21. Cal
CHAPTER 21
CAL
I’d gone into the office yesterday for half a day, and I did the same today. I was glad it was Friday, because over the weekend I could focus on tracking the fog monsters without feeling guilty about missing more work.
On the other hand, by taking most of the week off, I’d inadvertently already started handing off my duties to Kurt. I spent most of my time today making sure he had superadmin rights to everything.
Before I left for the weekend, I met with Steve and showed him my idea for our new game.
“Yes!” he shouted. “I love it!”
I grinned. It was always fun working with Steve. He threw every ounce of his energy into whatever he was doing.
“Great. I’ll keep working up the storyline and specs. How’s the legal stuff coming along?”
“Good. We should have the next draft of our separation contract next week.”
“Now that’s cause for celebration.” I made a note in my phone .
“Soooo....”
I rolled my eyes. “Yes?”
“How are things going with Greg? Tonight’s the big date!”
I put my phone down on Steve’s desk and crossed my arms. “Last night we talked about the Wonders dying, but that’s it.” I’d also started a database of magic carriers and their contact information, but I’d encrypted it so no one could access it without permission.
“Well, that’s important,” he said in the same tone he’d use to tell me something sucked. Then he perked up. “Do you know whose house you’re going to?”
I shook my head. “I’m guessing it’ll be one of the Wonders he works with.”
Steve pointed a finger at me. “Don’t forget. Your mission is to find out whether he’s genuinely attracted to you.”
“I remember.” I’d spent a lot of time “remembering” with my right hand over the past two days, so I doubted I’d forget.
I left the office and took the truck to the car wash on the way home. It felt good to finally get that chore done.
When I got home I decided I needed to try calling a vision again. I was still scared to call one involving the fog monsters, but I was also uneasy with how long they’d gone without attacking anyone.
I sat down on the couch in front of Ms. Jackson, who’d taken to staying in their Ouija board form most of the time.
“Ms. Jackson, I’m going to call a vision. We really need to find those fog monsters, but when Edgar had a vision of them, he thought they could tell he was seeing them.”
Ms. Jackson flashed D-O-N-T-D-O-I-T .
I ran my hand over my beard. “Yeah, but we need to know what they’re doing.”
They flashed L-O-O-K-F-O-R-V-I-C-T-I-M .
I raised my eyebrows. “Like the next victim? Good idea. Then maybe we can intervene.”
I settled back into the cushions and focused inward. I needed to know who the next victim of the fog monsters would be and where the attack would happen. The vision came almost immediately.
It was night. I was standing in the back of a large parking lot, but the nearest working light pole was probably twenty yards away. A small sedan was parked next to a light pole nearer to me, but those lights weren’t on, leaving the car in darkness.
I turned to scan the area, and a Build Barn home improvement store loomed at the other end of the parking lot.
I woke up, jerking forward in my seat.
Ms. Jackson flashed their board.
I rubbed my face. “Um, it sort of worked. It was night and in a home improvement store parking lot. There was a car parked at the back of the lot under a light that’d probably been broken, because it was out.” I grimaced. “I didn’t think to look at the license plate.”
I stood up. “I need a beer. Anyway, it didn’t tell me when, and the store could’ve been anywhere. But it’s a start I guess.” I grabbed a jar of peanuts out of the pantry before getting my beer.
Back in the living room, I plopped down on the couch and put my snack on the coffee table next to Ms. Jackson.
T-E-L-L-E-D-G-A-R they flashed .
“Oh, good idea. Maybe he can try and get more info than I did.”
I pulled up the group text with Edgar and Greg, and I told them what I’d seen. Edgar texted back congratulating me on calling a vision, and he said he’d try to call one later with the same prompt. Greg texted that none of the Wonders he was connected to worked at a Build Barn, but he’d warn everyone on Discord not to shop at one alone or late at night.
The rest of the afternoon I sat on the couch chatting with Ms. Jackson in between contacting magic carriers and Wonders on Discord.
I found out Ms. Jackson didn’t know much about their origins, just that they’d become aware of themself when they were already on Earth, but they weren’t sure exactly where they’d been. A series of Wonders, concluding with Bettina’s friend Karsha, had brought them to Texas.
But apparently even Karsha hadn’t realized Ms. Jackson was sentient. She’d stuck Ms. Jackson on a shelf in the book room and left them there.
Karsha had passed away in the 1960s. At the time, the building had been a sort of boarding house for Wonders. It had been added onto and remodeled over the years, becoming the TWIST house as it stood today.
