by Dakota Brown
"Where did you go?"
"I tried to go to the barn, but got lost." He cried, too.
"He needs to get warmed up," Doc ordered. He shook the snow off of himself before wrapping his arms tight around himself, shoulders hunched.
"You need to get warmed up, too," I ordered, and wrapped my arms around him. Deliberately placing myself between him and George just in case the werewolf thought he might try to take advantage of the situation. Doc shivered in my arms, but I guessed he would warm up quickly as he didn't seem worried.
Dad handed Doc a thick blanket, and I pulled him into the living room and shoved him into the armchair, before sitting in his lap. He wrapped the blanket around us and soon his tremors subsided.
I rested my head against his chest and let him borrow my warmth while everyone fussed over Bobby.
His story slowly came out. His older brothers had been tormenting him again, so he'd decided to go to the barn. That wouldn't have been so bad. Chilly, but the farm dogs were in there along with some livestock, and he would have been able to stay warm and get away from his tormentors for a while. The blizzard had disoriented him, and once he realized he was lost, he had found some shelter out of the wind and tried to keep warm. He was mildly hypothermic, but they were slowly getting him warmed up.
"You okay?" I whispered.
"Yes." He tightened his arms around me.
Once it was clear Bobby was okay, Rick turned his attention to us.
"Doc, we can't thank you enough."
My boyfriend tensed, not comfortable with the attention. He nodded. "You're welcome."
"Are you warming up?"
"Yes. I'll be fine before long."
"Need anything?"
Doc shook his head.
Rick went back to helping with Bobby. They finally decided he was warm enough to try a warm bath and herded him off to the bathroom.
George sat down on the couch and stared at us. We both ignored him as much as we could.
Dad helped Mom in the kitchen, making lunch for everyone.
"Have you heard from anyone?" Doc asked after a while.
"No. They've been strangely silent." Ed, especially, had been texting a lot since they knew the demon had given me my body back for a while.
"Hmm."
I drifted off in Doc's arms, warm and comfortable, only to be startled awake moments later.
"Sofia."
"What!" I jerked upright, looking around.
Doc still held me cradled in his arms
"I'm going to help them go check the stock. The storm has let up somewhat."
I grumbled, warm and comfortable.
He laughed. "Sorry."
"I'll probably survive this."
He kissed me on the top of my head, and I crawled out of his arms.
"I'll come. I think my coveralls are still here." I glanced at Dad to make sure he didn't have any objections, but he nodded. The more hands the better.
I hurried to my room and found my warm clothing. I might actually bring some of it back to Colorado with me. Especially since we would have space in Doc's truck. Of course, it might not matter, anyway.
"We need to check that gully in the south pasture," Dad was saying when I returned. "The cows like to go in there during storms, but they get stuck. We'll probably have to pull a few out. We can throw some hay and check the horses. Cut open the stock tanks and hope they get enough water before they freeze again."
Doc nodded. Someone had found him coveralls, and he had bundled up along with the rest of us. I didn't actually know how much the cold bothered him, but clearly not badly or he would have been in worse shape earlier.
Dad fired up the old farm truck. The bed was full of hay and we all squished into the cab. If we got the farm truck stuck in one of the pastures, it wouldn't be the end of the world and at least the stock would have hay.
I sat on Doc's lap. They made Matt and Eric come along, and they had squeezed in next to Rick. We were all in the back. Dad and George rode up front. With as much wind as we had, the snow was patchy. Some areas were deep, some bare. The service road we used to get out to some of the cow pastures looked clear.
We made it about halfway to the field before the truck got stuck in a drift across the two track road.
Dad put it in reverse, but the wheels spun. "Damn it," he muttered.
George grumbled and got out. He glanced at Doc before shutting the door.
Doc sighed quietly but I shifted off him so he could get out and help. The two of them inspected the drift and had a quick conversation before going behind the truck. George gestured at Dad to go forward.
He gunned it and the two men pushed us through the drift.
