CHAPTER 7 OZ
OZ
Manny’s friends showed no sign of leaving, so I was grateful when my phone chimed with a text. I tugged it out of my pocket just enough to see it was Roman asking me to call or text him. “Excuse me, it’s my boss.” I stood up and went out to the front porch. Might as well survey the street.
I called, and Roman picked up on the first ring. “You good to talk?”
“Yeah, for now. I’ll text if it changes.” I liked how matter of fact he was about it, especially since he’d only met me the other day.
“Good deal. Listen, we’ve got an all-hands situation, and Giselle’s needed. Is there any way you can work a double?”
I rubbed my face. Giselle’s shift ended at 11:00 p.m., and I needed to be back at dawn for my shift. Not a lot of time to get home, decompress, and sleep. “And who’s on third shift?”
He hesitated. “We’ll be figuring it out in a few minutes. Normally on Fridays, Cassandra takes that shift, but she’s tied up.”
“Got it. What if I ask Mr. Moreno if I can sleep on his couch overnight? I might not see what’s happening on the street, but I won’t miss someone trying to break in.
He’s got friends here right now, so I could run home and get a change of clothes before they leave.
Then I can work my regular shift tomorrow. ”
“Really? Shit, Oz, if you’re willing to do that, it’d solve a lot of problems for us.”
“Sure. Let me check and I’ll confirm with you.” We hung up. I didn’t want to ask Manny in front of his friends, so I texted him. I thought he had his phone on him.
Me:
Giselle and Cassandra are assigned somewhere else tonight. Okay if I sleep on your couch instead of them being posted outside?
He responded almost immediately.
Manuel Moreno:
Of course. But I do have a guest bedroom.
Me:
Gotta keep an eye on the front and back doors, but thanks.
Manuel Moreno:
Fine. In that case, I’ll make you watch a movie with me.
Me:
Whatever you like. I’m going to run home and get some clothes while your friends are here. I’ll be gone about 30 minutes. Don’t let them leave before I get back.
Manuel Moreno:
[thumbs up emoji]
I quickly texted Roman that I was set, and he sent back a thank you with a bunch of exclamation points.
Quickly I ran to the car and hopped in. Manny was off work tomorrow, so I’d have twenty-four hours with him.
As long as he wanted me near him, of course.
If he needed space, I could hang out in the car.
But we had a romantic connection now. Would he let me take him on a date?
Maybe if I made it a no-pressure, getting-to-know-you-better dinner.
Given Manny’s odd magic, would connections and bonds work the same way with him?
I needed to ask and make sure we were on the same page with where we were going.
Better to break it off now than later if he didn’t want more.
Traffic was heavy getting back to Wonderhaven, which made sense for a Friday.
I only needed five minutes to throw a change of clothes, my razor, and some toiletries into my backpack.
I stopped to fold up my grandma’s crazy quilt and tuck it under my arm before I headed back to the car.
I texted Manny that I was on my way, and he sent another thumbs up.
I hoped that meant his friends were still at the house, but there wasn’t anything I could do about it right then.
I was still ten minutes away when my phone rang with a video call. Mother. Shit. If I didn’t take the call, she’d call back again. She’d have Mom with her at the very least, if not Dad and my brother. Sighing, I answered, then put the phone in a cupholder. “Hello, Mother.”
“You’re talking! Wait, we can’t see you! Your mom’s here too.”
“Hi, Mom. I’m driving, sorry.”
“Well, it’s good to hear your voice. Does this mean you’re over your mutism thing?”
“Hyacinth!” Mom scolded her. Not that it had done any good the last thousand times she’d tried.
I breathed in and out. I’d have to remember to bring up Mother in my next session with Elton. “No, it doesn’t. I’m just having a good day.”
“Oh! Tell us all about it!” Mother’s tone was more positive this time.
See, she did care, I reminded myself. If only she would act like it more often. “I’ve got a temporary job doing security.”
“Security?” The doubt in her voice verged on disdain. “I can’t imagine that pays as well as being an electrician, Oswald.” I suppressed a sigh.
“Hyacinth, let him talk. It might be all he can get right now.”
“It doesn’t pay as well, Mother, but keeps me busy and I’m enjoying it.”
“Didn’t you say that wolf pack has a construction company? Do you want me to call the alpha and ask him about electrician jobs?”
Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. “No thanks, Mother. I will handle it.”
“Hmmph. Well, is that all?”
