Chapter 7 #2
My aunt motions and we all sit down. I find myself relaxing a little as she pours tea out of her ornate teapot and passes around the delicate teacups.
Providing cups of herbal tea is the way we vixen shifters break the ice.
And it works now, as we all partake and thank her.
Traggar balances his cup and saucer on one tree-trunk thigh; Otis does the same.
There’s something almost endearing about these massive guys awkwardly navigating fine bone china, and I have to smother a smile.
And then Otis says, “We’re here to discuss Jax.”
I stiffen.
“In particular, the difficulties he’s been having since he’s shifted,” Traggar adds.
I feel heat creeping up my neck.
“You may have noticed he’s been behaving somewhat—differently,” Traggar says. I catch him and Otis exchange the tiniest of glances, and my chagrin deepens.
“Erm, he has been rather… unpredictable, maybe,” I mutter, my cheeks now burning as bright as my hair.
Traggar nods. “As his therapist, I would agree.”
I nearly drop my teacup. “Jax is in therapy!?”
“Yes, it’s an essential part of integrating his wolf with his human psyche.” Traggar sighs, sips his tea. “Except it’s not going as well as we’d hoped.”
You can say that again, I think.
Traggar shifts forward in his seat, his ice-blue gaze fixed on my face.
“We have a proposal for you, Miss Honeywell. One that will have far-reaching benefits for both wolves and wixens, and in fact, the whole of the Labyrinth. If you’ll be so good as to lend me your ears for a few minutes, I’ll explain everything. ”
“Okay,” I respond, said ears twitching with curiosity. “I’m listening.”
Several minutes later, my head is reeling.
Thankfully, Aunt Felicia has now passed around pastries. I dive on them, weak from hunger, and eat nowhere near as elegantly as a wixen should.
Gosh, I almost tore at that pastry like a wolf!
Glancing over at Traggar, I see he is eating in a much more polite fashion.
Truth is, I always eat fast when I’m anxious. And after what they’ve told me, I’m seriously anxious about Jax.
And I’m angry that it matters to me so much.
When Traggar and Otis explained that Jax will be placing bugs in the inner sanctums of the human authorities, my blood ran cold.
“Why Jax?” I burst out.
“Because he grew up in Sparkle. He roamed around the city as a kid searching for his missing mom,” Traggar explains. “Jax knows more about how to infiltrate Sparkle City than anyone else here.”
I fall silent, recalling what I know about Jax’s childhood. He’s only ever told me snippets. But since I’ve become friends with his sister, Clem has told me more.
About how their mom just disappeared one day when Clem was seven and Jax thirteen.
How Jax went looking for her, everywhere, and tried to tunnel out of the dome, convinced she might have escaped onto Earth, even though no human could survive out there.
Clem told me this was Jax’s way of dealing with his grief, trying to find her by attempting to break through the dome walls.
The authorities put him in remand school to stop him, but he still managed to escape, until finally, he was put to work as a peripheral.
“What if they capture him? Like they did Sammy, and Clem?” I ask, hoping my apprehension isn’t too evident in my voice.
“He’ll be wearing the portal cape, he’ll be invisible,” Otis explains.
Traggar adds, “Except if he’s vaping. Vapor coming from the cape could expose him to view. Also, his wolf is allergic to nicotine, which means they are not working as a partnership. Jax has to quit vaping—fast.”
“I agree. it’s a disgusting habit.” I roll my eyes theatrically, trying not to remember the turn-on of peppermint vape on his breath last night when he… When we… Oh, goddess.
I cram the rest of the pastry into my mouth, wiping away the crumbs.
“And that’s where you come in.” Traggar doesn’t seem to notice my chipmunk cheeks, full of pastry. “We want you to help him quit.”
“W-what?!” I explode, crumbs flying out of my mouth.
“Why is that so surprising?” Otis ignores the fact that I’m desperately wiping bits of pastry from my jeans. “You got him off the cigarettes.”
“Big deal,” I huff. “He just swapped them out for vaping.”
“He respects you, Tip, and your skills as a wixen.” Otis’s green features are almost pleading.
“Yeah, right,” I grunt. “All he does is tell me how disgusting my smoothies are.”
“You did a great job with Arlo,” Otis points out.
“That was completely different,” I snap.
Arlo is a minotaur. I helped him produce sperm to sell to humans.
Sounds bad, I know, but it was totally professional, I just fed him the right nutrients.
