TWENTY-ONE
The headlines the next day were absolute hog wash.
“Adalwolf fails to impress in hand-me-down clothes,” Nic read aloud, his face twisting with anger. “Those fucking—”
“Don’t worry about it,” Jo said, rolling her eyes. “They just don’t have anything else to say.”
“So they resort to insults?” he asked, shaking his head. “They’re threatened. Clearly. Or else they wouldn’t target you. They should be talking about how the fae team got absolutely trashed on fairy wine and spent the evening stripping their clothing off in the center of the room while trying to fuck anyone who came too close.”
“Yes, but that’s normal,” Jo replied, shaking her head. “Apparently, wearing a dress that’s ten years old isn’t.”
“And they call us savages,” he grunted, shaking his head. “When is this world going to be less backwards than it is?”
“Never,” Jo answered honestly. “Not unless we change it.” She took a moment to think about it. “At first, I didn’t want to be involved in the High Wizard’s plans. We have one thing we need to focus on and one thing only. But now, after seeing how much corruption there is and how imbalanced the supe community is, I realize just how badly we need to shift the balance.”
Nic growled. “The news is supposed to be unbiased and neutral.”
“They’re not,” Jo admitted. “No media is free from the influence of power and money. The elite control what we see. That’s a fact that will never change.”
The knock on the door startled both of them.
Nic immediately sprung up from where he’d been sitting, his claws out and ready to attack. Jo was on her feet the same, her senses reaching out to try and get a feeling for what was happening. Werewolf senses were heightened, but besides the knock, Jo couldn’t get a read.
“Anything?” she asked.
He shook his head. “Only the slight scent of lightning.”
They both eased toward the door despite the knock not coming again. On high alert, Jo grabbed the door handle, prepared to whip the door open for Nic to attack. She met his eyes, counted down in her mind, and on three, she jerked the door wide.
Nic snarled and sprung outside, only to find. . .
No one. There was no one outside nor any traces of scent besides the lightning. As if a storm was brewing on the wind despite the sun shining. But there was a large box, at least two feet tall, sitting on the porch.
There were no markings on the box, but the scent of lightning was stronger around it.
Jo glanced around, searching for who might have dropped it here, but there were no other scents, no other tracks, no trace, as if the box had simply appeared out of thin air.
“What do you think is in it?” Jo asked, staring down at the large box.
Nic inched closer. “I don’t know. I don’t smell gun powder or C4.”
An important distinction. If the smell was bad, if there was a sound, then it could have been a bomb, but Jo didn’t get that sense either. There was no evidence of explosives.
“Should I open it?” Nic asked, sniffing harder at it. “The only smell I’m getting is lightning.”
Jo moved forward. “Let’s open it then.”
She sliced the top open and lifted the flaps to the side before both of them peered inside. At first, there was nothing there. Something tiny at the bottom of the box caught Jo’s eyes, but before she could reach inside to pull it out, lightning exploded from the depths, zapping out, and forced both of them back as it lit up. The sky darkened overhead as the lightning shot up and morphed together into a shape.
“What the fuck is that?” Jo asked, scrambling backward.
The lightning flickered, the clouds grew heavy with rain, but only once the electricity formed the shape did Jo realize.
“It’s a fucking bird,” she growled, jerking back. “How the fuck do we fight a lightning bird?”
“Not just a bird,” Nic replied. “An eagle.”
The creature began to move, the lightning it was made of making it look fiercer as it spread its wings and shot right for them. The lightning touched Jo’s arm as it snapped out and she cried out at the zap it sent through her, at the sizzle of her skin where it had made contact. All her hair stood on end.
“Call Theo!” Nic ordered, taking off toward the trees. “I’ll distract it.”
The eagle turned to go after Nic as he shifted, bursting through his clothing because he couldn’t take the time to pull them off, and they both took off into the trees.
“Fuck,” Jo growled, rubbing at the black mark on her arm. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”
She dashed inside and grabbed her phone, only realizing a moment later she didn’t have the phone number for the High Wizard. She pressed the number for the next best thing.
The phone rang once, twice, and then a sweet, “hello?” answered.
“Cricket!” Jo shouted, running back onto the porch and looking around. “There’s a fucking lightning eagle chasing Nic!”
“What?”
“A lightning eagle!” Jo shouted. “It sprang out of a box and is chasing Nic through the forest. What the fuck do we do? I don’t have Theo’s phone number!”
Cricket was silent for a split second. “Hang tight, Jo.” And then she hung up.
Jo looked down at the phone in surprise. “What the fuck!” She rushed off the porch. “Nic! She said to hold tight!”
Nic burst from the trees, running full tilt, the eagle behind him, burning a path through the trees as it flapped its wings. The forest crackled with the flames that erupted thanks to the dry summer. They’d have to address that next before it turned into a wildfire.
If I hold any tighter, the hairs on my ass will burn off, he said inside her mind, his wolf eyes bright with excitement despite the situation. It had been too long since he’d shifted and ran.
“Oh, that’s a fearsome threat for sure,” the voice said from beside her, and Jo screamed in surprise. She hadn’t heard anyone arrive, but that shouldn’t have surprised her with Theo. “Lightning is a difficult mistress to harness, which only clarifies that our threat is celestial.”
“Do something,” Jo demanded, gesturing toward the eagle that still chased Nic. She didn’t care that Theo was the High Wizard or that demanding him to do anything was probably a bad idea, but Theo only smiled.
“My pleasure. In the meantime, we must compile a list of gods and goddesses who hold dominion over weather of any sort.” He sighed. “There are so many.”
And then Theo was stepping off the porch and twisting his hands together. Jo had never seen the High Wizard of the North do magic, but she’d always been able to feel his power while near. Now, as sparks began to fly from his hands, the power that whipped off him made her take a step back in horror.
She should have never talked to him in such a way.
“Lead it toward me,” Theo demanded through his magic spinning around him, his teeth grit against whatever spell he was casting.
As Nic took his direction and sped toward the wizard, the eagle followed, screeching its anger. The moment it drew close to Theo, magic exploded out of him and encased the eagle in a great pearlescent bubble. The eagle screeched in anger as the bubble shrank, absorbing it until the lightning harmlessly puttered out. Everything went silent, and Theo’s shoulders relaxed. He didn’t appear any different. He wasn’t disheveled or perturbed. Instead, he straightened his hot pink coat with white polka dots and turned back to them with a bright smile.
Nic shifted back into human form and leaned against the nearest tree, breathing hard after running so hard from the creature. He’d had to run full speed to stay ahead of it.
“Your services are appreciated,” Nic panted.
Theo’s eyes trailed down Nic’s naked body in interest. “Yes, well, we now know the threat we face is even larger than expected.” He turned to Jo. “Next time, just call out my name three times and I’ll appear.”
“Like Beetlejuice?” Jo asked.
Theo grinned. “Exactly like that. Good day.”
And then he disappeared in a cloud of golden glitter that had Jo staring at the ground where it fluttered and settled.
“Well. . .this certainly is a more exciting life than I’m used to.”
And when they both began to laugh, they couldn’t stop.
Not until their stomachs hurt and their smiles were infectious, and they were looking at each other in a way they shouldn’t.
Jo felt the danger and continued to look anyway.