A Feral Spark, page 36
She didn’t answer, only continued to burn the tiny capillaries inside the part of the brain responsible for speech. Coleman must have realized what she was doing. His hands flew to his head to protect himself, but it was laughable to think that a fleshly barrier could provide any real protection from the power of her fire.
Miranda did a few more pinpoint burns until he slumped into the steering wheel. She stood for a few seconds, quietly assessing her work. His chest moved up and down showing he wasn’t dead. As much as she wanted to kill him, Miranda had a few scruples left not to become a murderer.
With her best frantic witness mask in place, Miranda jogged back into the store.
“Someone call 9-1-1!” she called out near the front cash registers. “There’s a guy out there in the parking lot. I just saw him fall into his car.”
One of the staff went outside to verify while the cashier called from the store’s phone. Miranda, meanwhile, faded into the sea of customers and looked for Lisa, who was still in the back of the store.
“Did you get yourself a latte?” Lisa asked as she studied two different books.
“I forgot my Sign Language book up front!” She made an exaggerated slap on her forehead. “You should get that book, and I’ll buy you the other one.”
“Well, thank you,” Lisa said with a sunny smile.
“Merry Christmas, bestie,” Miranda said, dropping a peck on Lisa’s forehead.
Lisa scrambled to her feet, and Miranda retrieved the Sign Language book. Instead of a latte, she changed her mind and bought a sports drink from the cold case.
As she waited to ring up her purchases, Miranda wondered if there was security footage of the parking lot. She hadn’t stood near Coleman at all, so it wouldn’t look like a crime. In fact, she could be the perfect assassin.
Coleman had once told her he was looking for people to fight better battles so the rest of humanity could live in peace. Turning her kind into assassins and other weapons of war was the twisted end that Linden would take if they ever found other energy shifters.
When they were back in the SUV, Lisa said, “You’re looking pale and clammy. Is something wrong?”
“I’m not feeling too good,” Miranda said. “Sorry to cut girls’ night short, but could you take me home?”
“Of course.” She put the back of her knuckles over Miranda’s forehead and fussed like a mother hen.
“I’ll be fine,” she assured Lisa. “You could go see Faith.”
“I do like that idea,” she replied with a lusty laugh. “She’s got these fingers, and she’s so good at using them. She can reach in and play my G-spot like a symphony.”
“I know. It’s not like you’re the only one dating a violinist, Lisa,” Miranda said with fond exasperation.
Lisa dropped her home well before the pumpkin hour, but the house was quiet. Joel and Lurlene were in their suite. Charlie and Daniel were keeping to themselves. She felt a wave of tiredness hit her and held the banister tightly while ascending the stairs.
She went to the bathroom to do her evening ablutions, but she felt slightly dizzy. Gripping the sink, she watched as if having a slow-motion, out-of-body experience. Soundlessly, blood dripped from her nose, hovering in the air, that vital substance that held life and death. That had never happened after a fire before. Was it because she had concentrated so long on something so small?
At her ears, someone was trying to speak to her, but Miranda didn’t want words. She wanted it all to stop. Then time rebounded, and she remembered what she’d done. Miranda crumpled to the floor, crying out as if the pain in her mind was a pain in her body.
Jason was there, holding her, touching her with his tender care.
“Lean forward and hold your nose,” he said, guiding her hands to stop the bleeding.
He sat beside her while Miranda battled the demons that came from her choices.
“What happened?” Jason asked, his very being radiating kindness and love.
But she didn’t want to tell him yet. If ever. Instead, she let out the sound of her misery. “If you don’t ask me, I won’t have to lie.”
That was futile, of course. The man she loved was a living lie detector. The truth would never be hidden for long.
Jason’s arms wrapped around her body, and Miranda was hoisted into the air. It was completely disorienting, but he took her to Billy’s bed where she’d been sleeping for a few weeks. He set her down and pulled a cover over her. When he backed away from the bed, Miranda protested his absence.
“Don’t leave.”
“Never,” he said as he closed the door. Jason returned to the bed and wrapped his body around her.
More tears fell from her eyes. “You are so soft and gentle. How did the lab not break you?”
He must have understood that she wasn’t in the mood for a real answer to that question. Jason kissed her temple and gave her his quiet comfort. Eventually, Miranda slept, and he was still with her when she woke up in the morning.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Tuesday was busy at the vet’s office as patients and their humans tried to squeeze in appointments before the practice was closed over the holidays. Dr. Burgess and Myra were off for an extended cruise to Panama, which worked well for Jason’s travel plans. In theory. Miranda’s departure was days away, and if his paperwork didn’t clear soon, she might be leaving without him. Joel had strongly discouraged Jason from trying to travel under false documents.
Jason kept his mind off of it by deep cleaning everything in the practice. Lurlene found him in one of the examination rooms around noon when she walked Joel back.
“Handsome stranger came to see you,” she said, giving her husband a quick peck.
“Me? Looks like you two need a lunch date,” Jason replied.
“That would be lovely,” Joel said with his hand drifting to his wife’s hip, “but I am here to take you to get your new picture ID. The paperwork is finished, so now you can have travel documents that reflect who you really are.”
