“That would be fun. I’m taking time off this week to help a friend, so it’ll have to be a few weeks out, but I’m definitely game. I’ll show you around, you can stay in the guest room.”
“What are you doing this week?”
“It’s uh…” Mel called again and I decided to let it be my out. “Actually, said friend is calling now and it might be important. I’ll call you next week after I’m done. That okay?”
“Yeah, that works. Good luck, whatever it is you’re doing.”
“Thanks, Thom. See ya,” I hung up and switched calls.
“What is it, Mel?”
“Another couple went missing.”
“What?” I asked reflexively as I noticed I’d forgotten all about the cold pizza. Taking a bite and not bothering to chew quietly, I adjusted my position to stop my butt from falling asleep.
“The families who hired me said that another couple’s gone to the dark side.”
“I didn’t peg you as a Star Wars fan,” I said. Mel ignored me and continued.
“Same thing as before. They called home and told their families to give away all their things and sell the house. No one can get ahold of them now, though.”
“Well that’s weird,” I said through a mouthful of rubbery vegetables that were only edible because I’d ordered extra, extra cheese.
“I’ll pick you up tomorrow at five.”
“Five at night, right? In the evening?”
Mel said nothing, but I was betting he was either rolling his eyes or silently cackling.
“Five in the morning?” I demanded after a few seconds.
“Be ready. We’ve got to drop our things off before we head to the center.”
“Chloe reminded me, you’re wearing Merrin’s necklace this whole week.”
“Oh, come on.”
“Bet’s off if you don’t. I can barely stand you for five minutes without that thing, let alone five days.”
“Rude,” Mel said offhandedly. “Be ready tomorrow morning. You can nap in the car on the way if you really need to.”
“Damn straight I will. And you’re buying me breakfast.”
“You are incredibly high maintenance.”
“That’s why you married me,” I said and hung up.
Chapter Three
True to my word, I’d dozed off shortly after climbing into Mel’s car and forcing him to put on the enchanted necklace that a witch friend had made for me the year before. It was a only a small blue-black square on a short leather cord, but it made him tolerable by blocking me from reading his emotions. Mel wasn’t too forthcoming about where exactly we were staying so I’d taken his smug smile as a suggestion to spend time being too unconscious to think about what horrors awaited me.
When I came to, my brain had taken a few minutes to process the soft music playing and the trees outside my window. The road was narrow and bumpy, penned in on both sides by wilderness that I felt would have been too close even if I’d been outside, standing still. Another section of my brain woke up then, shouting a panicked warning that Mel was driving incredibly fast.
“What if another car is barreling straight for us?”
“There isn’t one,” Mel said, his thumb bobbing on the steering wheel in time with the music.
“But what if there is?”
“Trust me, there isn’t. This is a private road.”
“Private to whom?”
Mel only smiled, refusing to even give me a comforting glance or kind word. Glowering, I felt around for the button that would adjust the back of my seat into an upright position. It took an eternity and made me wish for the archaic days of my youth, when there had been just a lever that sprang the seat forward so fast it risked tossing small children through the windshield.
I did my best to stretch in the tiny car, wondering if Mel had spring for a rental because it fit between the narrow trees and his massive SUV didn’t. The car looked lived in, though, so I reconsidered it being a rental and figured he’d borrowed it from a friend.
Mel, who has a supernatural awareness of when breasts are pressed up against cloth (or metal, or glass, or—well you get the point) glanced over to take a gander at my girls as I grunted like an old man trying to get off a couch. I rolled my eyes but didn’t put up much of a fuss. Without the burn of his werewolf emotions to back up the leering, it wasn’t so bad.
“How much farther is this hotel?”
“No hotel,” he said. His smile was back and it was a touch more irritating in its smugness. I narrowed my eyes.
“I am not camping out in the woods in a tent and a sleeping bag. Best-case scenario, you get fleas. Worst-case, I whittle an axe and chop you up out of irritation at how stupid you are for getting fleas.”
“Whittle?”
