Nevertheless, she let Ajax help her into the driver’s seat, an unfamiliar flustered feeling filling her heart.
Fishing her keys out of her clutch, she pushed one into the ignition. In a roar of combustion, her engine turned over then purred like a kitten. It was a sound that warmed the currently overly frilled cockles of Tessa’s cold, mechanical heart. There was nothing like the sound of a smoothly running classic car.
Going around the front of the car, Ajax slid into the front passenger’s side seat, slamming the door shut in his wake. And then they were off, Ajax giving her directions to his parents’ house as he went. Or rather, his family’s houses, as they all apparently lived in more or less the same neighborhood.
Tessa, who had never had a parent to call her own, let alone a sibling or a cousin, wondered what that was like. Claustrophobic? Annoying? Or warm and comfortable? Maybe even homey?
I guess I’m going to find out, thought Tessa, as they turned down a quiet residential street. It had a surprising number of cars parked along it.
The houses here were moderately sized, the lawns large. Most of the house fronts were decorated for Halloween. Orange fairy lights ringed some of the doorways and roof edges, and fake cemeteries had been planted in most of the front yards. Hands clawed their way up from the ground in front of some of the tomb stones. Ghosts hung from many of the neighborhood’s trees.
In a neighborhood like this, Tessa had the sneaking suspicion that only the light of the setting sun was keeping the trick or treaters at bay. Once it went down, though, all the little witches and superheroes would be out in force and chirping the traditional threat.
It’d probably be adorable.
Ajax directed her to a house that was as decorated as all the ones around it. Unlike the ones around it, however, it had a line of lit tiki torches gently sloping from the front walkway around to the back of the house. As far as hints went as to where to go to get the candy, it wasn’t particularly subtle.
Tessa liked it.
She liked less having to park on the street, though. That seemed awfully close to the other cars. And tonight, there promised to be a lot of foot traffic, most of it unappreciative of auto mechanical glory. What if someone dinged her baby?
Clenching her jaw, Tessa parked there, anyway.
Do it for Ajax, thought Tessa, as she killed the engine. Her seatbelt made a soft clicking sound as it was released. He saved you from being kidnapped. You can help him save face with his family.
She hoped that they were nice.
From his seat, Ajax took a deep breath, held it, and then slowly breathed it out.
“This is going to be great,” he said, and from his tone of voice, Tessa couldn’t discern if he was trying to persuade her or himself.
“Just remember, you promised me lamb and goat,” said Tessa, trying to get his mind off of his nervousness.
Ajax laughed. Turning to look at her, he was still smiling when he said “Oh, they are going to love you.”
And, even though it was just pretend, a not so small and treacherous part of Tessa’s heart hoped that they did.
Annoyed with herself and her silly, soft heart, Tessa swung her door open and exited the vehicle. By then, the sun had finished setting, leaving the world slightly chillier than when they had left the apartment complex. It felt nice.
Ajax caught up to her a moment later, the rhythm of her foolish heart lurching into overdrive when he took her hand in his larger one.
Don’t be stupid, Tessa ordered herself. It’s just for appearances sake.
And truthfully? A little bit of handholding wasn’t much in the grand scheme of things. There were far more intimate things that he could be doing with her hand – or the rest of her. She’d done those things before too with brief hookups over the years. It honestly hadn’t meant much of anything.
Now, it meant way more than it should have to her.
It wasn’t fair that Ajax Mytaras had such a profound effect on her or her body. It just wasn’t.
Seemingly oblivious to her personal turmoil, Ajax led Tessa across the lawn and past a sculpture of Bacchus, following the line of tiki lights to the backyard of his parents’ house.
As they strode through the open gate, Tessa’s first impression was of a bacchanal. Maybe it was the enormous crowd, their cheerful noise, the music, the dancing, the flowing liquor, or the flickering flames of the spit roast.
Thank goodness they didn’t wait on us to get the party started, thought Tessa, feeling genuinely relieved even as she bit the inside of her cheek against a smirk. Just the thought of it – maybe a hundred and fifty to two hundred people, all standing quietly and staring at the backyard’s gate while they waited for Ajax and her to arrive – was awkward enough to make Tessa wince.
