by Jamie Hawke
“Oh?”
“It was hanging out there, a weird moment. And by the way, wolf, remember? We have excellent hearing.”
“Elisa was just saying we’re not sure if we should trust you,” Red said, and laughed. “But hey, if you’ve already gotten to… what base is grabbing a guy’s penis, anyway? Well, whatever base that is, I guess you’re one of us.”
“Can we stop talking about my… penis?” I said, embarrassed that they were talking about it at all, but even more so that they made it sound so medical.
“I’d heard that happened,” Red admitted. “Honestly, it made me wonder what kind of guy you were, running around in hotel stairwells with your penis out.” She clearly had noticed that referring to it as such annoyed me.
“It’s not a habit of mine,” I protested. “She attacked me in the bathroom, while I was finishing up a piss. I just couldn’t get it back in before getting out of there—wait, no, I did but was wearing boxers and couldn’t get my pants up. It sort of flopped out of the flap and… one thing led to another.”
Pucky was the first to laugh. “I can’t imagine…” She broke into peals of laughter again, this time hitting the seat next to her, and soon Elisa was chuckling beside her, Red grinning. “Holy shit, and what, Sharon, you just saw a penis there and grabbed it?”
Sharon frowned, trying to remember. “It was like I felt it against my ass first, growing, and even that little bit of closeness pulled me from the shadow. Imagine being in a pool, drowning, and you see a way out—a railing or flotation device—you grab at it, right?”
“So his penis was your flotation device?” That made Pucky crack up even more.
“Actually, yeah, in a strange way.” Sharon chuckled now too. Even the driver was likely glancing my way in the rearview mirror, I imagined, but couldn’t tell for certain because of his shades.
“Ladies…” I protested.
“And then we kissed,” Sharon added, her laughter fading as she took on a far-off look for a moment before turning her gaze my way with a curious way of assessing me.
“You… kissed?” Pucky asked, her laughter gone now too, turning to me. “Wow, you had an action-packed weekend at the Con.”
“It happened,” I admitted.
“So if you think about it,” Red said, looking very humored now, “Sharon here was the first of all of us to get into his pants.”
I opened my mouth to protest, but yeah, it was kinda true. Not in the same way, at all, but still.
Sharon caught the awkwardness and turned around, giving the driver a direction, and we all drove in silence for a bit.
“Is it that big of a deal?” I asked.
Pucky scrunched her face, then shook her head. “No. Shouldn’t be.”
“You have to understand, she was a Legend,” Elisa added as if explaining something simple to a child.
“Grasping for her flotation device,” I noted.
Elisa nodded, conceding that point.
“And I had no reason to stop her,” I added. “I mean, it’d been a while before that.”
“Which is one of the problems,” Pucky countered. “If you were just in a state where you’d let anyone grab your dick, it feels less special that you let me.”
I laughed. “No offense, but I’d just met you and was running for my life. You jacked me off to calm me down.”
“You did what?” Red asked with an incredulous scoff.
“I…” Pucky blushed, face in her hands.
“Sorry,” I added. “I’m just saying, what we have now is special. Those first few hours of chaos and confusion became great real fast, but I don’t know of many guys who would’ve called a time out in the moment.”
“He makes a good point,” Red said.
Pucky sighed. “I know.” Turning to me, she added, “And now? You’re in the same situation, let’s say. Fucking Goldilocks herself offers to wrap her sweet lips around your huge cock… What do you do?”
I’d almost forgotten about Goldilocks, but the mention of her here piqued my curiosity. There seemed to be a real version of pretty much every character I’d ever heard of, and I made a note to myself to remember to ask about Santa Claus and the others like him. As for her answer, of course I said, “I’d tell her I’m with you all.”
“With us all…” Elisa let the words linger, then bit her lip to stop from laughing.
“Is there a better way to put it?” I asked.
“No,” Red answered. “That sounds about right. And that’s the issue, isn’t it. We’ve confused you.”