Ms. Jackson had entertained themself through the decades listening to everyone’s radios and televisions, so they had a decent knowledge of Earth and technology. Something in their magic enabled them to know what things looked like, but they insisted they’d never actually seen a television show before now.
“Okay, Ms. Jackson, I’ve got to get ready for my date. ”
Greg had told me dinner would be casual, so I opted for dark jeans and boots with a light blue button-up—actually buttoned for once—over my “Are You a Software Update? Because Not Now” t-shirt.
I trimmed my beard a little but otherwise there wasn’t much to do since my hair was pretty short.
I went back into the living room. “How do I look?” I asked Ms. Jackson. I could feel Greg getting closer. Was it wrong to be a little smug about how nervous he was?
The board spelled out G-O-O-D .
“Thanks. Do you want to watch something while I’m gone?”
Yes flashed.
“Any preferences?”
P-R-O-J-E-C-T-R-U-N-W-A-Y flashed.
“Interesting choice.” Especially for a being who couldn’t wear clothes.
T-R-A-N-S-F-O-R-M flashed. Then M-A-K-E-I-T-W-O-R-K .
“Got it. I can think of a few other shows you might like as well. Do you want to start with the final season or go all the way back to the beginning?”
B-E-G-I-N-N-I-N-G
“Gotcha.” I worked the remote and searched until I found it. As I pressed Play , Greg knocked.
I checked for my keys, wallet, and phone before opening the door. “Hey, you didn’t have to come upstairs. I would’ve met you at the car.”
He wrinkled his nose. “I asked you out, so I pick you up at your door. ”
Outwardly I rolled my eyes, but inside I felt kind of melty.
“Um, you look great,” I said. He had a bit of a bad boy vibe going on, with faded jeans, black cowboy boots, and a white v-neck tee with a black denim jacket over it. His hair, of course, fell in perfect waves around his face. I could honestly say I’d never been out with anyone as attractive as Greg was.
And he’d asked me out, I reminded myself when my old body image insecurities tried to flare up.
Greg ran his eyes from my feet up to my face. A jolt of lust tore through our connection and went straight to my dick.
I gasped and couldn’t stop my hand from grabbing my junk. While standing in my open doorway.
Greg gaped at me, then his face went red. “Uh, I guess you felt that?”
“Fuck!” I hastily moved my hand in case any of my neighbors walked by. “I guess so,” I said faintly. Had that been real? He wouldn’t have been able to fake it, would he?
“Sorry?” He rubbed the back of his neck and gave me a bashful look from under his lashes.
I emitted a kind of half-laugh, half-groan. “Uh, no problem.” My mind was reeling. Greg was honestly attracted to me?
Still red-faced, he looked past me into the apartment. “Are you watching Project Runway ?”
Gratefully I latched on to the new topic. “Ms. Jackson is. They like reality TV. So far I haven’t gotten them to try any fictional shows, but we’ll get there.”
Greg called, “Hi, Ms. Jackson!”
The entire board sparkled, which they’d started using as a greeting .
“I’m ready when you are,” I said.
“Great.”
I locked the door, and we went down to the car. “So, who are we having dinner with?”
“One of the Wonders in my District. His name is Ruben Tooley. His daughter Karla is in her twenties, and she’s been dating an NPC—sorry, that’s someone without magic or at least not in the know.”
“Yeah, I remember what it means.”
“Right. Sorry. Um, Karla wants to tell her boyfriend about her Wonder side and everything that goes with it. I need to meet him first and give my approval or withhold it pending a background check.”
I mulled that over as I got into Greg’s SUV. “So no one can disclose the secret without getting your buy-in first?”
He shrugged one shoulder. “It happens, of course. But I know Ruben. If he’d told me this guy was trustworthy, this would be a ‘welcome to the family’ visit rather than an interview.”
“He doesn’t like the boyfriend then.”
“No. But he’s worried he’s not giving the guy a fair chance since Karla’s his daughter and this is her first serious relationship.”
I grunted. “What do you do if someone finds out about Wonders or magic and tries to tell the public?”
He flashed me a grin. “Discredit them. It’s easy enough with the number of people we can call on to say the person misinterpreted what they saw or they’re just trying to get attention, that sort of thing. ”
I smiled. “Sounds like fun. Let me know if you ever need help.”
Greg laughed and glanced over at me, his grey eyes sparkling silver in the early evening gloom. Delight and affection poured through our connection.
I looked between me and Greg, but I still couldn’t see it. He could see connections, though, so the ability wasn’t something that required being bonded to kick in.
“Can I ask about bonding?”
