Gods and Mortals: Fourteen Free Urban Fantasy & Paranormal Novels Featuring Thor, Loki, Greek Gods, Native American Spirits, Vampires, Werewolves, & More (206 page)

T
he fast pace
of the city traffic brought us to our destination faster than I expected. The single story ranch house waited placidly for our arrival. The red terra cotta roof tiles seemed to ripple in the heat. Pale pink stucco wrapped the house, broken only by the faux antique, wood-framed windows and doors. The spiked fronds of yucca plants guarded the low windows just as much as the wrought iron bars secured to the window frames.

Parked a few houses away, we watched the home. Friday afternoon should have been a busy time, but in this neighborhood the day wound by quietly. “We need to find out if they still live there,” I said.

I think we were both prepared for the let down and inevitable dead end as we watched the house, but we still climbed off the bikes and walked casually toward our target. I glanced up and down the street before stopping next to the mailbox belonging to the pink stucco house. Cole took up a position that attempted to block the view of my hand reaching into the mailbox.

Slipping the letters out, I quickly scanned the names. Junk mailers addressed to “current resident”. A random flyer not addressed to anyone. A credit card bill for Henry Harding. A magazine addressed to Adelaide Harding. Scanning the rest of the letters to be sure they were all the same, I tossed the mail back into the box and stepped a few feet away. Cole stepped in beside me.

“Dead end?” he asked. His shoulders slumped in anticipation of my response.

“They still live here.” The unbelief in my voice matched the expression on Cole’s face.

“You’re sure?”

I couldn’t begrudge him the question. I wanted to go back and check the mail again myself. “That was their mail, Henry and Adelaide Harding.”

We both sighed as the news really hit us. The relief was almost as draining as the disappointment would have been. I was ready for the disappointment. Still, I wasn’t sure what to do next. Was Daniel home? Were his parents home? There was only one way to find out. Walking up to the front door, I rang the doorbell.

Cole and I waited for several minutes before pushing the bell again. Still no one answered. “I guess they’re out.”

“We’ll just have to wait, then,” Cole said, turning to walk back to the bikes.

When would Daniel get home? It was Friday. What if they had gone out of town for the weekend or over to a friend’s house to spend the night? A sudden thought floored me. “He’s only seventeen.”

“Yeah, and…” Cole prompted.

“How are we going to convince him to come with us?” I asked. “His parents will never agree to let their son go on an out of state road trip with two complete strangers.”

“I bet you can change their mind, if you have to,” Cole said.

Thinking of my recent almost, and flat out failures in that area, I wasn’t so sure anymore. “It may not be that easy, Cole. I think Claire’s wrong about what I can do. You didn’t listen to me when I told you to go home.”

“Well, yeah, but this is about saving Claire’s life. I had to go,” Cole said. “I wasn’t going to let you stop me.”

“Exactly. Your dad almost held out about not letting Claire marry me. I don’t think I can change anyone’s mind if their decision is strong enough.”

Cole frowned. “But my dad’s decisions are always pretty strong. He was dead set against Claire even dating you. Most of his reasons for the stuff he does are totally bogus, but you’ve gotten him to agree to plenty of things.”

There was more to it, then. Something in what Cole had just said made me think. “Then, maybe it has more to do with the reason behind it. You love Claire and wanted to come because you’re really worried about her,” I said. “Most of the stuff your dad does is just because he’s being a selfish jerk. Maybe that’s why I can change his mind so easy. Either way, I’m sure Daniel's parents love him and won’t let him go. I don’t think I’ll be able to change their minds.”

Thinking it over, Cole’s confidence in me seemed to fade. I had told him straight out twice to go home and he had stood his ground. I didn’t know how he could argue with me too much. He knew I was right. Daniel’s parents would never let him come with us.

My teeth ground together as I raised my head to stare at the sky. I should have known my luck was just not that good. Standing around waiting for Daniel to show up would mean nothing if we couldn’t get him back to San Juan with us. Plus, we had no way of knowing how much damage the wolves had done to the creature, or how long it would take him to heal and continue his chase. There was no time for all of this.

“Well, if he won’t come willingly, what choice do we have?” Cole said reluctantly, bringing me back to the conversation.

Let Claire die, or commit our third felony for the day. Stealing private information. Violating someone’s mailbox. Kidnapping. The first two might be overlooked, but the third one would definitely involve the police. I would do it, if it was my only choice. Cole nodded to himself. I was willing to bet he was having the exact same conversation with himself, and had come to the same conclusion.

