EIGHT
The junkyard Jo had chosen was an hour drive up north, just outside of Atlanta. Known for its abundance of classic cars that owners left to rot away, it was the perfect place to find the shell and engine for what they needed. There would be extensive work to do but Jo was confident she could pull it off in the couple of months they had. She wasn’t sure how useful Nic would be when it came to helping but at least he seemed prepared to do whatever she needed.
It was still difficult to look at him though.
The end of the day the previous night, after she’d decided she couldn’t look at the weapons anymore without her eyes crossing, she’d looked at Nic and told him to find somewhere to sleep that wasn’t in her cabin. He’d paused for a split second but then ultimately bowed his head and said, “of course.” She hadn’t known where he’d gone, but she knew there were no hotels at least fifty miles in either direction. She didn’t care where he went. All she knew was he was back at the cabin bright and early, just as she was making her morning coffee. She hadn’t offered him any. He hadn’t asked.
Now, they were in his truck together after he’d insisted he could drive, and well, gas prices were high right now. If she saved a bit of gas, then it was fine but being in such close quarters with him was difficult.
He smelled just as amazing as she remembered.
It pissed Jo off that Nic was even more attractive now than he’d been when they were younger. He’d been young and fresh-faced back then, eager. Now, he was a man. His muscles were built from hard work, his shoulders broad. He sported a gentle, well-kept beard along his jawline. His hair hung as if he’d styled it to look disheveled, but it just naturally laid that way. And those eyes. . .
Jo needed to stop it, but the scent of pine and vanilla kept reaching her nose. She wondered what she smelled like to him.
“We don’t have a major budget,” Jo said as they pulled through the gates. Cars lined the road and a whole field of decaying metal beasts stretched out before them.
“Don’t worry about the budget. If there’s a car here you want, we’ll get it, even if I have to talk them down.”
Jo raised her brows. “No matter the car?”
He nodded. “No matter the car. Let’s go through them all and find what calls to us best.”
It was strange to hear him talk about it like that, to have him refer to them as an “us,” but Jo figured it was best not to fight it. This was part of the Race Games, and she could at least allow him to speak about that. The moment he brought up the bond again, however, she was shutting that down.
It was too painful.
The wolf packs were usually considered one of the lower income supernatural communities. As a cub, Jo had thought it was because the wolves put all their funds back into the pack, but as an adult, she realized it was because the other supernaturals liked it that way. After all, there needed to be someone at the bottom of the totem pole. At the bottom sat the wolves and the goblins. At the top were the fae, elves, and vampires. The rest sat in the between and were scattered strangely, but the wolves? They were always thwarted the moment they started gaining momentum. It was why Jo was surprised no one had come after MateFinder yet. A wolf shouldn’t be able to move along the caste system the Council put into place.
“You know anything about engines?” Jo asked as they pulled to a stop.
“Enough to work on one, but not enough to explain in detail,” he admitted. “I’m sorry I’m not as much help as I’d like to be.”
“There’s plenty you’ll be able to do,” Jo shrugged. “Besides, I know enough for the both of us and if there’s something I don’t know, I have friends I can call.”
Stepping from Nic’s truck, the two of them tilted their chins up toward the midday sun and let the warmth absorb into them. The smell here was clear, not like the smell of the inner cities. It called to their wolf nature, beckoned for them to run, but they didn’t have time for that.
“Welcome,” an older gentleman said as he hobbled from inside. “Can I help ya with something?”
“We’re looking for a car and an engine,” Jo answered with a smile. “I was told you were the best place to come.”
“We’ve got plenty of what ya need,” he nodded. “Have a look around. You find something you’d like, make me an offer and we’ll go from there.” He waved and went back inside, leaving them to their time.
“How many cars you think are out here?” Nic asked with a frown. It appeared as if the junkyard continued for miles.
Jo shrugged. “Thousands? He’s known for collecting. It was only recently he started opening his doors for customers.”
“A literal gold mine,” Nic nodded. “Let’s go deeper. I bet the good stuff is in the back.”
Hours later, Jo was covered in a fine sheen of sweat as she climbed on top of a stump and looked out over the junkyard they’d barely made a dent in. “This is stupid. We’re never going to find what we need.”
Rows and rows of cars, all shoved in tight so it would be difficult to get it out even, but at least they’d brought a trailer. They were prepared. Werewolf strength would come in handy for sure, and there were at least empty rows in between the cars so they could bring it back, but it was going to be a nightmare once they figured out which car they were taking.
