Of Wolf and Peace (Providence Paranormal College Book 3)

by D. R. Perry

  “Jeez, you’re worse than my brother.” Beth elbowed him, then pointed at the Dark and Stormy in front of him. “You’re not drinking that?” She reached for the glass.

  “Not right now.” Blaine shooed her away. “Just watching the fizz go out of it.”

  “You’re an oddball, you know that, right?” Beth rolled her eyes and headed over to the bar to make her own drink.

  “So, I think it’s time to let Fred in on all of this.” I drummed my fingers on the table. “Tell it, Trogdor.”

  “I’ll let someone else do it for a change if it’s all the same to you, Grand High Poobah.” Blaine’s eyes tracked his glass. Up, down. Up, down. I’d leave him to it for now, considering he’d saved Nox.

  “Fine.” I filled Fred in on the Extramagus situation, Lynn and Bobby chiming in from time to time.

  “So now that this is over and you and Nox are okay, who’s next?” Fred reached for more donuts, but they were all gone.

  “Don’t go eating the furniture, Fred.” Olivia swept in from the backyard with a handful of bags. “Looks like I made it back from Dunkin just in time. Hoo boy.” She set the bags on the table in front of the Redcap. “What did I walk in on?”

  “Evil bad guy out to get us.” Fred only had eyes for the bags full of pastries. “I’m on board.”

  “And you’re trying to figure out who’s next?” Olivia blinked, perching on a chair at the bar. “That’s easy. The Harcourts.”

  “Yup.” Blaine still watched the bubbles rise and burst. “Smart owl is smart, but she doesn’t know everything.”

  “So enlighten me, oh great and scaly one.” Olivia turned toward Blaine, leaning over the arm of her chair. But the dragon only shook his head in answer.

  “The Extramagus never goes after just one person.” I hadn’t heard Tony come in. He watched Olivia intently, his eyes moving from her to the space between her and Blaine, as though measuring it. “It can’t just be our Trogdor he’s after.”

  “Cat-man said it.” Blaine’s eyes stayed glued to the glass. “No idea who it’d be in all this mess, though.”

  “I’ve got one.” Lynn swallowed her mouthful of bagel. “Ren Ichiro. Nox couldn’t have saved Josh without him.”

  “No way.” Beth leaned against the bar, sipping rum-laced ginger ale. “I read through your notes last night. The bad guy can’t touch Ren or me. I think the bridge was his doing.”

  “Hmm. Good point.” Lynn shrugged with one shoulder, swallowing more bagel. “Gee Nome? Other than that, I’ve got nothing for now. You must be relieved Ren’s safe, huh?”

  Beth opened her mouth. Before she could speak, Nox rushed through the door and up to me, flinging her arms around my neck. I wheeled the chair back from the table, then pulled her into my lap. I might be too weak to stand or walk for more than a minute or two, but that didn’t stop me from appreciating my mate. And I almost forgot about everyone else until the sound of a slap rang through the room.

  “I don’t want to see your face around here, Ren Ichiro.” My sister stood face to face with the man she’d have married last spring, staring daggers into his eyes. His face bore a distinct red hand-print. Nox pressed a finger to the bottom of my chin, pushing my jaw back to a more dignified closed position.

  “I’m sorry, Beth.” Ren didn’t hang his head. He just kept on looking her in the eye. “I should have—”

  “Should have what? Told me you were alive? Told your dad, so he didn’t spend a fortune on your funeral? Told poor Kimiko, so she didn’t have dead brother damage just like me? I can’t believe you put us through all that for three years, and then you waltz in here like it never happened. I can’t listen to this now.” She took a step toward him, and he walked backward. “Don’t bother leaving.” My sister stepped around the only man she’d ever loved and headed out the way Olivia had come in. The door shook in its frame after her.

  Ren stood there, looking more lost at sea than I’d imagined he’d been when I thought he was dead. He blinked a few times, then took a deep breath. He sat on one of the barstools, gazing wistfully at Beth’s forgotten drink.

  “So, you lived on that boat that’s been in the harbor all winter, huh?” Tony shuffled over to sit next to Ren, pushing the drink down the bar. “Good call, all things considered. It’s what I would have done.”

