17. Oz
OZ
“Well, this is awkward.”
I woke instantly, my badger surging to the fore as I leapt up and stood over our mates, protecting them from the intruder. Snarling, I thrashed my head from side to side looking for the threat.
No one was in the room besides the three of us.
“Oz?”
Cringing, I ducked my head to peer beneath me. Manny and Arch stared, wide-eyed, from a pool of sheets slashed open by my claws. Oops. I didn’t see any blood, so at least I hadn’t injured them.
Arch cleared his throat. “I heard one of the ghosts. That must’ve been what startled you.”
One of the ghosts? I’d never seen a ghost that I was aware of.
Belatedly realizing now was not the time to ponder that mystery, I gingerly stepped over Arch and Manny until I could jump to the floor.
Then I shifted back. Both of them were sitting up in bed, still staring at me.
I ran my hand through my hair. “Sorry about the sheets.”
“Uh, no worries. I bought a couple of new sets on clearance last week.” Manny glanced at Arch and back at me. “Um, I know shifters’ second selves are often larger than their regular animal counterparts, but your badger form is bigger than your human one.”
I lifted one shoulder. “It’s called an eomellivora. It’s basically a prehistoric honey badger.”
Arch’s eyebrows flew up. “I’ve never heard of any shifters with a prehistoric form before.”
I sat down on the edge of the bed. “All I know is the family lore, which says that when my great-grandmother was emigrating to Earth from the Elven dimension, they gave all the shifters some encyclopedias and old books about Earth animals and told them to choose a form. Apparently in the Elven dimension shifters can change into anything they want, but the Elves were concerned humans would notice alien creatures, so in order to cross to Earth you were magically limited to only one form. Great-grandmother told them she’d chosen this specific variety of badger, but she didn’t mention it was from millions of years ago. ”
Manny grinned. “I think I would’ve liked your great-grandmother. Will your badger let me pet him?”
I smiled. “He thinks of both of you as his mates, so he’d love that.”
His face lit up, and he clasped his hands over his heart. “Mates!”
Arch shook his head. “Don’t jump the gun, Manny. We’re a long way from bonding, no matter what Oz’s badger says.”
I examined the romantic connection between the three of us, now thicker and brighter than ever before.
Arch might not want to rush things, but his magic sure did.
Once our connections were strong enough to support bonding, we’d be able to speak mind-to-mind while we were touching.
I didn’t think we were quite there yet, but we were close.
Manny pouted. “I want to pet Oz’s badger. Oooh, I bet you’re a good cuddler in that form.”
My badger preened, and I chuckled. “Absolutely. My badger has a lot of loose skin, which helps prevent predators from injuring them when they bite down. I speak from experience when I tell you it’s wonderful to snuggle up against.”
“Yessss!” He pumped his fist.
“And if we ever do get bonded, Great-grandmother snuck something else in without the Elves noticing.” All shifters, as well as Hunters, gained enhanced sense, increased strength, and faster healing when they bonded, but my family got one more benefit.
“I’ll be able to manifest a smaller, more modern-looking honey badger form.
In case you ever want to be the big spoon. ”
He gasped. “I’ll get to squish your little face!” I laughed, wondering what abilities Manny would gain if we bonded. Hopefully he’d be able to heal more easily without depleting his magic so much.
Shaking his head, Arch sighed. “I’d better get dressed and go see what the ghosts want.” He got out of bed and started picking his clothes up off the floor.
Manny’s phone alarm went off. “Time to go get my mom and Eloise!”
I rubbed my face, still feeling disoriented from waking up so violently. I’d better get dressed as well if I wanted to make a good impression on Manny’s mom and her girlfriend.
It turned out that I could, in fact, see ghosts. Or at least I could see them as of today. Arch and Manny said it was because their magics considered me family, which meant I was also family to Rory, the Medium. Because anyone in Rory’s family could see ghosts.
I’d wait until I was alone to think about how our magic had decided the three of us were permanently related before we’d even bonded, and what that meant for our relationship. Arch was acting way too casual for the implications to have hit him.
The ghosts in the living room were Carlyle Blackbourne, who was Rory’s grandfather, and a wolf shifter named Garfield, who didn’t bother with clothes in the afterlife.
“This is Oz.” Arch put his arm around me. “Manny and I are dating him.”
“Dating.” Garfield snorted. “Your connections say it’s more than just dating.” He looked me up and down. “That’s an impressive second self you’ve got there, Oz. We didn’t mean to startle you earlier.”