Her second impression was that hiding the streaks in her hair had probably been a fool’s errand. These people looked like they liked to have fun. So did Tessa.
This might not be so bad, thought Tessa, relaxing slightly.
She tensed right up again – And Ajax gave her hand a little, bracing squeeze – when someone in the crowd gasped “They’re here!”
Gosh, I hope that they’re talking about a guy delivering a dozen pizzas, Tessa thought.
No such luck. A few moments after that, a small group of older women and men broke off from the rest of the party, making a beeline for Ajax. Trailing behind them were two women in micro miniskirts.
Cousin Diana and her blind date for Ajax? Tessa wondered; a fierce feeling blazed through her.
She was already Ajax’s date! He’d picked her for himself. And she was going to be a much better fake date than the miniskirt-ed wonder would have been a blind date.
I am going to date the crap out of this man! Tessa vowed, narrowing her eyes at the challenger.
If the challenger was a dragon with any sense, she probably would have backed off.
When she looked past Tessa to simper at Ajax, it became blindingly obvious that she was neither a dragon nor in possession of a modicum of sense. It was probably good for everyone at that point, but most especially the blind date and Tessa, that Tessa couldn’t actually blow flames in her human form.
Tessa deeply resented being made to be grateful for that.
“Welcome to our home,” said an older man. With his curling, grey hair and high cheeks, he bore a certain resemblance to Ajax. “I am Ajax’s father, Jason Mytaras. This is my wife, Cassia Mytaras. This is my brother, Alex, and my wife’s sister, Anthea.”
“And I’m his cousin, Diana,” inserted one of the women in short skirts. She had long, dark, curly hair and flashing eyes. “And this is Anita. I brought her by to meet Ajax.”
Anita was a flawless beauty with sly eyes and a winning smile.
Tessa disliked her on sight, possibly just on general principle.
To Ajax, Diana said “I didn’t really think you’d bring a date. You never do.”
“This is Tessa,” said Ajax, having apparently decided to ignore his cousin’s aside. He raised their joined hands in a half wave, then pulled them the rest of the way to his mouth. He kissed the back of Tessa’s hand, sending a dart of fondness through her heart. Honestly, it did a lot to settle Tessa’s flaring emotions. “Tessa Johnson.”
Across from her, Ajax’s mother’s eyes lit up.
“How nice to meet you,” she said, and then she stepped forward even as her hands were coming up to rest on Tessa’s shoulders.
Tessa had a moment of general bewilderment before she found herself pulled into a hug, one that she clumsily returned.
She hadn’t actually known that hugs might happen when a girl went to meet her potential in-laws – her pretend potential in-laws. Wrapped in a cloud of floral perfume, Tessa wondered what else the Hallmark channel had forgotten to mention.
Then Ajax’s mother was pulling away, and Tessa held up her gift for them: an unopened bottle of schnapps.
“It’s peach-flavored?” she offered, and Ajax barked a laugh.
&
nbsp; “It’s a wonderful gift,” said Ajax’s father warmly, as he took the bottle from her.
“Thank you very, very much,” said his mother, equally warmly, and Tessa relaxed just a tiny bit.
So far, so good, she thought, hopefully.
Putting a hand on her arm, Ajax’s mother helped Ajax lead her into the house, where they cracked the peach schnapps. Tessa happily accepted a double shot of the stuff. Already, this was going better than she had dared to hope it might!
Cheerfully, Tessa knocked the drink back, enjoying its smoothness and pleasant flavor. It warmed her up from the belly outwards.
“Ah!” exclaimed one of Ajax’s relatives, as she joined them. Not any of the ones that Tessa had already met. She was young enough that she had to be another cousin, though. Hefting a bottle of ouzo and another shot glass, she asked “You drink?”
“Sometimes?” offered Tessa. Then, remembering that she was trying to impress these people for Ajax’s sake, she added “I mean occasionally. Socially. And only if the drink is tasty.”
Next to her, Ajax was smiling.
