by Chase Connor
Swallowing hard, that hit me in the gut like a hammer. Was I really that transparent?
“I have to thank you, baby.” She sighed wistfully. “I have never had someone willing to mourn for me. It makes the whole thing a little bit easier to swallow, ya’ know?”
“It wasn’t real.” I shook my head. “What I saw. It’s something that could happen, not what is going to happen.”
“Regardless,” she shrugged, “thank you. No matter what happens, at least I won’t be forgotten.”
“Never.”
She produced a genuine, toothy smile.
“Do you know people used to think spells, curses, and jinxes could be broken by swimming across moving water?” Carlita said, waving a hand. Things slowly started to creak back to life around us, and the shimmering began to fade. “That’s just bullshit, obviously.”
“What are you trying to say?” I asked quickly, knowing our time was coming to a close.
“People thought running water protected them from evil.”
“So?” I asked desperately as things around us picked up speed.
“Maybe they weren’t wrong.” Carlita shrugged. “Running water has a way of clearing away a lot of evidence—probably why so many dead bodies get dumped in rivers and oceans.”
“So…?”
“Even your friend in the cloak can’t sense things that happen in moving water.” Carlita winked. “Traces of magic just get swept away.”
Then everything came to life at full speed around us. The manager of Lounge walked past us, still wringing her hands and looking concerned about what was to come with Carlita’s routine. The fans started circulating air again, the shimmering was gone, and life was as it had been before Carlita had done her magic. My eyes stayed on Carlita’s for several moments as I considered her words. Carlita stared back, looking like a regular drag queen and not an Oracle—not that there had been much to differentiate the two. Other than the shimmering and whole time stopping stuff suddenly, anyway.
“I have so much to do before Friday, honey!” Carlita announced dramatically. “Nine o’clock. In case you and Lucas want to come to see it. I’ll make sure you have the best table in the house.”
Smiling, I nodded.
“I’d like that.”
Carlita grinned and gave my shoulder a squeeze before stepping around me and heading back toward the stage stairs again. As if she had a sudden thought, she turned to me once more, the spotlight hitting her, though I knew it wasn’t just because the technician had seen her approach the stage. An Oracle creates his or her own lighting. They’re very dramatic—Oracles.
“It could be a romantic evening, ya’ know.” She suggested. “Dinner, a show…maybe a walk along the Maumee? Whatever you decide, of course. I’m sure you’ll plan a wonderful date for you and Lucas.”
Chewing at my lip, understanding the implication, I nodded at her.
Carlita winked once more and then she was strutting up on the stage to give her song another run through. Oracles and drag queens are always interested in getting every little detail perfect. That’s why people trust them.
Chapter 5
Lucas was in just his jeans, no shoes, no shirt, but that didn’t keep me from considering giving him service right there in the kitchen. There was something about Lucas in just his jeans, barefoot and shirtless, whipping up a meal, that made me desire him even more. The fact that he hadn’t burned a single meal since he got over his initial shyness—something he never would have experienced if he hadn’t lost his memories—made it even sexier. Outside, the rain was dancing upon the windows and roof, providing a symphony for dinnertime. Lucas hummed to himself and practically pranced through the kitchen as he worked, lightning flashes showing periodically through the kitchen windows as thunder rumbled in the distance.
Jacob Michaels, professional actor, was doing his best to pretend to be Robert Wagner—Robert the Youngest—blissfully unaware of his past, the urgency of the present, and the uncertainty of the future. It was early in the evening, but I felt that I was doing a pretty good job of acting like I still didn’t remember anything from before. Lucas certainly hadn’t indicated that he didn’t believe that I wasn’t the same Rob I had been the day before. Of course, it hadn’t been a full day since I had wandered down into the cellar at Oma’s house, so everything was still fresh. Pretending I was still confused about the past was not that difficult.
