Chapter 13
A week had passed since Cleo’s marvelous reveal. Despite the cookie party and family support, she withdrew more than usual. I could only guess that she needed to sort through her feelings. It wasn’t every day a person figured out their life wouldn’t be ordinary.
One thing we couldn’t postpone was introducing our animals to hers.
Cleo obviously remembered everything during her shift, so she observed how differently we behaved toward her.
From her looks to her scent, our animals knew she was different.
It wasn’t the warmest ceremony, but they still understood it was Cleo.
That girl had no idea how wild pack introductions could be. Sometimes two wolves didn’t hit it off and fought. She was likely dissecting every encounter, but… she was a teen, after all. They overanalyzed everything.
Since my room was directly across from hers, I occasionally popped in late at night when I heard her TV going.
My jokes barely got the laughs they deserved, but that didn’t deter me from trying.
It was clear she was searching for reassurance that life would treat her fairly and people would accept her. No one could promise her that.
Meanwhile, Darcy had attached herself to me like a Band-Aid. She followed the rules most of the time, but it was wearing me down. I wanted privacy. I wanted to sit in silence.
I wanted to lie naked in my room while listening to music.
If this continued, I wouldn’t be able to live here anymore.
How long before we started arguing in the open?
Everyone would label me as the crazy Gravewalker.
Talking to ghosts would disturb their animals.
It would embarrass them in front of others, and I’d done my best to refrain from speaking to ghosties in public.
It wasn’t easy, and I’d had a few slipups.
Today, a few of us gathered at the Rabbit Lounge for a special reason.
After pumping coins into the old-fashioned jukebox and selecting my choices, I raised my arms with my beer bottle in hand and swayed my hips to the beat of the song currently playing. No one had used the jukebox in the past thirty minutes, so my picks would be on soon enough.
“Lucia, dance with me,” I said, making my way toward a woman with long black hair.
Lucia weaved toward me, snapping her fingers and shaking her hips while we shared a dance.
I had many friends and acquaintances in the community.
Lucia was neither. We’d hooked up once back when I first arrived in Storybook and was more promiscuous, but now our only interaction was cutting loose on the dance floor when the mood struck us.
When the song ended, I kissed her hand and returned to our table near the bar.
Tak had pushed two of them together to accommodate our small group and strategically chose the seat facing the door.
I returned to my chair next to Lakota and looked across the table at Montana and Robyn, who argued about the best Mexican food while Eden listened in.
The lunch crowd left hours ago, and now people were filing in to play dice or cards at the tables. There weren’t rules that prohibited betting. As long as it kept people here longer and ordering more drinks, Calvin didn’t care.
I once saw a guy lose his BMW.
Darcy was hovering, so I was on my best behavior.
Only one beer, which I’d been nursing for the past hour to make it last. Holding it up to my lips allowed me to whisper to Darcy without anyone noticing.
Currently, she was standing on top of one of the pool tables behind me while giving a dissertation on how none of the players knew basic geometry, which was hilarious coming from a ghost who didn’t know her own name.
Only one other Gravewalker that I knew of lived in the community, and he didn’t come in very often.
Tak set down his glass of tea. “Cleo hasn’t left the house in a week. I don’t know if this will help or make it worse.”
Eden glanced at her new watch made from silver and tiger’s-eye.
“Truth be told, neither do I. But you’re doing the right thing.
It takes time for teens to learn how to control their animal, and accidents happen in public.
People will find out about her eventually, so it’s better if you control the narrative. ”
Lakota chuckled while reading the label on his beer bottle. “My adoptive parents didn’t know much about raising a Shifter. They took me to a carnival not long after my first change. I shifted in the house of mirrors. My father shattered five mirrors, trying to run after my wolf.”
I put my arm around him. “In my day, everyone had a gun. My wolf came out once when I was building a fence. It was the human side of town, and one of the locals passing by saw me. If that man’s horse hadn’t bucked him off at the exact moment he was firing a round, Virgil Nightingale wouldn’t be sitting here today. ”
“Sometimes I forget how old you are.” Lakota guzzled his beer.
I leaned back. “Old enough to be your great-grandfather.”
Eden glanced at her watch again. “When are they supposed to be here?”
Montana stared at his phone.
