Kept (12 page)

Scratches covered the front part of the truck. Not just your average scratches you see on an old truck. But the kind that made you wonder if a badger had mauled it. While an attendant pumped the gas, I tried to think of a million excuses to call Thorn. Didn’t I need to check on my sister-in-law? Didn’t I need an update on how my father was doing?

I wasn’t even halfway to my destination and I’d been attacked already. By a magical creature.

Once the tank was full, I pulled out my cell phone. With a sigh, I scrolled through the names on my contacts list. It would only take a second to dial Thorn’s number. But one name came before Thorn’s, so I dialed it.

The phone rang twice before someone picked up.

“This is unexpected. Hello, Nat.” The voice was masculine, soft-spoken. It promised the possibility of much-needed help. I was instantly glad I’d called Nick.

For a second I almost felt shy, but words soon came out. “Hi, Nick. How’s it going?”

“Good,” he said. “What’s up?”

I groaned. Where the hell could I begin? “I’ve got a few problems.”

“Wanna talk about it?”

I spilled the beans. My dad’s moon debt. The trip to Atlantic City. My choice to take my father’s place after Roscoe tricked us. Nick listened quietly the whole time, and I didn’t feel the need to hold back any details. Talking to Nick was different than with Thorn. I felt like I could speak freely to Nick—minus the baggage I had with Thorn.

“So, what do you think it was that attacked me?” I asked.

“Trouble. Where are you?”

“A truck stop in Jersey.” I closed my eyes and hoped he couldn’t sense where I was. White wizards had many tricks I didn’t know about, and I wouldn’t be surprised if cell phone geo-location spells existed.

“Nat.”
His voice rose, scolding me.

“I’m thinking it was something magical. What about you?”

He sighed. “You can’t do this alone. From the description you just gave me, I’m pretty sure it was an imp.”

My eyebrows rose. I’d heard of them before, but I’d never seen one. “Well, getting run over by an ice-cream truck killed it.”

“Getting run over by a truck pretty much squashes almost anything.” He chuckled, and then his voice grew serious again. “Imps are creatures that do the bidding of other magical creatures. Dark ones.” I heard movement on the other end of the phone. The click of keys on a keyboard.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Looking up a few facts. And e-mailing my boss at the pawnshop to tell him I’m not coming in today.”

I rolled my eyes and stared at a happy, noisy family
while they piled into an RV across from me. At least they’d be able to enjoy their trip today. “I’ll know what I’m up against so I’ll be careful the rest of the way.”

“Uh-huh. You’re about ten miles from Tuckerton, right?”

So my tricky little wizard figured out my location. “What spell did you cast this time, Mr. Wizard?”

Nick laughed again. “I’m a good listener, Nat. It’s not hard to figure things out when you listen to the conversations around you.”

The happy, loudmouthed family in the RV had apparently revealed a few clues … but only another werewolf would’ve been able to hear them. This wizard had a few new tricks hidden in that black trench coat of his.

I wanted to question him further, but Nick spoke first. “Don’t move. Stay in the truck, in an area where humans are moving around, until I show up.”

“Nick, I don’t need—”

Then that damn wizard hung up on me. Evidently, no one could say good-bye to me properly today.

A hand tapped on the window and I turned to see I had a visitor.

I’d expected to have to wait over an hour for Nick to show up from NYC, but he made an appearance in less than a half hour.
Not too shabby at all
.

A giggle escaped my mouth, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Nick was definitely a welcome sight. His best feature—his smile—was brief, but he did offer it when mine appeared.

I unlocked the truck door and he opened it to the cold. “How did you get here so fast?” I asked him.

He leaned inside, blocking most of the chill. I took in his lips up to his eyes. After a brief moment passed, I realized I’d stared at him too long when our eyes met.
That was embarrassing. He chuckled softly before he turned to scan the parking lot.

His laugh became an easy grin. “You know me. I’ve got enough jump points in my pocket to travel from here to Death Valley if I wanted to.”

My face soured. “You still trust those things after what happened to us?”

I avoided jump points like the plague since the time Nick and I had been attacked heading from group therapy back to my house. We’d been ambushed in an old nasty basement and Nick barely made it through alive. After that, for the first—and hopefully last—time in my life, I carried an unconscious wizard home on my back.

