Well done.
What? This time I spun around quicker, but I was still alone.
“I’m losing it because I’m tired. That’s all. I’m just tired.” I couldn’t get the hood shut fast enough. That was just too weird. Yanking the truck door open, I slid behind the wheel. Dragging in a deep breath of the cool air, I wiped my sleeve across my forehead. This was going to be okay. If I couldn’t get the truck to start, I’d just have to get my neighbor to help me with jumper cables. Not a big deal.
Turn the key.
Okay, I definitely heard a voice that time, but it was just my own voice inside my head… wasn’t it?
“Come on, man,” I muttered. “Get a grip.” I turned the key, and the engine rolled over without a hitch, the battery sounding fully charged. Huh. The connectors must have been…
A satisfied smile lifted the corners of my lips. But the smile felt… wrong… like it wasn’t mine. Like strings attached to my mouth had pulled my lips up, forcing the reaction.
I shook my head hard, then scrubbed my mouth to rid myself of whatever the hell that was all about, and shoved my truck into gear.
# # #
Dani and I stepped into the lobby of the animal shelter and headed to the reception desk.
“Hey, Gracie! Taking good care of my babies?” Dani asked the receptionist.
Gracie, years of experience sunken into the lines of her face and in her gray-streaked hair, looked up from her computer screen and smiled.
“Hey, kids!” She took her glasses off. “Good news! Sasha was adopted Wednesday.”
“Really? Oh, Gracie, that’s great!” Dani squeezed my hand tight and gave me a huge smile. “Isn’t that great, Seth?”
That, I thought, was what I lived for—her smile, her happiness. These dogs meant a lot to her. It never seemed to occur to Dani to be anything but happy, and I’d do anything to keep her that way.
Anything? What would you do?
I was beginning to annoy myself. This brain chatter had to stop. It wouldn’t do me any good to keep questioning myself.
“Why don’t you two head on back?” Gracie nodded in the direction of the doorway behind the front counter. We could hear the barking and whining of the homeless dogs from the back. “I’m sure the dogs can’t wait to see you.”
“Come on, babe,” Dani said, tugging on my arm. “It sounds like they know we’re here.” She dragged me along behind her.
Gracie called, “Oh, and there’s a new one that came in last night. Real friendly. Last suite on the left.”
We made our way back to the cages, aware of being the focus of each and every one of the dogs.
“Hey, you guys.” Dani walked ahead of me, dragging her fingers along the wire cages, letting the dogs catch her scent. “Are you all ready for a walk?”
The barking bounced off the walls, ricocheting in every direction, drowning out Dani’s voice.
To me, it seemed louder today and was of a different pitch, like the dogs were afraid. But that didn’t make any sense. Why would they be afraid?
I walked over to the cage of my favorite dog, a chocolate Labrador. Max was brought in about the same time I started volunteering here. We hit it off the first time we met, but then again, Labs love anyone who will show them attention. I squatted down and poked my fingers through the wire. “Hey, Max.”
The dog wagged both ends of his body at the same time, his tongue trying to reach my face through the wire.
“You’re always glad to see me, aren’t you, buddy?” I stretched my fingers to reach his ear. “You’re too good to be in here.” I leaned closer to the cage. “I’ll walk you first, okay?”
“Hey! I heard that,” Dani teased. “No playing favorites.” She stood close behind me and eyed Max. “Unless, of course, that favorite is me. You understand, Max, don’t you?” She reached down and squeezed my shoulder. “Come on, Seth. Let’s check out the new kid in the neighborhood.”
Two cages down, a Schnauzer wiggled his bobbed tail excitedly. His eyes were pinned on Dani, his nose frantically sniffing her fingers as she squatted and brought her face down to his level. As soon as he caught a whiff of my scent, though, his nostrils flared and his excitement died completely. The dog went perfectly still except for a ridge of hair on his back that slowly rose, along with a low, deep growl that vibrated in his throat.
“Whoa.” Dani looked up at me, her eyes wide. “Gracie said he was friendly.”
I squatted beside her and placed my palms against the wire. “It’s okay, buddy.”
The dog stood still, his body tense. The edges of his nose flared again as if my presence offended him. With his ears flattened against his head and his eyes fixed on my face, it didn’t look like he trusted me at all. Taking two steps backwards, he sat on his haunches and whined.
“Losing your touch, Seth?” Gracie said as she walked toward us. “I’ve never seen a dog that didn’t like you.”
I stood up and turned to face her. “Yeah, well, I just haven’t turned on the charm yet.”
“What’s up with this dog, Gracie?” Dani asked as she moved next to me, linking her arm through mine. “Is he usually like that?”
Gracie looked past me at the dog and frowned. “Hasn’t been until now.”
Dani bit her lip, staring first at the Schnauzer and then at me. “Okay, I have an idea,” she said. “Why don’t you walk… what’s his name, Gracie?”
“Blaze,” Gracie said.
“Seth, you walk Blaze and I’ll walk Dakota and Lady.”
“But I promised Max,” I protested. Besides, I wasn’t sure it was such a good idea to get too close to Blaze.