He let out a squeal of joy and then immediately calmed himself. “Let me go clear it with Dr. Burgess.”
After negotiating with the veterinarian that he’d make sure the rooms were cleaned and stocked by the start of business the next day, Jason gathered his things and met Joel at Lurlene’s desk. They both hugged her on the way out and went directly to the DMV without stopping anywhere for lunch.
There were several people ahead of him, and waiting for his turn challenged all Jason’s wells of patience. Joel had come prepared with reading material. He assured Jason he’d get his turn before the day was done.
Left to his own devices, Jason studied some of the other people. There were both young and old in their winter gear, and some were bored out of their skulls and tapping everything nervously. Others had loud conversations over their mundane lives, and it sounded so sweet and wonderful that Jason smiled. These people didn’t know a werewolf passed in their midst, but he did.
Jason picked up a driving study guide for himself and grabbed an extra one for Daniel. He studied the book cover to cover because he would learn how to drive one day soon. When he had practically memorized the entire driving book, Jason looked up, and it still wasn’t his turn. He closed it and sighed with impatience.
Joel also closed his reading to make conversation. “I’m surprised you didn’t play a video game or scroll the internet with your phone.”
“I didn’t think of it.” Sometimes Jason had to remind himself that he had his phone with him. He’d only had it two weeks. Of course, Charlie or Daniel in the same place would have been all over his phone.
“There’s something I need to tell you,” Joel said. “Coleman came up with all the money on Friday. You and Miranda are financially set for a while, especially if you make wise investments and manage that money. But he didn’t turn over the embryos.”
“That was always a long shot anyway, wasn’t it?” Jason wanted them back and out of Coleman’s hands, but his inner cynic didn’t think life would be that easy.
“I’m sorry. I can keep on trying if you want me to.” Joel put a comforting hand on Jason’s shoulder.
Though Miranda carried the burden with him, they still hadn’t done much talking about their ordeal. He feared that everything could get back to the lab. He would never want his future children, for he was certainly bound to have them now, to become pawns in Linden’s game.
Too deep in his thoughts, Jason almost missed when his number was called. Joel nudged him and handed over the package of papers he would need. He also ran a comb quickly through Jason’s hair, a paternal move the werewolf didn’t expect.
“It’s a picture ID. The photo will last a while,” Joel explained.
Jason walked to the desk with his papers, and the process after that was simple. The clerk asked some questions to verify what was already in the paperwork. Then she typed a few things. Finally, Jason took the photograph that would go on his first official ID in his chosen identity. He didn’t have a toothy smile, but his eyes were shining silver-bright with happiness.
Waiting for his finished identification card took only a few minutes. He stared at his own face, not JR’s or Trevor’s or anyone else he’d pretended to be over the last few months. Jason finally knew the name of the warm feeling that filled him. Pride.
Joel drove them home and used the computer in his home office to buy Jason airfare to Montana through an online reservation system.
“Okay. You’re set all the way to Billings with Miranda on Saturday.”
Joel sat back in his desk chair and rubbed the bridge of his nose. It struck Jason as overly sad for some reason.
“What’s wrong?” Jason asked.
After putting his glasses on his desk, he replied, “Nothing is wrong. It’s just that life always changes. That can be a good thing and a bad thing. Sometimes parents want to hold their children forever, but life doesn’t work like that.”
“I wouldn’t know.”
“But you could,” Joel said softly.
“Excuse me?” Jason had no clue what Joel could mean.
“Miranda has a family. Maybe they don’t understand her, but she has one.” Joel started fidgeting with his pen, letting it fall through his fingertips to turn around and do it all over again. “Now that Robert is gone, Jason needs a family of his own, one that is his no matter what happens in Montana.”
Both men were separately quiet. Jason watched Joel’s every facial tic for meaning and looked for dissertations in his hand gestures.
“I think you two are tied together,” Joel continued. “You may find yourselves married with children one day. Children you want because you took the time to dream about them and make them. Maybe those children will need uncles and grandparents.”
Was this the test? Jason could play obtuse because Miranda was a sister with three brothers, but he didn’t think that was what Joel meant.
“Just say it,” Jason whispered. “Don’t make me guess.”
Joel radiated warmth and acceptance. “If Lurlene and I adopted you, you’d be ours, and we’d be yours. Nobody could take that away. Billy and Tim might not get it, but Daniel and Charlie would understand.”
Jason’s astonishment must have encouraged Joel to explain more. “Adult adoptions aren’t common, but they aren’t completely unheard of, either. We could make that happen if that’s what you wanted.”
He was still having trouble wrapping his mind around what Joel was telling him. Jason had done nothing in particular to earn the Rosens’ favor. If anything, he’d been a burden to them, a werewolf-shaped bomb thrown into their lives.
“We love you,” Joel concluded with a tenderness that was Jason’s undoing.
It wasn’t so long ago that someone loving him was an inconceivable concept. Robert’s human mother had never known how to do it.
“But how can you love me?” Jason blurted.
“How could I not?” Joel countered. “Love isn’t complicated, Jason. The more you give it, the more it comes back to you. We’re your family if you want us.”
