Gods and Mortals: Fourteen Free Urban Fantasy & Paranormal Novels Featuring Thor, Loki, Greek Gods, Native American Spirits, Vampires, Werewolves, & More (207 page)

S
taring into the house
, Cole said, “I didn’t really think that would work. It probably wouldn’t have if this door had been replaced in the last decade.”

“Feel free to leave them a note about having a new door installed,” I said. “I’m sure they’d love to get some security suggestions from the kids who broke into their house.”

Cole ignored my mocking and kept staring at the glass door. It was a little disturbing how easy it was to get it open. I was suddenly glad my old house was built before sliding glass doors became commonplace.

“If we ever find Daniel, you can make the suggestion yourself,” Cole said sarcastically. “Can we go inside now? I’d rather not stand out here where some busybody might see us.”

Stepping into the empty house, I was impressed enough to forget that I should have been nervous for a moment. The house was probably around twenty years old, but it could have passed for newly built. The kitchen sported professional appliances and dark granite countertops that matched perfectly with the cabinetry. The living room looked as if it hadn’t seen a guest in years. I was amazed by how clean and crisp everything was. It looked like a home in a magazine rather than one people actually lived in.

Cole wandered through the house, indifferent to the finery. He was more used to this type of living than I was. A sudden clicking noise from the refrigerator’s cooling system made him jump. He ran a hand through his hair trying to cover it up. I let him. I was really just glad that he didn’t notice me jump as well. For a moment, I had thought there was somebody else in the house. I hadn’t even considered that there might be. The fact that we were snooping through a stranger’s house finally hit me. My hands were twitching anxiously as I tried to decide what to do next.

“The bedrooms are probably down the hall,” Cole said pointing away from the kitchen. I followed him back. Both of us peeked nervously in doors as we went deeper into the house, hoping we weren’t about to surprise someone. Luckily, they were all empty. After passing what looked like a study, then a guest bedroom, we found Daniel’s room. Feeling slightly more relaxed now that we knew house was empty for sure, we stepped in.

Whoever kept the rest of the house in such tight order was obviously not allowed in Daniel’s room. Clothes were piled in the bottom of the closet and various other places around the room. The smell said they were not clean. CDs and DVDs were scattered over a desk meant for, but not likely used for, doing homework. The blankets from his bed were pulled halfway off, lying twisted at the end of the bed.

“How are we supposed to find anything in here?” Cole complained.

“Do you see a computer anywhere?” I asked. I wasn’t that interested in social networking or any of that, but I thought it was safe to assume Daniel was. Shoving a pile of clothing off a corner of the desk, I saw the angular, sliver lines of a laptop. Opening the lid gently, I pressed the power button and waited for it to boot up. Cole moved behind me to watch the screen as well. His position let him keep an eye out the window too.

The chime of the operating system blared through the speakers. Pressing the volume button, I turned the speakers down almost completely before opening a web browser. “Click that icon,” Cole said.

I clicked on the button and Daniel’s Facebook page filled the screen. His grinning photo filled my vision. I stared at his insipid smile as my stomach roiled with distaste. I finally knew what he looked like. It was a bittersweet victory. Peeling my eyes away from him, I scanned the rest of the page. Pictures of his friends and their exploits dotted the rest of the page. Every photo of Daniel had a different girl on his arm. I shook my head. This was supposed to be Claire’s Twin Soul?

He was nothing like her. He looked like one of those TV show playboys who never grew up and ended up bouncing around rehab centers as an adult. Okay, maybe that was a little harsh, but just looking at the pictures made me mad enough to want to chuck the computer across the room. There was no way this was the guy who was going to swoop in and steal Claire away from me. Absolutely no way. I stared at the pictures of Daniel and couldn’t help picturing him with Claire. It just seemed so wrong.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said. “There’s no way Claire would fall for that guy. Look at him. He’s a total ingrate.”