“How so?” Pucky asked.
“Don’t you see, he doesn’t know what his romantic, or sexual, or whatever situation is.”
Pucky shrugged. “Why the fuck not? It’s simple—he’s with us.”
“I think what she means,” Elisa said, “is in our eyes, we’re your team. Anyone on the team is fair game—and part of our little situation here. You say yes, and we like them enough to let them be an insider to begin with, it only strengthens our bond to keep them as involved as possible.”
I gulped, not sure what to make of this.
“Right,” Red said, but then a wicked grin crossed her face. “And on that note… isn’t Sharon pretty much part of the team now?”
Sharon turned back at that, curious, waiting. I had to admit, the question piqued my interest as well.
“Er,” was all Pucky could get out.
“Tell you what,” Elisa said, seeming to really be considering this. “Sharon, prove yourself on this mission, show us you’ve really turned over a new leaf… and I think that’ll be the first discussion we all have when we’re on our way out of there.”
“So it’s an audition to see if I get to join you all in playing with his cock?” she asked, and even the driver had to laugh at that.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” Elisa said. “And this is all assuming you want to be part of the team—being on the team certainly doesn’t mean you have to fool around with any of us, and it doesn’t obligate him to put out—”
“Thanks,” I said, chuckling in the awkwardness.
She gave me a nod. “I didn’t mean it to come out that way. But being on the team means you’re one of us, and we’d treat you as such. From there, it’s all about what happens, what you want to happen, and what comes naturally.”
Sharon bit her lip, nodding at that. “I’d like to be part of the team, on those conditions.”
“Good, then let’s rescue this Chris guy and get the hell back to the safe house,” Red said, though there was a look of hesitation in her eyes when she glanced Sharon’s way. Of course, I’d nearly forgotten—Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf, on one team? Possibly even sharing a man, if it came to that? I’d have to check in with her when we had a moment alone again to ask how she really felt about this. If she wasn’t okay with it, I had to say I wouldn’t be either.
“Seconded,” Pucky added, apparently having given the whole idea some thought. “Personally, I like the idea of having someone crazier than myself on the team. Makes me seem more normal.”
“Ha,” Sharon said sarcastically. “As much as I’m dreading this, all the awkward talk… makes me almost glad to say we’re there, we’ve arrived.”
“It’s all relative,” I said, agreeing completely. The idea of risking our lives in a fight against evil fairy tales sounded like just the thing to get my mind off of that discussion.
28
We had pulled up to what looked like a community college. Sharon was already moving for the door when Red leaned over the seat and grabbed her arm.
“Here?”
“Where else?” Sharon shrugged. “It’s not a base, but was one of the fallback points I heard discussed. The most likely place they would’ve taken Chris.”
“Why’s that?” I asked.
“Large area, public enough where they know we’d prefer not to make a scene,” Elisa said. “I’m guessing here. But… what I’m just realizing for the first time, Sharon, is how you ca
n be so much more useful to us.”
“Intel?” Pucky said, sitting up straight and grinning in Sharon’s direction. “She’s right.”
Red guffawed.
“Still not sure you can trust me?” Sharon asked, glancing down at Red’s hand still on her wrist, then slowly working her way out of the grip. “Well maybe after this, you’ll know you can.”
“I hope so,” Red replied, and then we were all piling out of the car and into the community college parking lot.
“We’ll want to go in through the art wing,” Sharon said, indicating a route between several tall, white buildings to our right. Palm trees stood tall, lining the path in a way that made me feel very Californian, a point that reminded me why we were here to begin with. Chris needed my help.
Sharon took the lead, though when we reached the first tree, she paused, looking me up and down, and then turning to Elisa. “I have an idea.”
“Being?” she asked.
“We haven’t tried it yet,” Sharon glanced around, “and can’t out here. But… Jack has changed before… right? Into a wolf, I mean.”
I frowned, not liking where this was going.
