Another Day, Another Dollar - Avery Clavens Book 4

Chapter 12 - You can't fool me

I make my way through the brush until I come to a clearing that seems a little unnatural. Across the clearing I see Nate walking my direction.

“There you are. We got worried when you disappeared,” he says stopping a couple feet in front of me.

“Where is Rick?” I ask. “I would have thought he would be the first to find me.” I don’t know what it is about this situation, but it seems really off. Rick being able to track my general uniqueness should have been able to walk right to me.

“Oh we split up and for some reason he was sure you were in the other direction,” he replies. “I felt you were this way so I let him go on his own.”

“Hmm. It must be the Kapre playing a trick on us. We really need to find him soon, I am getting really tired of games. Can you call Rick and have him meet us?” I ask.

“Sure,” he says taking out his phone and making the call.

He starts walking around a little, and when he turns his back to me I sneak mine out of my pocket and see that it says I still have no service. The fact that we have the same carrier and identical phones makes me believe that he is having a fake conversation. When he is done with his “call” he walks over and takes my hand.

“He said he isn’t far from us and if we walk to our left just about five minutes we should run into him,” he says trying to lead me away.

Having undeniable proof that this isn’t my Nate, I raise the arm with the machete to his throat and say, “You better release my hand right now. I will not be going anywhere with you.”

“Avery, what are you doing? We need to go find the rest of our group so we can find the Kapre,” he replies.

“They told me you like to play pranks and could offer illusions, but they neglected to tell me you could put yourself into the illusions. I am guessing you aren’t a shapeshifter or they would have mentioned that. At least I hope they would have mentioned that, after recently dealing with a shapeshifting witch. So what name do you go by?” I ask.

“You are no fun. You knew right away didn’t you?” he replies. “I have never had someone see past the illusion. You must be something really special.”

“Maybe that is true, but I like to think it is the fact that I have learned to trust nothing. Your first issue was the clearing in a middle of a swamp, where I haven’t come across one so far in my journey, it made me feel funny. Secondly, my dear, sweet soul mate who you happen to be impersonating, once told me that we have a special connection and you have proven that to me. Anytime we touch, we can feel our soul mate bond. Grabbing my hand was a big no no because it confirmed to me what I was already feeling,” I say feeling generous enough to explain everything.

“Darn, you are the only female in your group and I was hoping we could have more fun together,” he says as the illusion starts to fade away.

“Depending on the fun you wanted, you would have probably got in trouble there too. The real Nate knows not to try to get it on with me in the middle of a swamp,” I tell him as I have to raise my eyes to meet his now two feet taller than me face. “Wow they weren’t lying about you being tall. You are literally built like a tree.” I always felt short around the berserkers. With this guy I feel like a child.

“Well at least they did warn you about that. I tend to scare most women with my real form,” he replies.

“I imagine I would scare most women at first in my other form, too,” I tell him.

“Really, I knew you weren’t human, but I don’t have an ability that tells me exactly what you are. You said you were Nate’s soul mate so I am guessing that would make you just a tad bit on the fiery side,” he tells me.