He seemed so average, too. His blond hair and blue eyes, his build, his height, his trendy appearance, they were all completely unremarkable to me. Although Claire might disagree, I certainly didn’t think of myself as outstanding, in looks or otherwise, but I was what she wanted, not this boy. His arms couldn’t wrap around her and protect her like mine could. His kiss wouldn’t draw the contented sigh from her that mine did. Claire and I had shared too much for this kid to steal it all away.

“Yeah, he really doesn’t seem like someone she’d go for,” Cole said. It was what I wanted to hear, but something about the way he said it pricked my ear. It seemed half-hearted, like he was only saying it make me feel better.

“What?” I asked. “You think I’m wrong?”

Cole shrugged and tried to pass off my question, but I waited. “It’s not that I think you’re wrong, exactly, but you’ve really only known Claire since you two have been dating. She’s changed a lot since you two hooked up.”

“Not that much,” I said quietly. Sure, Claire cared less about her popularity than she once did, but I knew she was always more than people thought she was. With me she felt comfortable showing her true self. That was what I had always believed. She didn’t change for me, or because of me. At least, I didn’t think she had.

Shaking away Cole’s words, I told myself that regardless of whether I was right or he was, Claire was nothing like Daniel, now. She would see through his charm and swagger. She had to. “She’s nothing like him,” I said. Cole didn’t respond.

I had to focus and get out of the Harding’s house. Ignoring the multitude of obnoxious pictures, I forced myself to turn to his rambling postings. The last status update read, “I’m outta here. See you guys in three weeks!” I scanned through the previous posts, looking for a clue as to where he had gone. After a few pointless comments on what some of his friends were doing, and what girl he was chasing that week, he made an offhanded comment about a summer camp he was going to.

“Summer camp?” I scoffed. “I didn’t realize seventeen year olds still went to summer camp. I thought most kids outgrew that by ten.”

“You couldn’t pay me to go to summer camp,” Cole said, “even if I were a ten year old girl. Macramé and campfire songs aren’t really my thing.”

I scrolled down the page looking for a name of the little kid summer camp Daniel was attending. My irritation and anger kept building the longer I sat there reading his babble. I knew I was probably being too tough on this complete stranger, but I didn’t really care. It was possible that he was going as a counselor, not a camper, but by the superficial attitude his status updates had shown, I doubted he would be interested in mentoring young children.

“Wait, there it is,” Cole said, knocking my hand away from the mouse and scrolling back up the page. “Southwest Youth Expeditions.”

Typing the name into a search engine, the company’s homepage loaded immediately. Pictures of teens rock climbing, white water rafting, hiking, and camping dotted the website. I read through the descriptions of what the camp had to offer. Some of my mocking and irritation faded, but only a small part of it. I had to admit it was impressive. There wasn’t a single mention of singing, or arts and crafts. “Well, I guess it doesn’t look as bad as I thought it would,” I said.

“I would definitely go to that camp,” Cole agreed. “Does it say where it is?”

I took the webpage all the way down to the bottom. Centered under the last paragraph was the camp’s location. “Roosevelt, Arizona,” I read. “At least he’s still in Arizona. I was afraid he’d be roasting marshmallows in Colorado or Montana. Do you have any idea where Roosevelt is?”

Cole shook his head.

Going to the maps section of the search page, I quickly typed in the address of the camp in Tucson as our starting point. After a quick second, the map was displayed with driving directions. “Three and a half hours away. North,” I groaned. Cole winced. I had been hoping for something that would be on our way back to San Juan, not further away. Shifting a few more piles of clothes, I looked for a printer, but couldn’t find one.

Tugging a scrap of paper out from under a stack of DVDs, I found a pen in the top drawer of the desk and hastily scribbled down the directions. I folded the paper and stuffed it into my back pocket. I stood up and saw Cole replacing a push pen on the corkboard mounted above the desk. The board was plastered with snapshots and notes that had to have been from girls, judging by the heart shaped dots over the “I’s”.

“What are you doing?” I asked Cole.

Flipping a small photo toward me, Cole said, “It’s a picture of Daniel. I thought we might need a reminder of what he looks like if we’re going to have to track him down.”