I slipped my hands into my pockets and felt the strand of hair Quaile had given me. Kidnapping wasn’t my last resort. The hair would certainly make Daniel come with us, with no questions or hesitation, but I couldn’t bring myself to use it. Hope was the only thing I had left. If I knew for certain that Claire would never look at me with her milk chocolate eyes and feel the love I felt for her, I didn’t know how I would find the strength to follow through with my task.

My last link to her, I would not use the strand of Claire’s hair. I promised myself that fervently, but a tiny corner of my mind knew I could never let Claire die. If there was no other way, I would use it.

“We’re going to attract attention sitting here all afternoon,” Cole said.

I glanced around, searching for somewhere out of the way where we could hide. Further down the street a small park waited for children who didn’t seem to live in the neighborhood anymore. Considering our age, we would have been more noticeable there than waiting on the motorcycles. Most likely someone would call the police, thinking the worst of our presence.

I scanned the buildings, spotting several possibilities. “That house down the street, the two story one, has a for sale sign out. Do you think it’s vacant?” I asked.

“If it is, the neighbors will notice two guys poking around,” Cole said thoughtfully.

“What about the house with the newspapers in the driveway. They must be on vacation.” Cole looked toward the vacationer’s house. Four rolled up newspapers were scattered in the driveway. The outdoor light had been left on. A small diamond shaped sign advertised that the house was protected by a security system. That ruled out breaking in, I thought happily. I was hoping to keep our criminal activity to a minimum.

“If we pick up the newspapers and pull the bikes around the back, we’ll probably be fine,” Cole said. “If anyone sees us, maybe they’ll just think that the owners are back.”

Climbing back onto the motorcycle, Cole scanned the street again. A late model BMW cruised our way. I knelt beside the bike, pretending to check the tires. The car continued through the neighborhood without stopping.

“Let’s go,” Cole said.

Within seconds we were dragging the motorcycles behind the home’s wooden fence. Leaving the gate open just far enough to see the Harding’s house, Cole and I settled against the wood planks. It was a little after one o’clock. If it had been during the school year, Daniel would have been at school. Summer break was winding down, but not over yet, so we had no way of knowing where he might be.

Being seventeen, Daniel was old enough to drive. He could be anywhere in the city. With only one car between me and my mom, I spent a lot of time walking. The fact that Daniel probably had a car would most likely take him directly into the garage. If that was the case, we would be left knocking on his door again.

I was unsure whether that would be the best or worst approach. Over six feet tall with a full build, I was not the most approachable guy in the world. Claire loved my height and strength. She always told me that when I put my arms around her, she felt safe from the world. Somehow I didn’t think Daniel Harding would feel quite the same. Cole was more average in his height and build. Perhaps he should be the one to approach Daniel.

“How do you want to handle this?” Cole asked. I wondered if Cole was usually so sensitive to others’ thoughts, or if we were just very likeminded. He seemed to have a knack for answering questions I hadn’t actually spoken. Or maybe Claire was right and I showed what I was thinking in every expression.

“I think you should approach him,” I said.

“Why me?” Cole asked. “You’re not even sure yet that you won’t be able to just tell him to come with us.”

If I couldn’t convince him right away, I would probably just intimidate him. Plus, the idea of actually meeting this guy made me want to vomit. “Still,” I said, “I think he’ll respond better to you.”

“What, then you’ll pop out of the bushes and introduce yourself? Yeah, that’s a much better idea, Uriah.” Cole glanced up and down the road again. “We should approach him together, but that’s not really what I meant anyway. What are you planning to tell him?”

That was the real question. I had been hoping Cole’s unusual silence had meant he had a plan, other than kidnapping, that was. “I don’t suppose the truth is going to work very well.”

“Probably not. I don’t even believe it. Well, I do, but you know what I mean,” Cole said.

Of course I knew what he meant. Souls split before birth, shadow men, and talking to animals. Everyone believed in those kinds of things, right? It was my own tribe’s heritage, but very few of us actually thought it was more than fairytale.

“Can you think of any medical reason his parents would let him come with us?” I asked. I had already considered telling his parents that he was matched to Claire for his blood or bone marrow type, but the chance that Daniel, a minor, had actually been typed for either of those things were slim. Cole shook his head. Kidnapping was looking like the best solution. I asked, “Any other ideas?”

“Hmmm,” Cole said cocking one eyebrow. “What can we say to a hormonal seventeen year old boy to make him want to travel across the state with us, most likely against his parents’ wishes? Maybe that there’s a beautiful girl waiting for him?”

