Chapter 12 #2
“I can’t be the boss of all of this,” I worried.
“You’re not. This is where Councilman Oliveria is stepping in to be the scary, scary adult,” he promised. He smiled when I sighed. “I know, but what we found is bad. They all want to help even if it’s not the way they want to. And it can help you.”
Fair enough.
I listened to what was already done and people were being really smart. If we were to bring in more life to keep the magic pumped to such a high level—why not bring in the life that would help?
Like bugs, birds, and more that ate mosquitos? And ticks?
Yeah, we didn’t want any of those or as few as possible.
So that was what people did. It was easy to buy mice given we could circle all over and that gave a lot of the smaller familiars’ fun.
Fun I tried not to think too much about but whatever. I knew how the circle of life went.
But also more birds released into the wild. One of Taylor’s guys found a place that was breaking hawks to be pets and took them all to be released here. He made it clear to give them over and shut down the business or the guy would never be found.
I voted for that option anyways.
“We need to check construction sites,” I muttered as I looked over the lists. “Or I do so I can tell the animals I can bring them somewhere safe. Yeah, they might get eaten because life, but better than the normal chaos. That would be a lot and free. Circles and—”
“Wait, tell them?” Carmen demanded.
“Well, we just found a flaw in letting her drink,” someone drawled and one of Taylor’s guys tried to take my drink away.
“Oh, bite me,” I grumbled and protected it while focusing on Carmen.
“Yes, I understand animals and familiars. They’re my friends.
They’ve been my only friends until recently.
It’s fun until too many are around or too many with people and I’m tired and I can’t tell who’s talking to me.
Then it’s a clusterfuck and headaches. Red or blue pill? ”
“I think I took all of the pills,” she sighed, scrubbing her hands over her face. “And yeah, the Alice in Wonderland party was a much better fit than a Matrix reference probably.” She shook her head. “Okay, wow, but yeah, makes sense.”
“I would think not started yet construction,” Kate said after a few moments of them digesting the development. “Warn them what’s coming and do it before eyes are all over. Don’t most construction sites have like tons of cameras because the materials are expensive?”
“Yes,” several people said together.
“Okay, well, I will get on that project for letting me harvest here. Anywhere with the same climate as here, right? That’s the main goal?” she checked.
“Yes, and the land in Tennessee,” I agreed. Yeah, that would work great.
We talked and plotted more, others jumping in and listing this and that until my head spun. I tuned out and kept drinking and eating. I realized I was staring at someone and he seemed to feel my gaze, his hazel eyes locking with mine.
“Be right back,” I mumbled as I stood… Mostly on my own.
“Girl, I think you’re cut off,” Carmen teased me, keeping me standing with her quick reflexes.
I blinked at the ground and where I’d been sitting. “Does it normally do that? Not like hit you until you stand?”
The range of answers I received from several confirming it to others chuckling and others calling me a lightweight—it was amusing.
“You look like you have something to say to me,” Link said, his deep voice behind me.
“I do. Apparently, it’s more difficult than I first thought,” I admitted. “Less ears.” I was glad when he offered me his arm that I could grab onto. I didn’t think he expected me to grab on with both my arms, but well… Booze was good?
“Wow you really went for it your first time,” he worried.
“I think it was more I sat for a really long time and didn’t move when I don’t do that,” I mumbled. “Or I drank too much to realize my leg fell asleep because now my right leg is tingling.”
I wasn’t shocked when he chuckled but also sounded like he might sigh. Both probably fit.
But walking helped and after five minutes I was fine. We were far enough away by then, not that it was really anything others couldn’t hear. It just was better.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I shouldn’t—”
“Stop,” he said gently. “You have nothing to apologize for. You didn’t accuse me of anything. You didn’t say I was party to it. You were clear that given what was going on I wasn’t the right person in that moment. I completely saw your point, but—you have nothing to apologize for.”
I let out a shaky breath and met his gaze. “We both know that’s not true and I wasn’t being fair. It was fear. I know you better than that.”
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“Yeah, thanks. I appreciate that you see it now. Really. Not a brush-off because I am always on your side, Bev. I am.” He frowned and seemed like he wanted to say more but then leaned in and kissed my hair, not touching me with his hands but sort of letting me hug him.
I did. I hugged him as part of my apology. The kiss on my hair nice even.
It went on a while though. I was pretty sure he sniffed my hair.
“Do you want to know the name of my shampoo?” I asked him when it got a bit awkward.
He flinched and moved back, almost taking me with him since I’d still been hugging him. He chuckled weirdly and made sure I was stable. “Sorry, too much going on.”
Oh, so he’d had a brain fart with all the drama? Right, people called it that.
Maybe?
I nodded like I understood but searched his eyes. “We’re good?”
“We’re good,” he promised, and I chose to believe him. He moved a bit to stop me when I turned to leave. “I’m sorry your helping me pushed over the domino of this madness. I-I’m struggling with that.”
That explained a lot. “Me too, Link, but it’s on them.
It was their greed and choice. It was going to happen given the path after Alex came to school—all of it.
” I shrugged. “I’m sorry I pulled you in and made you suffer this.
I want to say I should have picked someone else, but then that’s dismissive. ”
He didn’t say anything for several moments.
“You understand a lot more than you think, Bev. That whole you aren’t socialized enough thing—you get a lot.
You just see it four steps to the left a lot because you grew up talking to animals instead of people your own age.
I think it’s one of the best things about you though. ”
I wasn’t sure what to do with that. I knew it was a compliment and thanked him at least, leaving him out there to deal with what he was trying to process on his own.
I went back to find Winter who was frowning and looking behind me.
I promised I’d been fine to walk the short way back alone with the lights we now had and enough people were around to have heard me if I’d yelled out.
That seemed to chill him out and we sat down.
I smiled when he had the pulled pork ready for me to try with his barbecue sauce.
And he didn’t lie. Winter was a man who knew how to smoke meat.
Add it to the growing list of reasons that I liked him because it was the best pulled pork of my life and my tummy was very happy.