His Caress of Shadows (The Kaldr Chronicles Book 4)

by Kody Boye

“Is something wrong?” I asked.

  “No, no. I was just thinking.”

  “About?”

  “How sexy you’d look all done up like a teacher.”

  “Aerick!” I laughed.

  “Seriously, J,” he replied. “Dress shirt, snug jeans, slicked hair, glasses. You’ll be a dreamboat.”

  “I’m not looking to be a dreamboat,” I replied. “Just a good teacher.”

  “And a good teacher you’ll be,” Aerick said. He rounded the counter until he came face-to-face with me and waited until I reached out to tease the tip of his stubbly chin with a finger before leaning forward. “You gonna have Guy take you, or you gonna take the bus?”

  “I’ll probably just take the bus,” I said. “It’s not like the nearest stop is that far. And besides—it’ll give me a chance to ruminate on what I’ll say when I get there.”

  “You nervous?”

  “Normally I wouldn’t be,” I said. “I know I’m qualified, and I know that I’ve got the experience. I mean, hell—I was assisting at Northridge during my time at the university.”

  “I sense a but here.”

  “But,” I continued, “this was before I was a Kaldr. When I was human.”

  “When you were normal,” Aerick said.

  I nodded.

  With a pouty frown, the Howler leaned forward, pressed a kiss to my lips, and said, “I don’t think you’ve got anything to worry about, stud. You’ll knock ‘em out of the park.”

  “I sure hope so,” I said. “Because I’d hate to get my hopes up only to have them crushed.”

  “You’ll be fine, Jason. Seriously. Don’t get yourself worked up.”

  How I couldn’t I wasn’t sure, but regardless, I stood, glanced at the clock, then said, “I’m going to shower. Want to join?”

  Aerick followed without a word in response.

  5

  The high school’s front entryway was ominous in that it brought back horrible memories of a childhood I would’ve rather forgotten. Beaten, belittled, bullied for the stupidest of things and berated for the fact that I was gay—high school had been hell: a personal pit of fire into which I had been forced to throw myself each and every day for four years. Realizing that I was coming back after so many years, and that I would potentially be a part of the faculty as a result of this prospective meeting, was enough to make the hairs on my arms stand on end.

  “Can I help you?” a receptionist in the front office asked.

  “Yeah,” I replied, turning to face the office and then stepping into it a short moment later. “I’m looking for a Principal—”

  “Buchanan,” the woman replied. “Yes. His office is right here. I assume you’re the Mr. DePella that he’s been expecting?”

  “I am, yes.”

  “Give me one moment to let him know that you’re here.”

  With a nod, I settled myself into one of the many seats I imagined were reserved for students in the worst of trouble before leaning forward and considering the smartphone in my hand. Guy would be home soon, and though he would initially question where I was, Aerick would soon inform him that I was at a job interview—one that looked as though it would pay off.

  “Mr. DePella?” a familiar voice asked.

  I rose to face the principal—an imposing man of some six-foot-three, broad-shouldered and marine-styled buzz-cut—and nodded as I looked upon his features. “Principal Buchanan,” I replied.

  “This way, please.”

  We entered the office and seated ourselves in our respective locations—he behind his desk, I right before it. I fingered the records that had been provided by my college upon discharge and nodded as the man reached forward to consider the documents before him.

  “Recent college graduate,” the man replied. “Are you sure you’re ready to start working so soon?”

  “I need this job,” I replied, grimacing at the way my words had come out. I steeled myself beneath the man’s oppressive gaze—especially when his eyes caught mine and stared at me for several long moments—before nodding and waiting for him to continue.

  “I have to make you aware, Mr. DePella, that you would be the first Supernatural staff member at our Falls Burrow High School.”

  “There’s probably more than you think,” I offered.

  This didn’t amuse him, but he did continue to consider the documents spread out before him, his eyes trailing over my recommendation from the college and the grade-point-averages that I’d been able to maintain. He then lifted his eyes to me and said, point-blankly, “Some will have problems with you working here.”

  “I’m aware,” I replied.

  “And others will try to make it a—and excuse the language for this—living hell for you. Are you sure you can take on the responsibilities that will be required of you as a result of your employment here?”

  “I can take on anything you throw at me,” I replied.

  “Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?”

  “You’re free to ask me anything,” I replied, and immediately regretted it shortly thereafter.

  “Your… condition,” Principal Buchanan began, “is the result of magic. Am I right?”

  “You’re correct, sir.”

  “And your… abilities,” he then added, “won’t be of any danger to students or faculty. Correct?”

  “I’ve control of my abilities, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

  “I’ll have you know that there’ll likely be an uproar over your hiring,” the man said, “but I’ve been informed by our school’s legal department that I can’t refuse you based on the fact that you’re a Supernatural citizen.”

  “I understand your concern,” I replied. “I would be too, especially if I were a parent.”

  “How do you intend to combat any concerns they might have?”

  “They, sir?”

  “The students’ parents.”

