Bump (A Witchlight Novel)

by Jaime Munn

  We stepped into the elevator. I tried to make some light conversation with him.

  “Going to see your boyfriend?”

  So I was also trying to ease the near stalkerish interest I had in the muscle wolf’s beau. I believed in that whole killing two birds with one stone, even if the statement made me feel a little ill. I had to remind myself that technically poultry was a bird. I regularly indulged in eating those without flinching at the thought of them flapping and squawking before ending up in my freezer or on my dinner plate.

  “Will?” he asked.

  “You have more than one boyfriend?” My curiosity peaked.

  Boytjie shook his head.

  “Not me,” he grinned his gold and bone-white smile at me.

  I was willing to bet that they were his most intimidating assets. I wondered how he’d lost a few of his teeth in the first place. It hadn’t been from a lack of dental hygiene I was certain.

  “He’s at work,” he told me.

  I didn’t want to say it because it would make me look stupid, but I had thought that all the werewolves in the building worked for Hadrian. The werewolf general and his army in their inner city complex had been the general image in my mind, but I realised how silly it was the moment Boytjie unknowingly challenged it.

  “What does he do?” I asked and wondered if mentally pairing him with a construction worker was anywhere on the right path.

  “He’s like you,” Boytjie said proudly.

  I didn’t think the comparison here was witch, but Boytjie seemed to think that he’d given me a full answer to my question. The elevator stopped its decent before I could prompt him for more and the doors pinged open. He led me into a corridor with numbered doors spaced along it starting from 1300. I wondered if that meant we were on the 13th floor.

  Supernatural beings aren’t less superstitious than human beings, but they do like to flaunt superstition like it was the new black, the old black, and the only black. I figured it was definitely the 13th floor and Sebastian had deliberately put the witch in double 13 heaven. Some supernaturals thrived on that sort of thing. I didn’t think he’d done it to make me uncomfortable. In fact I thought it was quite the opposite, but it still had me rolling my eyes. I had to hurry to catch up to Boytjie.

  He opened the door to 1313 without a key and entered before me, checking the apartment out. It was almost the same size as my own apartment in Whisper Falls and the view was spectacular. I didn’t care whether it was 1313 or 666. It was perfect. I almost wished I could move in.

  “What did you mean your boyfriend is like me,” I asked Boytjie when I got my breath back; taken as it was by running after the werewolf and the survey of the near luxurious apartment.

  “He has his own shop,” he said.

  I shamefully admit that my first thought was florist. It’s sad when stereotypes affect even the stereotyped. I didn’t wait for Boytjie to explain further because I was beginning to realise that he wouldn’t unless prompted. It could have been cagey, but I was willing to bet that Boytjie wasn’t deliberately holding information back, he just assumed that everyone else understood exactly what he meant to say. Maybe he’d just spent too much time in Cleo’s company, where words were barely necessary. Given his serious lack of a storyteller gene I figured it was just the way he was. With his career choice I doubted any of his employers had discouraged the natural ability to be obscure.

  “What kind of shop?” I asked feeling a little like Boytjie’s mother again.

  “Muscles,” Boytjie told me without revealing a single thing. Aside from the fact that I was fairly certain it had nothing to do with floral arrangements and felt suitably chastised for the thought. He put my bag on the floor and danced from one foot to the other, looking like a little boy who desperately needed to pee.

  “I’ll have to see it I guess,” I said and suddenly Boytjie brightened.

  “Okay.”

  I wondered what I’d gotten myself into. Boytjie wasn’t looking like he needed to run to the little boy’s room anymore and I figured I’d just given him a reason to visit his boyfriend now. I wondered what Cleo would say about that. I shrugged. Cleo wasn’t here right now so I could pretend I didn’t care what she thought about it.

  I knelt beside my overnight bag and pulled out a couple of chocolate bars offering one to Boytjie.

  He shook his head.

  “I don’t eat chocolate.”