Dani laughed. “I’m sure Max will understand. Come on, Seth. It’s bonding time.” She turned to the Schnauzer, who had backed himself into the corner. “Don’t worry, Blaze. Seth won’t bite.”
“Nah,” I said, smiling at the dog. “We’re going to get along just fine.”
# # #
My truck rolled to a stop alongside the curb outside Dani’s house. She hadn’t said much on the way back from the shelter. She seemed to be bothered about how the morning with the dogs went down, because she’d gotten quiet right after we’d taken them for their walk.
As for me and Blaze, I wouldn’t say that the bonding session had been a complete success. In fact, it was a total failure. After having to practically drag Blaze outside, he’d distanced himself from me as far as the leash would allow the entire time we walked. Dani had gotten so discouraged watching the two of us interact, she finally traded dogs with me. The difference in his behavior after that was like night and day. Even though it looked like he’d forgotten about me, he’d glance back and step up his pace if I was too close to him. I didn’t understand it, but I knew it wasn’t a good thing.
Anything you desire can be yours, the voice in my mind whispered.
Yeah, right, I thought. I was starting to sound like the one-dollar promise I’d been stupid enough to buy. I still couldn’t believe I’d fallen for it. As if anything I bought online could possibly change things.
The voice barely had time to fade before electric shocks pooled in the tips of my fingers, like needles pelting against my skin. I squeezed the steering wheel, trying to get rid of the tingling, but that just made it worse. The muscles in my hands and forearms tensed up, shooting threads of pain to both sides of my neck. My shoulders automatically shot up. Shit, that hurt.
“You okay?”
Letting go of the steering wheel, I flipped my hands back and forth, looking at them. What the hell? It took me a few seconds to focus and realize Dani was talking to me.
“Seth, are you okay?” she asked again.
“Huh?” I turned to her and forced a smile. “Yeah, sure, sure. Just a cramp or something.” I clapped my hands once and rubbed them together, trying to stop the tingling and heat. “Ready?” Without waiting for an answer, I shouldered my door open and jogged around the front of the car, stretching to open Dani’s door.
“Thanks.
” Dani’s voice came out in one white puff and disappeared into the cold air. “Hey, I’m thinking about getting my mom a new camera. The one she has takes the worst pictures, but she refuses to get a new one. Will you help me look for one online?”
“Sure,” I said, sliding my arms around her waist and pulling her against my chest. “But there’s a price.”
She laughed, playfully slapping my shoulder. “There’s always a price, isn’t there?”
“Well, we could start with a down payment,” I said, leaning in to kiss her ear.
Take her, my mind whispered.
There was no question about it. I definitely wanted to, and had for a long time. But she had it in her head to wait until marriage. We’d messed around a lot, but she had definite boundaries. I didn’t necessarily like those boundaries, but I respected them.
My hands cupped her face and I ran my lips against her cheek until I found her mouth. Her lips moved against mine, slowly at first, then her arms wrapped behind my neck, pulling me closer. A lot closer, like she couldn’t get close enough. Not holding back wasn’t like her, especially out in front of her house in broad daylight, but I wasn’t about to turn her down.
Seduce her…
I didn’t need to tell myself that. Hell, she was doing fine on her own. Her fingers were all of sudden at the zipper of my jacket, yanking it down and reaching for the buttons of my shirt.
My fingers slid down her throat, over her pulse. It was racing as fast as mine was. If we kept this up, I was going to have to go for a run or something later. But for better or worse, I didn’t know which, she stopped and pulled back, her chest rising and falling with her breath.
I looked down at the undone buttons of my shirt. “You know, I really don’t mind what you’re doing, but I’m thinking we should go somewhere else…”
“Oh, God, I’m sorry.” Her hand covered her mouth. “I didn’t mean to give you the wrong idea.” She ducked her head and her hair hid her face so I could hardly hear her. “I really haven’t changed my mind… I mean, I still want to wait until… I’m sorry. I don’t know what got into me.” She pulled the edges of my jacket together and backed up. “I’d better get going.”
“What’s wrong, Dani?” I reached for her hands and leveled my face with hers.
“There’s nothing wrong. That was just …” She blinked a few times. “Wow, I need to go inside. I’ve got to finish some homework.”
“Hey.” I held her hands tighter as she turned away. “I love you, Dani. I really do.”
She squeezed my hands and a faint smile pulled at her lips. “I know you do. I love you, too.”
As I watched the front door close behind her, I stood for another minute. What the hell was that all about?
~ ~ ~
“Another simple trick,” Silura said, taking his hand and turning it upward.
“Trick?” His brows raised. “Simple, perhaps, but certainly not a trick.”
The sorcery she taught Maksim had opened a portal to a new world for him. What he discovered fed his imagination, and he feasted on it by day and dreamt of it through the night.
A smile played along her lips as she placed her other palm a slight distance above his.
Unseen pressure upon his skin startled him and he tried to pull away.
Her grip tightened on his hand. “Be still,” she whispered. “Do not be hasty in your perception of what you feel.”
The pressure rolled within itself, forming a transparent ball of heat. Mimicking her movement, he curled his fingers around the energy that pulsed between their hands. Palpable, yet intangible. Heavy, yet weightless.