When I had left Lounge and Carlita, I had shot a text off to Oma, letting her know that I didn’t plan to return home for the rest of the evening. “Be careful” was the only response I got. What Oma had meant by those words was apparent to me, though I did not reply with an affirmative. Then again, I didn’t tell her to go fuck herself either, so things were still up in the air as far as Lucas and his memories went.
Watching Lucas, happy as a lark, dancing around the kitchen, preparing a vegetarian dinner of epic proportions—his exact words—made me wonder if things weren’t fine. Lucas was happy. Other than the fact that strange things had been happening, Jason and his pack had caused a little trouble, and he couldn’t remember why things were the way that they were, he didn’t have a care in the world. Did I really want to take that happiness away from him if I didn’t have to do it? Would he rather be happy and oblivious…or know everything and risk the chance of being miserable? Then again, he hadn’t been miserable before he lost his memory. Things had just been…scary?
“You know,” Lucas shot a devilish look at me as he worked at the stove top, “people can make all the vegetarian and vegan jokes they want, but you can do amazing things with potatoes. Cruelty-free things. Buttery, creamy, cruelty-free things.”
“Not vegans.”
“There’s vegan butter and cheese and cream.”
“Look,” I grinned, “I totally respect vegetarians and vegans. I mean…it takes dedication and commitment to a lifestyle that most people aren’t strong enough to live. Okay? Let’s get that clear.”
Lucas just grinned widely at me.
“But bacon is fucking delicious.” I continued. “Not some bacon made out of rice paper or plant proteins—real. pork. bacon.”
“You don’t even really eat that much meat.” Lucas rolled his eyes, though he wasn’t unamused.
“Don’t sell yourself short.” I teased.
He ignored me, though his grin widened. “Unless Mrs. Wagner sticks it on your plate or it just happens to come with your meal, I’ve noticed that eating meat is not the first thing on your mind. So—”
“Don’t even start.”
“—why not try being a vegetarian?” He ignored my statement as he leaned over the bar to put his face close to mine. “The rewards are amazing.”
“Are you talking about the health benefits or the meat alternatives?” I wiggled my eyebrows at him.
“Both.” He planted a quick kiss on my lips.
“One more.”
Lucas gave me another kiss, though his lips lingered against mine longer than they had with the first kiss. I reached up to run my fingers through his hair as I stared into his eyes. His blissfully unaware and happy eyes. I sighed as I took my turn to lean forward and kiss him, sighing as I pulled away.
“I love your kisses,” I said. “More than bacon.”
“I’ll be happy to give you as many kisses you want to make up for the lack of bacon.” Lucas sighed happily. “If you give it up.”
“You’ll give me kisses anytime I want anyway.” I tugged at his hair playfully. “I can’t resist you, and you can’t resist me.”
“Don’t.” He bit his lower lip with a groan. “I didn’t do all of this work just to let the food burn while we’re in the other room.”
“We don’t have to go to the other room.” I teased but let my hand fall from his hair. “You can work on the food while I work on you.”
Lucas kissed my lips quickly once more then pulled away, putting space between us with a chuckle.
“Rob,” He shook his head, “you are a bad i
nfluence. I like it.”
“I try.”
“Also, I think you’re putting on weight.” He winked. “In a good way.”
I looked down at my body, though I wasn’t sure where my eyes would find the pounds I had gained.
“Couple weeks with Oma will do that to a guy,” I said. “Well, that’s what being back in Point Worth will do to a guy.”
Lucas smiled as he poked around in a pot on the stove.
“Maybe I can fill out so my hip bones don’t hurt you so much.” I winked at him. “And so Oma will stop shoveling so much food on my plate at meal times.”
“You probably weigh less now than you did in high school.” Lucas laughed. “Though…that’s all kind of hazy.”
I did my best to ignore his statement.
Lucas wasn’t that easy.
“Maybe one day we’ll remember it?” He suggested, glancing up at me from the stove. “I mean, we can’t forget forever, right?”
“I guess not.”
“You might want to start thinking about what you’re going to do about Jacob Michaels.” Lucas, mercifully, changed the subject.