  I couldn’t help myself and it didn’t make me proud, but in my head I called the hulky werewolf a freak. I opened one bar and pocketed the other. Who knew what I’d run into on the streets of the city? The chocolate was good; one percent cocoa for that chocolaty flavour and 99% sugar for the badassness. And the tooth rot, I added mentally. Maybe that was why myth had it that witches were all bad teeth, warts, and hag-ness. I checked that I had packed my toothbrush, mouthwash and dental floss on reflex before I closed up the bag and stood.

  “Right then,” I said and Boytjie gleefully led the way.

  I hadn’t planned on coming to the city to meet the werewolf’s boyfriend, but while I was waiting around I might as well enjoy a few local sights.

  “Is Daudie’s lair anywhere near Muscles?” I asked feeling guilty about not putting getting Sofia unpossessed at the top of my to do list as we waited for the elevator. F.C. was looping back and forth through my legs, like he wasn’t sure this solo outing was such a good idea either and intended to trip me up and break a few bones for my own good. I pushed him aside with my foot and he gave me a hard, black-eyed stare.

  Beside me Boytjie shrugged.

  “It’s not far,” he said.

  I got the feeling he could have said ‘it’s not near’ and still been right.

  The elevator took us down to the ground floor and the foyer distracted me from asking the werewolf any more questions. It was modern and elegant. All metal walls, which on closer inspection were post boxes, and a security desk where two werewolf guards flirted with a takeout delivery guy. They straightened to attention though when Boytjie strode passed.

  I wondered where the entrance to the contained forest was. I decided I’d ask Boytjie when I had a chance. It was definitely something I wanted to see. I recalled the vision from shaking Cleo’s hand and I realised that I hadn’t tested Sofia’s spell yet. I grimaced. Cleo might be a bit more pissed than I had anticipated, but I couldn’t stop Boytjie now if I wanted to. He looked like he’d bulldoze over anything to get to his destination. I really didn’t want to stop him.

  We got out onto the streets and Boytjie put two fingers between his lips and whistled. It was loud and piercing and more than a few eyes turned our way. But Boytjie ignored it all except for the large white minibus that had definitely seen better days. It pulled up to the curb, ignoring the rules of the road with wanton abandon and the sliding door was thrown open. It looked quite full inside already, but the man who’d opened the door was waving us in. Boytjie squeezed in and F.C. and I followed. The taxi man eyed F.C. curiously, but said nothing.

  Boytjie found a seat easily. People naturally seemed to gravitate away from him. I guessed he was grinning wide and showing off his golden wolf teeth. He made sure there was space enough for the both of us. I sank gratefully into the seat beside him feeling already more than a little claustrophobic. Boytjie pulled out a few coins and passed it forward to another passenger who carefully transferred it to the next, until the taxi man had them in his hand.

  I was shocked at the price. I’d been paying ten times more for my admittedly far more luxurious taxi experiences in Whisper Falls.

  The ride was rough, loud, and I felt like a sardine squeezed into a can. F.C sat on my lap and a few passengers threw him curious glances. Some were entranced by what they saw, others flinched and looked away. I wondered what they all saw. Did they see a lady with a cat or a lady with a tokoloshe on her lap?

  Though I didn’t think there was any more space, the taxi stopped to pick up another passenger and squeezed him in somehow.

&n
bsp; Boytjie bellowed out a street name and the taxi man leaned into the driver’s section of the vehicle, presumably telling the driver the same thing. The music was loud enough to drown out almost all conversation, but that didn’t seem to stop most of the passengers engaging in one. I was glad when the minibus pulled to a stop at a curb and Boytjie indicated that this was our stop.

  We got out in the middle of the city. There were roving streams of people and I sensed a few sparks within the crowd that were definitely not your boy or girl next door. It had been a while since I’d sensed the pulse of the supernatural around me. Whisper Falls was almost a desert when it came to life on the cusp, between the veiled world and the young world. It invigorated me and I was surprised. I’d always thought I’d run away from it.

  Boytjie led me through the crowds. There was always an opening for him. I squeezed up against him like some moll and her gangster, because it was easier than dodging pedestrians who weren’t one bit intimated by me or my cat. I carried F.C., worried that he’d be trampled underfoot and eat a few people in his indignation. I didn’t think the local police force would be impressed by that.

