by B N Miles
“Good.” Jared nodded toward the kitchen door. “Go sit down and get some more rest. I’m going to make breakfast. Do you eat pancakes?”
Wade gave him a weird look. “Uh, yeah, I eat pancakes.”
“I’ll make you a stack.”
Wade took a few steps toward the kitchen door as Jared got a mug down from the cabinet. He walked to the coffee but stopped and looked back at Wade.
“I don’t get it,” Wade said. “You just went from threatening to rip my spine out to offering me pancakes.”
Jared poured himself some coffee. “Cassie is the only thing I care about,” he said. “If you’re not a threat to her, then we’re good.”
Wade shook his head and leaned against the doorframe. “I guess I just never imagined that she wouldn’t want to come home, you know? I just figured she ran away, got trapped in The Miles, and I was coming to save her.”
“Sorry, but I don’t think she needs saving,” Jared said. “Go sit down. I’ll bring you something to eat.”
Wade nodded, his eyes distant again, and he drifted away toward the living room.
Jared took a couple gulps of hot coffee, nearly burning his tongue, and closed his eyes for a long moment.
That guy was going to be a problem. Sooner or later, he was going to try something stupid, and Jared had to be ready. Even if he seemed harmless, he wouldn’t stay that way forever.
Jared was going to have to keep a close eye on him.
19
Jared slaved away in the kitchen cooking pancakes, bacon, and eggs. The girls came down one by one, starting with Lumi and Jessalene. Cassie joined them after a few more minutes of awkward breakfast conversation, and Jared watched as she had a strained reunion with her cousin.
Wade stood in front of her, his dark, greasy hair hanging in his eyes. She stared at him, arms crossed over her chest, a quiet and sad look on her face.
“Hey, Cass,” Wade said.
“Hey yourself,” Cassie said. “Wade, what the hell were you thinking?”
He grinned a little and ran his hand through his hair. “The family told me to jump, so I jumped,” he said.
She shook her head. “They shouldn’t have sent you here. They really shouldn’t have done that.”
“I’m starting to realize that,” he said with a laugh.
“Are you okay?”
“I think so.” He glanced in Jared’s direction. “Got some food in me. And apparently some healer helped me out last night.”
“You can thank Jared and Nikki for that,” Cassie said.
“Nikki?” Wade frowned.
“You’ll meet her later,” Cassie said. She closed her eyes and sighed. “We have a lot to talk about.”
Wade glanced at Jared then shifted from foot to foot. “Can we do it in private?”
Cassie let out a breath. “I don’t have anything to hide,” she said.
Wade took a step closer. “Cousin—”
“Stop,” she said and held up a hand. “I don’t want to hear that from you.”
He held out his hands like he was going to grab on to something.
“What do you want me to say, then?” he asked. “You are my family, whether you like it or not. Your parents miss you, your sister—”
“My sister has nothing to do with this.” Cassie glared at Wade and Jared took a step closer.
Jessalene caught Jared’s eye and shook her head. He clenched his hands into fists then relaxed them.
“Your sister misses you, too,” Wade said, his voice soft. “I understand you didn’t want to marry Jochen, and that’s okay, they can find someone else, even if nobody else gets it.”
Cassie let out a hiss and shoved Wade. Jared took another step closer but Wade staggered back, righted himself against the couch, and didn’t move.
“You don’t remember at all, do you?” Cassie asked. “You don’t remember him getting drunk every night, coming to my parents’ house and begging to see me. You don’t remember him screaming at me when I didn’t obey his every little command. You don’t remember any of it, do you? Did all of you forget?”
Wade’s eyes were wide. “I wasn’t there,” he said. “Jochen always seemed so—”
“So nice,” Cassie said. “So kind and gentle. So well-bred. He was a piece of shit, Wade, and you knew it. You all knew it, but you all didn’t care enough to stop it. It was my duty to marry him, and that was the end of the discussion.”
She advanced on Wade, who shrunk into the couch.