“One can’t be afraid of the dark forever.”

I caught a whiff of something and took a step out of the truck. It wasn’t Nick. He never left a magical scent unless he cast a spell or two. This one was faint, like when the breeze from the ocean hit my nose. Not more than five feet away stood two women with wide grins on their faces.

“Surprise!” one squealed. It was Heidi. The mermaid might fear the ocean, but she sure didn’t have a problem standing close to a dump truck like this one. In a pair of army boots and an old bomber jacket, she looked comfortable. In contrast, my other new arrival wore only a sweater, blue jeans, and a small smile. Most of her chestnut-colored hair hid her face, but I immediately recognized the Muse named Abby.

Both of them were a welcome sight.

“Where did you get this hunk of junk?” Heidi laughed while I frowned.

I snorted. “I’m moving my collection up north. A nasty truck seemed like the best option.”

“Maybe in the ninth circle of Hell it would be,” Nick said. He eyed the truck with distaste.

“What are you two doing here?” I glanced at Abby
and Heidi before looking at Nick. “How much do they know?”

“We got a little phone call from Nick here. He told us enough for us to figure out you’re in deep shit and need help.” Heidi placed her hands on her hips.

“As much as I’d like to accept your help, I can’t. Something attacked me not too long ago and I don’t want you in the middle of my mess,” I said.

Now the Muse appeared—well, amused. “I think you’ve seen we can handle ourselves just fine.”

My thoughts drifted back to the battle with the Long Island werewolves. Both the Muse and the mermaid had worked a blade with a finesse I hadn’t expected. But even if the mermaid could gut a whale with her trident, I still didn’t want them to sacrifice themselves to help me.

“No. You don’t need to do this for me.”

“Whatever. I need to take Abby up to Maine anyway, so the least you can do is give us a ride for saving your ass awhile ago.” She winked as she checked out the truck cab.

I frowned. “Why can’t she drive herself?”

The mermaid sighed. “Maybe I should simply let Abby drive herself so the cops can notice her car doesn’t have a driver?”

Whoops
. With Abby standing there quiet all the time, I sometimes forgot she was invisible to all humans—except for the authors she inspired.

“Sorry, Abby,” I mumbled.

“It’s okay.” Her soft voice drifted to me on the wind, her smile soft and sweet.

Heidi then examined the truck. “Looks like you got a DT 466.”

“That’s what the guy who gave it to me said. What is that anyway?” I asked.

“It’s a truck, that’s all you need to know.” She appeared
thoughtful and then whistled. The noise was shrill and hurt my ears. “Hey, Nick, come take a look at this.”

Nick followed Heidi. He peered at something and nodded at her. “Yeah, I saw it when we walked up.”

They’d spotted what had put me on edge while I’d filled up the truck. A bunch of scratch marks from my attacker.

I joined them. “You still thinking it was an imp?”

“Yeah, but what I’m worried about was what or who dropped an imp-care-package on your truck.”

“And if they’re coming back,” Heidi added.

“Oh, they’ll be back.” Nick circled to the back of the truck. We all followed.

His hand hovered near the dirty handle to open the back compartment, but he never gripped it. I couldn’t gauge his feelings, other than seeing his face, but I was sure he was as grossed out as I was.

He examined the lock but didn’t touch it either. “Nat, did they show you what’s back here?”

I shook my head. “The guy just handed me the keys and sent me off on my merry way. They told me not to take a peek at my Christmas presents.”

“Have you tried to open it?” he asked. “I’m getting weird vibes from this thing.”

I tossed the keys in his direction. He caught them with one hand.

When he gave me an exasperated look, I replied with one that said,
You asked, you open it, pal
.

Nick tried the lock; it didn’t budge.

“Is it jammed?” Heidi asked.

“It’s sealed.” Nick tried again, but no dice. “With magic.”

I scratched my head. I’d been attacked by an imp, and now I’d learned the back of the truck had been sealed by magic, presumably to keep people out. Should I add to
the list that werewolves
rarely
use or even know any spells, so the fact that magic was involved made it even worse?

