Gods and Mortals: Fourteen Free Urban Fantasy & Paranormal Novels Featuring Thor, Loki, Greek Gods, Native American Spirits, Vampires, Werewolves, & More (324 page)

He picked up my car keys and dangled them in front of me.

“It’s tempting, but unless I want to get a part-time job, I can’t afford to keep spending the money I’ve saved. I’ve got to stick to the budget so it lasts through till spring. If we can manage to keep the heat off until November, I should have cookie money for Christmas. That’s when cookies are best, anyhow. I’ll just need to start wearing more clothes inside.”

I took the keys from him and put them back in the dish on the counter. When I turned, Clay wasn’t looking at me, but off to the side. I tried to follow his gaze, but he didn’t seem to be looking at anything. Shrugging, I left him to his own thoughts.

“I think I’m going to bed.” I almost asked if he would come with, but didn’t know how to word it so I would be asking Clay-the-dog not Clay-the-man. As a result, I went to my room alone.

Not long after, I heard him enter; and I wondered what I’d do if he tried to climb into bed with me as a man. I anxiously listened to the rustle of his clothes as he removed them. The quick pounce on the end of the bed told me Clay had once again become my personal foot warmer.

O
n Tuesdays
, my first class started later. It gave me time to catch up on things around the house. After falling behind on laundry once, I made a point to wash at least one load each Tuesday.

Clay padded softly behind me, following me down into the basement as I carried a basket of our combined clothes. I teased him that the discount detergent I’d purchased smelled like babies—not very manly. He chuffed out a laugh and watched me fill the machine. Nothing I did seemed very exciting to me, but he followed me as faithfully as a real dog would.

After I finished, he trailed behind me as I skipped back up the stairs. The closed basement door silenced the whir of the washer.

I moved to the bedroom and pulled the sheets from my bed to start making a pile for the next load. While I worked, I told Clay about what we’d covered in my classes so far. He sat off to the side, out of the way, but I could tell he listened by the tilt of his head. Glancing at the clock, I groaned at the time, called goodbye to Clay with a promise to see him at dinner, and ran out the door.

Not only did I like Tuesdays because of the delayed start, but also because Tuesday nights Rachel spent time with Peter. It gave me the house to myself. Well, and Clay, too, but she didn’t know that. I looked forward to dinners with Clay since it meant spending time with him as a man.

I rushed to the car. The door protested loudly when I yanked it open. I tossed my bag in, closed the door, started the engine, and thought of Rachel as I backed out of the driveway.

Rachel and Peter’s growing relationship made the increasingly frequent dinners with Clay possible. She hadn’t come home last night and probably wouldn’t come home tonight as well. It amazed me to see two people so meant for each other. When I focused on them, their lights, the essence of who they were, pulsed in harmony.

Although I’d never stopped wondering why I saw the lights, learning werewolves existed had tempered my need for answers. After all, if a completely different species could evolve unknown to the rest of the world, why couldn’t one girl develop a uniquely strange ability? Oh, I still believed my ability to see the sparks served some purpose I hadn’t yet identified, but I no longer actively searched for answers.

Before I met Sam, I’d volunteered at the hospital, thinking I’d learn to use my ability to identify different illnesses. But no matter the patient or their illness, I always saw the same yellow-green color. However, because of my time at the hospital, I’d found what I wanted to do with my life. Massage therapy had benefited some of the elderly patients with whom I really liked working.

With a few minutes to spare, I pulled into the student parking lot, grabbed my things, and started the walk across campus. Students milled around outside a few of the buildings or purposefully strode the sidewalks, like me, to get to their next class.

Someone called my name. I stopped and saw Scott cut across the dying grass. He jogged to meet me on the sidewalk.

“I think we should start drawing straws or something,” he said when he reached me.

“What do you mean?” I shifted my messenger bag, eager to get to my class. Telling someone no only worked as long as I didn’t send any cross-signals, and a long conversation definitely qualified as a cross-signal.

“Peter and Rachel. We should draw straws to see who has to put up with the lovebirds. I didn’t get much sleep last night.” He rolled his eyes, and I noted the dark circles under them.

“Ah. I didn’t know you and Peter were roommates. I usually don’t have a problem sleeping when he comes over, so if you want them to stay at our place, just tell Rachel. I certainly don’t mind.” He opened his mouth to say more but I cut him off. “Sorry, I have to get going. I’m going to be late for class.”