The apocalypse wreaked havoc with humans’ reproductive systems, and as a result, conception became incredibly difficult for them.
Monsters, on the other hand, stayed virile, and some species, like minotaurs, were the most prolific breeders of all.
Word spread to humans, and their researchers found that an enzyme in minotaur sperm could improve human fertility.
Arlo happens to be a premium enzyme-producing minotaur, and he got wealthy providing copious amounts of his cum to humans.
I kept him at maximum production levels with my elixirs and potions.
It’s a whole other story, but in a nutshell, when Arlo fell in love with a human, Sammy Buggins, he stopped selling his sperm, and I went to work at Digger’s instead while I finished my wixen training.
And then Sammy got pregnant to Arlo, and now they’re both hiding out with the wolves on level three so the humans can’t abduct Sammy for research.
That aside, using my skills on Jax is a whole different ball game. There was never any chemistry between me and Arlo.
“It will be exactly the same, except instead of smoothies to increase sperm production, you’ll be mixing potions to stop nicotine addiction,” Otis reasons. “Oh, and something to help calm his wolf as well.”
Calm his wolf?!
“Wixens don’t work with wolves!” I know I must sound hysterical, and probably rude, too, with Traggar sitting right there.
“Well that’s all about to change, isn’t it Traggar,” my Aunt says sweetly. My gaze flies between them.
Traggar clears his throat. “In return for your help, Miss Honeywell, we are offering you and your aunt the Silver Book of Runes to study.”
My eyes bug wide. This is indeed a coup. Being able to combine the spells in both books would very likely accelerate the white magic, and our wixen powers. It’s an unprecedented opportunity..
I am speechless and my aunt coos. “Isn’t that wonderful news, Tippy-Anna!”
I nod, stammer, “Y-yes, I-I think so— I just don’t know if I am up to the task.”
If only they knew why.
“Of course you are, darling,” my aunt breezes. “There are so many herbal combinations in the Wixen Manuals, you’ll come up with something that works for Jax. You have an intuitive knack for these things.”
I frown, unable to admit to what is going on between me and Jax that could ruin everything my aunt is so rapturous about. “How do we ensure he’ll take them?” I hedge. “I mean, we can’t force Jax to come to Digger’s three times a day to drink my smoothies or whatever.”
“We’ve thought of that,” Traggar responds. “I’ve organized a den in Wolftown where you can both stay for the duration of his detox.”
“A den? Just me and Jax?” I squawk.
“Don’t worry, you’ll have separate rooms.” Traggar smiles reassuringly. I don’t find it all reassuring.
“Level three is really quite civilized, honey,” my aunt chips in. “I’ve grown to like it since I’ve been going to check on Sammy’s pregnancy.”
She casts an almost coquettish glance at Traggar, who throws back his head and laughs. “That is a compliment indeed, coming from you, Felicia.”
Dear goddess, is my aunt flirting with this wolfman?
“Another positive is that you’ll get to catch up with Arlo and Sammy,” Otis adds cheerily. “And it’s only for three days. You’ll be back here before you know it.”
My stress levels spike again. “Three days! I can’t achieve anything in three days.”
“That’s all we have,” Traggar responds grimly. “The mission has to go ahead next week. The runes are aligned. Which means Jax’s detox has to start on Friday and end on Monday morning.”
“Friday is the day after tomorrow,” I gulp out.
Traggar nods. “Start working on those potions. Jax is going to need the best you have to offer.”
I stare at him. My aunt would never forgive me if I turned down this offer. Come to that, I’d probably never forgive myself.
“Okay,” I croak. “Okay, I’ll do it.”
Trigger gifts me a stunning smile. He stands. “We all have great faith in you, Miss Honeywell.”
Otis stands too, collects his sheriff’s hat from the occasional table and plonks it on his head with a big grin.
I jump up. “Wait—does Jax know about this?”
“Not yet… But he will do an hour from now,” Traggar responds.
Oh goddess, I have to say something. “He probably won’t agree. We’re not—, I stare at my feet, “on the best of terms right now.”
“Oh, he’ll agree,” Traggar says firmly. “His life depends upon it.”
Otis gives me an awkward hug and whispers, “You’re a star, Tip.”
“Great pastries, and perfectly brewed tea, thank you, Felicia.” Traggar flashes my aunt a dazzling smile, and I swear she almost melts into a puddle.
As the two big guys leave, bending their heads to pass through the doorway, it occurs to me that I’m being thrown to the wolves.
Literally.