  “Um, yeah. Lived on it for three years, actually.” Ren nodded. “Been all up and down the east coast in that old thing.”

  “For the record, I know why you didn’t say anything.” I sipped my screwdriver. “Wolf neutrality. Beth would have lost you, anyway.”

  “Um, you have a Kelpie on your lap, though.” He scratched his head. “Aren’t your parents going to have an issue with that?”

  “None at all,” I smirked. “With a Selkie and a Kelpie as in-laws, we have balance. Beth’ll come around. She just needs time.”

  “Dude, she slapped him.” Fred blinked. “You can’t be serious.”

  “Yeah, and she also said she can’t listen. Right now.” I shrugged. “I know my sister. So do Mom and Dad. She’ll hash things out with you eventually, Ren. But I’m warning you, your apology had better be Oscar-worthy when she does.”

  “Okay, but what about your pack? No balance there.”

  “Coincidence will take care of that. We’ll find a Seelie member soon enough.”

  “Might have to make that two.” Fred grimaced. His stomach rumbled, and for a moment, his glamour dropped. His skin was grayer than only a week ago, his ears pointier. “I have to tithe by the end of the semester, and that might be pushing it.”

  “Yeah, and when you do, you’ll be in the Under for a year and a day.” All newly tithed Changelings had to serve their Monarch for that amount of time to prove their loyalty and learn to control the extra power that came with Court alignment. “I’ll have time to find someone to balance you out.”

  “But you’ve got me.” Nox snuck a sip of my drink, then wrinkled her nose. “Balancing out the bad Unseelie influence on your pack is a bit overdue.”

  “So, what do you say, Ren?” I raised an eyebrow. “You already work well with at least one of my packmates, and I heard you talking to Headmistress Thurston about resuming your studies. I know you’ll be around, and we have the smartest students here if you need study buddies.”

  “Um, sure.” Ren glanced around the room. “But I only see one genius at the table.” I hadn’t noticed until then that Blaine’s seat was empty. The dragon shifter had left the building.

  I couldn’t blame him. I wasn’t sure we’d see much of him until after spring break. Even though I hadn’t hidden in my house when I thought the Extramagus was after me, Blaine Harcourt probably would.

  Once everyone was full of donuts, bagels, and beverages, they trailed out one by one. Nox put bottles away while I wheeled around the room, gathering napkins and paper plates to put in the trash bin. Tony stood in a corner, so still and quiet I hadn’t noticed him at first.

  “Go on, cat man. Shoo.” I waved toward the door. “Isn’t someone opening a can of tuna somewhere?”

  “Nice joke. I’ve never heard that one before.” He shook his head. “Look, I might as well say this in front of Nox, too.”

  “Say what in front of me?” She clinked the rum bottle back on the shelf and strode over.

  “Just dropping some information to keep a promise.” He shrugged. “I’m the one who woke you up the night of the new moon, Josh.”

  “Wait, what?” I couldn’t believe my ears. I’d had suspicions about who my benefactor had been, but couldn’t imagine Tony Gitano doing anything to risk his neck for anyone else. “How?”

  “Church-key.” He nodded at Nox. “You’re not the only one who’s gotten a present or few from Taki Waban.”

  “But why?” I shook my head, trying to reconcile the idea of Tony as a hero while dismissing my suspicion that the dragon librarian had warned me.

  “You still don’t understand.” He sighed. “Look, your uncle Jake has some scary connectio
ns. It’s why your mom didn’t give him the pack when she married your dad. I mean, haven’t you ever thought it was weird she kept on running it even through having three kids?”

  “I just thought she was a liberated woman?” I narrowed my eyes, uncomfortable with the fact that a cat shifter seemed to know more about my extended family than I did.

  “I’m sure she is. But there’s more to it than that. More than even I’m completely certain of.”

  “And why should I believe you?”

  “You don’t have to if you don’t want to.” He shrugged. “I’m just putting it out there. Your family’s not so great at keeping secrets because your parents are so upstanding. It’s rare around here.”

