Page 27 of Wonder
He reversed out of the driveway. “I called my mom, but she’s watchin’ my niece and nephew, so she can’t help.” He glanced at me. “But before we get to the vampire plan, do you want to talk about findin’ your mate?”
I crossed my arms. I knew I was pouting, but, fuck it, Ifeltlike pouting. “It’s....” I uncrossed my arms so I could throw my hands in the air. “I wasn’tlookingfor a mate. I don’tneeda mate. Mates aren’t the be-all, end-all people make them out to be. I know my parents thought so, but I’d rather never have a mate than end up with a relationship like theirs. All I want is for a real District Monitor to show up. Then all the Wonders will stop messaging me all the time, and I can get my life back. Maybe one day there’ll even be another opening in the department, and I can work with you again.”
He threw me a sympathetic grimace, but I knew what he was thinking. When I’d quit, I’d given up any chance of being a police detective again, at least in this town. They’d promote from within before rehiring someone who’d quit for reasons he wouldn’t tell them.
I crossed my arms again and stared out the window. “I agreed to be acting DM because the Wonders neededsomebody, and I was the best choice. But I didn’t expect to still be in the role after two freaking years. I didn’t expect to have to quit the job I loved because this volunteer position takes so much of my free time. I haven’t had a weekend to myself in over a year, Tucker. My kayak is full of dust in the garage. I’m always helping Wonders, talking to Wonders, worrying about Wonders. It’s suffocating me.” I slapped my hand over my phone in my pocket. “I responded to all of my messages a few days ago. Zero unread on text or Discord. This morning I had almost a hundred new ones to go through.”
I crossed my arms yet again. It was comforting. “It’d be better if I had the abilities of an actual DM. I’m constantly stressed I’m missing something important, letting them down, or making the wrong decision.” I huffed. “And now on top of everything else,I’m supposed to mate with some guy I met yesterday? I know it makes me sound like some whiny-ass entitled prick, because most people would kill to have their mate show up, but I didn’t ask for one. And Simon thinks our connection is permanent, so if I want to have sex again,ever, I have to bond with him.” I pressed my lips together and tried to swallow against the lump in my throat. “When do I get to choose the path my life will take? When can I do something for me?” I glared at the sign pointing the way to the ocean as we passed it, going in the opposite direction.
Tucker was silent for a moment. “I’m not denyin’ you’ve been forced to make some sacrifices, and you deserve to make all the decisions in your life. But this mate thing just got sprung on you last night.” I felt him looking at me, but I didn’t turn my head. “Let it sit for a while before you decide for sure you don’t want to be mated. Get to know Simon. Give him a chance. He seems like a good guy, and he’s definitely not hard on the eyes.”
I heaved a huge sigh. “Fine. Can we talk about something else now? Like how we’re going to keep from getting killed when we get to the park?”
THESSALONIKI, GREECE – JUNE, 1961
“Thanks, friend.”
The satyr swayed toward me. “We should take this back to my place.”
I smiled and wiped my saliva off his neck with my thumb. I made sure he was looking into my eyes. “The street festival is still going strong. You should find a willing partner.” My Greek was flawless—the Elves had gifted us Royal Guards with a language spell so we could blend in anywhere. It was one of the most useful skills I had, both in my search and in getting enough blood to stay alive.
A band was playing “Never on Sunday”, and we could hear people laughing and talking over the music. His eyes went a little distant. “Mmmm. A big ship docked this afternoon. I’ll bet I can talk a pair of sailors into coming back to my apartment.”
“Sounds like a great time. Have fun, but get some food first.” I pointed him toward the mouth of the alley and gave him a little prod to get him moving.
After he left, I leaned against the nearest wall and rubbed my face. I’d killed two moreluchd-òl folaa couple of weeks ago, butthe others had left the area and once again I didn’t have any clues. I kept thinking there had to be an easier way to find them, but I hadn’t run across any more Seers, and I didn’t have any other ideas.
I felt movement in my rucksack, so I swung it off my shoulder and hastily opened the bag. Thedèideag dìonhadn’t moved or changed shape in months, even though I spoke to them every night before I went to sleep. But at creation they had imprinted on Prince Nicol, and I worried they would revert to nothingness before the Seer’s vision of their future came to pass. This movement was a good sign.
“Hello, little one. Would you like to take a look around?” I cradled the sleeping cat statue in my arms and slung the bag back over my shoulder. It was heavier than usual because of the camera I’d taken from theluchd-òl folaI’d killed. I’d hoped to find something useful on the film, but none had been loaded. A few days ago I’d bought some more and had been amusing myself taking photos of the Greek shoreline.
Thedèideag dìonstretched a little, then their runes sparkled.Fly time.
“You want to fly?” Was it time for the Seer’s prediction to come true? Would thedèideag dìonbe leaving for America?
They didn’t respond, so after a moment I put them back in the rucksack. This town was too small to find a plane to America. I needed to go to Athens.
It wasn’t like I had anything better to do.
CHAPTER 8
SIMON
“We should waitfor Reno and Tucker.” Cal’s tone was cautious, as if he thought I’d throw a fit or something.
I gritted my teeth and opened the door to exit Greg’s SUV. “Fine. Unless we see a rabbit shifter or a vampire.” Yes, I did want to throw a fit. Or, better yet, run into the park to find Marcas and Roibeart before they could kill anyone else. Waiting on three magic carriers and a cougar shifter would slow me down.
But five of us would be more effective in a fight than just me, so I would give them a few minutes. I could feel Reno getting closer by the second, so they shouldn’t be long.
Standing next to the car, I put my arms through the straps of the modified tennis racquet backpack that held my mek’leth. Cal pulled a large rectangular musical instrument case from the back of the SUV. I wrinkled my nose. Once this was all over, I needed to help him find a better way to carry his bat’leth in public. At least the parking lot was mostly empty, so the park shouldn’t be too crowded today. But it only took one person getting spooked by Cal’s large bladed weapon to call the police. We couldn’t afford the delay.
Finally Tucker pulled into the parking spot next to us. He got out and opened the rear door to pull out a Kevlar vest and a baseball bat. He was wearing a baseball cap, and after he put the vest on, he tucked the bat under his arm. Hopefully people wouldn’t look too closely at him.
Shane’s grandmother—Dimi if I remembered correctly—popped out of Tucker’s SUV. She watched Reno get out of the passenger seat, then she thwacked the back of his head with her hand. I started forward, but she didn’t do it again. He must’ve felt something, because he ducked and rubbed his head.
Dimi zipped to a stop next to me. “That boy’s going to drive himself crazy before he gets his head out of his behind about your mating.”
I managed a smile. “I’m aware. Thanks for coming.” I was glad she was here. Not only could she alert Shane if something went wrong, but one of the Hunters could talk to ghosts, so if the coming fight went badly she could let them know as well. Cal had called them, but it would take them at least another thirty minutes to arrive. I was certainly not waiting that long.