“Yeah, I got skills,” I lied.
“Why not just chop me up with whatever blade you’re using to whittle? What’s to keep me from running off while you’re furiously slicing at a dangerous weapon with another dangerous weapon.”
“I’ll do it in stages while you’re asleep. You’ll have no idea.”
“What’re you, gonna smuggle the shavings off into the woods and dump them out your pant-leg where I won’t notice?”
“I told you, I got skills.”
Mel snorted out a laugh and I tried to figure out why he was so jolly. The car slowed and we rounded a final corner into a clearing that held a well worn, dirt driveway and a very large house that looked like someone had built a mansion out of angled glass and Lincoln Logs. My eyebrows shot up and I caught the giddy look he threw me as he slowed to a stop.
“Is this a B&B?” I asked. Mel ignored my question and pushed open the car door, pulling the keys out of the ignition and then unbuckling his seat belt in two quick motions. The door to the house opened and two stunning people stepped out. The woman looked tiny and I wasn’t sure if it was the distance or the height of the man with her that made her appear so. As she got closer I realized it was actually both. The top of her blond head came only to my chin, but I was betting people would’ve just noticed her sturdy frame and confident smile and assumed she was taller.
The man with her was rangy, half a head taller than Mel with lanky arms and dark hair. His brown eyes and square jaw complemented good bone structure and great lips. He moved casually, like a satiated leopard with nowhere to be, and covered the distance between us in the same time as the woman, even though her muscular legs were moving quickly. Mel moved around the car and embraced the taller man, peering behind him when the front door slammed.
The woman came straight to me, pulled me into a hug that made me grunt in surprise and pain. When she pulled away, her expression was happily apologetic.
“Oops, sorry. Been awhile since we had a human around.”
Rather than answer, I stared down at her, considering her words. She definitely wasn’t human, but her emotions didn’t match anything I’d felt before. The buzz of having her near was familiar, but I couldn’t place it, couldn’t label it. I recognized the emotions I could feel—eagerness, happiness, affection—but couldn’t have told you why.
Usually it takes me some time to really match everything I’m feeling up with the right emotions. Often it’s like those kids diagram games where you have to draw a line from one column to the thing that matches it in another. Even the dumb kids can get that cow connects to barn and person connects to house, but then there are other options that take some time to figure out.
Unable to speak, I tried to figure out exactly why they felt so familiar as she turned to face the men. The taller man came around to my side, pulling me into a hug that folded his upper body around me like a blanket. His hug was gentle before he pulled back and took a second to admire my face before he turned to speak to Mel.
“She’s the one, eh?”
“The one?” Mel asked, a frown creasing his forehead. The woman moved closer, crossed her arms over her chest and smiled at him. The expression on her tan face matched the mischievous in
tent I caught bubbling out of her psyche.
“Your mate.”
“His what?” I demanded. The last time a woman had been Mel’s mate it hadn’t ended so well for her. Granted, she’d been a murderous succubus who’d tried to kill him and eat my ex-husband, but I didn’t want to be lumped in with her no matter what.
The taller man started laughing, nearly drowning me in amusement. A bubble of laughter escaped my throat before I realized what was happening, and before I knew it, I was grinning at Mel, caught up in the burbling feeling of teasing a loved one. Mel took a rough breath, his expression screwing up into blatant disgust
“She is not. My. Mate,” he hissed, biting off each word. My own insult seeped in, pushing away the humor and glee. I didn’t want to be his mate and it shouldn’t have bothered me that he wasn’t into it, but he didn’t have to be so bitchy about it. I’m a catch, dammit.
“Whatever you say,” the woman said. The man next to me glanced down and I felt a burst of surprise crackle out.
“I’m so sorry, we haven’t introduced ourselves and I’m betting Mel didn’t fill you in, either. You’ve got that look women get when they’re not really sure how they ended up alone with this oaf and they’ve just realized they want to run away screaming.”
“Hey!” Mel snapped.
“I’m Julian and this is my wife Sarah,” the man said, ignoring Mel completely. “I’m his brother.”