  I growled. Nox put her hands on my shoulders.

  “Look, I mean no disrespect, but an Extramagus with a superiority complex isn’t the only player in this game we keep getting caught up in. When the big fish are after chum, the bottom feeders follow them. I think maybe you should be informed about stuff Lynn and Blaine can’t find out in the library.”

  “Not now.” I shook my head, suddenly completely exhausted. Near-death-by-poisoning could do that to a person. “Some other time.”

  “Okay, boss.” Tony stepped sideways, closing the distance between himself and the door. “Just don’t wait too long. Not knowing what I have to say almost took you out of the game before it started this time. And I don’t have any more church-keys to get you out if something like that happens again.”

  “I’ve got one.” Nox’s lips made a thin, straight line. “Tell me. But later. You get some rest, Josh. I have an exam to take.”

  “Sure, horsefeathers.” I rubbed my eyes, trying to stay awake long enough to hear what Tony might say. When I took my hands away, he was already gone.

  Nox helped me to the couch and got me comfortable. Then she left for her exam. Finally in the quiet, I slept.

  Chapter Twenty

  Nox

  I filled in the last bubble on the scantron sheet, then got up and left as quietly as I could. I’d never ace Watkins’ test, but at least I’d pass it. There would be time to make up points after Spring Break. When I got outside, I looked up at the sky, amazed at how blue it was. I headed back toward Josh’s house. On the way, I heard something so beautiful it stole my breath. I closed my eyes, feet moving along the sidewalk toward the sound of a violin sweeter than honey and more entangling than spider shifter silk. I’d heard it before, felt the same compulsion the night I ran into Josh. This time, he wasn’t here to distract me from following it.

  I opened my eyes, trying to stop. I couldn’t. Despite the early spring sun and balmy temperature, I had a bad feeling, like the night Dad didn’t come home. Instead of Hope Street, I’d turned down Camp toward Rochambeau. I made it all the way to the park where I’d gotten into all this mess, feeling like I was falling toward something. And I had an idea this might be how a fly felt on its way to the bottom of a pitcher plant.

  I crossed Rochambeau, turning up the drive of a yellow triple-decker house I’d been to before. At the door, I rang the bell with the name Kazynski next to it and waited. The music stopped, but before I could bolt the door opened. A frail and wizened man, bald except for a semi-circle of fuzz behind his ears greeted me.

  “Miss Phillips, please. I must speak with you.” His voice was heavily accented, either Russian or Polish.

  “Haven’t you ever heard of email?” I leaned in the doorway. “I don’t appreciate being compelled. So talk already.”

  “This was the only safe way. You must bring this to your Alpha.” He held out an old wooden box, carved all over with flowers. When I touched it, it tingled with enchantment I couldn’t identify. I suspected the box itself wasn’t enchanted, but the item inside absolutely was. Strong, too.

  “What’s it for?”

  “Safekeeping. It’ll open when the time comes, and he’ll know what to do with it then.” Old Mr. Kazynski reached out to close the door. His forearm was marked with a line of numbers. He couldn’t be old enough to have been in a Concentration Camp, could he? I sniffed, realizing he was something more than just plain human.

  Stopping to think had cost me the chance to ask anything else. I’d have rung again, but the old fellow seemed so frightened. Still, I hesitated. After the last few weeks, I’d gotten tired of enigmas and danger. As I lifted my finger to press the button next to his name, Mr. Kazynski started playing again. This time, the music moved me away, like the songs they play when a nightclub’s about to close. I tucked the box inside my jacket and turned right onto the sidewalk.

  I headed up Rochambeau toward Hope Street, crossing and making the turns down side-streets to take me to Josh’s house. Men were working, replacing the old iron gates with steel replicas. I hurried up the driveway, then around the side of the house to the basement entrance.

  Josh sat up on the sofa, looking around until he saw me. Then, he smiled. I went over, sitting next to him. He leaned in, kissing me. I almost forgot about the box until he pulled me closer and bumped it.

  “What’s that?”

  I told him. He sat for a few moments, running his fingers over the wooden carvings. He set it on the coffee table. Josh put his arms around me, moving in for another kiss. When we came up for air, I leaned against his chest.