He nodded, and I walked away without a goodbye. I hoped that counted as a short conversation. I knew Rachel had been staying at Peter’s place because she felt guilty if he stayed at ours more than twice a week. I’d never stopped to consider Peter might have a roommate, too. Maybe I should say something to Rachel. They never kept me up when Peter stayed over. I wondered, belatedly, if they kept Clay up.

Realizing I’d slowed a little, I picked up the pace. I wanted to arrive early enough to talk to Nicole, the shy girl in my basic massage class. Today we would start doing more hands-on practice to try the few techniques already described to us along with muscle identification, and she’d agreed to work with me.

Last week, the instructor had warned us we would work in pairs and would be switching partners over the next few weeks. The announcement had given me a mild panic attack. Although the majority of the students were female, the few men had glanced my way. So, I’d carefully prearranged partners.

On the positive side, the instructor had also stressed we wouldn’t need volunteers from outside the classroom this term. It was a relief to know I wouldn’t need to fend off Scott as a volunteer.

A
n unusually quiet
house greeted me. The brisk wind rattled the kitchen window as I set my keys down and searched the house for Clay.

I didn’t find him but did see evidence of his busy day. The neatly folded items from the laundry I’d put in, and the load I’d set aside before leaving, filled my dresser drawers. Clean shirts hung in my closet. Clay had even remade the bed with the fresh sheets. The baby powder smell of the detergent permeated the room. I grinned, thinking of him wearing his clean clothes.

A knock sounded at the front door. Still smiling to myself, I turned and answered it.

An older gentleman stood on the stoop. Dressed in a smart grey suit that complimented his dark grey hair, he reminded me of Sam, and I felt a moment of guilt. Sam had called several times to check on me, but I hadn’t returned any of his calls.

A smile lined his face, reaching his warm hazel eyes. “Gabby? I’m Joshua.”

My polite smile froze in place. This was Elder Joshua? I’d pictured a younger man. Doubt crept in, and I did a quick scan. His bright blue-grey spark glowed before me. That color...my stomach dipped in fear. Joshua had the same color light as the werewolf that had attacked Clay. Coincidence? I doubted it. So far, only Charlene and I had unique sparks. A knot formed in my throat.

In the distance, a child squealed in laughter. The sound snapped me out of my other world. I held myself still, clutching the edge of the door while I fought hard to push back the sudden burst of fear.

His nostrils flared slightly, and I knew my efforts were too late. I wanted to slam the door and run but knew it wouldn’t work.

“I apologize for startling you, Gabby. Sam was concerned when he didn’t hear back from you after the confrontation. He asked me to stop by and check on you.”

“Confrontation?” My voice sounded dry and strained.

“Yes, we heard there’d been a failed challenge. Is everything okay here?”

I swallowed hard. “Yes, thank you.”

Think, Gabby! Why would the werewolf launch itself at Clay from out of the darkness only to politely knock on my door? And why the front door? The neighbors could see him.

Staring at his puzzled face, his hazel eyes called my attention. The other wolf’s eyes had been blue. What did it mean that he had the same color light as the werewolf that'd challenged Clay? I really wanted to believe it was just a coincidence. I had to call Sam and get a description of Elder Joshua to be sure the man before me was who he said.

“How are things going with Clay? Any other problems? Is he becoming too aggressive?”

“Everything is fine. He’s very polite.” But missing when I really need him, I thought. Convenient that Elder Joshua just happened to show up when Clay wasn’t home.

“We were surprised to hear of a challenge. Usually, strong ties aren’t challenged,” he commented.

I didn’t know how to respond so I remained quiet.

He reached into his pocket and withdrew a business card. “Well, if you need anything give me a call, or call Sam. We’re here for you.” He handed the card to me.

The card simply had his name and number printed on it, no title or business name. I nodded, hoping he would leave so I could give into the panic attack I barely held back. He smiled, bobbed his head in farewell, and turned to leave.

I closed the door and tucked the card into the front pocket of my jeans. This time I watched through the peephole as he got into the car he’d parked in front of the house. The door muffled the sound of the engine as he started it.

When he drove out of my line of sight, I closed my eyes and leaned my forehead on the cool wood of the door. First, a wolf with a uniquely colored spark challenged Clay. Then, Elder Joshua appeared with the same color. For more than two years...through every visit to the Compound...not once did I ever see a variance in the color of a werewolf spark. Just like humans, they remained consistent.

If not for the challenge, I wouldn’t have worried about it. But I knew without a doubt, I’d never met Clay’s challenger before. And if I’d never met him, why would he dispute Clay’s tie with me? I needed to know who the challenger was and why Elder Joshua had an identically colored spark. Yet, no one knew about my ability to see the sparks. I could ask Sam outright if Joshua was different to their kind in some way. The best I could do was verify Elder Joshua’s identity without raising too many unwanted questions. I needed to calm down and call Sam. If I called sounding freaked out, he would probably send Joshua right back over.