  We walked about a block, but it was difficult not to become disorientated in the push and pull of the crowds. Boytjie knew where we were going, so I let him lead like we were ballroom dancers gliding amongst the competition.

  Muscles it turned out was a boutique shop among a few glittering jewel stores that looked like they were trying to revamp the district into a high street, or Rodeo Drive. It was difficult to tell what exactly Muscles was all about from the entrance. It looked a little like a male escort parlour if you were into partnering with bodybuilders with unbelievably heavy suntans wearing a lot of bling and little else.

  Inside the store was tightly fitted into a narrow space that seemed to run back beyond the desk that doubled as cashier and reception. There was a woman at the desk. She was definitely all werewolf under her mascara and tight cotton summer dress.

  “Boytjie,” she shrilled when she looked up and saw us there. She gave me a thorough once over too before rounding the desk to approach us. I had no doubt that she was part of Hadrian’s pack. I let go of Boytjie and turned to examine the store while he and the she wolf hugged.

  There were shirts all branded with the word Muscles, huge buckets of protein mix, whey powder, and meal substitutes. There were plastic jars of tablets of varying colours and sizes too. There was a section devoted to magazines and books on health, fitness, and exercise. There was also a great big sign indicating that Muscles was a sun tanning salon, which I guessed was what happened in the back half of the store.

  “Melissa, is Will here?”

  “Is the shop open?” the she wolf responded, returning to her post behind the desk. “He’s in his office.”

  Boytjie led me towards a narrow passageway beside the tanning poster. Melissa didn’t seem to care who I was, though I caught her sniffing the air and glancing at me from the corner of her eyes as she flipped through a magazine. She caught me watching her back and I could see the beginning of a suggestive lick of her lips.

  I wondered if my heart sped up because it was sexy or because it was predatory. Maybe I’d avoided the queer wolf pack for a good reason.

  There were a few doors along the passageway. I presumed that they led to tanning beds. Most of the doors were closed. It was only near the end of the passage when my guess was confirmed. Though they didn’t have beds inside so much as tanning cans; large upright containers that looked like oversized soft drink cans. The last door was partially closed and it had ‘Office’ painted on it. I glanced back and noted that the other doors were simply numbered.

  Boytjie swung the door open. I leaned forward for my first glimpse of Will and I was completely surprised.

  He was short, although the Muscles t-shirt he wore showed that he did indeed have impressive musculature. He was light skinned, white, and very untanned. His hair was dirty blonde; that chestnut and gold colour that really ought to get a better agent and sign up under a new label. He was better looking than I realised I had been expecting. If I’d had to play match maker for Boytjie the man seated behind the desk in the small office was the last person I’d have picked for him, which is why I didn’t feel I was qualified to sell love spells.

  “Cecil,” Will said.

  I raised a brow. Really?

  Boytjie leaned forward and planted a kiss on Will that I pretended not to watch, but which F.C. delighted in. I could tell because he started to purr loudly, vibrating in my arms.

  The kiss expanded into an embrace and a longer, more passionate kiss as Will stood up. He reached up to Boytjie’s broad chest in terms of height, but the idea of them as a couple was quickly hardening from surprise to firm fact. I thought they looked cute together. I wondered what kind of werewolf Will was.

  “You’re not going away again are you?” Will asked as they finally broke apart and Boytjie shrugged. Will sighed and turned to me. “Hello. You must be the witch from Whisper Falls.”

  “I am,” I said in response. “And you must be Boytjie’s mate.”

  Boytjie winced, but Will laughed. It sounded genuine.

  I glanced curiously between the two of them.

  “Oh don’t mind that,” Will said, “but I wouldn’t use that word around just any of the werewolves in the pack. Half of them are manically for the term and half of them are positively and rather vehemently against it. I don’t really care, but you’d be safer with the boyfriends and girlfriends label unless you like a room full of teeth.”

