Bearly Awake (Providence Paranormal College Book 1)

by D. R. Perry

  “True story.” Blaine shrugged. “So, what do you have planned in there?”

  “There’s a group of fledgling vampire students doing a presentation on garlic and holy water. It’s a whole musical act.” I shrugged. “They might be terrible, but Tony tells me they’re at least loud.”

  “Oh, is that the bunch who’s in a band?”

  “Yeah. The Night Creatures.” I glanced at the silver-gray clouds covering the entire sky. “That doesn’t look good.”

  “Doesn’t feel good, either.” Blaine shivered in a way that had nothing to do with cold air. When he looked back at me, his face seemed scalier. “There’s magic everywhere. I’m kind of glad you can’t feel it. My dragon wants out. I’ll have to stay inside the rest of the night unless I want to risk going Godzilla on everyone.”

  “Look, thanks for walking me over here.” I nodded down the alley at the trolley tunnel. “Go on and head back now.” I started walking.

  “Nothing doing.” Blaine followed me. “I’m good to get you fifty paces in.” We kept walking. “See, we’re here already.” Blaine knocked while I yawned. “Have fun, and stay awake, dammit. I don’t get instant As if you flunk out.”

  “Ha, Blaine. Very ha.” I rolled my eyes just as the light from the magic doorway illuminated us. “You’re a pain, but a damn good friend.”

  “Thanks.” He waved as I stepped through the door. “See you tomorrow.”

  The door closed behind me before I could say goodbye. I went up the stairs and into the Nocturnal Lounge, glad to have somewhere to go. I looked around but only recognized Henry up at the same table as the night before. Tony wasn’t around, and I didn’t think Fred bothered showing up until low noon when the skeleton crew brought pizza.

  I skipped the cocoa on the counter, opting for some tea instead. The biscotti were anise this time, dipped in chocolate. I took my food and drink to the least cozy-looking chair, a shabby brown wingback. As I sipped tea and munched cookies, I watched the Night Creatures setting up. They had a full-sized PA and amp, with electric everything for the instruments and a full drum set.

  One of the vampires picked up the bass and started plunking away on it. He had shoulder-length light brown hair and tattoos on his arms. I couldn’t help but listen to him play since the amp drowned out every other sound in the room. Another vampire, this one with dark skin, a short goatee, and an earring, adjusted a dial on the PA. He went over and picked up a red guitar, then teased out a riff that rattled my teeth. This time, the bass player adjusted a dial. I figured it would be a long and sonic evening for Night Creatures.

  Their presentation song was catchy, witty, and kept me awake. I never knew garlic had absolutely no effect on any type of vampire unless they’d had an allergy during their human days, or that holy water only worked on vamps who were Catholic. After a few hours, I knew the song by heart. They kept me so entertained, I forgot about getting pizza at low noon.

  I had no idea Tony was there until he tapped me on the shoulder and practically dragged me away. I followed him to the staircase, where it was quiet enough to hear something besides Night Creatures. The frantic look in his eyes made that sense of foreboding from earlier come back with a vengeance. Before I could ask Tony what was going on, he spoke.

  “You have to follow me and fast. It’s Lynn.” He grabbed my arm and tried dragging me out the door and into the tunnel.

  “What about her?” I went with him. Otherwise, Tony would have had about as much luck moving me as knocking over a brick wall.

  “I studied with her in the library because the jerks from her lab shut her out. After a while, she got tired and said she had to go back to her dorm. I smelled you all over her and I owe you, so I followed just to watch her get to the dorm safely. It was snowing like crazy out there. Still is.” He waved his free hand vaguely over his head, swirling the fat, wet flakes as we came out of the tunnel.

  “I see that.” I let him keep the vise-grip he had on my arm even though I started to out-pace him on a course directly toward the library. “You still haven’t said what happened.”

  “You’ll know in a sec, but I’ll tell you.” He took a deep breath. “That huge pile of ice and snow got twice as big and fell off the roof.” We rounded a corner. “She’s under there.”