"Well, he's strong as hell," Dad muttered, probably not aware he had spoken aloud.
Doc and George hopped on the edges of the truck bed and rode back there until the next drift. They had to push us through several more, but with their help, we were able to make it out to the windbreaks and check the cows. We threw out some more hay, broke ice on the tank, and headed for the horses.
None of the stock were ours, but Dad owned some of the land and most of the cows were Rick's or George's. Dad liked helping out with the stock, and they often used our property to get to the stock since the fields were closest to us.
The horses were easy enough to care for. They all belonged to different people in the town and they paid a little bit to keep them in the field.
Then we headed for the notorious gully. I'd spent more than one afternoon after shitty weather helping to get cows out of it. It was a bad part of what was otherwise a pretty nice pasture and they did put up fencing, but invariably, the cows pushed through the fence during the bad weather.
This storm was no exception. The fence was buried in snow, and the cows had simply walked over it. We parked the truck as close as we could get and followed George and Doc as they broke a trail for us.
Sure enough, about twenty cows had packed themselves into the small gully and couldn't figure out how to turn around and get out. To be fair, the last one was kind of stuck in the narrow opening into the gully. Though the gully entrance was somewhat sheltered from the wind, snow had drifted down and filled the entrance.
Dad sighed and went back to the truck for some ropes.
It took us a half hour to get the first cow out of the gap. Then it took another ten minutes to convince her she didn't want to go back in with her friends.
The cows mooed frantically, and we tried to get a couple more to leave the gully where they would otherwise starve.
Finally, after getting pissed off at cow stupidity, George actually jumped down into the gully on the far side, landing on the back of a cow, and unleashed his wolf just enough to scare the shit out of the cows. Literally, we saw when he followed them out. It coated his legs, but finally, the cows came out of the gully willingly. Now we just needed to get them back to the rest of the herd. The storm would return according to the forecast, and we didn't want to have to dig them out again.
"Help me chase them across the pasture?" George asked.
Doc glanced at me, before nodding. "Sure."
"We'll meet you all back at the house." George waved.
"Be careful," I whispered.
"Yeah." Doc hugged me and headed out after George.
We climbed back into the truck as the wind gusted, kicking up sparkling snow in the late afternoon light. The next wave of storm would be here soon.
The trip back to the house went relatively quickly as we had already broken trail for the truck on the way out. The wind buffeted us, but the heater took the chill out of the air, and I wasn't shivering by the time we made it back. A little surprised I hadn't heard from the demon in a while, I turned my attention inward. She ignored me. I was good with that.
George and Doc made it back about a half hour after we did, and he curled up with me in the armchair with the blanket wrapped around both of us until dinner time. Somehow, he managed to get forgotten and no one noticed that
he didn't eat dinner.
The storm kicked back up full force, and the roads were still closed when we finally fell into an exhausted sleep at the end of a long day.
Chapter 27
Ed
"I'm going to puke," Ed groaned out.
Nikolai twisted around and looked at him. "Truly?"
"Oh my god, just watch the road." Ed clutched his seatbelt and squeezed his eyes shut.
"You will survive a crash." Nikolai laughed as he drove Alex's Mustang through the snow, magic acting like a plow in front of them to sort of clear the road.
Allan echoed Ed's groan. "You're insane."
"Perhaps." Nikolai chuckled. "While puke covering Alex's car is amusing, it would smell."
The mage waved his hand, and Ed's nausea instantly eased. He still wanted to puke, but that was all mental now.
"I should have stayed with my car. I'm going to die in a car full of mad men," their other passenger gasped.
Ed glanced over at her and gave her a sympathetic smile. They had seen her car running on the side of the road, stuck in a snowbank, and Nikolai had pulled over. She was tall, had long blond hair and light blue eyes. She had been grateful for the rescue up until she had taken a look at the condition of the car and the mad gleam in Nikolai's eyes. The only reason she had gotten in was because her car was about to run out of gas, and she didn't want to freeze. She said her name was Star.
