Pack of Freaks: Beasts Among Us - Book 2

by Jennifer Zamboni

  And the strangeness didn’t stop there. Three more accounts from notable newspapers were at the forefront of my research.

  Nothing on the hunter. Either no one had found his body, there was nothing left, or he was just fine. I was really hoping for the last option, but my outlook was bleak.

  I caught a movement out of the corner of my eye, as the door squeaked open.

  Percy pulled up a chair. “No mention of your hunter?”

  “Nope, lots and lots of weird stuff that shouldn’t be happening in public though.” I pointed out several articles to articulate my point.

  “I’ve heard a few of these. Especially the incidents involving death. Hades asked Bob to check it out.”

  Bob, head of security, and a team of zombies. “What’s he found?” I asked.

  “He hasn’t been back yet, and Hades hasn’t said anything, so I’m guessing either he hasn’t called, or it’s really bad. If it’s really the fae, then we’re all in deep shit.”

  “Percy, language!” I covered my mouth with one hand and fanned myself with the other.

  “I’m sorry, dear, but there was no way to put it delicately that would quite get the point across.” She crossed her arms over her ample chest. She was in her human guise at the moment.

  It was very unlike Percy to swear, even so mildly as saying “shit.”

  “How long have they been out?” I turned my chair to face Percy.

  “Since you ran away. They started out by trying to track you down, then articles like those,” she indicated my search on the computer, “started popping up every few days or so.”

  Usually, it’s only a few in a year, not in a month. Things weren’t going well with the fae in hiding.

  I’d known that not everyone wanted to stay hidden like me, or Percy. There were those who, like Lacey-Marie, didn’t see why they should hide. In fact, most of them, again, like my dear friend Lacey-Marie, felt they were superior to humans, despite the fact that vampires and werewolves both started out as humans. There were a few factions of pure-blood fae that felt the same way. And they weren’t wholly wrong either. There would be benefits of the fae living openly, especially on the medical front. Fae medicine was far more advanced than what was currently available to humans. Even the vamp happy meals could benefit. Vamp venom could keep disease at bay, allowing the meal to live a normal, healthy life.

  We hadn’t always been in hiding, it has only been for the last few hundred years or so, less than that in rural Ireland, Germany, and parts of Africa. The rise in technology came with a fall in superstition, which led to an inability for the fae to be accepted into culture.

  There were probably still parts of the world where the fae still ruled, or at least co-existed, but it wasn’t in America.

  If I thought the world could accept what I was and could be kept safe from me, then fine. But I was dangerous, and more than likely they’d try to kill us off.

  It’s not as hard as they make it look in the movies. Yes, we heal quickly, with some regenerative qualities, but we can’t grow back limbs, even though we’d probably survive the loss. No, a good bullet in the brain or heart will kill us just as dead as any other person or animal. You just have to be a good shot.

  Vampires are slightly harder, they are even stronger and faster than the weres, but that whole sunlight allergy myth is based on truth. They won’t burst into flame at the first fleck of the sun hitting their skin. But in only a second of direct sun, they have the worst, blistering sunburn ever, then they start to crisp and cook from the inside out with further exposure, effective cremation in minutes.

  Now if you got into it with pure-blood fae, like Percy and Hades, I had no clue. The only record I’d seen of their death was by other “gods,” which probably meant that human weapons wouldn’t be able to touch them. But who knows, as far as I knew, no one had tried to kill one of them in a few thousand years, and technology has changed since then.

  I also doubted that Percy would let anyone run field tests to see if she was mortal by human standards. The fae did grow old and die, but it was at such a different rate than humans that they were immortal by all accounts.

  I wasn’t going to ask either.

  “I think we should set up a schedule for people to go sit with Caleb periodically. I felt really bad leaving him all alone down there. He really liked the barbecue chicken, by the way.” I changed the subject.

  “I have a better idea.” She pointed her finger in the air. “We should bring him inside.”