  I shuddered at the thought of a pack of grinning werewolves showing me their pearly whites. I hadn’t really come across an aversion to the word mate in werewolves before, but then I hadn’t usually dealt with them en masse. I filed the information away and shook the hand that Will offered me. His hands were small, but masculine and strong, though he didn’t try to break my bones to prove it.

  “Great store,” I said when nobody said anything else.

  “It’s a living,” Will said with an easy and teeth-free smile.

  I decided to give them a little alone time.

  “I’ll just go and keep Melissa company,” I said.

  “If she bites, you yell now,” Will told me.

  I couldn’t tell if he was serious or not. He had already turned to Boytjie and I couldn’t read anything other than sex in his body language.

  I made a hasty retreat.

  Melissa looked up when I entered.

  “Did they kick you out?” She asked with a wicked grin.

  Her lips were parted, but they kept her teeth covered. I got a glance into her mouth and a silver tongue stud shimmered out at me.

  “No. They waited for me to catch a hint.”

  “You must be hot stuff then,” Melissa said. “Boytjie doesn’t have time for nobody when he’s with Will.”

  “A real Romeo and Romeo are they?” I asked with a casual smile.

  “No…they’re not tragic.” Melissa’s eyes dropped to F.C. “What’s that then?”

  F.C. didn’t seem to mind her interest. He stared at her and their eyes locked for a moment.

  “What does he look like?” I asked, remembering my curiosity.

  “A cat, a wicked cat, but a cat. He doesn’t smell like one though. He smells dangerous. It’s a pretty good perfume around here.” She smiled again. I wondered if it was a natural open mouthed smile or if she’d practiced it in the mirror for years until she got it right. “You smell a little dangerous too.”

  I didn’t think getting flirty with Melissa was a very good idea, so I brushed her words off and drifted over to the book racks to browse among them. Melissa looked like she would follow me over, but a customer entered the store and she moved back to her position behind the desk.

  “Hey, meisie,” he said with a twang in his voice. “Is there a booth open?”

  I tuned out the conversation as Melissa assigned him a tanning booth and took his money upfront. I was paging through a magazine cal
led Runner’s World when Boytjie came out looking like he’d dressed hurriedly.

  “Cleo’s outside.”

  “Is she checking up on us?” I asked, sounding a little nervous to my ears. Were we in trouble for leaving the pack’s home base? I didn’t think Boytjie had gone AWOL, but you never knew how tightly an alpha ran his werewolf pack.

  “We’re taking you to Daudie’s.” He told me and pulled his shirt straight. He waved Melissa goodbye.

  She gave me a slow wink and blew me a kiss as we left. Werewolf girls were so hot.

  CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

  Cleo was in a sedan. It was a nondescript vehicle and white like the SUV. It was an old model. It looked square compared to the latest trend in vehicle aerodynamics, but it wasn’t that old that it would stick out in the city.

  She unlocked the doors as we came up alongside the car. Boytjie directed me to the backseat, which was a relief because I didn’t think I wanted to sit next to Cleo if she was pissed with me. F.C. decided to claim a place all to himself this time rather than sit on my lap. Maybe the squeeze in the minibus taxi had given him a yen for wide open spaces.

  Cleo regarded Boytjie a moment, before putting the car into gear and pulling off into traffic. She didn’t say anything but the silence in the car wasn’t nearly so effective when we were surrounded by the cacophony of the city. We drove for slightly longer than the taxi ride from the werewolf apartment block to Muscles. I couldn’t tell if that meant that Daudie’s apartment was further away.The ebbing and flowing of the traffic made it difficult to tell if subjectively we’d travelled further or not. The city started to look worn and uncared for as we entered a neighbourhood that wasn’t on any tourist map.

  I was glad to have Boytjie along with us. We parked outside a seedy looking apartment block and Cleo turned to me

  “How long?” she asked, her voice clipped.

  I wasn’t sure if it was because she was annoyed with us or just because she was living up to the strong and silent stereotype for Boytjie’s sake and her pack image. It was hard to compare the steely woman with the giggling girl in Sebastian’s apartment.