Page 32 of A Brighter Yellow
The rabbits weren’t satisfying. The coyotes were scared shitless and didn’t want to play. The raccoons hissed at her. There was a creek, and she played in it for a while to at least get the taste of rabbit out of her mouth, so she didn’t have rabbit breath when Ochre came home.
Home. This wasn’t home. He wasn’t hers. Why was she so stuck on him? Why did it matter what he thought or how he looked at her or the way her heart beat faster when he touched her? She was here for Charlie. She was scared for Charlie, and yet, she was allowing herself to be diverted by Ochre. He said they needed a plan, and she knew he was right, but it worried her to be relying on him and his resources. She was pinning Charlie’s safety on Ochre being trustworthy, and that scared the shit out of her.
Anna jogged up to the crest and looked in the direction of the bunker. She rubbed a paw against her necklace, and it flashed the same steady greenish-yellow. Charlie was OK for the moment. Anna looked back out across the fields. She could leave him. She could go and try to get Charlie on her own right now. She could. But she didn’t want to. She wanted his help, and she wanted him to be trustworthy. She just plain wanted Ochre, but she wasn’t sure he wanted her. Reluctantly, she headed back to the trailer, but he hadn’t returned yet.
When he finally came back, the sun was going down, and he reeked of humans, patchouli, and some other sort of shitty incense. The trailer had come fully equipped with booze and groceries, but until he walked through the door, she hadn’t touched any of it. Now she opened the cupboard to have something to do and something else to smell.
“Did you get dinner?” she asked.
“Yeah,” he said, avoiding eye contact and plopping his pack down on the couch. There was only one bedroom, and the couch and table could convert into a bed, but she was doubtful that he would fit in either. At the start of the day, she’d been hoping that they’d end up in the same bed, but that was clearly never going to happen now. He had to be so mad at her for putting him in this situation. She poured herself a bowl of Froot Loops and then slammed the box down on the counter.
“Did you stop by and see Aubrey?” she asked sarcastically.
“What?”
“You said a couple of hours. I just figured you must have found someone to talk to.” She wished she could stop herself from talking, but it was like every single insecurity welled up inside her and spilled out of her mouth.
“Why are you acting like this?” he asked, shaking his head. As though she knew the answer.
“It’s the Froot Loops,” she said.
“Anna, for fuck’s sake! What is your problem?”
“I don’t have any problems,” she said. “I’m just here to rescue Charlie. You’re the one who wants to hang out with the Ochre Lucas fan club.”
“There is no…” He broke off and made a furious noise. “That isn’t what is going on.”
“I wouldn’t know,” said Anna. “Usually, I try to handle things on my own. Maybe hanging out with all these humans is just how you work.”
“I’m not hanging out! I borrowed the local witch’s backyard so I could figure out the boundaries of the spell they’re using at the bunker.”
“I guess I wasn’t good enough to help,” snapped Anna.
“You said you were getting dinner, and Mrs. Sharp only had limited time before she had to pick up her grandkids. I didn’t want to hold her up. Then I talked to Steve about meeting up tomorrow. Steve is a fucking ex-merc with skills, and he has offered to help. I happen to think that’s worth something. And if you didn’t want to hang out with him, maybe you shouldn’t have given him your number!”
Anna shrugged. “I guess you know best,” she said. Ochre made a lupine-level growl and grabbed up his backpack off the couch. Anna felt a gut-twisting panic that he was leaving her.
“Where are you going?” she barked, slamming down her cereal bowl.
“I’m going to sleep outside!” he yelled back, grabbing up his pack and slamming the door on the trailer. It was a flimsy door, but the crash still rocked the trailer. Anna looked around the dingy RV interior, feeling that she had never been more alone in her life.
Episode 16
Outside the Trailer
Ochre
Ochre tried to channel his inner Fae as he squirmed on the thin padding of his well-used sleeping bag. His elven ancestors had been as one with the Earth and blah blah blah. Surely, they had some sort of magic spell for making camping spots flat and rock-free? He didn’t see why that couldn’t have been one of the things they wrote down for posterity. He twisted and then used a teeny bit of power to shove a tree root down into the ground a few inches. At least he wouldn’t get cold. Scarlet’s personal global warming spell would keep him warm through the night and have the benefit of using up the greenhouse gases in twenty-foot radius by morning.
He put his hands behind his head and looked up at the stars. The sky was clearish, which wasn’t bad for being near a town. He thought about going back into the trailer. This was ridiculous. He shouldn’t have to sleep outside. She was the one who had picked a fight. He ought to go back inside and commandeer the bed. He tried to picture how that would go and instinctively shook his head. That was not an option. He didn’t understand what the hell was going on with that woman. She was like riding with a brand-new driver—gas pedal all the way down, then slamming on the brakes, possibly at the same time.
There was a very soft sound of exhalation, and he jerked in surprise to find Anna only a few feet away. How had she snuck up on him? She was wearing a tank top, a pair of the tiniest shorts he’d ever seen, and her boots, unlaced around her ankles. She’d snuck up on him in clumpy boots. That didn’t help prove he knew what he was doing.
“I was worried you were cold,” she said and held up a blanket. Then she stepped back and he felt her cross the barrier of his spell. She made a sour expression and crossed back inside where it was at least twenty degrees warmer. “Obviously, that isn’t a problem.”
Her face was probably too dark to read for most humans, but his night vision was better than that. He could see that she looked annoyed. She’d brought him a blanket, and nowshewas annoyed.
He settled back into his former position. “Yes, I can take care of myself,” he said. “I may not be a wolf, but I’m not an incompetent moron.”
