by Leela Ash
“To the left!” Apollo demanded. The men obeyed and Achilles took the opportunity to get away from Apollo before he could be questioned.
“Your workshop is all ready,” Apollo said, as if he could tell Achilles was avoiding him. Apollo himself didn’t even turn to regard Achilles and was still motioning with his hands to the men who were carrying the equipment. “We have the instructional videos all queued up and ready for you to watch.”
Achilles sighed heavily, stress and tension tingling in the tightness of his chest. It wasn’t like him to have such anxiety over things. But now that Veronica was involved, he couldn’t seem to help himself. It was a pretty big secret, and if the others found out about it, he would surely never hear the end of it. And he would lose all he had built for himself.
“I’m on it.”
This much, he could do. He could at least pretend to be interested in Apollo’s hairbrained scheme to pretend they were crafters so they could fit in to this town. Not that he had any desire to fit in anywhere but his own pack. But if it kept Apollo placated, maybe he wouldn’t be on Achilles’ case so much, and other things would be less likely to come to light.
Achilles wandered outside, where Atlas was standing proudly with his hands on his hips. He was a broad guy and seeing him standing so powerfully that way almost made Achilles nervous. He wasn’t sure he could take both Atlas and Apollo if they ganged up on him for whatever reason. Say, for example, he fucked up and got some random human woman involved with a sensitive mission that may or may not cost the universe its very semblance of positivity…
“I take it Apollo told you the good news!”
“Uh,” Achilles scratched his head. “He told me I have a workshop.”
“You do. And you can go into the office whenever you’re ready to get studying.” Atlas beamed. “I helped get it all set up. Come on, let’s check it out!”
Achilles was nervous, but he shrugged and nodded his head. “Sure.”
“So, how did it go with your poking around nonsense?” Atlas asked as they crossed the yard to the space that had been made up for Achilles. “Did you learn anything new?”
It was against everything in his nature for Achilles to lie to a man to his face, especially someone he was starting to consider a brother.
“Yeah, I think that Lester guy is on to something, but I didn’t really get a chance to look there much. I got some company.”
Atlas turned to him, his gaze serious. “Nothing serious, I hope?”
“Nah, just someone checking up on the guy. But he wasn’t home, so I took off. You know how it goes.”
“So, you think it would be worth going back there?”
Atlas didn’t seem keen on asking the questions that would make Achilles spill it all, and he was grateful. It would take some tremendous willpower to be able to say something to Atlas he didn’t truly mean. Not only that, but it was dangerous to lie to a shifter. For whatever reason, it was like they had built-in lie detectors or something. That or maybe Achilles had always just been able to spot a liar and assumed the others were the same way.
“Yeah, for sure. We should definitely check the place out if Apollo still wants to do that.”
“Well, he does. But first, he wants to make sure we blend in so that if we are caught snooping around where we don’t belong, we have a good cover story. People are already suspicious enough.”
A twinge of guilt sparked in Achilles’ chest as his thoughts turned, once again, to Veronica. She certainly knew he and the others were suspicious. He had practically been arrested for fuck’s sake. But that was nothing compared to what would happen to him if the others knew just how involved she was in Achilles’ mission.
He had to check on her. The phone call he had received had left Achilles uneasy. He didn’t recognize the voice. He only knew the malice in its tone was nothing new to him. Whoever it was, they wanted him to stay put and had threatened Veronica if he didn’t. What was so important about Lester’s house? What information did he have there? Had he truly unlocked the secrets of the portals, and was the enemy already on his trail? It’s not like the old guy had been quiet about his findings. Veronica had stories for days about that guy. He had probably called to pester the sheriff’s office any time he came upon something new.
But they had never taken him serious before.
Then again, the sheriff of the town had never been attacked by evil aliens from another dimension before either. Maybe that had a way of changing things.
Another spike of anger curdled in Achilles’ breast. Why was she so stubborn? She was going to get herself killed. And there was nothing he could do about it if he couldn’t protect her. If he didn’t know exactly what or who was watching them, or why.
Of course, if there was any obvious reason to Achilles, it would be to find the portals. Of course, they would want more from the old man’s house. But there was no way of knowing what all he knew and who else he had told. Those secrets could have been given to just about anybody at this point, and that left Achilles and the rest of the Shifter League in the dust. What an unfortunate position they were in…
And the fact that he had the book from Lester’s house hidden away seemed proof enough to Achilles that the old man wasn’t insane. He wasn’t as incapable and annoying as Achilles had first thought going into the house and felt like the man was nothing but a voyeur of something he didn’t understand. He was beginning to get the impression that Lester knew far more than any of them did. And if they didn’t find out before the enemy did, their mission was doomed to fail.
But how did he know the enemy hadn’t already gotten to him? How could he know for sure that their secrets were safe and that they would reach the portals before the evil forces were able to manipulate them for their own ends?
They had to talk to Lester.
“You okay, man?”
Atlas was looking intently at Achilles, whose thoughts had spiraled very swiftly to the very subject he had been hoping to avoid.