My eyes narrowed. “That’s the best you can come up with, Cole. Really?” He threw his hands up in defense.

“All I’m saying is that it will probably work better than trying to convince his parents he became a bone marrow donor without telling them. I’m sure you have a picture of Claire in your wallet. If you don’t, I do,” Cole said.

It seemed a little weird to me that he carried around a picture of his sister in his wallet, but I kept my mouth shut.

Again, Cole seemed to read my expression. “It’s a family picture from last year,” he said. “I don’t have to tell you that Claire’s beautiful. Look what you’re willing to do to save her. I can imagine that he’d be more than willing to come with us, even if just for the chance to meet her in person.”

My hands moved toward Cole, balled in tight fists. Cole might be fine dressing his sister up and trotting her around like a prized horse, but I would never do that to her. I didn’t want this Daniel kid looking at a picture of Claire and wondering what it would be like to kiss her, either. My stomach soured even thinking about it. Kidnapping was definitely looking like the best option.

Despite Cole’s cavalier words, there was desperation in his eyes. Looking down at my hands, I forced them to relax. Claire was Cole’s sister. It was hard to remember I wasn’t the only one terrified of losing her. Cole and I may love Claire in very different ways, but I had no right to say that mine was better or deeper than his. I still wanted to smack him, though.

“Uriah, I’m not trying to be a ghoul or disrespect Claire. I’m only trying to save her, and I think playing on this kid’s hormones is our best bet.” Cole leaned forward. I thought he was going to say something, but his gaze slid past me to the street. A silver sedan pulled up to the Harding home, swinging into the driveway with ease. A tall blonde woman dressed in a dark blue pant suit and black high heels was heading straight for the front door. Her heels clicked along the pavement as she dug through her purse for the house keys.

“Time’s up,” Cole said.

I
glanced
at the woman carefully. Everything about her was sleek and professional. I couldn’t see her face very well to guess her age, but her clothing had me assuming that she wasn’t Daniel’s sister. “You think that’s his mom?” I asked Cole.

“Probably,” he said. “She didn’t park in the garage, though.”

“Lots of people don’t use their garages,” I said, glancing up and down the street. Actually, there wasn’t a parked car in sight. Either everyone in the neighborhood was at work, or people in this neighborhood really didn’t leave their cars parked in the driveway or on the street. It was too nice of a neighborhood for that, I supposed. “Maybe you’re right about the garage,” I said. “She must be planning to leave again. We should go talk to her.”

“Are you serious?” Cole asked.

“What if Daniel doesn’t come home tonight? What if he’s out of town? I don’t want to waste time sitting here waiting for him to show up if he’s not even coming back,” I said. “We’ll just ring the doorbell and ask if Daniel is home.”

“But we know he isn’t.”

“Yeah, but she’ll probably tell us when he’ll be home so we can come back later,” I said. Cole still looked doubtful. “We don’t have time to debate it, Cole. Let’s go.” I slipped through the open gate and started across the street.

My mind was working furiously as I walked. Glancing back to make sure Cole was actually following me, I worked out what I would say to Daniel’s mother. Cole hurried up to my side muttering about going along with another stupid idea. I ignored him and stepped up to the Harding’s front door. I never asked him to come with me. My finger hit the doorbell and I stood listening to the melodic chime.

The artificially weathered door cracked open and the blonde haired woman peeked out through the small opening. “Can I help you?” she asked.

Relaxing my stance to one I had seen Cole use many times, I said, “Are you Daniel’s mom?”

The woman smiled warmly, but didn’t open the door any further. “Yes, I’m Mrs. Harding. Are you friends of Daniel’s?”

“Yeah, we met him a few weeks ago,” I lied. “We were over at a friend’s house down the street and just thought we’d stop by and say hey.”

Daniel’s mother opened the door a little further. “I’m sorry, boys,” she said, “but Daniel isn’t here right now. He’s been out of town for a few weeks and won’t be back until next weekend. If you give me your names I’ll be happy to let him know you stopped by.”

“That would be great, Mrs. Harding,” I said quickly, not wanting to give away my lie by refusing her offer. “Just tell him Uriah and Cole came by to see him.”

“Uriah and Cole,” she repeated, “I’ll tell him. You boys have a good afternoon.”

“Thank you,” I said. She closed the door with a smile, and Cole and I walked back down the driveway. I nudged Cole in the vague direction I had indicated. We were only half way down the block when I heard the soft purr of Mrs. Harding’s silver sedan filtering through the quiet afternoon.