“Do I have to decide right now?” Jason’s emergent inner-optimist battled with the cynic who feared the shine of something too good to be true.
“No, of course not,” Joel answered, his manner falling to that of the lawyer in a professional negotiation. “You have a trip to take in a few days. Put the thought in your back pocket and tell me what you’ve decided when you make up your mind.”
Jason stood up to excuse himself from the office. He needed to go think about a lot of things.
“Thank you for giving me a chance and a home when I needed one,” he said before leaving.
✣✣✣
On Friday after temple service, Jason sat on the front stoop of the Rosen house twirling his kippah between his fingertips as most of the family bustled about inside. He’d already packed his bags to travel to Montana, and he’d be bringing his violin with him. Daniel had promised he’d take care of Belle while he was gone. All he needed to do was sleep and get up the next day.
The street was quiet with people nestled into their homes. If he wanted to listen, he could hear TV noise in the distance. There wasn’t much traffic as fluffy snowflakes fell around him. His boyhood memories of Chicago had never felt as glorious as the Ithaca that surrounded him.
Jason lifted his face to the sky, and the headlights of a truck caught the drifting snowflakes. Miranda was finally on her way home from everything that she’d wrapped up at the university. She parked on the street instead of her usual slot behind Lurlene’s minivan and took a moment to gather her things.
“If the elusive Tim ever shows up, he can park behind his mom,” Miranda said as she picked her way over to where Jason sat.
“Yes. His girlfriend is coming, too. To make it easier on everyone, I moved the rest of your stuff into my room so he can use that bedroom while we’re gone.”
“Good thinking. So, why are you outside here?” she asked with a light laugh. “I thought your place to sit and contemplate the universe was up on the roof.”
“I didn’t feel like being the fiddler on the roof tonight,” he said as he put his kippah in his pocket. “And I was waiting for you.”
Just then, something crashed inside the house, and voices raised. None of them sounded angry, though. It was simply the cacophony of life with people who loved each other, and Jason got to be a part of that.
“Oh, and I was told not to come inside until they’re done,” Jason added.
“What’s going on?” Miranda asked with an incline of her chin toward the house.
“Mayhem. Daniel is up to something.” Jason frowned. “Actually, they all are. We had a family meeting when Charlie and Daniel got home from school today. Talked about a few things. Lurlene is beside herself.”
“You’ve seemed like you had something on your mind,” Miranda declared.
“So have you,” he noted. “I’m guessing it’s about seeing your family again.”
Jason gestured for her to come to him, so she stepped into his embrace. They kissed, and she sat in the shelter of his arms and legs, looking at the peaceful street.
“Are you ready to travel tomorrow?” Miranda asked softly.
“Ready!” he replied with an enthusiastic squeeze. “Bags packed. Tickets bought. ID that won’t land me in jail because it belongs to someone else.”
“Let me look at that again.” She snapped her fingers and held out her open palm.
He lifted his hips to get at his wallet and fished the new card out of it. After Jason placed it in her hand, Miranda generated a small halo of light to better read it. When she snuffed the light out, a shadow shifted over her expression.
She had been quietly carrying a heavier mental burden the last few days. Miranda was often distracted and distant even when surrounded by the Rosen family. Jason would wait until she was ready to open up. Maybe she had nerves about seeing her family again, which caused some worry of his own. There were still things they didn’t know about each other, and the trip to Montana promised to be revelatory no matter what happened.
“You can talk to me about anything if you need to,” he said softly. [Or you can sign if you want.]
[I’m learning more signs all the time.] Her pace was still slow, but it was true that she’d grown in her command of the language. Practicing with him and Daniel in the evenings had helped both new learners improve.
[Sometimes it is easier to sign,] Miranda continued. [I understand that now.]
She drifted into silence, and Jason held her close to him, enjoying the feel of her in his arms. He lightly ran his fingers through her hair, and she sighed softly into him.
“Are you going to tell my family that you’re a werewolf? I won’t make you, but it could make things easier. They’d know I’m not alone, that I have someone as different as me.”
With a wicked grin, he teased, “I could always tell them you set me on fire during sex.”
“One time!” Her cheeks flamed with embarrassment. “That was one time.”
“Well, it was the most fun I ever had while being set on fire.” He laughed gleefully.
Miranda laughed but became somber again. “I don’t deserve your love.”
“Do any of us deserve the good things that happen to us?” Jason asked, looking over his shoulder to the door where a family and his cat were all bustling about inside. “Hope is not fragile, Miranda. People say it is, but it’s not. It’s the most resilient thing I know.”
Confusion clouded her eyes. “Why are you telling me that?”
“Because we’re in this together,” he said, lacing his fingers with hers. “We’re not going to hide the important things from each other because that doesn’t work well for either one of us.”
Her aura, subdued for days, cleared as if some of the mental poison was coming out. “I really want that, but there’s something I need to tell you.”
“Whenever you’re ready. Should we seal it with a kiss?” he asked, grinning with purposeful wolfishness before pressing his lips to hers and caressing her face like she was the loveliest person in his world.
