Black Wolf (32 page)

Come on, Jess,
these people saved your ass and they've given you a decent life,
which you were sure you'd never have. Aren't you being just a bit
touchy?

No, damn it!
It wouldn't have cost them anything tonight to talk about something
else for a little while! At least Sam checks in once in a while
that I'm okay. All Tomas says is, Jess, can you work Tuesday night,
I need you.

Damn it all,
people, I'm still here!

Feeling the
urge to hit something, but refraining, he wiped the table off,
threw the rag in the sink, and left for work. His usual way,
running four-footed along the road—it wasn't a problem wearing just
his magesilks to work, if he so chose.

"You're late,"
Tomas greeted him mildly. No scent of anger, only distraction,
impatience.

"Huh? It's ten
to seven."

"Jess, Claudia
had to take today off. I asked you yesterday..."

The memory
finally registered. "To be here for five-thirty. Shit. I'm sorry.
Would you believe I forgot?" Oh, that sounded wonderful.

"Figured it
was something like that. When I called it was busy."

"One of the
phones is probably off the hook." This was the finishing touch to
his black mood.

"Everyone
makes the odd mistake. I'm not going to throw fits over it. Just
please, Jess, I really need to be able to count on you right
now..."

"Won't happen
again. I promise."

"Go on."

"Where have
you been?" Nyssa demanded, meeting him between tables. "Here, take
this to sixteen." She shoved a laden tray into his hands, and
swirled away.

The pace began
to pick up within the hour, leaving him with no time to indulge
himself in frustrated thoughts.

A tall
redheaded woman sauntered in, and sat down near the back, well into
his territory. He debated begging Nyssa to take care of her
anyway—he'd met her once before and though she'd been civil enough,
he'd found it a less than comfortable experience given that she'd
nearly killed him—but decided not to push his luck.

"What can I
get you?" he asked her.

"Just a drink.
Bloody Mary."

"Sure thing."
Why did that choice not surprise him? He passed on the order to
Tomas, took care of another, got it and brought it to her. "Give me
a yell if you need anything else."

"Something
bothering you, Jesse? You smell a bit off tonight. Things turned
sour in paradise?"

"Rebecca," he
said tightly, choosing his words carefully, "with all due respect,
what goes on in my life is my business, not yours, and I'd really
appreciate it if you'd remember that."

"All due
respect. I like that."

"I really need
to take care of some other tables. Excuse me." No way was he going
to let her see what it cost him to stay in control, when everything
in him screamed for a fight to release all the tension locked tight
in his guts.

She ordered
wolf-style steak the next time he came by, but she said nothing
else out of line; he served her with as few words as possible and
tried to stay away as best he could. She left him an oddly large
tip, which puzzled him; why had she done that?

He worked
late, until one, so Nyssa could leave early. He could think of no
other way to make up for leaving her alone for an hour and a half
earlier.

Kevin's light
was still on when he got home and upstairs, having paused on the
way only long enough to feed Hob in the kitchen. He brushed through
the half-open door to turn it off. Probably Kevin had fallen asleep
like a couple of nights before, sprawled on his bed with his
books.

But Kevin was
still up, and didn't even notice him.

"It's past
one. Maybe you should go to bed."

"Mmhmm."
Distractedly. "As soon as I finish this chapter."

Maybe Kevin
would have some insight into what Rebecca was thinking with the
strangely generous tip. "Kev?"

"In a
minute
, Jess. I really have to figure this out. Why don't
you go get ready for bed, and once I get through this I'll come
over?"

That was fair,
he had to concede. He left his magesilks across the afghan-draped
wooden chest that now occupied the space at the foot of the
bed—found in one of the still-empty rooms and refinished, it had
gone to him for storage as his actual possessions increased. Still
feeling not quite clean after his encounter with Rebecca, he had a
quick shower and nestled into bed, head on his arm, waiting. Hob
hopped up to join him for some attention, but wandered off,
possibly after the elusive kitchen mice.

At two o'clock
he gave up, and turned the lamp off. For as long as he was still
awake, he could see the light from Kevin's room.

By morning,
the blankets were tangled around him, one on the floor, and two of
his pillows on it, and a new bruise showed on one arm that he
thought was from the head of the bed. Vivid nightmares lingered in
his mind, something involving Rebecca and his adopted parents and
Shaine and his real parents. And, for once, Kevin hadn't intervened
and banished them.

He tried to
concentrate on working; there was always something that needed
doing at Sam's. Making sure the shelves were well-stocked didn't
help, though, it only kept his hands busy and let his mind dwell on
how much he hated everything right now.

The bell on
the door chimed softly. Relieved, he straightened and turned to see
who.

She was
vaguely familiar but he couldn't place her at all, which surprised
him; between his two jobs he thought he could recognize most of
Haven on sight, even if not by name. She looked a little older than
him, not as striking or exotic as so much of Haven seemed to be,
but not unattractive either. Short brown hair, medium build, a
faintly Asian cast to her features... and smiling at him shyly.

"What can I do
for you?"

She looked
down, bashfully. "I've been trying to find the courage to say this.
Would you like to maybe do something some night? I mean, just...
supper or something."

"I don't see
why not, except that I don't know how much free time I have right
now."

"Everybody's
busy, I know. I'm lucky, I only took two classes this semester and
one doesn't have an exam. I've seen... you've been working an awful
lot. It isn't very fair for everyone to dump everything on
you."

