CHAPTER 6 OZ
OZ
One of the men on the porch, the dark-haired one with tanned skin, was complaining about the security cameras as I hurried to open the front door. “Why didn’t he tell me he wanted those? First the fence, and now cameras. I would’ve paid for them. I don’t want Manny to feel unsafe here.”
More knocking, right as I reached the door. I unlocked it and pulled it open. Four surprised faces stared at me, and my voice failed. Shit.
“Who are you?” The tall blond guy—the adults were all magic carriers—peered around me into the house. “Manny?”
I held up one finger and pulled out my phone. His eyebrows came down and his jaw squared. I ignored him and started typing.
The teenage girl, who was some kind of Wonder with brown skin and brown and green hair, piped up, “I’m Pia. Are you Manny’s boyfriend?” I froze, my finger poised over my phone screen.
Manny—and I savored my new ability to call him by his first name—and I hadn’t gotten to that part of our discussion yet. I smiled at Pia and gave her a half-shrug before holding my hand out, palm down, and wiggling it.
She grinned. “So you’re dating? What’s your name?”
I held up my forefinger again and finished typing. I held out the phone so they could all see. I’m Oz. Manny will be right out. Would you like to come in?
The third man, whose bright blue shorts and dark green polo complemented his rich umber skin to perfection, leaned forward to read my phone before straightening up and adjusting his glasses.
“Uh. Hi, Oz. I’m Ellis. This is Shane, and that’s Rory.
” He indicated the dark-haired guy and then the blond man.
I nodded and waved at all of them, making sure to smile as if I met Manny’s friends all the time.
I stepped back and held out my hand for them to come inside right as Manny emerged from the hallway to the bedrooms. “Hey! I’m here, sorry!
” His wig was on straight, and his face wasn’t quite as gray as it’d been earlier.
Was he wearing makeup? Shit, I still needed to make sure he ate something.
Maybe his friends would stay for lunch. I’d survey the food in the kitchen, and either I could cook or we’d order in.
He bounced up as if he was full of pep and gave each of them a hug as they entered the house. I shut the door behind Shane, and as I turned to follow everyone to the living room, the connections between Manny and these four flared bright.
When he stepped away, Shane’s eyebrows flew up. “Manny! Your magic is a little stronger.”
Seriously? It looked depleted to me. Had they not seen him when his magic was actually strong?
Apparently not. The others came back and crowded around to admire his magic. No one mentioned the romantic connection between me and Manny, but they all commented on how his magic had been growing. I had many questions. Pia enthused, “I hope one day you’ll be able to change shape like Jackson!”
I pretended like I knew what she was talking about, and Manny shook his head. “I doubt it, hojita. You’ll have to take me as I am.”
She heaved a great sigh and faked a pout. “I guess. Hey, can I go say hi to Dimi’s apple tree?”
“Sure. Have fun.” She ran to the back door and let herself outside. Manny looked at the other three. “Thanks for coming by. I’m sorry I’ve been kind of a hermit lately.”
Shane eyeballed me. “I guess you’ve had a reason.”
“And I’ve been working a lot. Come sit down.”
I waved at everyone and pantomimed drinking while raising my eyebrows at them. All of them, including Manny, declined. I pointed at him, pointed at my watch, and mimed eating.
He flushed beneath his makeup. “Yeah, okay. I know. I’ll get something in a minute.” Shaking my head, I pointed to myself, then the kitchen. I left to see what I might be able to make for him. Behind me, Manny sighed. “Sorry. I haven’t eaten much since I got off work, and he fusses.”
I felt a little thrill at how domestic his comment sounded, as if Manny and I were together all the time after he got home from work.
I opened the refrigerator, unable to help overhearing their conversation from the kitchen. Manny apologized for not visiting them recently, making the excuse again that he’d been busy with work.
Rory snorted. “Or your new man. How long have you and Oz been dating?”
“Ummm, wow. Uh, less than a week, actually.” Smooth, Manny. Real smooth.
I arranged some crackers and cheese on a cutting board. Not much, but it would do while I made something more substantial for Manny. And it would give me a reason to go back into the living room and glare at his friends until they changed the subject.
Shane’s tone was mild. “Oh, how’d you meet?” He suspected something was off for sure.
As I left the kitchen, intending to rescue Manny, Pia came in the back door. “Oooh, snacks!”
Dammit. I ended up handing her the board and a stack of napkins, and back to the kitchen I went. At least she’d been a distraction.
The board clattered as she put it on the coffee table. I hoped all the crackers hadn’t slid off. “Manny, you said you can’t shapeshift, but do you have any other cool magical talents yet?”
There was a pause, which I hoped meant he was eating. I sliced the baguette I’d found in the pantry. “Well, I make all my patients laugh, which I think is really cool.” I smiled as I crushed some canned tomatoes.
She huffed. “Anybody can do that!”
“Excuse you! I’m actually good at it!”
She let out a loud exasperated sigh. “You know what I meant.”
Manny tried to turn the conversation again. “So what’s been happening with y’all? Are you getting out of school for the summer soon, Pia?”
“Not for another month. But guess what? Uncle Arch moved to Houston! He’s renting a house near us!”
Another pause, and Manny’s voice was carefully neutral. “Oh, yeah? You’ve said you were getting along better these days, Ellis, but if he moved here to be closer, that’s a really good sign.”