“We are very social,” said Ajax’s relative with faux solemnity, which she ruined a second later by grinning. It put a pretty dimple into one of her rounded cheeks. “And our drinks are very good! Tell me, have you ever had ouzo?”
“Licorice flavor? Turns white when you add water?”
Taking back Tessa’s shot glass, the new and unknown cousin grinned again.
“I see it’s not unknown to you,” said the cousin, as she refilled Tessa’s shot glass, higher and with ouzo this time.
“I drink it on the rocks just to watch it change colors,” admitted Tessa, and from the corner of her eyes, she saw Ajax smile. “Someday, I will be able to proudly say that I’ve drunk all the color changing liquors. It’s one of my life goals.”
“A sound and solid life plan,” agreed the other woman. Passing back Tessa’s shot glass, she said “I’m Christina Mytaras.”
“Tessa Johnson,” said Tessa, and she raised her glass slightly to her new friend.
She hoped that this new cousin of Ajax’s would be her friend, at least for tonight. Otherwise, she might just be stuck hanging onto Ajax’s hand all night. They were holding hands just then, in fact, and he didn’t seem to mind it, but he’d probably get tired of her monopolizing his hand at some point.
A salute – to which their little group raised their glass – and then the ouzo went down the hatch. It was all smooth and licorice and delightfully alcoholic.
Tessa wondered if Ajax’s family ever had drinking competitions. Because that? She could probably handle. The way that everyone seemed to be looking at her from the corners of their eyes, trying to study her without just staring, was harder to handle.
She couldn’t help but wonder what they were looking for, if she was living up to their hopes for Ajax’s girlfriend. He didn’t seem to bring them around a lot, not even when he said that he would, apparently, or his cousin probably wouldn’t have brought her friend along as a set up. But he must have brought one or two home over the years.
And what sorts does he usually bring home when he does? Tessa wondered, as she listened to Ajax’s parents cheerfully nag at him. Apparently, he was too thin, too secretive, and didn’t call often enough, either. It should have sounded harsh, but mostly it seemed fond.
For his own part, Ajax patiently listened to them, nodding in places, as he traced soothing circles with his thumb on the back of Tessa’s hand. Sometimes, he even managed to answer a question! Not that it seemed to do him much good.
Tessa had never had parents of her own, at least not that she could remember, but she wasn’t sure that she would take being fussed over like that well if she did. It seemed… embarrassing. Rather than dwelling on that, however, Tessa took advantage of Ajax’s parents’ distraction to snagged a couple of spanakopita off of a passing tray.
Popping the first one in her mouth, Tessa nearly moaned aloud at the flakey crust, delicate spinach, flavorful cheese, and delicious seasoning.
Christina snagged a bit more ouzo for both she and Tessa.
“So,” Christina, when their blood had been suitably warmed by another swallow of ouzo. “How do you spend your days, Tessa Johnson?”
“Fixing cars,” said Tessa, after a split second of panic. Ajax hadn’t asked her to pretend to be someone else. He’d just asked her to pretend to be his steady date. Her real life was probably fine. “I’m a mechanic. You?”
“Computer programmer?”
Miming typing, Tessa said “Like on television? When they want to steal information from the thing? Or, I don’t know, download a virus into it?”
Christina laughed. “It’s way more boring than that. Takes longer too.”
Tessa nodded sagely.
“That makes sense.” A thought struck her, and Tessa added “Hey, can you do programming to videogames?”
They were deep in discussion regarding a multi-player game that they both enjoyed, when a couple of hors d’oeuvre trays passed by. Christina was busy pouring more ouzo for the both of them, but Tessa came to attention at the sight of the food. Ignoring the stuffed tomatoes and mushrooms, Tessa helped herself to another four or so of those tasty little spanakopita triangles.
They were just as good as Tessa remembered them being.
“Oh! You like spanakopita?” asked Christina, as she dutifully passed the tray along. The ouzo had already been palmed off on another relative. Of the two, the ouzo and the spanakopita, Tessa was sadder to see the tray of spanakopita go.
Hastily, Tessa finished chewing and swallowed.