I nodded, glad that Cole had thought of it and even more glad to see it go into his pocket where I wouldn’t have to look at it. Getting to know Daniel by going through his things and looking at his webpage added a little more to my hope that Claire would not fall madly in love with him as soon as he woke her, despite what Cole had said. There was nothing about him Claire would find in the least bit appealing.

Closing the laptop lid when the screen finally went blank, I stood up from the desk and said, “Let’s get out of here before someone comes back.”

“Sounds good to me,” Cole agreed, already on his way out of the room. I was right behind him. We had been here too long already.

T
he drive north
was rather uneventful until we reached Phoenix. The metropolis was astounding. Cole had been to Phoenix before, but I had never been anywhere bigger than Albuquerque. Despite Cole’s limited experience with driving in big cities, he was still just as nervous as I was to drive through the winding freeway system that ran through Phoenix. The traffic flow bounced between barely moving, and flying past exits, with no apparent reason for the inconsistency.

I was relieved when we finally saw our exit and started heading away from the clamoring city. As we reached the outskirts of the Phoenix metropolis Cole’s voice broke the tension filled silence over the headsets. “We should stop and get something to eat. Who knows what we’ll find after we leave the city.”

Thinking of food woke up my stomach and sent it growling. I wanted to keep driving and get to Daniel as fast as possible, but I was starving. Passing out from low blood sugar while driving a motorcycle wouldn’t lead to anything good. “Yeah, okay,” I said grudgingly. I started searching the roadside for somewhere we could stop. The big yellow star of a Carl’s Jr. Restaurant drew me in. I loved their ridiculously huge and messy burgers. San Juan didn’t have a Carl’s Jr. “Let’s stop in there,” I said pointing to the sign. Cole nodded eagerly.

We pulled up to the restaurant, the heat rippling above the black asphalt. It frustrated me that we needed to stop when Claire was waiting for us, but I wasn’t used to the intensity of the Arizona heat. Two hours of riding unprotected under the glaring sun had sapped my strength. As Cole climbed off his bike, beads of sweat rolled out from under his helmet.

“I really hope they have air conditioning,” Cole said. I had to agree with him. Tucking my helmet under my arm, I pulled the restaurant door open. My shoulders slumped in relief as a blast of cold air hit me. Cole was right behind me.

“Thank goodness,” he said.

We ordered our meals and sat waiting with the plastic triangle indicating our order number sitting on the end of the table. “How much longer?” Cole asked.

After taking a long drink from my soda, I said, “About another hour and a half.”

“I wish the sun would go down,” Cole complained. “I can’t stand this heat. It’s so much worse than San Juan. We road by one of those signs that tell you the temperature a while ago. One hundred and two. I hope Roosevelt’s cooler.”

“So do I.”

A teenage girl approached our table carrying our order. She set the tray down with a smile and said, “Enjoy your meal, guys. Just let me know if you need anything else.”

“Thanks,” I mumbled before grabbing my burger and unwrapping it. The hot sandwich smelled delicious, but reminded me of the heat waiting for us outside. My growling stomach outweighed every other thought, though. I took a bite, looking up when I heard Cole laugh. “What’s so funny?”

“That girl couldn’t stop staring at you,” he said.

“What girl?” I asked.

“The one who brought the food, you idiot. She keeps looking over here,” Cole said. I glanced behind me to the ordering counter. The girl caught my gaze and grinned. Cole, always friendly to a pretty girl, lifted his hand and waved in her direction. The cashier standing next to the girl elbowed her and they both erupted into giggles.

“I think she was looking at you, man,” I said. I was not in the mood. Cole could waste time getting girls’ numbers some other time.

“She wasn’t looking at me when she stood at the table drooling over you a few seconds ago. You didn’t even notice she was still standing there when you started eating your burger,” Cole said.

“Cole, would you just eat your food? I want to get out of here sometime today. We’re not in Phoenix for the fun of it, remember?” I said, trying to guilt him into focusing.

