by Dakota Brown
The wind kicked up once he hit Wyoming and his first stop for fuel. It was one of the older fuel stops, where the diesel pumps were set up for semis and he had to go pay inside.
When he returned to the truck, Sofia, her eyes now the normal gray with purple highlights from her magic, let herself out of the passenger side and threw herself into his arms.
He crushed her against his chest, inhaling her scent. She smelled like herself again. The demon's sharp petrichor scent still colored it, but she was obviously at least partially back in charge of her body.
"Sofia," he murmured, a few tears pricking at his eyes.
"Almost in the flesh," she replied.
"Well, if you're feeling good enough to joke…" He kissed her, not caring that they might have an audience at the gas station.
She clung, kissing him like she needed his touch more than oxygen, and left him breathless when she finally did come up for air.
Someone cleared their throat. Doc ignored the person filling their truck at the other pump and held the door for Sofia so she could get out of the bitter wind. He filled his truck, keeping alert for trouble. He didn't run across as many issues as he used to for his skin color and long hair, but it still happened now and again.
As soon as the truck was full, he went back inside for his receipt and then they were back on the road. The only thing keeping him from gripping her hand was the wind buffeting the pickup.
"I wish we could have brought everyone." Sofia sounded sad.
Doc glanced at her. "This is going to work."
"Yeah." She frowned. "I'm just glad I get a chance to see the world again."
He clenched his jaw, not about to argue with her at the moment. She had every right to be worried.
"I do not share well." She removed her hand from his arm and grumbled. Clearly, the demon had reasserted control over Sofia's body.
"It's her body."
"I know." Instead of angry, she sounded petulant, and Doc smiled to hear the demon pout, even though it wasn't a laughing matter.
"Kissing humans is weird," she grumbled.
Doc's eyebrows rose. "I see."
"Yes, very strange. Don't do it again."
"My apologies. Sofia wasn't objecting."
"No, and she's positively throwing a tantrum right now." The demon crossed Sofia's arms over her chest.
"And you're not?" Doc had somewhat gotten used to her, but he wanted Sofia back. The mere half hour had not been nearly enough. Maybe this week would be worth it, if he got to spend time with Sofia in the real world.
"Demons don't throw tantrums." Amusement colored her tone, and he could sense Sofia behind some of her words and inflection.
As much as he wanted Sofia back, he hoped they didn't merge too quickly, or they really would lose her for good.
"What is she saying?'
The demon laughed. "That you are an excellent kisser, and I should just get used to it. Oh, now she's embarrassed. Why? I would think it obvious she enjoys kissing you. Humans are very strange."
Doc just shook his head.
∞ ∞ ∞
The demon relinquished control of Sofia when they got near her house. The nine-hour drive was long, but Doc was fairly certain that he was shortly going to wish he were back behind the wheel. It would have been easier in so many ways if either Ed or Allan had been able to come along or go instead.
"This isn't going to be fun," Sofia sighed.
"No. But let's just try to make the best of it. If they ask about your eyes, blame it on a side effect of magic."
"My eyes?"
"They've got some gold in them now from the demon's presence."
"Oh." She sighed, and her shoulders sagged. "Good to know."
"If they ask what I do for a living, I work at the college as an administrator. It's close to the truth."
"What, you don't want me to tell them I'm dating my teacher?" She grinned at him.
"No," he replied emphatically, even though she was teasing him.
"Yeah, me neither."
Being winter, everything was brown, dormant for the season. Snow covered patches of ground, and the gray skies promised more on the way. The weather forecast had steadily been worsening, and Doc wasn't real excited about getting stuck here in a snow storm, but they were starting to talk in feet instead of inches.
The town they had pulled into looked very much like a small town spurred to life by the oil fields, a lot of single-family housing made from manufactured homes. Quick to go up for workers and their families who needed housing. It looked nice enough. The town had been around long enough to have an elementary school and some shops for essentials in the small downtown area they had passed through to reach Sofia's place.
This was also obviously a cow town, as Doc thought of them. Sofia's place backed up to a field, and cows grazed in the distance. The house was manufactured. The two-acre lot had a barn and some other outbuildings on the far end.
Several pickups sat parked off the dirt driveway, and Doc pulled in near them. He let the truck run for a minute while he clenched the steering wheel.
Sofia put her hand on his and squeezed. "We'll survive this."
"The Andersons are easier to deal with. At least I can kill them."
After not hearing the sound for forever, Sofia's laugh lifted his spirits enough to fortify himself so he could deal with her dad.
He shut off the truck, and they both got out. Sofia's mother came out of the house and wrapped her arms around Sofia.
"It's so good to see you, honey."
"You, too, Mom."
Sofia sounded like she might cry, and Doc knew she expected this to be the last time she saw her parents. He had to believe Nikolai would come through for them. The mage was close.
Her mother came around and gave Doc a quick hug.
"Hello, Doc."
"Hi, Mrs. Collins."
"Please, call me Beth. Come inside. Thank you for driving her down here. You must be exhausted."
Doc nodded, grabbed both of their bags, and followed them inside.
Sofia went over and hugged her dad, but the look she gave him was full of warning instead of affection. Doc winced internally at that.