“Love it!” she said cheerfully. “Every year, I pretend to be Greek Orthodox for at least one weekend to get into the Greek festival.”
It was like the verbal equivalent of a record scratch. Ajax’s parents even stopped hassling him. Only Ajax seemed unaffected. His thumb never stopped stroking her hand and, when Tessa glanced his way, he looked amused more than anything else.
Nevertheless, Tessa knew that she’d made some sort of misstep with his parents and possibly his cousin. In that moment, Tessa seriously wished that she as an earth dragon rather than a fire one.
Since literally sinking into the ground to escape the awkward conversation was beyond her means, Tessa forged ahead, saying, “I like the ouzo, of course, and I never leave without a box of a dozen baked goods. But the food is where it’s at. I love the spanakopita and the lemon soup and the gyros, of course, but I also like the annual one-off food stands. I always eat at least two of everything.”
Christina, Ajax, and even his parents laughed.
“Of course, you do,” said Ajax, almost fondly.
“At least you have good taste,” said Ajax’s father cheerfully. “Tessa Johnson, where is that name from?”
“Is it English? added Ajax’s mother helpfully.
“It’s of the Coconut Beach Fire and Rescue Department,” said Tessa wryly, while clamping down on an odd and entirely misplaced sense of embarrassment. It wasn’t her fault. She refused to be embarrassed by her entire lack of family tree, even if she was currently surrounded by Ajax’s very large, very warm, and very loving family. “They found me, and they named me. Tecmessa for the Amazon and Johnson for the firefighter that actually found me.”
And just as quickly, everything changed again. Tessa watched as Ajax’s parents… softened towards her. There was just no other way to describe it. A moment later, though, they were right back to being cheerful.
“Named for Tecmessa, the Amazon?” said Ajax’s mother. “It’s a very good name.”
“And Johnson must have been a very observant man,” added Ajax’s father. “To find a baby.”
“You eat at least two? Of everything?” said Ajax’s cousin at nearly the same time. Doubt colored her voice. “We couldn’t even do that, and we’re all werewolves.”
Tessa blinked. “Werewolves? All of you?”
“You didn’t know?” asked Ajax’s mother, some unknown me
aning heavy in her voice. “He didn’t tell you?”
Tessa glanced at Ajax again, aware that she had just made some sort of misstep. And just when they had seemed to be warming to her too.
“I knew that he was some kind of shifter,” said Tessa, rallying. “He’s been healing up so fast, just like a shifter should.”
Next to her, Ajax visibly winced.
“Healing up?” repeated Ajax’s mother, her voice sharp. “Healing up from what?”
Tessa glanced at Ajax, whose unhappy expression was no help to her at all, then looked back to his parents.
“He didn’t tell you?” she asked, suddenly nervous. She was an adult in her own right, and Ajax was barely a friend, never mind a boyfriend, but at that moment, Tessa felt like she was fifteen again and accidentally betraying a friend’s confidence to his parents.
It wasn’t a great feeling.
“It didn’t come up,” said Ajax smoothly; not smoothly enough, though, judging by his mother’s glare.
“It’s terribly romantic?” offered Tessa, trying to put the best possible spin on it. “Well, I’m a fire dragon,” began Tessa, visibly surprising her audience. “But it’s really not as useful an ability as most people must think. I can’t even blow fire. And so, one night…”
Chapter 10 – Ajax
His mother was going to kill him. Or possibly cry on him. His dad just looked proud and maybe a little misty-eyed. Either way, though, they definitely thought that Tessa was his soul mate. Everyone in hearing distance probably did too. Ajax could see it in their faces.
From behind his parents, Diana even shot him an apologetic look. Her friend drifted away, off to flirt with one of his presumably still single cousins.
Ajax honestly didn’t know what to do with that or any of the rest of it. He had just wanted Tessa to come as his date, not sell them as the romance of the decade; although she was certainly doing a good job of it. The way Tessa told it, he had been a hero the night that he had saved her.
Ajax had been there too, though. He remembered the night going very differently.
Her Detective Wolf Page 10