“What do you mean?” I frowned.
“Well,” He said, opening the oven to look inside, then shutting it once more, “I know you haven’t been back all that long, but you haven’t said anything about what you’re going to do about your alter-ego, babe. Is Jacob Michaels still with us?”
Explaining to Lucas that Jacob Michaels, the identity and name I had assumed when I left Point Worth for Hollywood, was a thing of the past was going to be difficult. When I was sixteen, and I had jumped into the well for the first time, I had been granted a wish—even if the magic involved had taken me way too literally. Jacob Michaels was born out of a need to escape my previous life—to give myself a new identity and help me forget the things I had asked to forget. It had hidden me from…people it needed to hide me from. With my memories returned and the well gone…Jacob Michaels served no purpose anymore. Why pretend he did?
“Jacob Michaels is not here anymore, Lucas.” I slowly shook my head.
“That’s a funny way to say you’re done being a movie star.” He gave me a crooked smile.
“I’m not him anymore.”
“Okay.”
“I don’t want to ever be Jacob Michaels again.”
“Okay.” He said once more.
“Say ‘okay’ one more time.” I grinned wickedly at him.
Lucas stared at me for several moments, his face impassive as my wicked, teasing grin slowly and nervously melted away.
“I’m glad that I’ll have you around here, Rob.” He said simply. “It’s nice to know you won’t be running off to some faraway land to film a movie or record an album or put on a concert or…”
Lucas trailed off, his eyes drifting to look out the window.
“What?” I asked. “You don’t want to be my boyfriend if I’m not going to be a famous actor and musician anymore?”
The smile that came to Lucas’ face was tight, and the lightning flash from outside illuminated his face for a moment. Suddenly, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to know what my boyfriend was thinking about me.
“I was so sure that you’d want to keep being Jacob Michaels.” He said. “At least part-time.”
“Is that one of those things you just knew?”
He shrugged.
“Are you disappointed?” I asked. “I mean…if I’m just Robert Wagner, I can stay in Point Worth and just live a simple life. With you. And Oma. And…the others.”
“The creatures in Mrs. Wagner’s house?” He asked but didn’t turn his face back to look directly at me.
“Yes.” I nodded slowly, watching him carefully. “Ernst, Lena, Oskar…all of them. I can just live my life.”
Lucas’ head slowly went up and down, agreeing with me as he continued to look out of the window as rain spattered against it and lightning flashed again. Northern Ohio. The snow had barely been able to melt for Spring. The ground was nearly still frozen and saturated. So, of course, a torrential downpour was in order. If Lucas’ property wasn’t one big marshland in the morning, I was going to be stunned.
Finally, Lucas turned back to look at me.
“It just seemed so important to you to be someone besides Rob Wagner.” Lucas shrugged. “Almost as if…”
Waiting for Lucas to finish his thought proved fruitless.
“Nevermind.” A smile brightened his face suddenly as he shook off his thoughts just as the oven timer went off. “You, my handsome, sexy boyfriend, are about to taste the best meatless Shepherd’s Pie you’ve ever tasted before.”
“It’ll be the first, so the bar is low.” I snorted.
Lucas gave me a stern look.
“Sorry.” I was chastened. “I’m sure it’s delicious. Yum!”
With a laugh, Lucas opened the oven and reached in to pull out the large casserole dish, lifting it up to the counter before using his foot and a swivel of his hips to shut the oven once more. Looking down at the perfectly browned potato topping of the dish made me realize that maybe it wouldn’t be so bad after all, though I couldn’t imagine not using some beef or lamb in the dish. Mushrooms were tasty and all, but I was a meat eater. Maybe being around Lucas so much would change my thoughts on that aspect of my lifestyle. Lucas did have a point when he said that my first thought of food was never meat.
“Will you miss it?” Lucas asked suddenly as he leaned down to sniff the dish he’d just retrieved from the oven.
“Meat?”
“Not being Jacob Michaels.” He clarified. “Traveling, acting, putting on concerts. All the screaming, adoring fans?”
