by Juniper Hart
“Can anything besides silver hurt you?” she asked as they walked towards the lobby.
“Nope.”
“Must be handy.”
He snorted.
“Yeah. Handy turning into a freak every night. I love it.” He smiled, but his heart wasn’t in it. “I’m just kidding.”
She doubted that. Most men would love the sort of power he had, and it probably gave him an ego boost. She didn’t know him well enough yet to argue. He was obviously passionate, and something about him told her that he had some hot buttons. The last thing she wanted to do was set him off. Besides, if he wanted to act like he was joking, that was fine. It wasn’t her job to make him tell the truth.
“Where are we headed?” she asked him after they’d checked out and were back on the road.
“To the Enchanted Society,” he replied. “That’s where you’re going to demonstrate your hacking skills. Something interesting for you that you probably didn’t know – enchantment and technology aren’t that different.”
“But I can explain technology. Enchantment can’t be explained.”
“I can explain enchantment; it’s sort of like magic. Anyone who is born from magic or enchantment can explain it, and those who study technology can explain it. Anyways… there’s going to be a code. A long code. What you need to do is change the code just a little.”
“What does it do?”
He paused. “It frees me. Do you know when the full moon is?”
“Last night?”
“Wrong. It’s not for four days. My damned transformation is happening every night. I need a coder to put it back to where it was.”
“And you think this is on a computer?”
“Not just any computer. The Enchanted Society’s computer.”
“Thanks for clearing that up,” she said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes.
“You’ll see.”
He accelerated to get in front of a slow car.
“I assume you have some questions about me? I kind of showed up out of the blue to rip your world from under you.”
“So who are you really?”
“Well, I told you my name. As for my past, I’m a merc.”
“Merc?”
“Mercenary. I’ve served in all kinds of enchanted turf wars. If you have money, I can do it.” His expression grew dark. “But I don’t always take on jobs. That’s why I am cursed with this spell. I was asked to kill a powerful vampire’s sister. Her jealous ex-boyfriend wanted her dead. I refused him because I didn’t want to kill her. I can always control my transformation, unless it’s the full moon. That sneaky little bastard cast the spell on me so I’d lose control over shifting. He set me up to go to a dinner with her vampire clan the first day he cast the spell. I never even saw it coming.”
“You mean, you…”
“I killed them. Dozens of them. Didn’t mean to, but they didn’t care. They didn’t care that one of their own set me up.”
“That’s why they’re chasing you.”
“Yep. That’s why they’re chasing me.”
“But why don’t you just explain what happened?”
He glanced over at her for a moment.
“Oh, I did. Trust me. I explained myself a million times over. They don’t care. They just want me dead, but I’m not going to let them put me six feet under.”
She wasn’t sure, but it looked like his grip had intensified on the wheel. His knuckles grew white.
“Starting to understand why I need you? I can’t take many more days of this. Clever of him, really, to set me up with a curse that makes me work only during the day when they almost exclusively work when the sun goes down.”
Cara sat back.
“That’s terrible.”
“And what’s the deal with you?” he asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Why are you still single? You don’t have any horrible defects.”
She looked over at him, trying to decide if he was joking around with her or if he completely lacked social skills. His face was completely serious, but the very end of his lips was turned up and his eyes were gleaming with amusement.
“Umm…thanks? I guess I never found a guy I wanted, and I’m not too social. I get paid to work, not to make friends. Not to mention that love isn’t what I thought it would be. I don’t think I’ve been in love before. If I have, it never excited me. So I just leave when my relationships get boring. None of my boyfriends really ever did it for me, and I feel like they deserved better than my lukewarm feelings.”
He met her eyes and put his hand on her knee, before turning his face back to the road. She took in a breath of air, but her body refused to let her exhale. A fire burned inside of her, unlike anything she had every experienced.
“I’ve never met anyone quite like you, Cara.”
“I don’t know how to take that.”
“I tried to rescue other women, but when they died, I felt nothing. I feel like keeping you alive is just as important as breaking the spell.”
He squeezed her knee, setting off a whole new range of sensations.
Cara stared at him, wide-eyed, but said nothing. Between his electrifying touches and the threat of imminent danger, she was completely turned on.
He pulled off the interstate towards a huge complex of skyscrapers. Businesses lined the streets. They drove up to a building that stood out among the others. It wasn’t as tall as the other skyscrapers, but it was somehow more impressive. Sheets of glass lined the walls and the modern design indicated that it had been built recently. At the very top was a simple logo: a stylized ES. Just two letters. She guessed it stood for Enchantment Society.
“Well,” he said as they pulled up to the parking lot. “Welcome to the Society.”
“That’s a nice building.”
“It’s magnificent.”
She looked up at it. Even though it wasn’t quite as tall as the ones next to it, it was still at least thirty stories high. If someone jumped off the top, they’d have enough time to read a whole book before hitting the ground.
“And you say there’s a computer in there that you want me to hack? Do you know what kind of language it uses?”