  I shook my head. “And put him where? We can’t exactly set him out in the salon, much as he’d enjoy it.”

  “No no, probably here in the library would be best, we’re in and out enough to keep him company, as well as give him some privacy.”

  “Speaking of,” I interrupted. “How on earth did you get his tank in the tack room?”

  “Oh, Christina and I just greased up the tank a bit, and popped it in.” She giggled like it was the best joke ever.

  “Yeah, right. Percy, that tank isn’t just a little bit too big to fit through that door, it’s a lot too big.”

  “So our greasing didn’t exactly involve butter.”

  I knew it! “Well, when are you going to move him in here?” I asked, looking around the room for the best possible location for his tank.

  “Probably tomorrow morning. There’s no point in getting him agitated until he can have some daylight to check out his surroundings. He was a bit upset when we moved him into the barn.”

  I could imagine. And then they left him alone, poor kid.

  “Well, that all sounds great, I’m going to get some sleep. See you in the morning?” I shut down the computer and stood to stretch.

  “Of course. You um . . . don’t have much work tomorrow.”

  I took in a breath, and let it slowly back out, letting my shoulders relax with it. “I figured. I’d be pretty shocked if I have any clientele left. I’ll still get ready though. I can do walk-ins if they don’t know me.”

  The loss of my clientele made me sad, but you can’t just disappear for a month, and expect people to still be around.

  “How’s Amanda doing?” I asked as we headed to the hall together.

  “Very well, actually. She’s taken some of your people, some of Penny’s people, brought over most of her own clientele, and has been taking newcomers as well. She’ll probably do better than any of the rest of us.” Percy perked up at this new subject.

  Percy was impossibly wealthy, and I was not too bad off myself, but the rest of our co-workers were all human and hadn’t had the time we’d had to build up savings.

  However, our girls had the option of being employees, which they’d all taken, but if need be, we could take care of them. They were all new, but they’d find out sooner or later that there were certain advantages to working at Olympian’s Salon and Day Spa.

  I spent an hour or so trying to locate the key, but the house had moved it. I hoped it had stuck it in a wall somewhere and forgotten about it. In fact, I’d have really appreciate it if it had taken away the door.

  I lay in bed and stared at it, my eyes seeing slightly better in the dark than they had the last few days or so. This would be the last night the new moon would affect me, and I hoped the next day I could go back to normal.

  Or at least as normal as I got, and hopefully without any blackouts this time.

  There was a flicker just outside my field of vision, drawing my eye to where a blazing fireplace had popped into existence.

  Gee thanks.

  I wanted to sleep.

  I wanted to forget the last month or so—or rather the bits that I remembered, and just be left alone.

  If I was given my solitude, perhaps I could go back to normal again, and not worry about killing Doug, strangers, or friends.

  I snuggled down deep in my blankets, and for a few blissful hours, I forgot.

  Too many people knew about my inconsistencies. Bad news spreads like a plague. More and more clients were
calling to either cancel their appointments or to switch stylists.

  Quiet isn’t necessarily a bad thing, except when you come down the stairs and Percy is waiting for you in the kitchen, wearing a huge smile, and holding a leather leash attached to a choke collar.

  I backtracked, trying to escape whatever torture she had planned.

  “Uh-uh, missy, we’ve got work to do.” She shook a finger at me and signaled the door to close.

  My back hit the solid cupboards, and I heard the lock click into place.

  “Any work I can do does not involve hanging myself, thanks.” I indicated the contraptions hanging from her fingers.

  “Well, we have to do something, this is the best I can come up with.” She lifted the leash up higher so that the collar hung in front of her nose.

  “What are you gonna do, walk me?” I reached for the doorknob, which wouldn’t even pretend to turn.

  “Obedience train. There has got to be some way we can at least get you—”

  “If you actually think you can make my wolf obedient, you are sadly mistaken,” I interrupted.