The speeding Mustang had developed a disturbing shimmy about an hour ago. It had progressed from minor to bone rattling, and Ed was as worried about that as he was the fact that Nikolai didn't actually know how to drive, yet they were speeding over a hundred miles an hour on ice covered closed roads, with him at the wheel.
He had done terrible things to the car before he had even picked up Ed and Allan. He'd crashed it several more times since, even with magic keeping it running. There were several guard rails between Colorado and Nebraska that had saved them from certain death. He'd cackled madly every time, clearly enjoying the shit out of himself.
Somehow, he had magicked the motor, and despite having run out of gas before they had even left the mountains, the car flew along the treacherous roads.
"Are we there yet?" Allan clutched the seatbelt he wore.
"Hopefully," Nikolai answered. "I am not sure how much longer until the wheels fall off."
Their passenger cried, "Wait, what?"
"Are you joking?" Ed asked.
"No."
Ed echoed the young woman's curses.
"If it's any consolation, at least it will be quick?" Ed tried to smile.
Star raised her eyebrows. "Thanks?"
"It is fine. I think this is where we're going." Nikolai slammed on the brakes and skidded sideways through their exit off of I-80.
Star screamed. The only reason Ed didn't was because she beat him to it.
"How do you even know?" Ed finally asked. He had no idea how Nikolai was navigating.
"Um, I can sense Sofia and Doc. You can't?"
"But, I mean…"
"Navigation spell."
"Your spell from the fourteen-hundreds works on our interstates?" Ed momentarily forgot that their passenger was only vaguely aware that they were alive because of magic. Nikolai didn't seem to care one way or the other.
"Yes, of course."
Ed shook his head. "Of course," he muttered.
Star stared at him, screamed again when the Mustang did a full spin, and started muttering some sort of prayer. Ed knew how she felt.
The shudder lessened as Nikolai allowed the car to slow on the way through a small town. He made several random turns, cursed a few times, and finally stopped the car.
Ed finally risked looking out of the car and was relieved to see Doc's pickup sitting parked next to several others.
Allan shoved the door on the Mustang open and leapt out of the passenger seat. Ed and Star were not far behind. All three barely kept from falling to the snow-covered ground.
Nikolai got out a little more slowly and gave the car a sad look. "Too bad."
Ed looked at the poor Mustang and winced. One of the wheels tilted out, and the car settled with a clunk.
"Maybe someday, when you actually know how to drive, you can get another one," Ed managed to say.
"Eh, I will steal another car from Alex. It is fun." Nikolai laughed and headed for the house.
Ed and the others scrambled after him. The snow had lessened, but it was still colder than shit outside, and the wind whipped around them. And he wanted to see Sofia.
Nikolai knocked just as a startled looking Doc opened the door.
"Doc!" Nikolai hugged him enthusiastically.
Ed followed them into the house, saw Sofia, and practically tackled her.
"Ed!" she squealed happily.
Allan and Nikolai both hugged her tightly. Then her eyebrows rose when she saw Star.
"Star?"
"You know these guys? They're insane. I thought I was going to die." She hugged Sofia almost as tightly as Ed had.
"They wouldn't hurt you."
"That one is insane then." She pointed to Nikolai.
Sofia's eyebrows rose higher. "Um, well, probably. What did he do?"
"Drove," Ed grumbled.
"Oh, boy…" Sofia laughed.
"We survived," Nikolai tried to sound offended. He failed.
The reunion had attracted attention. Several other people crowded into the entryway. Ed's hackles rose, and he and Allan both focused on one of the men. He was a werewolf. The werewolf stared at them, but wasn't outwardly hostile.
"I'm certainly happy to see you, but what are you all doing here?"
Ed reclaimed Sofia's hand. He didn't even care that she was only supposed to be dating Doc. He hadn't seen her in forever. They would just have to deal.
He noticed Sofia's dad gave him a hard look, but he pretended he didn't notice.
"Ah, yes. I have answer. We must go. Come on." Nikolai gestured to the door.