Ellis made a noncommittal sound. “We’re making progress on repairing our relationship, and I think having him closer will help, but that’s just a side benefit to him moving here. He’s actually heading up a new Hunter task force to investigate Wonder trafficking.”
I stiffened, carefully setting down the bag of mozzarella cheese before putting my hands flat on the counter and leaning over. The roaring in my ears drowned out whatever else they were saying. Breathe in, breathe out. No one is coming to take you back. Hunters stationed in Houston is a good thing.
I felt the warmth of Manny’s body next to me, but he didn’t touch.
I opened my eyes, which I hadn’t realized I’d shut.
He was regarding me with concern, but thankfully not pity.
I put my arm out and pulled him in for a hug.
He wrapped himself around me, squeezing as tight as he could.
“I gotchu, big guy.” The top of his head came up to my shoulder, which was exactly the right height.
I continued to regulate my breathing, and Manny matched his rhythm to mine.
My family had hugged me when they’d visited, but this was different. This felt like healing.
I frowned. This felt like healing.
I pushed back. “What are you doing?”
He blinked and cocked his head. “Hugging you? It seemed like it was helping. It’s not?” He loosened his arms and made to step back, but I didn’t let go.
“I thought I felt your magic.”
He pursed his lips, his head still tilted to the side. He shrugged. “It wasn’t anything I was doing intentionally.”
“Huh. Well, it was nice, whatever it was.”
He grinned. “Maybe my hugs are just magical.”
I grinned back. Fuck, I wanted to kiss him, but now was not the time.
“Maybe.” I let go and reluctantly stepped out of his arms. “Thanks for checking on me, but I’m good.
” His eyebrows scrunched together in suspicion, so I waved at the food to interrupt him.
“I’ll be done with this in a few minutes, and you need to eat. ”
He deflated. “Yeah, I do.” He looked at what I’d been assembling. “French bread pizza? You can actually cook!”
I laughed. “We’ll find out, won’t we?” I set to adding the rest of the cheese before putting everything in the oven. I wanted to ask how long his friends were staying, but that would’ve been rude. Manny made glasses of ice water for everyone and took them out to the living room.
While the food was cooking, I pulled out a plate for Manny and a tray everyone else could nibble from. I added some grapes and apple slices to both. When the pizza was out of the oven, I cut it into small pieces, putting several on Manny’s plate and the rest on the tray with some napkins.
Manny’s friends exclaimed over the food. I’d expected Pia to take some of it, but she didn’t. I didn’t know much about teenagers, but I remembered being almost constantly hungry. But her magic was all topped up. Something to do with the tree she’d visited outside? She must be a dryad.
The conversation had stalled while everyone tried the food. Manny seemed to be enjoying it, which was all I really cared about. Still, if we were going to date—not that I was making assumptions—I should get to know his friends.
“Ah.” My voice was still working. “Um, I heard one of your relatives has moved to Houston?”
All four of them stared at me, no doubt dying to ask why I was talking now and not earlier. I pretended I didn’t notice, raising my eyebrows and looking between them. Manny smiled down at his plate.
Ellis recovered first. “Yes, my brother Archer. He’s a Hunter. He’ll be investigating the Wonder trafficking that’s been happening. Uh, Manny said you live with the wolf shifter pack here?” I nodded. “Yeah, apparently your alpha is providing people to help Arch with the investigation.”
I nodded again, pleased with how calm I was. “Makes sense.” Could be that was what Cassandra and Harrison were working on this week.
Ellis turned to Manny. “Arch asked how you were doing.”
Manny raised his eyebrows with a disbelieving expression. “I can’t imagine why.”
Pia scrunched up her face. “You and Uncle Arch weren’t very nice to each other.” I raised my eyebrows. I needed this story.
“Hey.” He pointed a forefinger at her. “He started it.” He turned to Ellis. “But the important thing is that you’ll have your brother close.”
He smiled a little and nodded. “I think living in the same city will help. Plus he went no-contact with our dad, which makes me think he’s serious about having a real sibling relationship with me.”
Manny’s mouth dropped open. “No shit? That’s huge.”
Shane cleared his throat. “How’s your mom, Manny? Didn’t you say she was dating someone?”
“Yeah! Her girlfriend’s name is Eloise. She’s a concierge at a big hotel downtown. They’re on a Mediterranean cruise right now.” Smiling, he munched on another piece of pizza.
Shane nodded. “Good for them. Hey, I saw the security cameras out front. Is there a specific reason you wanted them? I would’ve installed them for you.”
Manny shifted in his seat, looking anywhere but at Shane. “It’s nothing. I just... I mean, I know there aren’t any other vampires, but I need to be sure here.” He patted his chest.
What the fuck? I barely managed to keep the stunned expression off my face.
Vampires? Last year some people in the campaign had discovered vampires had been kidnapping Wonders for decades, but how had Manny seen them?
Except for the one friendly vampire who’d been hunting the evil ones, they were all dead.
Or were they? I thought uneasily of the monster in the cells, and my heart rate sped up.
Manny put his hand on my leg, which helped calm me down. “The pack Oz is part of runs a security business. They set me up with the cameras, no charge.”
Shane turned his incredulous face to me. “No charge? That’s awfully generous.”
I smiled and patted Manny’s hand. “Manny provides some nursing services now and then.” I shrugged. “They figured it was a good trade.”
I wasn’t sure why we were lying to Manny’s friends, but if that’s what he wanted, I’d do it. I barely knew the man, but already I’d do pretty much anything for him.