  “I was going to say respectful, maybe even relax it a bit.” Percy smiled indulgently, as if she knew something I didn’t.

  I gave a snort. “Yeah, right, relaxed wolf.”

  “It happens, dear.”

  I didn’t have a smart-ass answer to throw at her, so I clamped my jaw shut and glowered at her.

  “Go change, and we’ll get started.” She shooed me away and allowed the door to open again.

  What choice does one have when a goddess/death’s wife gives an order? I left the room, opting for the door leading outside.

  The salon was open, and I wasn’t exactly a quiet changer, what with the pain and all. I hadn’t even had a chance for breakfast yet.

  My bare feet barely registered the cold as I made my way down to the barn, then swerved off.

  Caleb was in the barn, and despite the muffling effects of water, I was willing to bet the sounds I made changing would scare the shit out of the poor kid. So instead, I opted for a half mile or so out into the woods, leaving my clothes hanging from the dead branches of an elderly birch tree.

  I gasped as my back arched, my bones changing, conforming to new shapes. Another wave hit me.

  My gums split.

  I screamed, deep throated and full of pain.

  My tail bone snapped, expanded, and bristled out with fur.

  My screams deepened further until they became the howls of my other self.

  And still, the pain came.

  Adrenaline hit and the pain became less important.

  I fell onto four paws and shook out my coat, which was growing thick and shaggy with winter imminent.

  As tempted as I was to run further into the woods, I returned to the house, where Percy waited on the back step.

  “Good girl. Now, Gretchen, come!” Percy made a motion with her hand, swooping it palm towards her heart.

  She’s joking, right?

  I sat instead.

  “Come on, Gretch, the whole point of this exercise is to get your wolf used to hearing and responding to these commands. It definitely won’t work if you don’t cooperate with me.” She straightened her back, then repeated, “Gretchen, come!” with the same hand motion.

  I gave her my best, you’ve-got-to-be-shitting-me look, then did as she asked. Odds were, this wasn’t going to work, but at least she could feel good that we were at least trying, and she’d get off my case, or lock me up, whatever the case called for.

  I trotted toward the steps and came to a halt about a foot in front of her.

  “Good girl!” she praised me, and reached into her pocket, and pulled out a piece of hot dog.

  She had training treats. I would have smirked if I could have.

  “Come on, take it, maybe your wolf will respond to positive reinforcement.”

  Would she hit me with a rolled up newspaper if I peed on the floor?

  I swallowed the mystery meat without tasting it. I was starving, and this was why she hadn’t fed me breakfast. Can you believe the inhumanity?

  “Gretchen, sit!”

  I scrunched down onto my haunches and sunk my butt to the grass.

  “Good girl!” Positive tones, and more treats. “Oops, I forgot the hand signal, can you get up again?”

  I heaved a sigh and stood again.

  “Gretchen, sit!” She started with her arm straight down, fingers pointed, then swept it up, like she was pulling air towards her.

  Butt back down.

  “Good girl!”

  Can I have a whole hot dog, pretty please?

  For 15 minutes I sat, I stayed, I downed, I came. Repeat, repeat, repeat.

  “Well, the dog training books say to practice for 10 to 15 minutes twice a day, so that should do it for this morning.” Percy released me from my last down stay of the morning.

  I had to do this twice a day, every day? Oh goody.

  Something came over me, and I came at her full tilt, lifted myself up onto my hind legs, knocking her down, and proceeded to lick Percy without mercy with my massive wolf tongue.

  “Hey!” she gasped. “Stop it. No fair!”

  Hey, turn about’s fair play, lady.

  I let her up and took off for the woods to go change back. Changing to and from twice a day was going to suck. Closer to the full moon, it wouldn’t be too bad, but I was really going to look forward to those three days a month where it was pretty much impossible for wolfy Gretchen to get any obedience training.

  The smell of food greeted me before I even entered the house. Good food, real food, maple syrup included.