  “Doesn’t it drive you nuts, not knowing what’s in there?” I held him close, but gently. I felt lucky to be able to hold him at all, considering he was the first wolf shifter I’d heard of to survive a cockatrice scratch.

  “Nope.” He ran one hand through my hair while the other caressed my back. “I’ll see when it’s time. For now, I’ve got everything I need right here.”

  I tilted my head to look up at him, understanding completely. Whatever came at us, we’d handle it together.

  The Academy Isn’t

  A Providence Paranormal College

  Short Story

  The Academy Isn’t

  "I'm not going back there, and you can't make me."

  "You'll do as I say," Yoshi Ichiro crossed his arms, forcing his face into the sterner lines his daughter needed to see on it. "But it is up to you to tell me your side of things before I make my final decision regarding your attendance at The Academy."

  "I hate it there." Kimi always led with her emotion, something she'd have to either outgrow or learn to use if she wanted to be a long-lived Tanuki instead of the kind that ran out of Luck in the prime of life.

  "You know better than to let hatred rule your mind." Yoshi shook his head, letting a mask of disappointment hide his fear for her. "Give me better reasoning than that or back you go."

  "They teach nothing there that I don't already know." Kim twirled a lock of her hair. "I can't stand how strict it is, but the worst part is that it's so..." She tugged the hair, grimacing. "Remedial."

  "So you are bored."

  "The Academy isn't for someone like me."

  "I'd say it's more that someone like you isn't for The Academy." Ren leaned in the doorway. Just seeing him there hurt Yoshi's heart. He'd changed so drastically without growing much.

  His son had taken after his late wife, Sora, a Telepathic Psychic. He'd been entirely mundane, too, a common occurrence in Tanuki families, but he'd come back with a Selkie pelt after going missing for three years. The Ichiro family dynamic had changed after Sora's death, and here it was, turning in an entirely different direction.

  "Please, Ren," Yoshi indicated the empty space on the sofa. "Sit down and add to the discussion."

  "Okay." After taking a seat, Ren leaned forward. He appeared more interested in this conversation than Kimi herself.

  "I'm just dying to hear what the absentee brother thinks of the school he hasn't even seen." Kimiko rolled her eyes.

  If her stinging remark bothered Ren, he didn't show it. "Well, it sounds like a fine institution. But from the way you talk about it, sending you there is like trying to make a bird live inside an aquarium."

  "It's the only school that would have her,
with the grades she made in her last two years of High School." Yoshi couldn't measure his tone. Something panged in his chest, on the left. Hiding that pain took more effort than he'd expected.

  "See? Even Ren thinks it's the same difference, Daddy." Though she'd usually glance off to the side to accompany such a dismissive remark, Yoshi's daughter watched him like their cat watched the robins nesting in the yew bush beside the parlor window.

  "It's not." Yoshi kept his mouth still and flat but couldn't stop the hidden smile from crinkling the corners of his eyes. Despite his pain, having both of his children back with him was a blessing he hadn't dreamed of. "Once you figure out why those are not precisely the same, you will understand why I sent you there to begin with."

  "Why can't you just tell me?" This time, Kimi did look away.

  "You gave me the impression you're bored at The Academy because all of its answers are too easy for you to get."

  Kimiko opened and shut her mouth, saying nothing. His daughter was a brilliant trickster, exactly as he'd been at her age. And tradition demanded that Yoshi be as inscrutable and maddening as his own parents had been with him ages ago. Without the challenge of mystery, an intellect like hers would only stagnate. Too much depended on her putting all the right pieces together soon, including his own life. though neither of his children knew that as yet.

  And he couldn't interfere without risking coincidence turning Luck in favor of the wrong people. He was stuck under the same restrictions as the other experienced adults connected to the Extramagus. Because they'd once been allies, coincidence dictated that none of them could directly cross the rising power again. If any of the older generation dared such a thing, they'd risk convergence altering all the Precognitive work done decades ago.

  "Daddy, I want to learn more than what the Academy has to teach me. Isn't that enough of a reason not to send me back there?"