“I’m not going back,” she said, her voice low. “I’m not going anywhere near that place again. You can say what you like, but I’d slit my own throat before I let them have me again.”
The room was still. Jared could feel his heart beating heavily in his chest, and a small smile spread across his face.
That was his Cassie. His girl, his first girl. She wouldn’t take shit from anyone, not even her own family.
God damn, he loved her more than he ever had in that moment.
“Okay,” Wade said, his voice soft. “I hear you.”
“Good.” Cassie stood there, glaring death at him, before she finally crossed her arms. “You’re welcome to stay with us if you want. We’ll help you get back to The Miles if you want to try and find your way back home. If not, we’ll help you get settled here, find you something to do with your life.”
Wade opened his mouth, shut it again, worked his jaw.
“I want to go home,” he said.
“Then we’ll try and make that happen,” Cassie said and turned away.
“How did you think you’d get back?” he asked.
Cassie let out a sharp laugh. “There was no going back for me, Wade.” She walked toward the kitchen, toward Jared. “Going home was never an option for me.” She paused next to Jared and put a hand on his chest. He smiled at her, leaned down, kissed her cheek. She smiled back then walked into the kitchen.
Jared turned to look at Wade. The young man stared at the ground and looked like he was trembling. He still wore his dirty, ratty clothes from the night before, and Jared felt another stab of pity for the pathetic wretch.
“Come on,” he said, walking over to Wade. “Why don’t you take a shower? I’ll get you some clean clothes.”
Wade looked up, his eyes blank, and just nodded. “Yeah, sure. Thanks.”
Jared led him upstairs, showed him the guest room and the bathroom. He got Wade a towel and some extra clothes, just an old pair of jeans and a long sleeve gray race t-shirt from a 5k Jared ran a few years back, and showed him how the shower worked. Wade went along with it all in a daze.
When Jared finished, Wade cleared his throat.
“Is it nice here?” he asked.
Jared hesitated outside of the bathroom. He didn’t know how to answer that question, so he turned back and shook his head.
“It’s fine,” he said. “Probably better than some places, worse than others. Weres aren’t all that important here, though. And your particular kind of Were doesn’t exist.”
“Oh.” He turned toward the vanity mirror. “Makes sense. I didn’t smell any others, and I just thought… okay.”
Jared watched him for a second, but Wade turned and closed the door. Jared shook his head then walked back down the steps and into the living room.
Cassie sat at the table with some coffee in a mug. Lumi and Jessalene stood on either side of her, hugging and kissing her. Tears were in Cassie’s eyes, but she smiled as Jared approached.
“Was I too hard on him?” she asked.
Jared sat down in the chair across the table from her and shook his head. “Not at all,” he said.
“Good. He’s not such a bad guy, just… believes in the family.”
“What now?” he asked.
“Now, we find Taavi Plains,” she said. “We figure out what your family wants with him. And then we find a way to send my cousin back into The Miles.”
“And if we can’t do that?” Jared asked.
She laughed and
shrugged. “Then let’s hope he’s okay with never going home again.”
Jared nodded and reached a hand across the table. She reached out and held it, smiling at him, the tears in her eyes refusing to fall.
20
Jared cleaned up breakfast with Jessalene. Cassie disappeared up to the roof deck to be alone for a while, and Jared couldn’t blame her. Seeing her cousin here like this was probably bringing back a lot of memories, some of them good, some of them bad. Even if she hated her family, hated them for trying to get her to marry an abusive bastard, she probably still missed parts of her old world.
He could only imagine how homesick she must have felt.
When they were finished cleaning up, he felt a tug at the wards at the front door. He looked at Lumi and she just shrugged. Together they unstitched an opening then opened the door.
Izzy Read came inside. Her hair was up in a messy bun, her eyes looked tired, and she wore a pair of old tight jeans with holes in the knees and a flannel shirt unbuttoned down to her breasts.
“Morning,” she said.