  I bounded into the kitchen, trying hard to not let my enthusiasm get the better of me and stopped short when I beheld, not Percy manning the stove top, but Sabrina.

  “Uh, good morning.” I remembered a little belatedly to shut the door.

  I was raised in a brothel, not a barn.

  “Hey, want some breakfast?” She waved her spatula at several serving dishes worth of French toast, breakfast meats, oatmeal, and sliced fruit.

  “Uh,” I managed my most inelegant phrase for the moment.

  “It was easier to cook here, than out in the RVs, Percy said it was okay. You can join us for breakfast if you like.”

  “Where are you eating?” I asked, pulling myself together again.

  “Oh, out in the RVs still—”

  “You guys can use the dining room, you know,” I interrupted her.

  She bit her lip and started at the pile of mismatched dishes I assumed belonged to her. “Are you sure? I mean, there’s a lot of us.”

  “Yeah, that’s a lot of good smelling food, and it’s only going to get cold getting out there, so you might as well all come in. I’ll eat upstairs.”

  “Oh, well, okay.” Sabrina continued her lip chewing.

  My morning had only just started, and it was already way too long.

  I grabbed a bright blue glazed plate out of the cabinet above the dishwasher and loaded it up with a couple slices of French toast, some peach slices, and as much sausage, bacon, and ham as my plate could manage, then drizzled it all with syrup straight from Percy’s own trees.

  I would have grabbed some eggs, but there just wasn’t space. The change burned even more calories than simply existing in one form or the other, and I was expected to perform it twice a day.

  I saluted Sabrina with a steaming mug of calming concoction tea and headed for my room.

  Let me tell you right now: Sabrina is a fabulous cook, and I wouldn’t mind if she made every meal for me for the rest of my life.

  Too bad she probably wouldn’t live that long. Who knows. I knew she had some fae blood, but it was a ways back, and I didn’t really know how all that worked.

  That was really the only true downfall to my new lifestyle, where I hung out with untainted humans. Eventually, all your friends die and leave you to keep going. Like all my boys in the band, Amanda, Meredith. They’d all eventually die
.

  Unfortunately, I seemed to be stuck with Doug, as he was sitting on my bed, waiting for me. He looked nervous. He smelled nervous. I hate the smell of nerves, it sets me on edge.

  “What’s going on?” I set my plate on my bedside table, taking a bite of sausage before stepping away.

  If this was going to take a while, I wanted at least a little bit of food in my system, besides hot dog chunks. I kept hold of my tea. I had a feeling I was going to need it. I lifted it close to my nose, both hands wrapped around it so I could breathe in the soothing aroma.

  “Would you mind sitting down?” Doug patted the bed next to him.

  I sat, further away than the spot he indicated. His shoulders hunched over, and his scent changed into disappointment as if I’d slighted him. He wasn’t exactly my favorite person lately.

  “Well?” I stared at him, expectantly.

  “I have a question to ask you.” His accent thickened towards his French heritage as he dug around in his jean’s pocket. I watched as his fingers closed around something, and he pulled out a small black box.

  My heartbeat sped into overdrive. Oh shit, he wasn’t going to, was he?

  He opened the box, revealing a one-karat princess cut diamond with a platinum infinity band, and slid off the edge of the bed, kneeling on his left knee.

  I started to shake as he looked up at me.

  “Gretchen, I know I’ve gone about things all wrong, but I think we can get through it. Would you give me the honor of your hand?”

  I looked at him, dumbfounded.

  “I’m asking you to marry me.” He scooted closer.

  “Can I think about it?” I squeaked out uncharacteristically.

  He sank down, so that he was crouched over his heels, and turned the box so the ring faced him.

  How had he been able to afford a piece of jewelry like that? He didn’t even have a job anymore.

  “All right.” He closed the lid with a snap and shoved the box back into his pocket, slowly standing.

  He watched me for a moment, then turned, his disappointment evident, then headed towards my door.

  “Doug?” I stopped him.