"Who else is here?" Sofia glanced around.
"Rick and Donna and their kids. Their pipes burst in the last storm, and they're staying with us until it can get repaired. George is here too for a few days. His heat is out. Half the town had issues with the last storm, and it's taking a while to get everyone fixed up. We're in for another storm, if you couldn't tell." Sofia's mom glanced at Doc, who nodded. They both knew.
"They're all out with George's cows right now, getting ready for the storm."
"Here." Sofia's dad held out his hand, and Doc hesitantly handed over their bags.
He took them and went down a hallway. A minute later, he headed outside.
"It's going to be a little crowded," her mom continued. "We figured you and Doc could share your room. The guest rooms are taken."
Sofia raised her eyebrows. "That's awfully progressive of you."
Doc could hear a hint of the demon in her phrasing, but he didn't think Beth noticed.
Beth shrugged. "You're both adults. If you don't want to share, we can figure something else out."
"No, that's fine," Sofia replied.
"Come in, why don't you show Doc around. We already ate, but there's leftovers in the fridge." Beth gestured for them to enter.
They had a coat rack in the front entry way, and he took Sofia's coat and hung it before taking off his. He hesitated by the coats, inhaling and trying not to be too obvious about it. Over the scent of oil, grease, cow, and hay, he caught a scent he was well familiar with. Werewolf. Great. They really should have tried to put this off until Christmas.
His phone chimed, and he pulled it out after he hung up his jacket. He left his boots on when no one else took off theirs and followed them into the house. The text was a group text from Nikolai. One of the guys must have taught him how
or done it for him. Sofia wasn't on the chat. His chest tightened, but he understood why.
Nikolai: Make it safely?
Doc: Yes, we're here.
Allan: Kill anyone yet?
Doc: We literally just got here. Give it time.
Ed: LOL
Nikolai: Would be easier to deal with her parents in the future if you refrain.
Doc: I'll do my best. One of Dan's oil field friends is a werewolf. They have a few people staying with them. Haven't met them yet. Could get interesting.
Ed: Keep us posted.
Doc: Will do.
Sofia glanced at him, so he handed her the phone. She scrolled through the messages, eyes shining with amusement.
"Tell them I said hi." She returned his phone.
"Cell reception isn't great around here," Beth cautioned. "It's good at the house, but drops off pretty fast. We do have a landline if you need it."
"Thank you," Doc replied. "Just friends of ours checking to see if we made it safely."
"Ed and Allan?" Beth reminded him that she knew the werewolves, though not necessarily that they were werewolves.
"Yes, and Nik," Sofia said. "Victoria also texted me."
"How is Victoria?"
"Doing good. Enjoying her family time this week," Sofia answered.
"Who's Nik?"
"A friend from out of town who's visiting," Doc answered.
"Oh, I didn't realize we were dragging you away from company." Beth sounded concerned.
"No. He's in town for a while. Ed and Allan can keep him entertained for a few days. He came to visit all of us." It was close enough to the truth.
"Oh, well, thank him for me, for sharing his time with you."
"I will."
Sofia's amused smile almost made Doc blush. He managed to keep his expression neutral despite her mirth.
He sent another quick message and put his phone in his pocket.
Beth continued to give the tour. The house was nice, two guest rooms, Sofia's room, and the master bedroom. The guests all had to share a bathroom, and the living room would be crowded with everyone in it. The tour didn't take long, and they ended up back in the kitchen.
Beth insisted on fixing Sofia food and acted disappointed when Doc didn't want anything. That, more than anything else, was going to be the hardest part of the whole week, Doc thought. He didn't eat solid food and had no good way to explain why.
Just as Sofia was finishing her dinner, the front door opened and several people came inside, bringing the strong scent of cow and hay with them.
Sofia glanced at Doc. He just clenched his jaw and shrugged. Here was hoping the werewolf didn't know what a vampire smelled like. Or that Doc's scent was sufficiently disguised by only being half vampire, and constantly around werewolves that the werewolf couldn't figure out what he was.
"Oh, they're back. Let's go introduce everyone."
Doc trailed along behind Sofia, and mentally crossed his fingers.
A pair of young boys who looked very similar in features saw Sofia and ran forward to hug her. She smiled and returned their hugs, though Doc could imagine the demon was annoyed with the physical contact. A younger boy hung back and smiled shyly. Sofia hugged him, too.
Dan had returned with them. The living room was very crowded with everyone standing around.
"Doc, this is Rick, Donna, and their kids, Matt, Eric, and Bobby. And this is George. Everyone, this is Sofia's boyfriend. George and Rick work with me on the oil fields and they live a few houses down."
"Howdy," Doc drawled. He had always found the country boy charm usually distracted people enough that they thought more about it than anything else they might think unusual about him.
The kids all gave him uncertain looks, but Donna smiled brightly and shook his hand. She looked to be in her mid-thirties, with short brown hair, brown eyes, and a friendly expression. Her grip was strong, and she probably spent as much time outside with the animals as she did inside. She carried the faint scent of horse and he suspected she used to rodeo, if she didn't still ride.