“Morning, Izzy,” Jared said as Lumi closed up the wards again “I wasn’t expecting you.”
“I told you I had to see that guy again,” she said. “How’s he doing?”
“Just got out of the shower,” Jared said, looking toward the stairs.
“All right,” she said and looked toward the kitchen. “Is that coffee?”
“I’ll get you some,” Jessalene said and walked off.
Izzy smiled and stretched her arms up over her head. Her breasts rose high and Jared’s eyes roamed her body for a moment. He looked away and caught Lumi giving Izzy the exact same look he was. He couldn’t help but grin a little.
“What?” Izzy asked.
“Nothing,” he said. “Just wondering if you had a chance to talk to Nikki yet.”
Izzy snorted and shook her head. “Haven’t talked to her, but I did get an enormous deposit from her in my bank account this morning.”
“Really?” Jared asked.
“Really,” she said. “Like, enormous.” Her eyes went wide and she gestured with her hands.
“Big enough for you to come on a little trip with us?” Lumi asked.
Izzy tilted her head. “Honestly, it’s big enough for me to take a trip around the world with you guys.”
Jared laughed. “Typical Nikki. She sure does love a little overkill.”
“She wants to make her happy,” Lumi said. “Can you blame her? I mean, look at her. And she’s talented.”
“Uh,” Izzy said, and blushed a little. “I’m not sure what that means.”
“She’s trying to say that she finds you physically attractive,” Jared said.
“Pretty much,” Lumi said, nodding.
“Right.” Izzy looked at Lumi then at Jared. “I’m not sure she paid me enough for, uh, you know—”
Jared burst out laughing. He looked at Lumi and she grinned, shaking her head.
“That’s not really our thing,” Jared said. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Okay,” Izzy said, sounding relieved. “I mean, you’re both really cute, don’t get me wrong, I’m just saying, I’m not a prosti—”
“I know, I know,” Jared said, still grinning. “It’s okay, really, that’s not what I meant.”
“Right. Cool.” Izzy blushed a deep crimson as Jessalene returned with her coffee.
“What did they say?” Jessalene asked.
“She thinks we just propositioned her for money,” Lumi said.
“We were definitely hitting on her though,” Jared said. “But not for money.”
Jessalene sighed. “Sorry. They’re not very… tactful.”
“They really aren’t,” Izzy said.
“But did I hear you’ll be joining us on the road?”
Izzy nodded, grateful to change the subject. “Seems like it. Where are we going?”
“Avonmore, Pennsylvania,” Lumi said.
“Where?” Izzy asked.
“Avonmore, Pennsylvania,” Lumi said again.
Izzy looked at Jared for help.
He nudged Lumi with his shoulder then put an arm around her.
“Avonmore is west of here, closet to Pittsburgh,” he said. “It’s a really small town, population just under a thousand.”
“What are we doing there?” Izzy asked.
“Hunting a fugitive,” Jessalene said, her tone light and airy.
“Wait— what?” Izzy looked at them, smiling. “This is another joke, right?”
Jared shook his head. “Nope, no joke. I’m with the Meta Marshal Service, and there’s a fugitive hiding out around there.”
Izzy sighed. “So I’m your field medic, then?”
“Pretty much,” Jared said. “That’s the idea, at least. I don’t really think we’ll need you if I’m honest, but Nikki likes to be careful.”
“Okay then,” Izzy said. “Sounds like we’re going to have a lot of fun.”
“Something like that,” Jessalene said.
A door opened and shut upstairs. There were footsteps on the hardwood in the hall, then Jared heard the guestroom door close.
“I think that’s him,” Jared said, moving his arm from around Lumi’s shoulders. “I’ll go make sure he’s decent then call you up.”
“Thanks,” Izzy said. “And I guess I should go home when we’re finished here and pack a bag?”
“Probably a good idea,” Jessalene said. “We don’t know how long we’ll be gone.”
Izzy nodded. “Great. Can’t wait to see more of the great state of Pennsylvania.”