“He did,” Elisa replied. “And lost control, almost.”
“Almost.” Sharon grinned. “If you all… Yes, even you, Red, can try and trust me for this, I think we can make it work.”
“Make what work, exactly?” Pucky asked.
“I can stroll in there as a wolf, with Jack here at my side… also as a wolf. They’ll think we belong, that we’re—”
“Hell no,” Red said, voice rising enough to earn us some looks from several young college kids passing. An older woman followed and I thought it might be their mother, but then remembered we were at a community college and she could just as well be their classmate.
“You think she’d make a move on Jack?” Pucky asked, seemingly not committed either way.
“She’d be leading him into a trap. Think about it—him letting in the shadows, surrounded by Legends. It’s setting up the Protector for a fall, plain and simple.”
“Or it’s me trying to help in the best way I know how,” Sharon spat back. “You’d rather we all run in with weapons blazing?”
“We’ve faced greater foes than whatever’s in there waiting for us,” Red replied.
“But better not to if it’s not necessary,” Elisa said. “And I sense something in Sharon that maybe you don’t see.”
Sharon gave her a very appreciative look, then turned to Red. “I know you’ve had a history with me… and whoever was before me. I get that—but who here hasn’t ever been tempted by the shadows? They took over, and I lost the fight. But not anymore, okay? I’m doing everything I can to ensure that never happens again, and you have my word, for whatever that’s worth to you, that this isn’t a trap. This is just me, standing here trying to help.”
Red glared, seeming madder at this than if the lady had attacked her.
“Let the wolfie help,” Pucky said, half teasing it seemed, but also genuine. “Come on.”
“You’re sure about her?” Red asked Elisa.
Elisa considered her, then walked up to Sharon and held a hand up to her face, white light taking on the form of a swan and emerging, wings spread wide, and then floated into Sharon.
“There you go,” Elisa said, turning back to Red. “Now even if the shadow attempts a takeover, she’ll have a part of me with her to help fight it.”
Red blinked, confused, but nodded.
“How… exactly, does that work?” Sharon looked shaken.
“It’s nothing, really,” Elisa replied. “But if you feel you need my help, say so. You’ll feel a warmth, and I’ll work from out here to walk you through whatever’s happening.”
Sharon ran a hand through her wild hair, nodded, and then turned to me. “So we’re doing this?”
“Do I need to worry about the wolf taking over?” I asked, turning from her to Elisa, then Red. “I mean, is that a concern?”
“My thought is that you’re tied to her, in that sense,” Elisa replied. “If she doesn’t cave, neither should you. But more than that, you are a Tempest now. Tempests actually have a much stronger ability to fight the shadows, as light falls within their powers.”
“It didn’t work for King Arthur,” I pointed out.
“Stronger ability, not perfect.”
I nodded, gulped, and said, “I’ll take those odds.”
“Be careful,” Pucky said, giving me a quick hug, and a peck on the cheek. I never knew how to act around these women in situations like this. Was I supposed to give each of them a hug and a kiss, to avoid any jealousy? Or was it not like a series of relationships, but more like a team that bonded in the bedroom? Judging by the way neither Red nor Elisa seemed to care, I took the gamble that it was more of the latter, though took two looks back at each of them to be sure.
Apparently, I’d been too obvious in my hesitation, as Elisa laughed, shaking her head at me. “Don’t worry. If I’m feeling needy I’ll be sure you give me a quickie before you go. You’ll be fine in there.”
I frowned, and Red frowned back, though I wasn’t sure if she was teasing me or not. There was a hint of humor in her eyes.
“Whatever,” I said, turning to Sharon. “How do we do this?”
“She read minds or something?” Sharon asked in a whisper.
“I’m starting to wonder.”
“Right…” Sharon gave Elisa a worried glance, then said, “if she’s right about your transformation being linked to mine, it should be easy. When I start to transform, do the same. Focus on the good and light and all that, though, and you should be able to do so without going dark.”