Cole took the wrapper off his sandwich and started eating, but the smile remained. “You really didn’t notice her?” he asked between bites.

“Why would I?” I asked, stuffing a few French fries into my mouth.

“Why? Because she was obviously really interested in you, and she’s pretty hot. She looked like she was trying really hard to think of a good reason to ask you for your number,” he said.

I shrugged.

“You really don’t care?”

“Cole, I’m with Claire. I don’t care what anyone else thinks about me,” I said. I was almost finished with my meal, while Cole had barely taken three bites. I swore to myself that I would leave him behind if he didn’t pick up the pace.

Cole just shook his head at me and dug into his burger.

“Did you mean what you said back at Daniel’s house?” I asked. “About Claire being different than she used to be?”

Setting his burger down, Cole looked over at me. “Look, Uriah, I didn’t mean anything by it. Don’t worry. We both know Claire loves you more than anything. She’s never been as happy as she’s been since you two started dating.”

“But what did you mean? Can you honestly picture Claire with someone like Daniel?”

His fingers tapped up and down on the table as he considered his answer. My teeth ground together as I waited. I needed to know. “If Claire had never starting dating you,” Cole started, “then, yes, Daniel would be exactly who I’d picture her ending up with.”

“You can’t really…”

Cole didn’t let me finish. “Uriah, I know you like to think that you knew Claire so well before you two got together, but you really didn’t. You watched her from a distance. You didn’t really know her. Sure, you knew that she was pretty, outgoing, and a nice person, but you didn’t really know what she was like.

“Claire complained about the way the other kids used her friendship to get stuff, but she was fine with it because she enjoyed being the most popular girl in school. She lives in jeans and t-shirts now, because she likes hanging out on the ranch with you, but she and my mom used to go shopping every weekend for new clothes. She never wore the same thing twice. Claire spent more time trying on clothes every morning than I do in a month. And you have no idea how much time she spent on her hair and makeup.

“And when it came to boys, Claire had a string of eager guys she led around by her pinky. Sure, she was only sixteen when you two started hanging out, but she could manipulate guys like a pro by the time she was ten. Guys would do whatever she wanted. She knew she was pretty and she took full advantage of that.”

I huffed at Cole’s spiel. He had to be being overdramatic. I would have noticed Claire acting like that.

Seeing that I didn’t believe him, Cole said, “Claire went an entire semester in sixth grade without doing her own homework once. She would smile and ask a guy to come over after school and help her with her homework, and they would do it for her. She only stopped because I told on her.”

“Cole, there’s no way Claire was like that. She’s one of the most honest people I know. She’s the first to help when anyone needs it. I’ve never seen her manipulate someone like that,” I argued.

“She doesn’t act like that anymore because of you, Uriah. My dad teased and manipulated Claire from the time she was a baby. I think she just thought that if my dad could do it to her, she could do it to other people too,” Cole said. “Hanging out with you changed her. She told me once that she felt different around you. You made her feel like she was special for who she really was, not for what she looked like or what she had. You made her see herself for the first time, and I guess she didn’t really like what she saw and decided to change.”

The other girls at school, I never really paid that much attention to them through grade school, because I was always too focused on Claire, but as we got older I saw the way some of them used each other and did whatever they thought would benefit them the most. Thinking of Claire as one of them was too bizarre to comprehend. I had never seen that side of her. How could there be this whole other part of her I had no idea even existed? I really didn’t think I could have been that blind before.

“Look,” Cole said, “I’m not saying that Claire was this horrible person before she met you, because she wasn’t. She’s always been a sweet girl, but she was definitely a lot more self-absorbed back then. If she had never gotten to know you, she would probably still be obsessed with clothes and hair and dating just like Daniel seems to be. But she did meet you. Whatever Claire used to be like, she isn’t that same person anymore. That’s what’s really important. Claire loves you, Uriah. Just focus on that right now. It’s all you can really do.”