He shrugged.
"It'll stop soon. I have to work tonight, but not tomorrow night."
Yet. So I'll just say no if Tomas asks me at the last minute.
I'm allowed to have a life, damn it.

Smiling, she
raised her eyes, not quite to his. "That'd be nice. Maybe... you
could come over and I'll make supper...?"

"Sure. When
and where? And I'll bring dessert."
That evil chocolate cake Kev
taught me how to make.
"Do you like chocolate?"

"Who doesn't?
Around six?" She gave him directions to the house. "I'll talk my
coven-mates into leaving for a while. Some will be out anyway."

"Tomorrow at
six it is. Hey. I don't even know who you are."

She blushed.
"Sorry. I'm Avryl. I know who you are."

By her scent,
human and witch. Something about it was vaguely familiar; he
must've run into her at some point and just couldn't place it.

"I have to
go," she said. "I have some things to do."

Jess bid her
farewell, and went back to stocking shelves, happier now. At least
one person in Haven knew he existed!

* * *

He had to stay
two-footed to carry the cake, which meant it took him longer to get
to her house after he finished his hours at Sam's. He found it
easily enough, though, and knocked on the door.

It was opened
by a male elf—not a mage, mages had a distinctly different
scent—who greeted him amiably and invited him. The first,
overwhelming impression was of how
clean
everything was, the
scent of the natural cleaners common in Haven and the gentle scents
of cooking and a mild herbal air freshener washing out even the
scents of the residents, not a trace of clutter or disorganization
in sight.

"Avryl's in
the kitchen, I was just leaving. Have fun." The elf took a jacket
from the nearby closet, and departed.

Avryl appeared
at the other end of the hall while he took off his wet boots.
"Jesse? Oh. Hi." Her gaze dropped again, and she coloured just
enough that he could see it. "It's nearly done."

"There's no
hurry. I came for the company, not the food."

That made her
smile. "That's dessert? Here, I'll take it..."

He went with
her to the kitchen. The delicious food-scents he'd picked up from
the hall were stronger here. "Smells wonderful."

"High
flattery, from a wolf."

It was a
pleasant evening: they had supper, talked about music and movies
and similar sorts of things—none of them the sorts of topics that
sent him into defensive mode. She was delighted by the cake, which
they had in the living room while listening to the stereo; he
helped her with the dishes, despite her insistence that it wasn't
necessary. Afterwards, they returned to the warm cosy living
room.

Why wasn't he
surprised that no one even noticed when he came home late that
evening?

27

"Where are we
going?" Jesse asked again.

Avryl just
smiled. "Wait and see."

He shrugged,
and decided to go along with it. So far, the only person in Haven
who had meant him any harm was Rebecca, and during the considerable
amount of time he'd spent in Avryl's company over the past few
days, she'd done nothing to suggest she was another exception.
She'd asked nothing of him save the same attention she gave.

She led him
through the forest unerringly, under the bright round moon, along a
rough path through the snow, and that took them to...

A small house
or cottage, limestone-walled, cedar-shingled.

"Come on," she
urged, opening the door.

Witches
couldn't do spontaneous foxfire like mages, but it was possible to
spell an object to glow on command; Avryl activated three chunks of
the quartz he'd been told worked best.

The interior
of the building was all one room, the walls panelled with
unfinished wood, the three windows with glass intact, the floor
rough cement. On that floor, though, were two large pillows on a
spread sleeping bag, and between them a bottle and two glasses. The
temperature was quite reasonable inside; more witchcraft, most
likely. Wasn't that within the range of a witch's abilities? He was
so used to both Cynthia and Kevin being around and working as a
team that sometimes it was hard to recall exactly where the line
was between their gifts.

"We've been
friends for a week," she explained. "I thought we could
celebrate."

"Sounds like a
good idea." He settled across from her and opened the bottle—red
wine. Avryl laid a hand against it briefly, and the temperature of
the wine dropped swiftly. Jesse filled the plain clear glasses she
held for him.

"To friends,"
she said simply, touching her glass to his.

"To friends,"
he echoed.

The wine had a
stronger taste than any he'd encountered. He ignored that, more
intent on joking with Avryl.

He realized
after the second glass that he was feeling a little light-headed,
which should have been impossible. Wolf resistance to poison,
including alcohol, was mind-bogglingly high, only wolfsbane
reducing it; he knew the taste and scent, Evaline had made sure of
it, and he detected none in this.

"What exactly
is that?" There was no label on the green glass bottle.

"It's
home-made. One of my coven-mates made it. Don't you like it?"

"No, it's
wonderful, I was just wondering what could be strong enough to
affect me."

"Oh, that. It
is pretty powerful stuff. Be glad you're wolf, I can't make the
room stay still."

It occurred to
him that he should stop, not drink any more, he'd had too much
experience with mind-altering substances. But Avryl was already
refilling his glass, and it would be extremely rude... After all,
it couldn't really hurt him, and he deserved a chance to relax
after all the stress lately, and, well, just this once...

* * *

The phone
rang.

Kevin heaved a
sigh, and abandoned last-minute cramming to answer it.

"Hello."

"Kevin? It's
Samantha. Is Jesse there?"

"Huh? No. It's
past noon, he's supposed to be working, isn't he?"

"Yes, he is!
He's not here, and it's actually quarter after. He's never been
late before."

"Tomas
mentioned that he was late at the Brewery the other night. Wanted
to know if something was bugging him."

"
Is
something?"

"Sam, I
haven't had
time
to keep an eye on the wolf-cub lately, not
with all these exams."