If I hadn’t been looking at him, I wouldn’t have noticed the sudden tension in his shoulders.
“Sure.”
“Like, how does it happen? Do you just have sex, and—bam!—you’re bonded? Or is there a, uh, ritual or something?”
Greg took one hand off the wheel to make a so-so motion. “Sort of. It’s different for every couple or polycule. But you can absolutely have sex without creating a bond. That requires intent. Everyone involved has to be actively trying to make it happen.”
I snorted. “And yet we have a permanent connection.”
He came to a stop at a light and turned to me. “Which means we’re exceptionally compatible, magically speaking. This—” He waved a hand between us. “—is very rare. A connection this strong usually forms over the course of months or years between people who are committed to each other but haven’t decided to bond yet.”
“Okay. I get that bonding will boost our abilities, but how does it work exactly? And is the power boost the only reason to do it? Because honestly it doesn’t seem that different than what we have now. ”
Greg tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. He glanced over at me and said, “Hang on.” He changed lanes to get over to the right, then he pulled into the parking lot of a grocery store. He parked well away from the building before undoing his seatbelt and shifting in his seat to face me.
“This is something I should have explained to you before now, and I’m sorry.” He quirked up the side of his mouth. “There’s been a lot going on this week.”
“I agree. And even though I get frustrated, I do understand you haven’t had time to tell me everything yet. That’s why I’m asking the questions. But the pulling over and stopping is making me a little nervous.”
“Sorry. Um, I don’t know if you can tell, but our connection has continued to get stronger even though we’ve barely seen each other the past day or so. I want to try something.” He reached over and picked up my hand, holding it between both of his.
My eyebrows must have been hitting my hairline. Greg was touching me voluntarily!
“You should be able to feel more from me now that we’re connected both physically and magically.”
It was true. I’d gotten used to having a sort of low hum of Greg in the background of my brain this week. But now it was more like he was in my brain, and I was in his. I could feel the nervous-shy-hopeful-scared-affectionate-desperate feelings he had, along with a huge pinwheel of magic that swirled in tandem with mine.
But if I could feel Greg that intensely, he’d be able to feel my emotions as well. I cringed.
Don’t be embarrassed .
“Fuck!” I shrieked, throwing my hands in the air and pushing my body back against the passenger door.
I’d been looking right at Greg, and his mouth hadn’t moved at all.
He chuckled. “Sorry. I wasn’t actually sure it would work.”
I put my hand over my racing heart. “What the fuck, Greg?”
“That’s what being bonded is like. Or so I’m told. You know how you were able to pull magic from me to help your visions?”
I nodded.
“If we were bonded, or right now if we were touching physically, you’d have access to my magic all the time, effortlessly. But a side effect is that our minds will kind of dip into each other as well. Mom told me she and my dad had to learn how to build privacy barriers.” He put his elbow on the back of the seat. “When a connection gets as strong as ours, it feels like being bonded when we’re touching each other.” He gave me a wry grin. “But, like I said, most people build up to it over the course of several months or longer, so it’s not as much of a shock.”
I stared at him for a long moment. “You’re telling me that people think sharing some sort of mind link is a good thing?”
He laughed. “Like I said, other people who get to this stage have been in love and in a committed relationship for a long time. Bonded couples—mates, if you want to use that term—or strongly connected couples who are touching each other like we did, share magic and can communicate without speaking. But if you’re bonded, you can share physical energy as well. Healing.”
“Healing. Like if I broke my leg you could heal it? ”
He shook his head. “First, for any healing to happen we’d have to be bonded. Just intermittently touching each other doesn’t generate the same, um...” He scrunched up his face. “Energy acceleration, I guess? And once you’re bonded, the healing happens automatically. If a bonded person broke their leg they’d have to get it set ASAP because it’d start healing right away.”
“Huh.”
He glanced at the clock on the dashboard. “Shit, we’ve got to get going. But I did want to add that the biggest benefit of the healing you get through being bonded is that it slows aging way down.”
I felt my eyes bug out. “What? No shit?”
He nodded as he started the car. “Even the longer-lived Wonders get extra years out of it.” He grinned. “Edgar is my mother’s uncle, by the way. Not her brother. He’s ninety-two. Bettina’s in her eighties.”
“No way. Fuck.” I stared blindly out the windshield. What. The. Fuck.
A few minutes later Greg turned into a residential neighborhood. Right. We were having dinner with people. Wonders and a human. How the hell was I supposed to make small talk with strangers after that conversation?
He pulled up in front of a large two-story home with a fieldstone and stucco fa?ade, capped by a red tile roof.