“Nope. That’s why you’re here. It’s probably different than anything you’ve ever seen. After all, it’s enchanted.”
“Great. So what’s the plan here? Do we have to bust through the doors or something? Sneak in through the back?”
He opened the front door.
“I was just going to walk in using the front doors, but I like your style,” he said smiling.
“Oh.”
Why was she disappointed about that? His wild energy excited her. She liked not knowing what was going to happen next. Cara felt like she’d just gone skydiving. The adrenaline in her brain was intense. How was he so calm? How could he contain it? Sure, he knew more about the enchanted world, but still, he did have killers after him. No matter how experienced he was, he had to be afraid. Right?
But she didn’t have much time to think about it because they were walking into the Enchanted Society’s building.
6
The sliding doors of the Enchanted Society’s building opened with a pleasing hiss, wafting fresh, chilly air on Cara and Reuben. Before she entered, she wondered what she’d see inside. Indescribable secrets? Aliens? Unicorns? She had no idea.
She went in, and what she saw was beyond anything she could have imagined.
People and creatures of all shapes and sizes wandered around inside. She saw bluish people with pointed ears and golden eyes walking with business suits on. She saw big, muscled troll-like creatures with construction gear over their huge frames. One strange multi-legged family was coming out of the elevator with beach gear on.
“Oh. My. God. How…What…I don’t—”
“Pretty amazing, huh?” He smiled and walked towards the elevator. “Come on, little human. I’ll protect you.”
Although Cara knew he was joking, it was nice t
o know she had a powerful ally to keep her safe. She hoped he’d stick around with her after he gave her directions to the mage. The deal was pretty simple after all; once she fixed the whole coding disaster for him, he was supposed to give her directions to someone who could cast a spell on her. Presumably, that’s when the gig would be up. Cara didn’t want it to end, but she knew she couldn’t thrive in his world. He couldn’t always be there to protect her. Or could he? The thought excited her.
Would she have to go back to her dull life where her greatest thrill was catching a podcast on the way to a job that she hated? She hoped not. She was just getting a taste for the world of enchantment. The last thing she wanted was to pull out and go back to a boring life, always wondering what would have happened if she’d delved deeper.
They walked around the multi-legged family. Apparently, the little kid wanted to see the beach.
“How do these people hide in the real world?”
“You mean the human world? Because this is also the real world.”
“Yeah. Sorry.”
They got to the elevator and he pushed the button.
“Through enchantment. People come through the Society for spells. Once the spells are cast, humans can’t see them for what they are. Until I opened your eyes, you’d see a nice human family. They come back every month or so to repeat the spells.”
“So, these spells can protect me from vampires?”
The elevator doors slid open and they stepped inside.
“No, sorry. Different kind of spell. Think physics and chemistry. Sure, they both use numbers, but they’re totally different.”
The doors shut, leaving them alone inside.
“So here’s the thing,” he said. “We walked in here, but we’re going to need to get out of here quickly when you change the code.”
“But I thought you said we could just walk in.”
“We can. They’re open to all enchanted creatures, and even humans who know this world exists. They’re not open to people who break into valuable records. Just think of this as a bank. If you broke into someone’s account to give yourself the money back that they had stolen from you, would the bank be okay with it?”
She paused.
“I suppose not.”
“But hey, it can’t get much worse. If they catch us, I kidnapped you. I forced you to do horrible things. You’re just a scared little human kidnapped by a mean werewolf. They can’t do anything to you. You got it? That’s your story.”
“But what about you?”
“Oh, this doesn’t even make the list of the top ten stupidest things I’ve done.”
Cara laughed. Their eyes met.
Reuben looked her up and down before pushing her against the elevator wall. He kissed her voraciously and she responded, losing all her inhibitions. His large, strong hands wrapped around her narrow waist as she let out an involuntary sigh.
And with that, the doors opened to a small lobby with a bank-style industrial vault door on one end with two red security guards guarding it. Once again, Cara was left unsatisfied.
Reuben’s demeanor changed from intensely passionate to focused and dangerous.
“This is an unauthorized area,” one guard said with a warning tone. “Go elsewhere, civilian.”
Reuben didn’t go elsewhere. He walked towards them.
“Sorry, man. You two seem like nice guys.”
With that, he popped one of them in the face with his fist. The guy’s head snapped back and he crumbled like tinfoil. The other guard, suddenly realizing he was in danger, pulled out his baton and whacked Reuben before he could block him. The baton shattered across Reuben’s back.
Reuben rolled his shoulders, sending the splinters of the baton onto the ground.
“Bad move, dumbass.”
The poor guy didn’t stand a chance. The time it took Reuben to knock him unconscious was about the same amount of time it took the average person to come to a complete stop at a stop sign.
He shook his hand.
“Ow. Ow. Little guys have hard heads.”
She hadn’t realized it, but she’d stepped back out of fear. He seemed to notice.
“Don’t worry. I won’t hurt you. Just…get your hacker mind on.”
He went to the vault and grabbed the rotating steel handle.