“I’m fine, sorry,” Achilles mumbled. He looked up and stepped into the workshop, pasting on a bright smile for his friend. “It looks great in here. You did a good job.”
“Thanks…” Atlas stared at Achilles for a moment. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yes. I’m perfectly fine,” Achilles said. “I just have no idea how the hell I’m supposed to use any of this stuff to become the competent welder Apollo wants me to be.”
Atlas chuckled. “That’s what the videos are for. I think he even got some books. Everything is going to work out, don’t worry. It can’t be that hard. Humans do it all the time.”
Achilles scoffed, but nodded at his friend and bit back his laughter. He was beginning to become a bit surprised by what all these humans were capable of doing. If he didn’t know any better, he would have suspected there was more to them than meets the eye. Maybe the rest of the universe never did them justice.
But that was a discussion for another day. A day when Veronica’s stubbornness and eagerness to throw herself in the line of fire because of his mistakes were not jumping around in his mind and liable to spill out to the one person who could take those very mistakes and turn them into Achilles’ heel, so to speak.
He would try to manage to spend the day learning about welding. But the second he got the chance, he had to check on Veronica. Every single cell in his body was urging him to make sure she was all right, so that’s what he was going to do.
9.
“Achilles! You scared the hell out of me!”
Achilles was standing back in the shadows near the entrance of her house. He seemed a bit sheepish looking, but finally moved into the light well enough that his pensive, handsome features looked somehow even more chiseled in the moonlight.
“I’m sorry, Veronica.”
Veronica pursed her lips, surprised by the way her name sounded coming from his lips. It was, in some way, more sensual and womanly the way he said it. But she wasn’t trying to be categorized as some t
ypical woman. She had goals. She had to be taken seriously.
“Call me Ronnie, okay?”
Achilles raised his brow at her but didn’t acknowledge the words.
“Achilles?”
He almost looked as if he wanted to laugh but seemed to think better of it. “I don’t think I can do that.”
Veronica put her hand on her hip and did her best to summon a major stink-eye. “And why not?”
Achilles just lifted his shoulder in a gesture of cluelessness, and Veronica shook her head. Enough was enough. Back to the point.
“Whatever. What are you doing at my house, Achilles? It’s late.”
“I just wanted to make sure you got home safely,” he said, his voice oddly gentle for the severe expression of angst on his face. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking.”
“You mean worrying?” Veronica snapped. “I can take care of myself, you know.”
“I’m sure, under normal circumstances, that’s true,” Achilles said, taking a slow step toward her. “But these are definitely not normal circumstances.”
“What made you worry so much about me all of a sudden?” Ronnie asked, putting her hands on her hips. He had seemed eager to get the hell away from her earlier and hadn’t thought twice about it. He just wanted to get his job done, whatever that entailed. Something must have happened between then and now to put him on edge. And she was going to find out what it was. Maybe Veronica wasn’t the one he had to be worried about. Maybe he should worry more about himself.
“I already told you. I just wanted to check on you.”
Veronica shook her head. “I’m not buying it, Achilles. Something happened. What was it? Why are you shaken up now?”
Achilles exhaled deeply, a strange expression crossing over his face. Was he exasperated or relieved? Maybe both?
“You’re too smart for your own good,” he stated. “Do you mind if we go inside to talk? I’m worried it isn’t safe out here.”
“You want to come into my house?” Ronnie squeaked.
For whatever reason, the idea of this man anywhere near her personal space was making her exceptionally nervous. It wasn’t that she was ashamed of it or anything, but if she was going to invite a man in, it wouldn’t be on a night after two weeks of working overtime and barely being at home to tidy up. She didn’t want him thinking she was a slob. And who knew what he might learn about her that she didn’t want him knowing. What if he used something against her?
“Is that okay?” Achilles asked, his brow raising once again. “If it’s not, we don’t have to. I just thought that maybe the two of us could speak more comfortably inside.”
“Ah… shit.”
Ronnie shook her head in exasperation and turned toward the door. “Whatever. Come inside. But if you break anything, I am definitely arresting you this time.”
A bright smile lit up the entirety of Achilles’ face, and Veronica found herself lost in the dazzling radiance of it for a moment. It should be illegal for men to be that good looking, she decided. If nothing else, she would be able to arrest him for that, right?
When they walked inside together, Veronica felt her nerves really begin to kick in. “The coat closet’s right there if you want to hang up your jacket or something,” she mumbled, trying to remember what all she had learned about being a good host. But she was not very well practiced in this kind of thing. She had been practically raised as a boy, with not a whole lot of gentle feminine influence from a mother. She hadn’t even had an aunt or someone to help her, and her friends had basically rejected her as hopeless long before she had shown any interest in makeup and boys. But by the time she had been tempted to take a peek down that road, the opportunities had passed, and she had already been labeled “practically a boy.” All prospects of femininity had been thrown out the window and she began to embrace the labels other people were throwing at her.