Sofia's hand tightened on Ed's, and her breath quickened in excitement.
"You can't leave. The roads are closed. Where would you go?" Beth, Sofia's mom asked. "How did you get here?"
"Uh, we drove." Nikolai glanced at Doc.
Doc shrugged.
"Sofia, would you like to introduce everyone to your friends?" Dan, Sofia's dad, demanded tightly.
"Uh, sure." She did a quick round of introductions. It turned out that Star was her best friend. Star, who was staring very closely at Sofia's eyes. If no one else had noticed the weirdness in Sofia's eyes, her best friend had. The werewolf was George.
"So, where is it you want to go?" Sofia's dad growled.
Nikolai narrowed his eyes at her dad. Ed grabbed the mage's arm to prevent him from whatever he was going to say. He failed.
"Oh, is that the racist?"
Sofia groaned.
Ed saw Doc's lips twitch, but he managed not to smile.
Everyone else's eyebrows went up.
"How exactly are you friends with a fucking communist?" Dan snapped.
Nikolai frowned and glanced at Sofia. "Communist? What is that?"
Everyone who didn't already know Nikolai stared at him, some of them open mouthed.
Sofia burst out laughing.
"It's a form of government, Nikolai. Let's go." She grabbed a coat and stomped into boots.
"Wait. You're Russian?" George walked forward, nostrils flared like he was taking in Nikolai's scent.
"Yes, of course. My accent is obvious."
"How do you not know what a fucking commie is?" George growled.
Nikolai glanced at Sofia, then shrugged. "I suppose it is a Russian thing, since you seem convinced I am one. I assure you, I am not."
"Well, you're not running off with Sofia."
"Stop me." Nikolai glared.
George took a swing at Nikolai before anyone could react. Fortunately, Nikolai was fast and skilled. He grabbed George's hand, twisted, and flipped the werewolf to the ground before
landing hard on his chest with his knee.
That took the wind out of George, and he didn't immediately try to fight back.
"Tartar werewolves much tougher than Nebraska werewolves." Nikolai managed to sound disappointed as he stood up and stepped back to Doc's side.
George sprang to his feet and tried again. This time Doc caught his hand, stopping it cold as George tried to punch Nikolai.
The werewolf's nostrils flared, and he growled.
Doc growled back.
"Guys, let's not fight. I'm going with them. We'll come back. It'll be fine."
"Honey, the roads are closed."
"You know, it didn't seem to stop them from getting here. We're fine. There is a spell for that." She smiled, saying the last with a hint of an accent.
Doc still held George's hand in a grip that had to be grinding bones together.
George finally dropped his shoulders and backed off. Doc let go.
"I'm going with you!" Star blurted.
"Yes, yes, that is fine. Let's go. I would like to add that it's entirely possible we were followed. Stealing Alex's car was not subtle." Nikolai opened the door, letting in a blast of cold air.
"Wait, what?" Sofia's mom exclaimed.
"Eh, long story." Nikolai darted outside.
Ed traded a wide-eyed look with Allan, and they both bolted out of the house. Star was not far behind them.
"That one is a mage," Ed heard George say as the door was shutting. "I still don't know what Doc is, but he's definitely lying about being a mage."
Doc swore as the door shut, but there was nothing any of them could do about it.
"Nikolai, my truck hasn't been plugged in. I don't know if it will start."
Nikolai waved his hand dismissively.
"Do not blow up my truck!"
"Of course not. I practiced on the Andersons' vehicles. I will warm it up for you so your overly sensitive diesel engine can start." Nikolai laughed.
Doc sighed.
"I will be careful. I do not want to piss you off."
Doc just shook his head.
Ed's shoulder blades itched, and he looked behind him. George, Rick, and Dan stood just on this side of the door, glaring at everyone.
Shivering, he turned back to the others just in time to see Nikolai slap his hand down on the truck. Blue motes sank into the engine, and Doc groaned, but he climbed into the driver's seat, and the engine cranked right over.