  A low growl threatened to turn into a roar at the center of my chest. The pile was high and deep, the snow heavier and more packed than I could dig or push through. Breathing through my nose told me next to nothing I couldn't see with my eyes. I couldn’t be sure because I wasn’t familiar with snow, but I thought it had happened less than five minutes before I got there. I stepped up to the edge of the pile. Chunks and spikes of ice stuck out every which way. Some of them were bigger than Lynn.

  Tony was still rattling on about freak accidents and odd coincidences that make urban avalanches. I knew better. I’d seen that weather app and Blaine’s reaction to the magic behind the storm. Someone had done this deliberately. She could be bleeding to death under there. Someone had to undo it deliberately, right now.

  Blaine couldn’t come outside without dragoning out and burning everything down. His dragon wouldn’t fit in the narrow side street, anyway. This was a job for a bear. I didn’t think about exams or failing. I didn’t think about someone sabotaging PPC, or the media attention Momma and Dad would get when I went home in academic disgrace. Well, actually, I did, but my bear dismissed all those thoughts. I let him.

  All I cared about was Henry’s amulet and how it would keep me awake long enough to rescue the woman who was smart, funny, and probably my mate. I pulled the coin by its string out of my shirt and gripped it tightly.

  “Pulvis memento est.” The weight on the lanyard vanished as it turned into dust and mingled with the snowflakes blowing around me. I smelled coffee and heard alarms. I felt the needle spray of a cold shower. I tasted Lynn’s lips on mine and smelled a faint hint of mint just ahead of me.

  As I paced toward the heavy, packed pile of snow embedded with ice chunks, I felt my feet fall more heavily. The tilt of my hips changed, and my torso lengthened and thickened. The palms of my hands morphed into pads with claws at the ends of my fingers. Scraps of fabric flew in a nimbus around me while keys, coins, my phone, and my wallet rattled to the ground. Tony padded behind me, collecting them.

  I pushed my snout forward, grunting as it encountered heavy mounds of cold and wet. I tossed aside a huge block of ice that would have been impossible to move alone in my human shape. As a bear, I pushed it away as easily as I’d shot hoops with Blaine the day before. I dug, then pushed, then dug again, following Lynn’s scent the whole time. I smelled blood, but only a little. My nose touched something soft and warm compared to the snow, but colder than it should be. Lynn, with a scratch on her cheek and an icicle beside her that had clearly been the culprit.

  I sat back on my haunches, clearing snow to either side with the backs of my paws so I wouldn’t accidentally scratch her. I tossed aside more ice, a thick sheet this time, that covered her legs. Once all the ice was off her, I could see she’d fallen face-down. I shifted back, not caring about the snow against my bare flesh. When I took her in my arms and turned her over, her breath just barely misted in the cold air. Even though she’d been dressed warmly, she was too cold. I had to get her inside.

  I jogged naked across the street, my feet slipping a little on the ice. A sharp stab and scent of fresh blood meant I’d stepped on something sharp. I’d be fine since all large shifters healed fast. Once through the dorm doors, I headed straight for my room. The door was open, and Blaine was sitting at his desk with his mouth open in shock. He blinked a few times as I put Lynn on my bed and wrapped her in blankets.

  “Tiamat’s scales, Bobby!” He stared at the one thing still on me after my shift—the empty lanyard around my neck. “What did you do?”

  “Saved her life.”

  “That’s not going to be enough. Her lips are dark blue.” Blaine pulled something from his desk. He pressed it between his pal
ms and murmured a few unpronounceable words, then he handed me a red stone with blue striations. It was hot. “Make her hold this.”

  “What is it?”

  “A firestone.” Blaine swept the notes and books he’d been studying from his desk into his satchel. “It regulates temperature. I have to get out of here. All the snow and water in here is nearly as bad for me as going outside. Too much magic that clashes with mine. I’d better not be here until it evaporates. I’ll be in the first-floor lounge.”

  “Thanks.” I knew Blaine had heard me even though he’d shut the door before I spoke.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Bobby

  I turned and stripped off Lynn’s gloves, then put the firestone in her hands.

  “Ow.” Lynn moaned, turning her head on the pillow. She gripped the stone in her hand tighter. “Hmm. Firestone. Good call for hypothermia, bear-man. What happened?” Her eyes stayed closed, and her lips were still faintly blue. At least they looked to be a more human color than before.