Claire did love me. I knew that. The rest of my life had been flipped on its head, but I at least still knew that for sure. She loved me, and I loved her. Nothing else mattered right now. I couldn’t let it matter. I had to stay focused. There were too many other things to worry about than whether or not Claire used to be as superficial as Daniel was.

“You know, when I called my mom, she said Claire was all right, but…then she said something about how Claire will start fading even faster the longer she had to wait.” Those words had been bothering me all day. With everything else, they got pushed to the back of my mind, but having a quiet moment to think sent them right back to the front. “What do you think she meant by that?”

Cole shrugged, but it wasn't with his usual careless attitude. It was slow and thoughtful. “I don’t know,” he said.

“It sounds like she’s fading already, doesn’t it? I mean, she can’t start fading faster if she isn’t already showing signs of…something.” Cole’s chewing slowed as he thought. “She’s already dying, isn’t she?” I said.

“No, man, I’m sure she’s fine,” Cole said. He was less than convincing. “Sophia’s there. She’ll take care of her.”

“I don’t know, Cole. The way my mom said it, it didn’t sound good.” It sounded like she was hiding something from me.

“Uriah,” Cole said, waiting for me to look at him before continuing, “whether something is already happening to Claire or not, you have to stay focused. The only thing we can do for Claire is what we’re already doing. We’re going to find Daniel. We’re going to save Claire. Just stay focused, okay?”

I nodded and looked away. I knew we were doing everything we could, but it still felt like it wasn’t enough. I finished off the last of my fries and waited for Cole to do the same. A few foot tapping minutes later, Cole finally crumpled his wrappers and tossed them back on the tray. “It’s about time,” I grumbled.

Cole snorted and grabbed his helmet off the bench. We left the restaurant, but not before Cole felt the need to smile and wave at the two giggling girls one more time. I stalked back to my bike, trying not to let my frustration get the better of me. Cole was a good friend, and had already proven extremely helpful.

“So, you know where we’re going?” Cole asked.

I took the poorly drawn map and driving directions out of my back pocket. The lack of details made it pretty easily to follow, and most likely completely useless, but the driving directions I had copied verbatim. “We’re already on highway eighty-seven, so we’ll just follow this until we reach FR twenty-six, which will take us to highway one eighty-eight. One eighty-eight goes right into Roosevelt.”

Cole nodded and settled himself back on his motorcycle. I stared at the diractions in my hands. It all seemed so simple on paper. Drive to Roosevelt, get Daniel, take him back to Claire. Getting Daniel, I still had no idea about how to accomplish that, but not even the driving part was easy. I was waiting and watching for the creature to reappear. I had no illusions that we were rid of him.

The help the mountain lion had promised was definitely there, keeping an eye out for me and reporting in every few miles. So far none of them had seen any sign of the beast. All I could do was hope our luck would hold out a little longer. I, at least, wanted to reach Daniel before facing the creature again. If I died trying to fight that thing, which seemed likely, I wanted to have found Daniel and sent him on his way to Claire. I had already failed Claire once by not stopping her father. I couldn’t fail her again.

“Uriah,” Cole said, snapping me out of my dark thoughts, “were almost there. Just another couple hours and we’ll find Daniel. It’s going to be okay.”

I appreciated his serious tone. No matter how laid back Cole was, I knew he wouldn’t let Claire down either. “Let’s get going,” I said.

Driving out of the city felt good. As the houses disappeared, the animals multiplied. Their reports reassured me. We drove in silence for the first few minutes, my thoughts focused on the search for Daniel. We were only going to a summer camp, but that didn’t mean getting Daniel out was going to be easy. A compound full of thrill seekers could present a challenge. Cole’s bike pulled up alongside mine, drawing my attention.

Our conversation back in the restaurant both bothered me and reassured me. Just talking to him and getting some of what I was thinking off my chest felt good. I was sure my head would have exploded a while ago without someone to talk to. Having him along was actually a huge relief. I was surprised by how helpful he had turned out to be, too. What we were heading into would test us both, though. I would face whatever I had to in order to help Claire. Was Cole ready for what we might face next?