“None of it.” I shook my head slowly as he pulled back from the casserole to look across the counter at me. “Not as long as I have you.”
“You don’t need to try to get my pants off of me, ya’ know?”
My smile was immediate.
“I wasn’t buttering you up,” I said.
“Sure, sure.” He waved me off as he stepped away to fetch some plates and silverware for us. “I’m sure giving all of that up for me will be no big deal, of course, but I thought you might miss it?”
“Can we talk about something else?” I grumbled, crossing my arms and laying them on the counter in front of myself.
Lucas set a plate gently in front of me and handed me a spoon and a fork with a shrug of his shoulders.
“If you want.”
“Good.” I was feeling grumpy all of a sudden.
Being grumpy in Lucas’ presence made me feel poorly about myself immediately. Lucas hadn’t done anything to intentionally upset me—he just wanted to have a conversation that any couple in our situation would have over dinner. Turning into a sourpuss over something as simple as whether or not I’d continue my career in Hollywood was ridiculous. It was a fair question to be asked by my boyfriend, after all. So…why was I being a grump over something that didn’t really matter?
“I’m sorry.” I sighed. “I just—”
Lucas stopped me. “It’s okay, babe.” He shoved a large serving spoon into the casserole and dug out a healthy portion which he deposited on my plate expertly. “I get it. I really do. There’s…a lot going on, right? I mean, you left Hollywood, you’re here to relax and get better, put on weight. Weird things have been happening, your life has been in danger multiple times—”
“Tra la la.” I twirled a finger in the air comically.
“—and you just need a moment to take a breath.” He smiled at my comment and finger twirl as he began serving himself up some of the Shepherd’s Pie. “I won’t bother you about it.”
“Thank you. But I am sorry I’m a grumpy bastard about it, Lucas. Everything has just been a bit much lately.”
He winked at me as he shoved his fork into his food and brought a bite to his mouth before he had even hopped up on his barstool. Lucas moaned happily as he savored the bite, obviously overdoing it to make his meatless meal seem even more delectable to my hea
then, meat-eating self. Shaking my head with a laugh, I shoved my fork into the concoction and brought a bite to my mouth as well. It was good. Really good.
“It’s really good.” The thought left my mouth as soon as I had swallowed the bite.
There was no point in lying to Lucas and saying I didn’t like it. Even when I felt like being petty; lying just to lie is a waste of breath.
“I told you.” He grinned widely before sliding onto his barstool as he shoved his fork back into his food. “Mushrooms are a great meat substitute for a lot of dishes. And no one gets hurt.”
“Unless you cut your finger while making dinner, I suppose.” I quipped. “When did you become a vegetarian?”
Asking Lucas this question was pertinent. He hadn’t been a vegetarian when I had left Point Worth ten years prior. Of course, I couldn’t tell him that I remembered that.
“I don’t really remember you being a vegetarian…way back when.” I added for good measure. “Though my memory is a little fuzzy, too, I guess.”
Lucas shrugged at this.
“I mean, I guess it was about the time I went to college?” His brow furrowed. “Does it sound weird that I don’t remember?”
I looked over the bar at him, my fork halfway to my mouth.
“Weirdest thing I’ve heard all week, obviously.” I snorted.
Lucas laughed.
“Fair enough.” More lightning flashed as we each brought more food to our mouths. “I don’t remember making a conscious decision to not eat meat. I just stopped one day and never started again.”
“Sounds like you.”
“How so?”
“Organically deciding something.” I shrugged. “I mean, meat just became something you didn’t eat, you didn’t question it, you just went with it. You’re good at just going with things.”
“Is that your way of saying you like when I let life lead me?”
“I like it when you let me lead you.” I let my fork rest on my plate.
“Where do you want to lead me?” He grinned before popping another bite in his mouth.
I looked down at my food, contemplating this question.
“I’ve never really paid much attention, but is your shower big enough for two?” I asked.