  “Urban avalanche. The huge snow pile on the library got you.” I watched her eyes fly open as I spoke. “I had to bulldoze you out from under a literal butt-load of snow and ice.”

  “Bobby.” Her eyes roamed over my body, then back up to my face. “You didn’t use the amulet to shift without falling asleep, did you?”

  “That’s exactly what I did.” I looked right into her gorgeous eyes. “I couldn’t do anything but that. Blaine’s partial shift means he can’t be anywhere near this snow. Tony shifts into a little kitty cat. You would have died.”

  She said nothing, just flung her arms around my neck and pulled me as close as she could. Her clothes were soaking through the blankets, so I unwrapped them. She sat up and put the firestone in her lap.

  “You’re such a winter newb.” Lynn shrugged out of her wet jacket and tossed it on the floor. Then, she pulled her damp shirt over her head. “Snowy clothes turn into wet ones pretty quick.”

  “Good to know.” I couldn’t do much besides watch her undress. Even though she did it fast, I stood there fascinated.

  “I don’t suppose you have any more blankets, huh?” She wrapped her arms around herself, gaze traveling around the room. “A robe, maybe, or a towel?”

  “Something better.” My voice came out low and rumbly. When her eyes met mine, she gasped. The look on her face reminded me of the night before.

  I leaned over to climb into bed next to her and she put her arms around my neck, helping me and making room. My knee bumped the firestone, so I put it on the nightstand. I looked at her lips, noticing they were back to their usual pale pink color. I embraced her, wanting to taste them again. My bear and I agreed she needed as much contact as possible to warm up, but I couldn’t lie down. I sat up and curled around her as much as I could.

  Lynn surprised me by pushing me back down on the bed. Her assertive nature was one of the most exciting things about her. She was the most amazing girl I’d ever met, and I could tell she wanted me as much as I wanted her. There was so much I hadn’t expected to find at PPC. I’d taken most of it in stride, just trying to keep up with the changes. Lynn was the one surprise that felt like a gift, like Christmas morning or turning a corner to find a spectacular view.

  I tried to rein in my bear and keep him from claiming her. The last thing I wanted to do was hold back with Lynn, but she’d asked me not to mark her unless I was sure. I was, but that request might also have been about what she wanted. I wouldn’t cross that line until I’d had a dream or she changed her mind and told me.

  Lynn

  I stroked Bobby’s cheek. His silvery-blue eyes held nothing but tenderness and devotion as I gazed into them. I still could barely believe he had used the amulet to help me. Tony and Blaine hadn’t been able to help, but he could have called Jeannie or Josh. He hadn’t thought about that, though, only of saving me. I hadn’t understood how much we needed each other until I woke with him standing there, naked except for that empty lanyard.

  And that was why I turned my head, presenting my shoulder to him. He gasped, then let out a frustrated sigh.

  “I’m sure if you are.” I ran my hands over the closely cropped hair on the back of his head. “I’d claim you if I could.”

  My own eyes reflected back at me in his silvery gaze. He licked his lips, then bared his teeth. I’d never noticed how his bicuspids were pointer than most people’s. He stared down at me, his eyes taking on a feral gleam.

  “Love you.” The words were slightly garbled by a growl, but they’d been unmistakable. They were also familiar. Those had been the muffled syllables he’d uttered the night before as he left my room.

  When his teeth sank into the thin layer of skin at my collarbone, the pinch was painful, but just barely.

  “Love you too.” My voice had a higher pitch than usual, not surprising considering the tingling sensation the act of him marking me sent over my flesh.

  He opened his mouth, let out a long growly sound, and pulled me closer. I pulled back. I had to thank him properly for saving my life, after all.

  “Oh, no, Bobby.” I sat up, shaking him. “Wake up.” I glanced at the clock. It had been an hour and fifteen minutes since I’d left the library and the ice had buried me. Henry’s wakefulness amulet had worn off.