Rick, predictably, tried to crush his hand. He was a big guy, dark eyes, dark hair, and a heavy tan from hours in the sun. Doc thought this was one of the people Sofia had mentioned had native blood, and he could see some of it in the man's high cheekbones and darker skin.
He ignored the hand crushing, returning just enough pressure to keep the grip even.
"Nice to meet you," Rick offered cautiously.
Doc nodded.
George was the werewolf. His nostrils flared when he tried to crush Doc's hand. He returned the same amount of pressure, like he had with Rick. George's eyes widened as he had exerted considerably more force than Rick would have been able to.
It was probably not smart, but Doc had bigger things to worry about at the moment and didn't care. He could have crushed the other man's hand. Especially with as well fed as he was recently. Hopefully, it wouldn't come to that.
George didn't say anything, just released Doc's hand and continued to study Doc curiously. At least no one looked openly hostile.
Though he had never really been in a situation like this before, he had some expectations and was pretty shocked when they didn't immediately ask him about himself. They all went into the living room, and instead, started asking Sofia about college.
That was just fine with Doc.
Chapter 25
Sofia
It was so freaking amazing to be back in my body. Even the demon acted a little more comfortable. Instead of having me as a small itch in the back of her mind, it was more of a melding and more harmonious. Of course, soon we would be literally inseparable. That wasn't so exciting.
I watched the others react to Doc and noticed the extra attention George paid him. Now that I knew what to look for, the barely domesticated look in his eyes and the way he scented the air when he shook Doc's hand screamed werewolf.
Doc's fixed attention on him just confirmed what I expected. If he wasn't a wolf, he was something else supernatural.
We all found places to sit in the living room. I grabbed an armchair, and Doc sank down onto the floor next to me. My parents claimed a loveseat, and Rick and Donna grabbed the couch, with their younger son, Bobby, sitting between them.
Matt and Eric, twins, headed off to their room, and George grabbed a chair out of the kitchen.
The wind chose that moment to pick up in front of the storm coming in. Doc and George both tilted their heads, listening, before bringing their attention back to everyone in the room. I wasn't even sure they noticed they did it.
Between the awkwardness of the situation and the demon's presence, I was hyper aware of things going on around me. I was also pretty sure my senses were heightened, because my parents didn't notice the wind until a few minutes later when it started gusting.
"Is everything secure?" Mom asked Dad.
"Yeah, I checked a few things after the last storm, and the tarps over the hay are still secure. The barn is shut up, and I don't think there's anything left to blow around after the wind storm a few weeks ago," Dad answered.
The wind picked up fast, and we all fell silent, listening.
I thought I smelled snow and got up to look outside. The snow wasn't supposed to start until much later, according to the last forecast I heard on the radio.
"It's already snowing. So much for the forecast." I went back to my seat.
"George, do you want to stay a few more days?" Mom offered. "It'll be the couch, but you have a bit of a drive ahead of you."
He stared at Doc. "Sure, thanks, Beth. As long as you don't mind me staying for the holiday. Not sure anyone will be going anywhere tomorrow or the next day."
"We almost told you to stay home," Mom said to me into the silence that followed. "But then it looked like the storm would hold off. If I had known how close it was going to be, I'd have made you stay in Colorado."
I glanced at Doc, and he sighed quietly. We both wished we were back in Colorado. Or maybe not.
He smiled at me and winked, probably meaning that at least he got to hang out with me again.
My phone chimed that it had a text.
"So, Sofia, how's Colorado treating you?" Donna glanced between me and Doc for a moment.
Oh, how to answer that question. Hopefully, George wouldn't be able to smell any of my lies.
The demon was keeping herself buried deep right now.
I checked my phone while I answered.
Ed: How's it going?
"Colorado is great. Sunnyglade is great. The school is really good, and I like all my classes. I've made a few friends." I had no idea if my parents had mentioned the magic mafia to anyone or not, so I avoided talking about it.
Sofia: So far, we're surviving. No one has killed anyone yet. Pretty sure George is a werewolf.
Ed: That could be interesting. He isn't glaring daggers at Doc?
Interesting was an understatement.
Sofia: No. Snow has started. Wind is really howling.
Ed: We're supposed to get hit by that same storm later tomorrow. Or a related one anyway. Snow for a few days off and on.
Sofia: Be careful.
Ed: You too.
He sent a little heart icon. My cheeks heated as I put my phone back in my picket.
Doc glanced at me.
"Ed."
He smiled.
"I guess they're going to get hit with some snow, too."
Doc frowned, but nodded.
"Tell us about your friends," George asked.
My eyes widened slightly, though I tried to keep my nervousness in check. The demon exerted a little control, and my heart calmed. I mentally sent her a touch of gratitude. George didn't need to know I was nervous about talking about my friends.
"Victoria is my roommate. We get pizza most every Friday, and we go hiking and hang out. Ed and Allan are friends of Doc's, and they hike with us. Sometimes we all study together. Things like that." I left Nikolai out of it, in case they had forgotten about him.
"And how did you two meet?" Donna asked.
"Um, actually Ed introduced us. He and Allan, his brother, were helping us move in, and we just kind of clicked." I hoped that was a good enough answer.