Nick approached me with a frown and leaned in to look at me closely. His oh-so-faint scent of magic tickled my nose and made me think of fresh cinnamon rolls from the oven. “You have any plans to remove that curse from your neck?”

I touched the burning area where the goblin had poked me. “I have a curse?”

“A minor one. I don’t sense a deep wound.” His warm fingertips rubbed the spot for a bit, and the pain vanished. I avoided staring at him again as he checked me over, gently touching the places where Scabbard had cut me.

Once finished he said, “I call shotgun.”

But I wasn’t done with him yet and grabbed his sleeve. “So what would’ve happened if that goblin had really stabbed me?”

“You wouldn’t be alive, that’s all.” He said it way too calmly. “Thankfully, he only nicked you. The curse would’ve killed you in a month or two, though.”

That didn’t sound too good.

“What about the lock?” I asked.

“There’s nothing we can do about it now. I’ll dig at it while we ride.” Nick made a beeline for the passenger seat. Abby climbed in after him while Heidi and I used the driver’s side.

“You might not want shotgun after you take a look inside.” Perhaps my face said it all, but when Nick entered from the other side, his already pale face appeared even paler.

“The inside definitely looks a lot worse than the outside.” Nick opened his coat and pulled out two long blankets. With a whisper and a tap from his fingertips, the blankets spread along the seat to cover it, stretching
until the two seats melded into one long one for all of us.

I couldn’t help but spout, “Don’t you have a spell in there to clean this place?”

Nick frowned and then climbed in. “It would take more than a spell to clean the filth off this thing.”

Like me, Nick wasn’t too fond of germs. I’d have to thank him profusely later for being willing to get inside.

When I attempted to get in the driver’s seat, Heidi pushed me aside. “Do you even know how to drive this thing?”

“Sort of,” I replied.

She took one long look at me and then shook her head. “Not only are you lined up all crooked next to the pump, you hit the fucking thing.”

With an innocent voice, I said, “I merely brushed against it.”

Heidi started up the truck. It roared to life and the heater turned back on. “Uh-huh.”

She focused on the truck. “I sometimes drive semis when I need to get away from the coast. I usually prefer a bike between my legs, but a truck is just as nice.”

“Was that a bike or a biker you tried to get between your legs last week?” the Muse asked with a wry grin.

Heidi kindly offered the Muse her middle finger.

I think I vote for the biker
.

Not long after, we set off northward up the Garden State Parkway. During the ride, I was snuggled between Heidi at the wheel and the Muse on my right. Poor Nick took up the leftover space against the passenger door.

I warily watched the pine trees along the Parkway, trying to keep my mind focused on anything except an obsessive activity. Over the past few hours, I had been fighting an incessant itch to wash my hands. Ten years ago, I used to wash my hands all the time. Hour upon hour of running my hands through the lukewarm water.

To shake away the revitalized compulsion, I spoke. “So. Where are you and Abby headed to in Maine?”

Abby answered. “A small town. Not too far from Bangor.”

“Sounds quaint. Do you go up there every couple of months? As needed?” For a second, I almost pictured Abby as a call girl. Heading up to an author’s place to provide her
services
.

“She doesn’t do it often enough.” Heidi snorted. “I’m forcing her to make this trip.”

I could tell the Muse wanted to cross her arms, but she had little space to move. “I didn’t need to go. He’d be just fine without me.”

“Yeah, right. He’s not the problem, and you know it.” As I watched their exchange, I wondered how Heidi managed to drive and gesture at the Muse. It was rather fascinating—and slightly unnerving.

Heidi continued. “If you don’t do your job, you go all Patrick Swayze
Ghost
on me, and then I have to drag your butt to your next gig.”

I couldn’t help but say, “Aww. That’s one of my favorite movies.”

“Me, too,” Abby gushed.

Next to me, I detected Heidi making a gagging face.

Nick leaned forward. “So if you don’t inspire your authors, you start to disappear?”

“Just a little,” Abby said.

“She doesn’t just disappear,” Heidi said tersely. “She goes transparent. To supernaturals, too.”

Abby turned to me. “So, what’s your favorite scene?”

Her attempt to change the subject wasn’t bad. Better than my usual attempts. “The part where he has to go to Heaven is mine.”