Mom intervened. “Oswald, we’re proud of you no matter what you’re doing for work. Right, Hyacinth? Now, what else is happening in Houston these days?” There was a reason I’d gone to Mom instead of Mother with all my problems growing up.
But no way in hell would I mention Manny in Mother’s hearing. “That’s the only interesting thing I’ve been doing. How are Dad and Herschel, and Susanna and the kids?”
I got them off the phone before I turned onto Manny’s street. His friends’ big SUV was still parked in the driveway, I was relieved to see.
When I entered the house through the front door, everyone was in the backyard, with Shane pointing at some shrubs. I dropped my backpack on the floor by the front door and draped Grandma’s crazy quilt over the back of the couch before heading into the kitchen to put the dishes in the dishwasher.
“Thoughtful young man, isn’t he?”
Before the voice finished speaking, I’d whirled around with a hiss. My fangs dropped and my hands were up, claws extended.
No one was in the room. I listened carefully, but no one was in the house at all.
In this partially-shifted state my ears were sharp enough to hear a heartbeat up in the attic, but I could only sense the five people in the backyard.
My own heartbeat was loud enough to make me listen again, but there was nothing. No intruders, no unexpected guests.
Was I hallucinating? Was this a new symptom of my brain trying to deal with my trauma?
The back door opened, and Manny led his friends inside. He stopped dead when he saw me. I was sure I made quite the impression, standing next to the open dishwasher but posed to fight off an invisible attacker.
“Oz?” He didn’t move toward me, and his friends were standing stock still as well. “Did we startle you?”
I closed my eyes and dropped my hands. I willed my shift back so my claws and fangs would disappear. Blinking, I shook my head. My voice didn’t come, so I pulled out my phone. No. I thought I heard something, but it was my brain playing tricks on me. Sorry.
Manny had come closer. He stopped on the other side of the dishwasher door to take the phone from me. He read my message out loud so the others could hear. They nodded and smiled in a futile attempt to make me feel better.
“What kind of shifter are you, Oz? I haven’t seen fur like yours before.”
“Pia!” Ellis widened his eyes at her. “It’s not polite to ask what kind of shifter people are.”
“Oh. Sorry!” She seemed more frustrated about not getting her question answered than contrite about asking it, but I didn’t mind.
Manny had edged around the open dishwasher door to reach me. The kitchen didn’t have a lot of maneuvering room. He put his arms around my waist. “We’re all safe, but thanks for being vigilant.”
Well, fuck if that didn’t do strange things to my insides. My badger preened at the praise.
“Um, we’re heading out. It was nice to meet you, Oz.” Shane gave me an awkward wave, which was mirrored much more enthusiastically by Pia.
I nodded at Manny’s friends, and he released me to show them to the door. By the time he returned, I’d started the dishwasher and was wiping down the counter. “Are you okay?”
I smiled and nodded. Then I held up a finger and pulled my phone out of my pocket. Why don’t you get some sleep?
I showed him the screen and he sighed. “Yeah. I should’ve been getting up around now.
My sleep’s gonna be for shit, but I need to try or I’ll be dragging all weekend.
” He started to run his hand through his hair, but paused and ended up patting his wig instead.
“I love seeing the guys and Pia, but sometimes they forget my schedule.”
I typed some more. You haven’t told them about your abilities.
He threw up his hands. “I know, I know. I will tell them, I promise. I’m not ready yet. Maybe in a month or two.” He put his hand over his stomach. “Possibly on the anniversary of the day I got the magic. I can pretend my healing powers are new, and they’ll never have to know I kept it from them.”
I frowned and raised my eyebrows at him. Did he really think his friends would never find out?
He gave a frustrated growl and yanked off his wig.
Up close, his patchy hair looked even worse than when I’d seen it across the room.
What hair he had was short, like a buzz cut growing out, and most of the bald areas were on his right side.
He pointed at his head. “This is why. They’ll worry and fuss and try to interfere.
They’ll make a big deal about whether I’m capable of taking care of myself.
And that’s before they realize the traffickers will want me. ”
I stared at his head, then I looked toward the living room where he’d handed Cora a magic-laden smoothie. “You’re feeding them your hair?”
He shrugged, turning his eyes down to the wig in his hands. “Hair, fingernails, sometimes blood if it’s bad enough.”
I reached out and took one of his hands in mine. His fingernails were down to the quick. “Can you, um, stockpile it? Like if you shave, save the beard hair?” Huh. My voice was back.
He sighed. “No. I tried, but it loses potency too fast.”