“Are you okay?”
I laughed. “No.” I rubbed my forehead and looked at him ruefully from under my hand. “I can fake it though.”
He smiled back, then sobered. A spike of nervousness came through the connection .
“Um, before we go in. I told Ruben we were connected. Is it okay if I introduce you to the NPC as my boyfriend?”
I blinked. “Is that what you want us to be?” Holy shit.
He nodded. Hope and a little anxiety came through our connection. “I would like us to be, yes.”
“Yeah, um. Okay. That’s fine with me.” I smiled.
A rush of relief and happiness came through from him, mixing with mine.
Before I could register what was he was doing, Greg leaned over and kissed my cheek. I couldn’t help but smile even wider as he sat back up.
“Let’s go.”
We got out of the car, and Greg produced a bottle of wine from the back seat. He put his hand on my back as we walked toward the house. I’d expected the freaky mind-meld to happen, but apparently the two layers of shirts I wore was enough of a barrier.
“We’ll have to work up to holding hands,” I told him.
He put his mouth next to my ear. “And other things.”
“Dammit, Greg!” I elbowed him as he rang the doorbell.
We were both laughing as a big guy— holy shit his second self was a porcupine!—opened the door.
He was about my height, but his shoulders were broader and his hands were enormous. His hair was brown with blond streaks through it, and he was tanned, as if he spent a lot of time outdoors. His brown eyes regarded me with curiosity.
“Welcome! I’m Ruben.” He held his hand out for me to shake.
“Hi, I’m Cal. Nice to meet you. ”
I stepped to the side so Ruben and Greg could hug each other.
“Please come in. I’ve got the grill going, and I thought we’d eat on the deck. Karla and Brantleigh are already out there with Karla’s friend Fantine.”
My head jerked up. Did he say Brantleigh ?
“What’s the matter?” Greg whispered.
I shook my head. “It might be nothing,” I muttered. Except there was no way two Brantleighs lived in the Austin area.
We followed Ruben toward a large room at the end of the foyer. I took comfort from Greg’s hand on my back as we walked through the living room to the double doors leading outside.
Where Butch, my high school bully, was standing with his arm around a young woman who had to be Ruben’s daughter. Not only was she a porcupine shifter, but she had the same blond streaks in her hair. The girl next to her, however, was a squirrel shifter. She was petite, with inky hair falling in thick twists to her waist.
Before I could warn Ruben that things were about to get awkward, he’d opened the door and announced, “Greg and Cal are here! Please come meet them!”
Butch’s eyes widened when he saw me, but he quickly put on an expression of polite indifference.
Greg and I walked out onto the deck. It was almost the width of the house, made out of some kind of stained wood. A slatted frame-thing formed a kind of open ceiling with lights hanging from it, and a dining table with room for ten people took up most of the space to the right of the door.
Ruben pulled Greg, and therefore me, to his side. He gestured at each of us. “Greg, you’ve met Karla and Fantine before of course.”
“Of course,” Greg said. “It’s good to see you both.”
They smiled at him.
Ruben said, “And this is Greg’s, uh...”
“Boyfriend,” Greg supplied, moving his hand up so most of his arm was across my back. I’m sure he could feel how tense I was, both physically and through our connection.
“Right. Sorry, Cal.” Ruben shot me an apologetic glance.
I shrugged. “No worries. It’s pretty new.”
“Cal, this my daughter Karla.”
She gave me a half wave.
“And Karla’s best friend Fantine.”
We said hi.
“And,” Ruben stretched his hand out toward Butch. “This is Karla’s boyfriend Brantleigh. Brantleigh, this is Greg and Cal.”
“Uh, hi.” Butch’s eyes darted back and forth between me and Greg, and his forehead furrowed.
I wondered if Karla had told Butch he needed to impress Greg. Would he be able to refrain from taunting me like he’d done in the coffee shop?
Would it matter? Either way, I’d make sure Karla knew what kind of man she was dating.
And Greg would never let anyone who’d insulted me be allowed in on the secret .
I relaxed. Greg whipped his head toward me, and I gave him a big smile. I looked at Ruben. “Actually, Brantleigh and I went to high school together. He was going by Butch back then, though.”
Butch gave a nervous laugh. “Uh, yeah. Just a childish nickname.”
“Oh,” Karla said, wrapping her hands around Butch’s bicep. He had muscles, I’d give him that. She said to me, “I hope you can tell me some juicy stories about Brantleigh’s teenage years.”
I smiled. “Oh, I have stories all right.”