“Oh. Okay,” I said, feeling even more lost than before. Was Mel adopted? Were these two part of some family of other creatures who’d raised him? It would explain why they seemed so decent and he could be such a jackass. “Brother?”
“In the flesh,” Julian said, his lips tugging up in a perfectly proud big brother grin.
“We’ve got your room all set up,” Sarah explained. “Mel told us you’re an empath, so I set you up in a room away from where the kids sleep.”
“Kids?” I like kids, but I hadn’t been expecting them. Did Mel and I have to bring them with us to the retreat? Did I have to learn names of tiny children and pretend to not mind their quirks and sticky hands?
“You look completely lost,” Sarah said, her eyes narrowing, before she turned to aim the mother of all Mom Glares Mel’s way. Insult at the idea of wedding me gone in an instant, Mel smiled his most puckish grin, his entire demeanor changing.
“Mel!” Sarah snapped, lifting her fist as if she’d slug him. Julian got there first, his speed incredible. Before I could detect the exact motion leading up to it, he had Mel in a headlock and he was dragging him toward the house. Mel was growling, shoving at Julian’s arm but Julian was just laughing, unbothered. There was a growl edging his voice as well, though both reminded me of a dog playing tug of war, rather than one threatening to rip an intruder’s face off.
Sarah turned toward me, gave me a mild smile. “Boys.”
“Yeah,” I said, still unsure of what I was supposed to be doing. Sarah watched me and I felt something fizz against my skin as she tipped her head. It took me another second to realize she was pitying me. That one I should have recognized right away with the amount of times I’ve felt it in my life.
“He didn’t tell you about us?”
“No. He didn’t tell me anything, really. Well, he said we were here to investigate a shady marriage dealy, but now, instead, I’m standing in the middle of nowhere with… You. I don’t know…what…” I trailed off, still distracted by my brain grasping desperately for some sort of recognition or knowledge of what I was feeling.
“Me? Mel’s sister-in-law? Or me in the more general sense, a woman?” When I still didn’t have an answer to what I wasn’t even sure I was asking, she elaborated further. “Me a werewolf?”
“Ahh!” I said before I could control myself. “Yes! That’s what you are?”
“Indeed,” she said, chuckling but still not sure what to make of me. “You didn’t know?”
“I don’t know anything. I mean, I didn’t know—I’ve only ever been around werewolves like Mel. Feeling you is a whole new experience.”
“Ah. Well.” Her emotions bubbled against me like a roughly shaken can of soda, and then she quirked her lip slyly and said, “Hopefully feeling me is a nice experience.”
“Oh, it is. Uh, I mean—”
“Let’s go meet the family, shall we?” Winking, she stepped around me to open the driver’s side door, pop the trunk, and then grab the bags Mel had stashed there. Despite being half my size, she slung my duffle, Mel’s duffle and a suitcase I hadn’t realized was in there over her body like they were nothing. Slamming the trunk, she gestured to the house.
“I promise we’re not going to eat you. Come on.”
Lost, I stayed behind trying to get a handle on what she was feeling, though ultimately I gave up once she hit the front door. She’d slipped just barely out of my range and I wasn’t sure if I was disappointed or grateful. Her emotions weren't painful like Mel’s but they were damned distracting, like having a pebble in your securely zipped up, knee-high boots.
Before I’d even started moving, I heard a chorus of tiny howls break out across the yard. When a longer, louder howl joined them, most of the smaller howls cracked and trailed off, though one picked up again, louder than others, like it had something to prove. Sarah laughed loudly and it sparked off of her, hitting me even from my place near the car.
I thought again of the cupcake Mel had given me and considered that this would all be worth it once I was rolling around in orgasmic, chocolate glee.
##
I stepped in through the front door and paused. The ceiling was nearly level with the sky, the décor mixed rustic with luxury, and there were naked children playing with puppies throughout my field of view.