Glancing back, I saw her reverse into the street and drive back the way she had come. “She’s gone.” Cole stopped midstride and turned to look at the receding sedan. “I think we should go back,” I said. “We need to find out where Daniel is.”

“You want to break into their house?”

“I don’t think we have any other choice.”

“Why didn’t you just ask her where he was? She might have at least told you that,” Cole said.

“His mom was nice enough, but if I had tried pressuring her into telling us where Daniel was she would have gotten suspicious and might have called the police. Breaking in is the only option right now. I didn’t see a security system sign anywhere in their yard, so we might be able to find a way in without getting caught,” I said.

“Do you even know how to break into a house?” Cole asked. “And I don’t mean throwing a rock through a window. I have the feeling this is the type of neighborhood where people will notice that kind of thing and call the cops.”

“No, Cole, I don’t know how to break into a house. It’s not something I usually do in my spare time, but I’m sure we can find a way to get in if we try hard enough. Now are you going to stand here arguing with me all afternoon or are you going to help me figure out where Daniel is?” My patience with Cole was edging toward its snapping point again. This was why I never hung out with him much back home. One minute we got along fine, and the next I wanted to sock him in the face.

Cole shrugged his shoulders as if I was the one being unreasonable. “Let’s go, then,” he said. He stalked ahead of me. I resisted the urge to smack the back of his head and caught up to him.

I glanced up and down the street again, checking for any nosy neighbors, before cutting across the hearty desert lawn. Launching myself over the low plaster and brick wall, I landed in a bed of gravel. Cole grunted as he struggled to get over the same wall. Landing with a heavy thud, Cole straightened himself, trying to pretend he had made it over as easily as I had. I rolled my eyes and walked around the corner of the house.

The Harding’s backyard was as immaculate as the front yard had been. Light brown pebbles edged the entire area. Half the yard sported the same rough grass from the front yard, and the other half was paved with natural flagstone. The flagstone patio held a variety of potted plants, as well as an above ground fire pit and built in barbeque grill. The patio furniture looked brand new, perfectly arranged for the parties I had no doubt the Harding’s hosted regularly.

Unlike the windows in the front of the house, the windows in the back didn’t have the wrought iron bars secured to the casings. That was a good sign. I knew it was too much to hope for, but I went to the sliding glass door and tugged on the handle. It didn’t budge. “Locked,” I said.

“So’s the window,” Cole said, leaning against the glass. “Try the other one.”

Only a few feet away, the high rectangular window was most likely sitting over a kitchen sink. It was one window my mom often forgot to lock. I hoped Mrs. Harding had the same problem. Pressing my hands against the glass I tried to use the pressure to slide the window open, but it refused to move as well. Applying the same technique, I tried the rest of the windows with the same results. “They’re all locked,” I said. “Any ideas?”

Cole stepped out of the pebbles he had been standing in and approached the sliding glass door. “I don’t know if I can do this, but we don’t have a lot of other options. The door looks old enough that it should work,” Cole said to himself. He grabbed the edge of the outer panel with one hand and pressed the other hand against the glass. I watched as he shoved the door into the upper track and tried to lift it away from the bottom track. It slipped and pinched Cole’s finger.

“Damn it,” Cole said as he snatched his finger away from the door and stuck it in his mouth. I took a step toward the door, ready to try his technique, but Cole waved me away. “Let me try again. I think I almost got it.” Taking the same position, Cole tried to yank the door out of its tracks. The corner of the lower edge almost made it free before Cole’s grip slipped.

“You want me to try?” I asked. Cole nodded stiffly, his hands folding over his chest with a grunt. It took several tries before I finally caught the outer edge of the door on the top of the track. Cole breathed a sigh of relief at the grating of metal on metal. Looking around the patio, he pulled a decorative lawn ornament with a long metal spike out of the ground.

“Try pulling it as far away from the glass as you can,” he instructed. Pulling gently, I tried not to break the door. Cole slipped the thin piece of metal through the small space, reaching for the latch. The spike slipped off the curved lock twice before Cole was able to gain the right leverage and flip the switch up, unlocking the door.

Lowering the door back into the tracks, I pulled the door open easily. “How did you learn to do that?” I asked, turning back to Cole.

“Like I said, I get bored at the store,” Cole replied. I wondered what else he had learned sitting around his dad’s store. Whatever it was, I hoped it would come in handy as well.