“How can this be? What is this?” he whispered, awed.
Her smile widened, but she said nothing. With outstretched fingers, she pressed down on the now pulsing heat, until the space was no longer there.
Again, he tried to pull back as the energy flowed up his arm, caressing like a lover’s touch, over his shoulder, up the sinuous muscles of his neck, across the high bones of his cheek, and resting over his lips.
Silura had not moved, yet he felt her touch; a seductive, slow touch that left him weak and vulnerable. Such an unfamiliar feeling, one he did not wish to feel again.
“What is this?” he asked again.
Releasing his hand, she shrugged. “Transfer of energy. From me,” she touched her fingers to her lips before placing them on his, “to you.”
His eyes lost their focus and drifted into a calculating haze. He had proven to be an eager student and was determined to quickly learn the ways of sorcery. One day, she thought, he would be the one to command such power—and many would come to fear him.
Her smile dimmed. “I will continue to teach you what I know, but you must remember two things.”
The focus returned to his eyes as he gently lifted her hand and brushed his lips across her fingers.
“What might they be?”
She flushed, then squared her shoulders, once again regaining her resolve.
“First, this knowledge I bestow upon you is powerful. You must be extremely careful when using it. It is not the way of our kind to abuse sorcerer magick. And, second,” she said, pulling away her hand and reaching to touch his cheek, “you must remain committed to me only.”
He dipped his head in acknowledgement. “As you wish,” he said lightly.
But they both knew his lie for what it was, for a man such as he could never abide by such constraints.
~ ~ ~
I grow impatient, for he resists. His mind has not yet accepted me. None of their puny minds really ever do. The unknown and untried frighten them. They ignore the obvious, and look for an explanation that suits them. But in the end, there will be no explaining me away.
~Maksim
Chapter 4
“…Five…six…seven…” The bar settled back onto the brackets before I stood up. What the hell? I wasn’t even straining and these were the same plates I’d put on only three days ago. They were almost too heavy then, but now they were too easy. How could I have gotten so much stronger in only three days?
I grabbed a couple more plates and slid them onto each end of the bar. Then I threw on two more ten-pound plates before lying down on the bench. Wrapping my hands around the bar, I tested my grip and took a few seconds to psych myself up. With my wrists rigid and shoulders tensed, I pushed up on the bar and lifted it up and over the brackets. I hardly felt the added weight. How could that be, though? I guess it was possible I hadn’t been keeping track of how much weight I’d been putting on the bar. I pumped out the rest of the set, dropped the bar back on the brackets, then sat up.
Across the room, the mirror reflected a body that I was not used to seeing. There was no way that could be me. Getting closer to my reflection, I took a hard look at myself from head to toe. I hadn’t noticed before that the sleeves of my shirt were pulled too tight against my arms. I pushed a sleeve up over my shoulder and flexed my biceps.
No way.
I yanked off my shirt.
No way!
I straightened up, pushing my shoulders back, and stared. I’d never had that much width before. Cut muscles, but not this. I’d definitely gained some mass. Not weight, I thought, hitting my fist against my stomach. Just bulk. Major muscles.
Whatever program I was doing, I’d better stick with it. This was cool, in a disconcerting way. Kind of like a Spiderman transformation. Just to be sure, I flipped my hands over and checked my wrists. Okay, I was good. No webs shooting out. Shoving my hands through my hair a few times, I checked the clock on my dresser.
Running late. Always running late. Time moved too fast. With one last look at my reflection, I grabbed my shirt and headed out of the room.
# # #
Dani’s voice was a welcome interruption to vacuuming because the drone from the motor was starting to give me a headache.
She said something again before I had a chance to turn off the vacuum.
“What?” I asked.
Dani slung h
er backpack onto the couch and unzipped it. “We’re only studying, remember? You don’t have to clean up for me.”
“I know. That’s not the reason I’m doing it.” I grabbed the cord and yanked the plug out of the wall. “Dad is coming home tonight. He switched routes so he could be home for a couple days.”
I swiped at the beads of sweat on my forehead with the back of my hand, and rolled my shoulders to loosen the tension in my back. This living room wasn’t that big and I hadn’t been moving the few pieces of furniture we had, so I doubted my sweating was from the vacuuming. Since this morning I’d been feeling hotter than usual and my skin felt tight, almost like my insides were trying to bust out.
“You okay?” Dani stared at me, concern in her eyes.
“Yeah, I’m okay. I must be coming down with something.” I smiled, hoping to mask how crappy I felt. “You sure you want to hang out with me?”
“Are you kidding? Of course I’m sure.” Her books hit the coffee table with a thud. She rounded the table and stood toe-to-toe with me. “I’m not afraid of any big bad germ you’ve got going on inside,” she said, poking at my chest. “Oh!” Her brows raised. “Wow, Seth, working out has been paying off.” She smiled and reached under my shirt. “I like that.”
I would’ve kissed her if my stomach hadn’t lurched. I held back a groan, but I guess my misery showed on my face.
“Seth?” Her brows pulled together.
I managed a smile. “I’m glad you’re not afraid of me.”
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