“You’ll love it,” Jared said. “Cows as far as the eye can see.”
He grinned as Izzy rolled her eyes then headed up the steps.
Having a healer on their team was going to be a big help. And it didn’t hurt that she was very, very easy on the eyes.
Jared had to wonder if Izzy’s looks were part of why Nikki liked to hire her. But no, Nikki wasn’t that shallow.
Probably, anyway.
Jared reached the guest room door and knocked.
“Come in,” Wade said.
Jared opened the door a crack. “The healer from last night is here to see you again,” Jared said. “Is that okay?”
Wade shrugged. He sat on the edge of the bed wearing the clothes Jared had given him. They fit relatively well, though Jared was considerably more muscular and just a touch taller. Wade’s hair was wet and hung in his face in heavy strands.
“That’s fine, I guess,” he said.
“Good. I’ll bring her up.” Jared hesitated. “And just so you know, we’re all going on a trip.”
“We are?” That seemed to get his attention.
“To some small town in the middle of nowhere. I’m a Meta Marshal.”
“You’re a Meta… what?”
Jared laughed. “You’ll figure it out,” he said. “Anyway, I’ll bring Izzy up, and she’ll go over you again, make sure you’re all good. Then we’ll get ready to head out.”
“Sure,” he said and sighed. “I have a lot to learn about this place.”
“You really do.”
Jared nodded to him then turned and left to go get Izzy.
21
Jared’s car rolled down an empty strip of road, passed a line of single-family houses, and turned right into a gravel parking lot set between an empty field to the left and a crumbling old gas station to the right.
“Is this it?” Cassie asked, squinting at the decrepit white building with large glass windows papered over on the inside.
Jared double checked the address Nikki had given him and nodded. “This is the place,” he said.
“It’s an animal hospital,” Izzy said, pointing to a small sign set in the dirt next to the entrance. “That can’t be right.”
Another car pulled in behind them, a white sedan with a streak of rust along the bottom. Jessalene was behind the wheel with Lumi next to her and Wade in the back. She shot Jared a confused loo
k and he gave her a thumbs-up.
“This is the address,” he said. “And if Nikki says it’s right, then it’s got to be right.”
“It looks like the kind of place you bring your pets when you really, really hate them,” Cassie said.
“Yeah, it’s more like a slaughterhouse than a vet clinic,” Izzy said.
Cassie laughed and Jared gave them both a look.
“This guy isn’t exactly a legitimate doctor,” he said. “He’s just some vet, someone you hire when you don’t want word getting out that you’re injured.”
“Seems like he’s not so good at that, since we know about it,” Cassie said.
“Nikki can be persuasive,” Jared said. “All right, Cassie, you come with me. Izzy, go wait in the other car.”
“How come I don’t get to come in?” she asked.
“It might be dangerous,” Jared said. “And you’re not really a part of this, so I’d like to keep you away from anything that might go bad.”
“Fair enough,” Izzy said and opened the door. “See you two later.”
Cassie laughed as Izzy walked to the other car and slipped in the back behind Wade.
“She didn’t put up much of a fight,” she said.
“No, she really didn’t.” Jared caught Jessalene’s eye and nodded. Jessalene gave him a thumbs-up. “But she really isn’t part of this, so we need to make sure we keep her away from the action.”
“I know,” Cassie said. “I like her, though.”
Jared sighed. “Do you?”
“Yeah, I really do. I thought I’d end up killing her, you know, four hours in a car with a total stranger, but she’s really funny.”
“I was worried about it too,” Jared said. “But you’re right, she’s kind of fun.”
“So, are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
Jared gave her a look. “Easy there. Don’t you have other things to worry about?”
Cassie frowned a little and glanced at the other car. “I’m not sure how I feel about him just yet,” she said.
“Sorry,” Jared said and put a hand on Cassie’s leg. “Didn’t mean to bring that up.”
“It’s okay.” Cassie took his hand, squeezed it, then leaned over and kissed him. “You ready?”