepted his hand in mine. Quickly, I leaned over and gave him a kiss, noticing that the ground was not rumbling under the car any longer.

If we were lucky, we’d be in Cleveland before the sun came up.

A Point Worth LGBTQ Paranormal Romance Series: “Jacob Michaels Is…” will return in 2020 with the 6th and final book of the cycle.

About the Author

Chase Connor currently lives in Des Moines, Iowa with his dog, Rimbaud, and spends his free time writing M/M Romance, LGBTQ YA novellas/novels, LGBTQ Paranormal Romance, as well as general LGBTQ fiction, when he’s not busy being enthusiastic about laziness and waffles.

Chase can be reached at
chaseconnor@chaseconnor.com

Or on Twitter @ChaseConnor7

He can also be found on Chase Connor Books
https://chaseconnor.com

He does his very best to respond to all DMs, emails, and Twitter comments from his reader friends and loves the interaction with them.  Chase has several novellas/novels for sale on Amazon in ebook and paperback format.

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