“Uh, thank you.” Why were they here?
Arch huffed. “Why are you here?”
Carlyle harumphed. “Dominic explained about the auctioneer being able to mesmerize you. We’re here to keep watch. The others are assigned to your Hunters. We might not be able to stop it from happening, but we’ll at least see the auctioneer and be able to follow him.”
My mouth dropped open, and I whirled to stare at Arch. “The auctioneer can mesmerize people?”
He ran his hand over his head. “Yeah, I was going to update you and Manny in the car on the way to the airport.”
I studied him but Manny spoke up first. “You didn’t think this was something you should’ve mentioned earlier?”
He shut his eyes, grimacing. When he opened them again, he looked between me and Manny with a pleading expression.
“Last night I had to tell my Hunters that I suspected all of them, and possibly me—though that’s a guess based on probabilities—have been mesmerized and forced to disclose operational secrets against their wills.
It was... rough. Today I just wanted a few hours to not think about the auctioneer and how we haven’t found him, how we don’t have any leads....
” He stopped, taking a few deep breaths.
I went over and put my arms around him. “I get it. It’s fine.”
He leaned his head on my shoulder. “I was going to tell you, I promise.” He squeezed me back then lifted his head and looked at Manny. “And I need to let you know that I told the Hunters about your healing abilities.”
I froze. “Even though they might get mesmerized?”
Manny raised a hand. “I get it. They still need to be aware that I’m a possible target. And tons of people know about me being a Healer already. Hell, the auctioneer guy might have already mesmerized some of the wolf pack.”
I opened one arm to bring Manny into the hug, and Arch kissed his cheek. “Thanks for understanding. I want to keep you safe.”
“I know, Archie-bear.” He wriggled out of our arms and stepped back. “I hate to break this up, but we’ve got to get on the road so we can pick up Mamá and Eloise.” He whirled around, pointing at Carlyle. “Can my mom see you?”
He looked baffled. “How would I know?”
“Shit.” He put his hands on his hips. “Y’all need to stay out of sight once we pick them up, just in case. If she can see ghosts now, I need to figure out how to explain it to her.”
Manny seemed most concerned with his mother seeing Carlyle, but personally I thought a naked Garfield would be more startling to the average middle-aged woman.
We got ready to leave, and Manny and I followed Arch out to his SUV.
Manny stopped to tell Cassandra she could leave for a few hours, and he’d message her to tell her where he was when it was time for him to go to work.
He’d brought his backpack with his scrubs in it in case we were still at his mom’s house by then.
I figured Arch and I could drop him off at the hospital and Cassandra could meet him there.
On the road, Carlyle joined us in the car, sitting in the second row of seats next to Manny, but Garfield had someone else to look after since Arch and Manny were together. I was glad not to be important enough to need a ghost guard, but it made me worry for my boyfriends.
Wait a minute.
“Are we boyfriends?”
Okay, maybe I could’ve introduced the topic more gently, but we’d been driving in silence for almost five minutes now.
Arch and Manny looked at each other in the rear-view mirror, and Manny crossed his arms over his chest, scowling.
“We’d better be, gordito, because I don’t make my magical potato salad for just anyone. ”
I laughed and the mood in the car turned lighter. I put my hand on Arch’s thigh. “Is that going too fast for you?”
He shook his head, smiling. “I didn’t want to presume, but boyfriends works for me.”
“Which means exclusive, in case that wasn’t clear.” Manny was scowling again. “I don’t share.” He paused. “Except between the three of us.”
I reached through the gap in the front seats for his hand. I didn’t think I’d ever stop smiling.
Manny’s mother texted him updates as their plane landed and they reached baggage claim. We hadn’t left the house in time to park and meet them inside, so Arch got in the lane to pick up arriving passengers.
“They have their bags and they’re waiting outside.
” Manny looked at Carlyle. “Time to do your disappearing act, Grandpa.” The ghost harumphed but did as Manny asked.
We got closer to the baggage claim doors, and Manny leaned forward between the front seats.
“There! That’s Mamá in the blue shirt and Eloise...
” His voice trailed off. “What the fuck?”
Manny’s mother was exactly as she’d appeared on the video calls, a forty-something woman with a bright smile, waving excitedly at us. Her girlfriend, however, was a Wonder. A pixie, if I had to guess. “Uh, you didn’t know?”
“Nope. But I haven’t seen Eloise in person since I got my magic. Shit, my mom! Does she know?”