I pushed away from the door and turned to go into my room. Someone stood right behind me. I produced a full-throated someone’s-sawing-off-my-arm scream before I realized it was Clay dressed in jeans, t-shirt, and running shoes. By his shocked expression, I’d just scared him as bad as he’d scared me.

Heart stuttering, I clapped a hand over my mouth. No way would I call Sam now. I wasn’t even sure I could speak. The hand over my mouth shook from the adrenaline rush.

He tilted his head, studied me, then reached into my pocket to pull out the card. He glanced at it, shrugged, and shook his head, clearly puzzled. How did he even know it was in there? Had he been watching me?

I dropped my hand and did another round of deep breaths to try to calm down.

“Did you see who was here?” I asked. My voice wavered so I cleared it.

He shook his head.

“How did you know that was in my pocket?”

He briefly lifted the card to his nose. So, he could smell the other werewolf? That was good.

“Have you ever met Elder Joshua before?”

He shook his head.

“Have you ever smelled him before?”

Again, he shook his head.

I closed my eyes briefly and let out a relieved sigh that sounded a bit like a sob. Joshua wasn’t the werewolf Clay had fought. Even though I remembered blue eyes, I’d still worried.

The new color variation bothered me, though, and I wished I had someone to talk to. Now that Clay confirmed Joshua wasn’t the same werewolf from the challenge, I didn’t see much point in calling Sam other than to yell at him for sending Joshua over.

Lost in my own thoughts, I jumped when Clay lightly tapped my forehead with his index finger.

I gave him a weak smile. “You want to know what’s going on in my head?” I guessed.

He nodded, and I finally recognized that my someone-to-talk-too stood right in front of me.

“I’d like to know what’s going on in my head sometimes, too.” If only I could figure out those lights. “Let’s make dinner while I talk. Let me know if you hear Rachel or anyone else.”

He nodded, kicked off his shoes, and put them in my room before joining me in the kitchen. He took the lead on dinner prep and gave me busy work so I could talk. I started to peel a potato while he clanked pans on the stove.

“That was Elder Joshua at the door. He stopped by because I haven’t talked to Sam lately, and Sam asked him to check up on me. I guess he was worried after that challenge.” I picked up a second potato. “Something was odd about him Clay.”

When I was quiet for too long, Clay nudged my chair on his way to the sink with the potatoes I’d peeled. His way of saying I should keep talking, but I struggled with how to tell him everything.

“I’m different,” I said abruptly.

He turned from the sink, looked at me, and shrugged as if to say it didn’t matter.

“No. Really different. It’s kind of hard to explain. Sam told me I was different when he met me, but he doesn’t know all of it. He said that I was rare because I was one of only a few humans compatible with werewolves, just me and Charlene.”

I sighed and ran my hands through my hair. Based on my mom’s reaction when I’d told her the truth, the idea of telling someone everything scared me.

He picked up two more potatoes and handed them to me. I started peeling again as he went to the stove. I spoke slow, essentially thinking aloud.

“Since as long as I can remember, I’ve seen lights. Not with my eyes, but in my mind. When I was younger, I had to close my eyes and concentrate to see a relatively small area around me. As I got older, I didn’t need to concentrate as hard and could see a much larger area. Now, I can see these lights at will, briefly, with little effort, and over a longer distance. And I don’t need to close my eyes.

“These lights are people, Clay. I can see the neighbors moving around in their houses right now. It’s not an aura I’m seeing.

“To put it in perspective, I can see a square mile around us, but in my mind, the area looks like an inch. The lights within that area are small pinpricks, but I can see them so clearly, they could be the size of quarters three inches from my face. And all those dots are the same color. Every human around us has the same yellow light with a green halo.”

Clay handed me a glass of water, breaking my train of thought. He rescued the potatoes I’d cubed into tiny pieces.

“Thanks.” I took a drink and studied the glass for a moment before continuing. “You and I, in the middle of those dots, stand out. I have the same yellow light as everyone else, but my halo is orange. I’m different from the people around us. Even from you. Werewolves have a green core with a blue halo. At least, that’s all I ever saw in the past two years, until the night you were challenged. That werewolf had a blue-grey light. Now, imagine my shock when I opened the door and saw a man, who introduced himself as Elder Joshua, with the same color light. Only the difference in the color of their eyes kept me breathing.