There was power in that masculine energy. People took her seriously in ways they didn’t take her friends seriously. But now, for some reason, with Achilles in her house, she found herself wishing that maybe she hadn’t been on such a narrow path back then and had given herself the opportunity to learn more about what it meant to be a woman.
“It’s spacious in here,” Achilles commented, shaking his head silently at the offer to hang up his jacket. “You live alone?”
Warning bells suddenly flashed in her mind. What kind of strange man lurked outside a woman’s house at night and then asked her if she lived alone when she was idiotic enough to invite him inside?
Achilles seemed to recognize his error immediately and scrambled to get the words right. “I just mean, it’s a lot of space for one person to occupy. I feel like I would get lonely.”
“I’m never lonely,” Ronnie stated. As if on cue, her cat, Garrison, walked into the room, slinking close to the ground with his belly dangling low. His orange eyes were fixed on Achilles and the cat’s orange hackles were raising.
Achilles had immediately caught the cat’s eye and Ronnie was amused to note that the man had been very disturbed by the presence of the feline. His eyes narrowed on the cat, and he took a step back.
“Yes, I know this is your house,” Achilles said finally, after a begrudging silence. “I will not intrude.”
Veronica couldn’t help but laugh. The situation was bizarre enough, but to have this man and her cat exchanging words was too much.
“Don’t mind him,” she said to Achilles. “He’s scared of his own shadow.”
“Right…”
Veronica took Achilles by the arm and led him to the kitchen, where she began her evening ritual of preparing herself some tea and a little something to eat.
“Are you hungry?” she asked Achilles. If they were going to talk, they might as well do it on a full stomach.
“I could always eat,” he admitted with a dashing smile. “Thank you.”
“I hope you don’t mind vegan food.”
Achilles made a visible face of disgust but tried very quickly to mask it with another charming smile. He failed miserably, and Ronnie laughed again.
“I’m kidding. I want a burger tonight.”
“Oh… good. Good.”
Veronica shook her head and started cooking, motioning for Achilles to seat himself at the kitchen island on one of the bar stools she had received from her father after she’d been awarded the title of sheriff.
“So, what happened?” Veronica asked again, with her back to Achilles. For some reason, knowing he was there, watching her every move, made her feel extremely anxious. But at the same time, it was almost nice. She felt as if he could really see her in a way most people didn’t. But that was a stupid thought, and she really had no business thinking it. Things like that would just get her into trouble.
“I probably shouldn’t be telling you,” Achilles said with a heavy sigh. “I don’t want you to worry.”
“Well, I’m going to be worried either way, and if you don’t tell me, my imagination is likely to act up and I will imagine much worse things than the truth. So, please do me the kindness of being honest with me. If you don’t mind.”
Achilles shuffled around behind her and Veronica inhaled, holding her breath until she heard him beginning to speak. Finally, she let the breath out and braced herself for whatever was coming next, flipping one burger thoughtlessly to check its progress.
“I got a weird phone call after I left your office,” Achilles admitted. “They threatened us both. It made me really uneasy and I had to see you to make sure you were all right.”
“Threatened me?” Veronica asked, raising a brow and finally turning to look at Achilles. “Threatened me how? Did they say they were going to come do something?”
“Not exactly,” Achilles said.
“Well, what did they say? Do you know who it was?”
Achilles shook his head. “I have no idea who it was, but I thought maybe you and your newfangled technology could help me trace the call to them.”
“Well,
I could, but why didn’t you come to me with this sooner? If it happened right after you left, why not turn around and come right back?”
Achilles sighed. “I have a lot going on right now and I don’t want to put you in the middle of any of that. But if I didn’t get back and do my job, let’s just say, it would have happened that way whether I like it or not.”
Veronica sighed. What was it with this guy and his secrets?
“Well, forget that and just tell me what the guy on the phone told you. I need you to write it down word for word. There is always some kind of clue in things like this. It’s important to get everything right.”
Achilles was quiet for a moment, and Ronnie quirked her brow, agitated and restless.
“Well, do you remember what they said?”
“I remember exactly,” Achilles said, looking hard at Veronica.
“Good,” she stated, not breaking eye contact with him as she grabbed a notepad and pen from the kitchen island and slid it to him. “Write it down so I can see what all I can figure out about it.”
Achilles sighed, then looked up to the ceiling as if imploring some gods she didn’t know about on what to do in his situation. She felt a little patronized but turned her back on him again to flip the burgers. Whatever was going on, it was serious. And both of them deserved to know everything that concerned them. Right?
Finally, she heard the scratching sound of Achilles’ handwriting and let out a breath of relief that she hadn’t realized she was holding again.
“Why are you so stubborn, anyway?” Achilles asked. His voice had that strange, gentle quality to it again, but the question was direct. Almost agitated.
“I guess I get it from my grandfather,” Ronnie said, trying to hide a smile as she continued cooking.
“I see.”
Achilles closed the notepad and slid it away from himself. And away from Ronnie.