Mel had one of the puppies draped over his shoulder, its tail wagging spastically and slapping him in the face. Julian was chasing one small, naked girl around with a purple, shapeless piece of fabric. She was shrieking and laughing in equal measure. When Sarah appeared to my right, the little girl made a quick course change and took off toward her mother. Julian paused, stood tall with a bemused frown on his face and watched as Sarah scooped the girl up, tucked her under one arm like a football and made her way toward her husband.
One of the clothed boys noticed me then, pausing in his attempts to climb Mel’s legs to stare at me in awe. Something about his stillness caught the attention of the other little ones and they all quieted, shifted, and turned to watch me. It was a sea of dark hair and dark eyes, among both the kids and the puppies. All the kids looked about the same age and I wondered if they were all siblings or if some were visiting from some other homey cabin in the woods.
Even the shrieking girl under Sarah’s arm strained to peer around her mother’s hips to look at me. Unsure of what else to do, I gave a small wave.
“Hey.”
Several of the kids and one puppy bounded toward me and I considered backing up, running to the car, and driving home. I had my cell phone in my bag back there; I could probably navigate my way off whatever island Mel had dragged my sleeping self to. When the kids were just out of arm’s reach, Sarah let out a loud whistle, handing the naked girl to Julian. The puppy slid on the smooth wood floor, attempting to stop itself. I felt a fuzzy face smash against my leg before a paw hit my shoe. One of the boys who’d run over abruptly stopped dead, his eyes rolling in their sockets to look toward his mother, even though he was facing away and couldn’t possibly see her.
As Julian tried to wrestle the little girl into the purple dress, Sarah stepped toward us.
“This is Gwen. Kids, say hi.”
The puppy at my feet struggled to right itself and then sat back on its black and gray spotted butt, looking up at me. After a second, the pup’s jaw dropped open and a little pink tongue lolled out, eyes squinting in a happy, doggy grin. One little boy who’d run over leaned forward in what he thought was a stealthy way and sniffed my thigh. I watched him but said nothing. I like kids and dogs but don’t have extensive experience
with either so I wasn’t sure what was protocol. My sister and her three children live far enough away that I mainly see them through a computer screen and the internet, but I was certain that didn’t qualify me to deal with werewolf puppies in the least.
“Don’t be rude,” Sarah ordered, her voice mild. The boy jerked back, his cheeks going red. I looked down at the children and tried to discern how many of them there were. On a cursory count, I figured roughly eighty-seven. In reality there were six, but I was still adjusting to the chaos and couldn't quite see that clearly through the fizzy haze of emotions. There was no way I was picking out who was feeling what, at least not so soon after being exposed to the tiny pack.
Once Sarah got closer, she turned fully so she could look out over the group and see Mel, who was still getting whacked in the face by a tail.
“Come on over, Jeremy, Lorelai. Be polite.”
Mel tipped to plop the puppy onto the floor, reaching to grab another purple piece of clothing. I watched as the puppy on the floor plummeted awkwardly onto his side to lie down, tucked his head against its front leg and instantly went completely bald. I resisted the urge to ask what had happened or point and yell, “Witch! Tiny witch!” For all I knew, spontaneously balding puppies were completely normal in the werewolf world.
Mel stood over the naked dog as it contorted a bit on the pile of fur its body had rejected. He looked utterly unbothered by the writhing skin and tiny grunts, though I was experiencing the clamorous feelings of discomfort and strain and couldn’t keep his level of calm. Jeremy—I was assuming, since the little girl was still struggling against her father’s attempts to get her into the purple dress—was running through the spectrum of kid emotions all at once, making me squint and lean closer as if I could figure out how to help him.
As his puppy-shape turned into a little boy shape, his wild emotions calmed to relief and pride, though it quickly got overtaken in my brain by the interest pumping off the others as they stared up at me from near my feet. I wasn’t even doing anything, but maybe I smelled amazing. I had eaten my (and Mel’s) share of croissant-egg sandwiches on the way; maybe the kids could smell my food breath.
Cold Feet (Empathy in the PPNW Book 3) Page 3