Well, this was annoying. “Here we are, in a perfectly respectable bar, and everyone’s behaving as if they’re in the waiting room of a dentist’s office. Let’s invite the rest of the pack up here and have some fun!”
Tak adjusted his giant squash-blossom necklace, one he only wore on special occasions. “Tonight isn’t for fun. I want control. If something goes wrong, I can’t control eighteen people.”
Tak was unsettled because Hamish was sitting up front. Our neighbor was delivering cold stares to our table while smoking his cigarette. That curly mustache of his only added to the villain image.
Eden switched topics. A local had burned down his shed to dispose of it and inadvertently set a field ablaze. It lit up a neighbor’s barn, and he was seeking restitution. This place was never short on gossip.
I zoned out. Tak allowed me to come because I had mastered my begging technique. The original plan only included his beta, his third-in-command, and the Councilwoman. When Montana invited Robyn, I seized my opportunity and promised to behave.
A pinch of light leaked into the room when a hinge squeaked on the front entrance.
Tak craned his neck before standing. Krys filled the doorway like a man on a mission.
His leather pants and black T-shirt looked painted on—an ensemble I never tired of.
He slid his black shades onto his head, and when he glanced down at the empty space next to him, he twisted around and abruptly walked out.
Montana laced his fingers together and looked across his shoulder in that direction, his black cowboy hat shading his eyes.
Not three seconds later, Krys walked back in, only this time with his arm around Cleo’s shoulders.
Her eyes were teeming with apprehension, and not one person gave her a second glance.
Cleo wore artificial cat ears in public all the time.
Had anyone bothered looking long enough, they would’ve noticed these were larger and moved independently.
Not to mention her nose and unusual eyes.
Then again, most people here were too occupied with their game to notice a kid.
Krys coolly escorted her toward our table, his eyes scanning the room as the music swelled.
When her long, bushy tail popped into view, it was impossible to miss.
A pool ball clacked, followed by the sort of silence you heard only in a graveyard. The song ended, only amplifying the awkwardness.
Her tail was high enough on her body that it easily poked out through the top of her shorts, but Melody had altered some of her clothes to add a small flap in case she needed more room.
The long tail with spotted markings swished behind her.
When I glanced over my shoulder, I noticed people in booth seats, hopping up to get a better look.
Tak greeted Krys before pulling Cleo into a hug. Then he intentionally stared down every gawker in the place. “You all know our Cleo. Some of you act like you’ve never seen a tail before.”
I cracked up and nudged Lakota to join in. Someone needed to lighten the mood before it got ugly.
Eden got up and gave her a big hug. Then she touched the black camera hanging from a strap around Cleo’s neck. “What’s this?”
Cleo suddenly forgot about all the onlookers and showed off her professional camera. “I bought it. Krys took me to that junk dealer’s place, and he has a lot of stuff,” she said on a laugh.
Krys pulled a chair out from the table. “That’s why we’re late.”
Eden’s eyebrows rose. “It looks expensive. You take good care of that.”
Tak placed a chair by Krys, and Cleo sat down.
Her eyes lit up when she removed the cap from the lens. “He showed me how to use it and everything.”
Tak eased into his chair. “Where did you get the money?”
“I saved up from the chores I did at the shop.” She snapped a picture of Tak.
Eden leaned around Montana to snare her attention. “Be careful with that. Don’t take pictures of people in town without their permission.”
“I know, I know,” she said. “Krys gave me the lecture.”
I moved my chair to sit on Krys’s left. “Does it have film or is it digital?”
“Film,” she said, admiring the dials.
“I didn’t think they still sold those.”
“Film cameras are making a comeback,” Eden remarked. “What’s old is new again.”
“I want a digital one too,” she said. “But first I want a longer lens so I can take pictures of things far away. Those are expensive.”
I chuckled softly. It was great to see her excited about something. Everyone needed a hobby.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Calvin snapped.
Everyone turned as the old codger rounded the bar.
His eyes narrowed to slivers when he reached our table. Tak clocked the owner in a way I’d never seen before, like he was two seconds from flying across the table and knocking him out.
Calvin stood beside Cleo and put his hands on his hips. The whole bar watched with bated breath. “That’s the coolest thing I’ve ever seen.”
Cleo lifted her camera to show him.