  I got up, searching Bobby’s desk for something sharp. All I found was a pencil. I poked him with it, but he just let out a faint snore. Dropping the pencil, I felt like the world’s biggest doofus for not bothering to check his pulse. I took a deep breath to calm myself, then pressed the tips of my index and middle finger against the inside of his wrist.

  His pulse was slow and steady at a normal and perfectly human sixty beats per minute. No hibernating respiration to be found. All the books from Friday night said he’d be at twenty beats per minute if the urge won. When I turned my head back away from the wall clock, the mark on my shoulder stung a little. I put Bobby’s arm down and walked over to the dresser to look into the mirror above it.

  The claiming mark was only faintly red but unmistakable. Two punctures above the bone line and two below. I’d seen pictures, but none in person. Still, I knew they’d heal into shiny pink scars like small buttons. We were mates now, bound together for good or ill. Marriage at this point would simply be a legal formality.

  I glanced at my mate, listening to his textbook-normal respiration. He’d wake up in the morning with his alarm like all the other bear shifters who had grown up in wintry climates. If he didn’t, I’d be able to rouse him. Bobby could pass his exam without the aid of an amulet, just plain old coffee, like Blaine or me.

  Think of the dragon, and he appears. I heard a knock on the door and his voice asking if everything was all right. My clothes were still wet, except for my bra and underwear. I put those on and rummaged around in Bobby’s drawer for a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. His socks were ridiculously big on me but better than going into the hall barefoot.

  I opened the door a crack to see Blaine’s lizardly half-lidded grin. His skin and eyes still had their dragonish accents from earlier. He tapped his nose and winked. He’d known what had happened in there before I even answered the door. Blaine held out Bobby’s wallet, keys, and some loose change, and I took the items, setting them on top of Bobby’s dresser.

  “Tony gave me these. He told me everything. Can we talk, Taskmaster?” He quirked an eyebrow.

  “Sure.” I stepped out the door. “Just let me use the restroom first.”

  “Of course.” He shut the door quietly and leaned against the wall next to it.

  Once I got back, he beckoned and headed down the hall toward the lounge. I followed, seating myself in the chair across from where he’d camped out with a stack of books and a few old scrolls. He took a deep breath and picked up one of the latter.

  “Do you believe in coincidence?” Blaine unrolled the scroll.

  “I didn’t, not really. Now I do.”

  “Good.” Blaine turned the parchment around. “This is a record of somethi
ng that happened back in 1938, the winter after the Great New England Hurricane. Something similar occurred again in 1978 when we had one blizzard that was bigger than these two combined. I wouldn’t have thought of it at all if my whole family hadn’t been local since way back.”

  “Woah.” I took the parchment from him, holding it gingerly. What could only be a magic-imbued image shimmered in brightly colored ink. It was like watching the Wizard of Oz right after Dorothy lands in Munchkinland, except this drawing had no Munchkins, cute dogs, or ruby slippers.

  “Nasty way to go.” Blaine gulped. “You almost rivaled it.”

  Two stockinged legs stuck out from under a slab of brownstone topped with snow instead of a house, and the shoes on the feet were black, but otherwise disturbingly similar to the Wicked Witch of the East’s at the scene of her demise. I wondered whether one scene had inspired the other. I checked the caption, but it was in a language I couldn’t read.

  “Who was she?” I handed the scroll back to Blaine, shuddering.

  “A Magus who threatened to go public about what she was.” Blaine rolled up the scroll and set it down. “She was a student here too, known for her wit and for topping the Dean’s List. She’d been Salutatorian at her high school, but still. Sound like anyone you know?”

  “So this might not be anything to do with the school?” I scratched my head, still unclear about how destiny worked within the supernatural set.

  “I wasn’t trying to imply that.” Blaine got out an oilcloth and wrapped the pile of parchment in it. “The opposite, actually. You’re not magical, so you don’t know this, but there has to be a coincidence in order for the really big spells to go over without a backlash.”

  “Did Bobby screw someone’s spell up, then?”

  “Yup.” Thin trails of smoke curled out of Blaine’s nose. “A spell that should have worked on you because it went off the last two times someone tried it. Whoever cast this is not going to be happy once they recover, but they can’t mess with either of you directly anymore either.”