  “Oh,” I said, then paused. “Them.” I hadn’t considered what I would or might say to them should I encounter one of them upon school grounds. It was highly probable that this would occur—that regardless of the security net the law provided me, I was likely, and most assuredly, going to face speculation. For that reason, I simply cleared my throat and said, “I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. I imagine parent-teacher conferences will be interesting.”

  “That I’m sure of,” the principal laughed, offering the first real emotion I’d seen since encountering the man. He rolled his chair back and then reached into a drawer at his side before withdrawing a series of papers, which I soon realized was a contract. “If you’d read through these forms, Mr. DePella, and sign at the bottom of each page, I would like to formally invite you to Falls Burrow High—that is, if you’d be interested in joining us.”

  “Would I ever,” I said.

  I couldn’t reach for the pen fast enough.

  6

  “Well?” Guy asked as I walked through the front door. “How did it go?”

  I lifted my copy of the year’s teaching contract up for him to see and couldn’t help but grin. “I got it,” I said.

  “You got it?” he repeated, smiling as he stood and rounded the couch to face me. He took me into his arms and laughed as he spun me about the entryway. “Congratulations, Jason!”

  “Thanks,” I said, gesturing him to set me down. I was afraid he would crush me if he embraced me any harder. “I wasn’t sure what to expect when I walked in, but I guess it worked out in the end.”

  “I’ll say,” Guy replied. “He didn’t give you any trouble? This principal—”

  “Buchanan,” I replied. “And no, he didn’t.”

  “I’m happy to hear that,” Guy replied. “I—”

  Behind me, the sound of a key entering the lock, then rotating within the knob cut through my ears before the door opened to reveal Aerick, haggard in a pair of tight-fitting skinny jeans and an athletic undershirt. “Hey babes,” he said.

  “Where were you?” I frowned.

/>   “Scouting for potential employment,” he replied. “And guess what? I got lucky.”

  “Lucky?” I asked. “What’re you—”

  “Guess who’s now a proud employee of Kinks and Other Essentials?”

  “The sex shop?” Guy asked, a smile framing his broad features. Aerick merely nodded and offered a grin of his own. “I always liked that place.”

  “You perused sex shops?” I asked.

  “Where do you think I bought my lube?”

  “Well, now you’ll get the family discount,” Aerick said, slugging Guy’s shoulder before starting toward the kitchen, where he bent his head over the massive stainless-steel sink and began to drink water from the faucet.

  “Looks like we’re all doing pretty well for ourselves,” Guy said as he watched Aerick lap at the water like a dog. “Jason got the job he was offered too.”

  “Really?” Aerick asked. “Wowza. Congrats, J.”

  “Thanks, Aerick,” I said.

  “I think we should celebrate,” Guy added, turning his head to look at the younger man. “Anyone got any suggestions?”

  “Food,” Aerick said. “Preferably order-in. I’m tired as hell from walking all day and don’t want to lift a finger once I settle down on that couch.”

  “All right,” I said, reaching for my cell phone. “Is pizza good with you guys?”

  “Pizza sounds divine,” Aerick said. “Just know, though, that I only like cheese on mine.”

  “You’re a Howler,” Guy laughed. “You’re supposed to like meat.”

  “Oh, I don’t mind a bit of sausage here and there,” Aerick replied, then winked at me as he made his way toward the couch.

  I couldn’t help but laugh.

  As I dialed in the number to the local pizza place, I realized that Guy had been right.

  Things were working out for the best.

  Maybe—just maybe—we didn’t have to worry about a thing.

  7

  The security technician came to the door shortly after the pizza arrived, and though I tried my hardest to ignore the tension within the air, I found that it was too palpable to ignore.

  “You feel that?” I asked, turning to face Aerick as the young man shoved a piece of his cheese pizza into his mouth.

  “Yeah,” he moaned. “It tastes divine.”

  “I’m not talking about the pizza,” I said. “I’m talking about the tension in the air.”

  “What’re you talking about?” Aerick asked through a mouthful of pizza.

  I edged closer to him around the massive wooden table that encompassed the majority of the dining room and gestured to where Guy and the security technician stood beside the door. “Them,” I whispered.

  Aerick turned his head to acknowledge the pair and nodded. “Yeah,” he said, obviously not in the least bit concerned about what I was referring to. “You’re thinking Guy’s going to drop trou and make him—”

  “Aerick!”

  The younger man laughed as I smacked the back of his head and pushed my hand away a short moment later. “I’m kidding,” Aerick said.

  “And I’m being serious,” I replied.

  “I don’t get what you’re worried about.”

  “He won’t even look at us.”

  This time, Aerick turned to acknowledge the pair—seemingly noting, by the way his eyes shifted, the way Guy shadowed the man and the way the technician appeared to be completely terrified out of his mind. No eye contact would be made regardless of whatever Guy said, and though answers were given briskly and in a timely manner, they were always short, sweet and direct, as if any slight in speech would lead to potential provocation.

  “Ok,” Aerick said after a moment’s consideration. “Now I get what you’re saying.”

  “He’s nervous,” I replied. “About being around Supernaturals.”