“None of them are speaking to me in this area,” Nic agreed. He looked behind him, saw how far away they were from the front, and ran a hand through his hair. “Maybe it might be beneficial to go wolf the rest of the way?”
Jo glanced toward the old man’s home nervously, but Nic was right. They were far enough away it shouldn’t be a problem, but it made her nervous to shift in front of Nic. He’d never seen her wolf. She’d never seen his. They only knew each other through senses and the bond.
“Fine. We’ll be faster.”
She immediately reached for the hem of her shirt but before she could pull it off, Nic turned away, giving her some privacy. She hadn’t expected it of him. Wolves weren’t modest creatures, but she appreciated that he didn’t step over boundaries she’d set in place. He tugged his own shirt over his head, revealing tempting muscles upon muscles, but she turned away, too. If he wasn’t going to look, then neither was she. It was respectful.
Quickly tugging her clothing free and wrapping it up so she’d be able to carry it with her, she shifted into her wolf and waited until he trotted over to her. It didn’t surprise her that Nic’s wolf was a tawny beast. He shook out his fur and gave her a wolfy grin. Her own wolf, in comparison, was smaller than his and the color of her hair, a mixture of dark brown with chestnut highlights. Without acknowledging the way her wolf clamored to be near him, they both took off deeper into the junkyard, moving far faster than they had on human legs, looking at the cars they could.
It was another hour of running before Jo slid to a stop in front of a rusted out car sitting on rims. She stared at it, and without wasting time, transformed back onto human legs, quickly tugging on her clothing. Nic came around the corner and did the same, a flash of skin out of the corner of her eyes that made her flush. Still, her eyes were fixated on the car.
“Is that what I think it is?” Nic asked, moving over to touch the rusted quarter panel.
“A 1970 Plymouth ‘Cuda,” Jo said, staring at it. The car was in bad shape. It would take a ton of work to bring it up to standard, but it would be worth it just to hear her purr. “Let’s look under the hood.”
Nic moved around the car and reached in through the driver side window. It must have been shattered at some point, an easy enough fix, though the parts might add up. Still, the car was a legend in its own right. It didn’t need to be pretty. It just needed to be fast and strong.
The hood popped when Nic released the latch, and Jo moved forward to pull the hood open the rest of the way. The moment she did, she lost her breath. “The engine is still intact.” The 426 Hemi was sitting there in all her glory, a blessing and a curse really. Since it was original, it would need tons of work depending on how long the car had sat there.
Nic came around and looked in beside her. “It’ll need some work, but I think we can restore her. I know a guy who could rebuild the engine on credit, and he’d fit me in quickly.”
“She needs a lot of work,” Jo admitted, moving around to look at her. There was more rust than paint on her, the original color difficult to find among the dirt. Eventually, she saw the fire engine red peeking through. There were no tires left on the rims, the remnants of them dry-rotted away. Inside, with the window having been busted out, the interior was completely gone. It would all need to be replaced, and with the rain that likely got inside the car regularly, there was probably mold that would need to be addressed. The wiring would need to be completely redone, the entire suspension, the engine. There wasn’t a bit of the car that wouldn’t need work, but something about it called to her.
“I think she’s our car,” Nic murmured, watching her closely. “I can see it in your eyes.”
“Don’t you feel it?” she asked.
“The connection?” he nodded. “I feel it. She’s a sleeping beast. I think we can bring her back to life.”
A diamond in the rough, that’s what she was. There would be so much work but, in the end, she would take them over the finish line and earn them a win. Jo could feel it in her soul.
“Let’s go talk to the old man and see what he’ll accept. If he knows anything, he won’t go low.” Jo knew what a ‘Cuda was worth, knew that collectors would be all over the car. She was surprised no one had snapped it up already. Only the fact that it was buried so far in the back kept it here.
Nic smiled. “I like seeing you like this.”
She crinkled her brows. “Like what?”
His eyes twinkled, but he turned away, gesturing for her to go before him so they could walk back to the front. “Excited,” he admitted. “I like seeing you with passion in your eyes.”
Her smile dropped. “Yeah, well, you missed out on plenty of opportunities.” And then she walked forward, preparing to barter on the price for the car.
As she was walking away, she heard him whisper so softly, she almost didn’t hear it even with her supernatural hearing.
“I plan on making up for each time I missed it.”
She pretended not to hear, knew it hadn’t been for her ears, but something inside of her tightened. The Race was what was important. She needed to focus on that.
But she was intensely aware of the wolf at her back and the way he made her breath catch.