“Okay, I’m about to transform. Don’t freak out, okay?”
“I thought you said you couldn’t control yourself!”
“I can’t. But I also can’t hold it for more than five or ten seconds without moonlight.”
She didn’t like it, but she stayed. Part of her was curious to see what he actually looked like as a werewolf.
He pulled off his shirt and continued to undress. She looked away quickly; she wasn’t sure why. She wanted to see it, but society dictated that she look away unless he said it was fine to stare. She peeked anyway. His entire body was tight and muscular, and not hairy like she had anticipated. The hair must only grow when he transforms, she thought to herself. It took everything in her power to resist moving towards him to finish off what was started in the elevator.
“What… What are you doing?” said Cara.
Why were her cheeks burning?
“I don’t want to ruin another set of clothes.”
Reuben noticed Cara peaking at his naked body. He smiled and gave her a wink. How was she going to hack a computer when her mind kept imagining what she wanted to do to him?
He breathed deeply, made sure he had a good grip on the door, and flexed. His form shuddered and grew violently until Cara’s head came up to his midsection. She had wondered if he had a tail; well, he did. She’d expected a dog-like creature, like a German shepherd on legs. She was right, mostly, but she could still see rippling muscles underneath.
Those same muscles bulged when he tried to tear open the steel door, but the door didn’t move. He put all of his strength into it and the vault twisted slightly. The holding latches snapped and the rest of the restraining steel shredded. The lock snapped off and the door slid open.
His form shrunk back to human proportions, and he sluggishly pulled on his clothes again before dropping to a knee. He released the lock, which hit the ground with a sound mimicking a bowling ball hitting the floor. He muttered under his breath as she hurried to him.
“Wait, wait! I didn’t see your face when you changed!”
“You don’t want to,” he replied. His skin was slick with sweat from what she could only assume was exertion. “Just get in there and fix me.”
“How do I find you in all the code?”
“You’ll know. Or at least I hope you will.”
He straightened. Every muscle on his body was bulging, like he’d just had an intense workout.
She stepped inside.
She’d expected something relatively ordinary for some reason, but the moment she stepped inside, she vanished from the real world. She was still in the room, but the room was indescribably long and high. Long lines of codes flew by her like speeding trucks, passing straight through her body.
Strangely, she wasn’t panicked. She felt right, like she was part of a system instead of an outsider. She simply knew where Reuben was. She called for his code and it appeared in front of her. How did she know it was him? How could she distinguish that long line of code from any of the other millions?
She didn’t know, but somehow her natural instincts had kicked in. Maybe she was enchanted.
She got to coding. It was tricky. What he’d said was true; it really didn’t function like a normal code. It moved differently, looked strange, and even seemed to shift as she was working on it. She went through millions of lines of codes in what felt like seconds, but she couldn’t be sure. Nothing was clear. It could have been lifetimes.
Finally, though, Cara felt like she was done. Nothing told her it was finished, but something in her heart said that she had completed her task. She tried to will herself out. For just a moment, panic flashed through her. She wasn’t going to b
e able to get out; she was stuck. Then, finally, just before she started going crazy, she was sucked out of the coding room and found herself tossed into the room with Reuben.
“Did you do it?” he asked, helping her to her feet. “Did you find it?”
“I think so. I hope so.”
“Yes, I can feel it. You did it!” He bared his fangs in a grin. “Nice job, human.”
That’s when she noticed that something was blaring. It sounded like an alarm.
“You set off the alarm while you were snooping around in there. We probably have forty-five seconds.”
She started towards the elevator, but he pulled her towards the stairs.
“Bad idea. You don’t want to get stuck in there.”
They dashed up the industrial stairs. She’d always considered herself in pretty good shape. She’d run track back in college. But her physical aptitude was definitely being challenged as they raced up the long set of staircases. Two guards entered the stairwell and blocked them in both directions. Reuben seemed unfazed.
The first one was holding a baton, which turned out to be a bad move. Reuben simply tossed him over his shoulder, sending him clattering down the stairs while reciting a stream of curses. The second one was actually armed with a handgun. He fired off a shot at Reuben, which made him trip and fall.
“Oh my God!” Cara yelled. “Reuben!”
Reuben stumbled, bleeding from his shoulder with golden blood. He charged the guy and beat him into unconsciousness; the guy was lucky that Reuben had spared his life.
“How are you still alive?” he cried, as they busted onto the ground floor.
“It wasn’t silver,” he muttered, but he was still wincing.
Was the pain killing him? Probably not, but it was obviously hurting him.
More guards were waiting for them at the doorway. Enchanted creatures were scrambling away wildly from what they perceived to be dangerous intruders—a bloodthirsty werewolf and his sly human.
“Stop!” they yelled, rounding the corner to try to catch them.
Reuben and Cara didn’t listen. Reuben grabbed Cara’s hand as they sprinted for the door. It became a wild race for the exit—one that Reuben won. Cara was right behind him, but one of the faster guards grabbed her from behind.