  “That much is obvious.” The Howler finished his piece of pizza before reaching for a second. He only briefly looked up as the technician passed and smiled as the man glanced his way. The gaze only lasted for a moment, as a second later, the technician returned to his work. “Shit. He’s fucking scared of us.”

  “No kidding,” I said, and sighed.

  It was bad enough being gay and in a polyamorous relationship with two other men, but being Supernatural on top of it was just the icing on the cake—and the deadly thorn in my side.

  With my appetite lost and my feelings on the matter all the more present, I set my plate before me, pushed it toward the center of the table, and stood.

  “Where are you going?” Aerick asked.

  “Upstairs,” I replied. “To wait this out.”

  “Jason,” the younger man started.

  I ignored Aerick as I rounded and then began to make my way up the stairs, barely taking note of his growl of disapproval and only casting a glance behind me when I heard the stomp of his footsteps across the treated concrete floor. When he began to take the stairs along with me, I turned and almost started to tell him to leave me be, but stopped before I could do so.

  There was no reason to be mad, much less angry at him. So why did I feel as though there was a festering ball of heat within my chest waiting to implode?

  It’s because you’re scared, my consciousness was quick to remind me, of things that you have no control over.

  As Aerick rose to face me, standing one stair lower and looking up into my eyes, I reached out to press a hand against his slender hip and closed my eyes.

  “You knew this was going to happen, J.”

  “I’m still not ready for it,” I replied.

  Aerick expelled a breath and bumped his head against mine, only taking a moment to lean against me before wrapping his arms around my chest and patting me on the back. “Come on,” he then said, taking my hand and leading me upstairs. “Take your shoes off. Kick back. Take a nap. I’ll clean up and put the food away.”

  “You’re sure?” I asked.

  Aerick nodded. “Yeah,” he said. “I’m sure.”

  I followed without hesitation.

  8

  Night came, and with it the installation of a new security system. Armed to the tooth and nail with some of the greatest advancements in home security technology, we would have nothing to fear if someone came to our door and threatened us with yet another message.

  Or so we thought.

  We were lying on the California king bed—lounging around in various states of undress—when it happened. First there came a light which at first shined outside the window in a dull luminescence comparable to that of a street lamp. At first thinking it was a passing car, I ignored it—trying, without much success, to doze while Guy read and Aerick played a game on his phone. Shortly thereafter, however, it began to intensify—to the point where, at one moment in time, it resembled a sun directly outside our window. I leaned forward and was just about to rise to investigate the source of the light when it vanished.

  All I could say was, “What… the fuck?”

  “What was that?” Aerick asked. “Someone shine a spotlight on our house?”

  “It sure seemed like it,” Guy said, throwing the covers off him and crawling down the center of the bed, over Aerick’s prone form and my gangly legs. He went to the window and at first appeared to think nothing of it, then stopped and pursed his lips.

  “What?” I asked, my blood running cold in my Kaldr veins. “What is it, Guy?”

  “Someone’s leaving the front porch.”

  “We really need a gun,” Aerick said as he, too, threw himself from the bed and made his way to Guy’s side.

  “He’s wearing a cloak, Jason,” Guy said.

  “What does that have to do with anything?” Aerick asked.

  Everything, I wanted to say, but remained silent as I crawled out of the bed after my companions.

  I came to stand beside them at the window and watched as the figure stopped in the middle of the road, turned, and extended a long arm toward the window where we stood watching it through the curtai
ns. As if able to sense our presence, the figure then pointed to each of us in turn before darting down the street.

  “Someone needs to go see what they did,” I said.

  “I’ll go,” Guy said.

  “But—”

  He drew a robe around his body before I could finish and went out the slightly-cracked bedroom door.

  I, not wanting to leave him to find whatever it was he would discover alone, tied my own robe off around my waist before giving pursuit.

  Downstairs, I came face-to-face with Guy as he first flicked the living room light switch on, then as he opened the door.

  Immediately the scent of death wafted in.

  Lying across the doorway was what appeared to be a dead animal of some sorts, though in such an advanced stage of decay it was impossible to tell what it was.

  “Homecoming present?” Aerick asked as he came down the stairs behind me.

  “Yeah,” Guy sighed, pressing a hand to his brow. “It is.”

  9

  Guy and Aerick tended to the mess while I watched the surveillance footage that was streamed to Guy’s phone. Knowing that I wasn’t likely to find anything but aware that I had to see just what had occurred, I rewound the tape and began to play it at the point ten minutes prior—where, through the darkness of the light, and beneath the luminescence of the orange street lamps, a light appeared, then vanished altogether.

  “What is that?” I mumbled.

  I was unable to question myself further, as shortly thereafter came a figure—skulking through the shadows and the disorientation that had placated our bodies as we’d all risen to face whatever it was had caused the light. In its arms was the unidentifiable corpse, and as it approached, coming to he front door as if it were any other visitor, the would-be intruder deposited the dessicated lump on the porch as if it were an offering before turning and leaving just as quickly as it had come.

  By the time the whole episode was over, Guy and Aerick had returned from out back, smelling of carrion and the undeniable scent of death.

  “Well?” I asked.

  “Well… what?” Aerick replied as he began to run the kitchen sink.