“Show us where you’re going in, and we’ll find a good vantage point to be on standby,” Elisa said. “Anything goes south, we’ll come in—how did you put it?—weapons blazing.”
Sharon nodded, gesturing to the theater house. “We have an entrance through there. If you’re waiting at the edge of those trees,” she indicated an area by a statue of a woman holding books to her chest, “you should be in a good position.”
The ladies took their positions while Sharon and I entered the theater. Two students were on the stage in the middle of a scene from a play called Cabin 12. The rest of the class was too enraptured to even look our way. I could tell why, as the younger guy had started in about some football game and was kicking ass, getting all emotional about it. By my guess, the brother had been injured or killed.
Sharon pulled me by the sleeve, reminding me that we weren’t there for the show. She led me around back, down to the side of the stage where the actors usually entered, and only then did the teacher see us. I noticed her stand to come after us, but then she seemed to have second thoughts, and sat down again.
Turning back to Sharon, I saw her giving a wave. She explained, “A guardian, but she knows me.”
“And me?”
“She doesn’t know you.”
We continued to an area that looked like it was set up for props, and she pulled a lever. I had to laugh, as it totally had a whole set-piece feel to it. As we entered, I was taken back to my one semester as a stagehand in high school. Of course it had been a way to try to meet a girl, and when that hadn’t panned out, I quit.
Stairs circled down into the ground in a way that brought me back to DuckTales memories, but before the end she put a hand on my chest and said, “Here.”
“Transformation time?”
She nodded, hand still on my chest. “Are you ready?”
“I didn’t know I had a choice.”
“Good.” With a grin, she closed her eyes, darkness coming over her.
“I thought—”
“That we could do it without the darkness?” she asked, voice hushed and pained, then she shook her head. “The key is to allow in just enough. Like when you know getting angry will help in a situation, but not letting it get the best of you.”
I closed my eyes, focusing, but nothing happened.
Her eyes had a shadow to them, her hands trembling as she took mine, and she said, “The anger. Allow it in.”
Our eyes met and I focused there, trying to think of nothing but transforming. But that was wrong. She said to let the anger in. I didn’t know what to be angry about… at first. Then it started sweeping over me, how pissed I was at the thought that I’d come into this role without warning, that my ability to interact with my family was going to be incredibly limited going forward. Fuck that!
My chest convulsed as if I was gagging, my shoulders expanding and my hands clenching into fists.
Only, it was coming on too fast. I was seeing all of the fuckers who’d tried to kill us, all of the Shades and their bullshit, imagining killing them all and loving it. Pucky had stabbed that magic blade into my chest without warning, and… and… who the hell was I kidding, my life was awesome—at least, that’s what I reminded myself of to pull myself together. And it was, truly. My mind went to the way Pucky laughed, the adoring smile of Elisa and the sensation of painting each other, and even Red with her silly Goth ways that all seemed a bit of a show now that I knew her.
The feeling of Sharon’s hands in mine, as strong and clawed as they were, helped pull me back. I opened my eyes to see the werewolf version of her staring at me, and me as a werewolf in the reflection of her eyes. We’d done it, and neither of us was tearing into the other, so that was a good sign.
Without a word, she motioned me to follow her. Our hands fell apart, unfortunately, and then we were pushing through a rounded oak door into a den. A curved ceiling of dirt was overhead, several tunnels branching out from this wide room. There were a few thick blankets on one side of the room with men and women lounging on them, and it reminded me of the pictures of opium dens I’d seen.
As we drew closer, it became clear they weren’t ordinary men and women, but trolls. They looked at us, apparently not finding any need to challenge two werewolves, before returning to their lazy afternoon. That worked well for us, and soon we were going down one of the hallways.
Here we passed a tall monster made of stone, its eyes glowing green and moving as it tracked me going past it. It grunted as it started to stand, grinding stones raising a commotion.