fire, scuttling across the bench. I wanted to run. But I wanted answers more.
“What’s a Golden Anidae?” I asked after clearing my throat and shoving all my bravado to the front.
“Why . . . you are,” he said, entertainment tugging at the corners of his lips. His white eyes peered into me. “The first in possibly more than a thousand years.”
“The Fertiri,” I whispered.
“The vampires say tomato, I say tomato,” he almost sang. “You are a bridge between this world and the next, between life and death, between reason and instinct. The vampires named you for their golden God a millennium ago. The wolves named you for an elusive golden wolf. Each is the other. They are the same. One cannot exist without the other.”
“But, I’m not a werewolf,” I managed to mutter. Pressure built in my head as his words bounced around my brain, and exhaustion from the past several days wore on me. I was tired, my head throbbed, and my brain had stopped functioning on all cylinders a while ago. Wonderful!
“You can’t dictate to magic what it’ll do. It does what it wants, what is needed. Especially wild magic,” he said, cryptic and annoying as all hell.
That didn’t answer anyfuckingthing.
“But I’m not infected from a werewolf,” I explained with frustration.
“Mhmmm,” he groaned.
“Could we be a little less cryptic?” I snorted, stomping my feet back down on the ground. Fury simmered in my chest, filling my body with white-hot rage. “This could mean the difference between life and death for someone!”
“I’m sure it will one day,” he said as an unsettling, knowing smile crept across his lips.
“All right,” I snapped, standing. I stalked away from the fire. “I’m done.” Stomping to the door, I felt the lure of power at the back of my neck making me stop. I turned to Georgie and watched the fire extinguish all on its own in a cloud of gas-filled smoke as his eyes faded back to normal. “So, you got a place for me to crash?” I asked, my voice trembling. Yeah, he scared the shit out of me. I didn’t think he would kill me, and I was pretty sure I could take him if he tried. He was powerful, though, with a magic I didn’t understand.
He gazed off into the darkness of the desert stretching over the Earth. “Raiden will be back by dawn to take you into the city,” he said, stretching every muscle in his worn body. Bones popped and cartilage ground after years of use, even after hearing all his joints pop, I wouldn’t underestimate him. No way. “You can sleep on the couch if you like,” he said. “I don’t have a guest room.”
I followed him inside, closing the sliding glass door behind me. “That’d be great.” I didn’t trust him but I could be nice. “I’ve slept in worse places over the last couple of months,” I finished, plopping down on the couch. It was scratchy and uncomfortable for sleeping but then again, who was I kidding? I wasn’t getting any sleep.
Raiden and Everett gave me the same protective urge. But Raiden was broken inside and had managed to survive. Some part of me wanted to help him live, not just exist but stretch his legs and enjoy the life he’d been granted.
Georgie, on the other hand, was a nice old man whose power and magic scared the shit out of me. I didn’t believe he’d hurt me or he meant me harm. Still, I watched him out of the corner of my eye as he left the room.
Georgie’s bedroom door clicked shut. I sat on the couch, watching the darkness on the other side of the sliding glass door.
I’d left Columbus to keep them safe. No, that’s not true. I’d been dallying around for five months. It was time to face the truth. I left because I couldn’t look myself in the mirror anymore, couldn’t remember who I was. I wasn’t the person I’d wanted to be. I wasn’t even sure anymore if the person I wanted to be had ever existed in the first place. When I peered at myself in the mirror now, all I saw was a coward.
I’d
“What’s a Golden Anidae?” I asked after clearing my throat and shoving all my bravado to the front.
“Why . . . you are,” he said, entertainment tugging at the corners of his lips. His white eyes peered into me. “The first in possibly more than a thousand years.”
“The Fertiri,” I whispered.
“The vampires say tomato, I say tomato,” he almost sang. “You are a bridge between this world and the next, between life and death, between reason and instinct. The vampires named you for their golden God a millennium ago. The wolves named you for an elusive golden wolf. Each is the other. They are the same. One cannot exist without the other.”
“But, I’m not a werewolf,” I managed to mutter. Pressure built in my head as his words bounced around my brain, and exhaustion from the past several days wore on me. I was tired, my head throbbed, and my brain had stopped functioning on all cylinders a while ago. Wonderful!
“You can’t dictate to magic what it’ll do. It does what it wants, what is needed. Especially wild magic,” he said, cryptic and annoying as all hell.
That didn’t answer anyfuckingthing.
“But I’m not infected from a werewolf,” I explained with frustration.
“Mhmmm,” he groaned.
“Could we be a little less cryptic?” I snorted, stomping my feet back down on the ground. Fury simmered in my chest, filling my body with white-hot rage. “This could mean the difference between life and death for someone!”
“I’m sure it will one day,” he said as an unsettling, knowing smile crept across his lips.
“All right,” I snapped, standing. I stalked away from the fire. “I’m done.” Stomping to the door, I felt the lure of power at the back of my neck making me stop. I turned to Georgie and watched the fire extinguish all on its own in a cloud of gas-filled smoke as his eyes faded back to normal. “So, you got a place for me to crash?” I asked, my voice trembling. Yeah, he scared the shit out of me. I didn’t think he would kill me, and I was pretty sure I could take him if he tried. He was powerful, though, with a magic I didn’t understand.
He gazed off into the darkness of the desert stretching over the Earth. “Raiden will be back by dawn to take you into the city,” he said, stretching every muscle in his worn body. Bones popped and cartilage ground after years of use, even after hearing all his joints pop, I wouldn’t underestimate him. No way. “You can sleep on the couch if you like,” he said. “I don’t have a guest room.”
I followed him inside, closing the sliding glass door behind me. “That’d be great.” I didn’t trust him but I could be nice. “I’ve slept in worse places over the last couple of months,” I finished, plopping down on the couch. It was scratchy and uncomfortable for sleeping but then again, who was I kidding? I wasn’t getting any sleep.
Raiden and Everett gave me the same protective urge. But Raiden was broken inside and had managed to survive. Some part of me wanted to help him live, not just exist but stretch his legs and enjoy the life he’d been granted.
Georgie, on the other hand, was a nice old man whose power and magic scared the shit out of me. I didn’t believe he’d hurt me or he meant me harm. Still, I watched him out of the corner of my eye as he left the room.
Georgie’s bedroom door clicked shut. I sat on the couch, watching the darkness on the other side of the sliding glass door.
I’d left Columbus to keep them safe. No, that’s not true. I’d been dallying around for five months. It was time to face the truth. I left because I couldn’t look myself in the mirror anymore, couldn’t remember who I was. I wasn’t the person I’d wanted to be. I wasn’t even sure anymore if the person I wanted to be had ever existed in the first place. When I peered at myself in the mirror now, all I saw was a coward.
I’d
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