~Chapter Twenty-Nine: Falling Apart~
Avoiding Ryland is a lot harder than I expected. Before the deal was made, it was as easy as staying home or sticking around the college. But now, he knows my entire schedule and has no reason to stay away. After all, part of the deal is that I give him a chance and avoiding him is a big no-no.
Since that is exactly what I am trying to do, everything is ten times harder than it needs to be. I could call Dylan, let him know that I need a place to stay for a few days, but I have classes and he has the witches to deal with. They paid the pack another visit Tuesday morning, going after some of the lower members of the pack instead of talking to Dylan directly. No matter how ignorant he can be with cats, my friend is not stupid and caught on quickly. Once again, the witches were sent on their way, with the promise of returning at a later date. No need to add to his problems by bringing a pissed off lion into the mix. He would happily do it – though, maybe not happily once he found out why I am avoiding Ryland – but he would never admit to me when it became too much for him to handle.
I am not sure if Ryland is angry yet or not, but that is only because I have not taken any of his calls or even talked to him since Monday morning. I even get Cameron to give me a ride to my cabin on Monday night, since I was too worried to face him alone. Some people say that knowledge is the best way to arm yourself. But really, the information I have gained is doing the exact opposite by trying to take down the defenses I already had set up. I wasn't supposed to be attached to him by the end of our deal.
All I told Ryland is that I had to stay a little later and would not need a ride home, via text. While he was reluctantly to not pick me up, he relented. Because of that, it was easy to avoid Ryland on Monday. Tuesday was a little harder. While I drove myself to school, Ryland called multiple times later that day to see if I would come over for dinner. I replied to none of his voicemails, worried that if I talked to him, he might manage to convince me to visit. Ryland would pick up on my concern almost immediately, since body language cannot be so easily overridden.
-
I snort, "Nice joke. Now, if you don't mind, I have a class to attend."
"Cade, I'm serious," Cameron says, grabbing my shoulder once more to stop my attempt to leave. I glance down at my watch in a not-so-subtle gesture of my time being wasted. There is no way Ryland and I are bonded.
"Then you're crazy," I decide, shrugging off his hand. It's not because I think he is wrong, but that I think there is a chance – a very, very small chance – he might be right and that makes me want to deny it-Damn it! This is not a mating bond. I would know.
-
Wednesday was the hardest. He was literally everywhere. I woke up to the sound of his truck pulling up to my cabin and only had five minutes to change before I had to jump out the back window while he let himself in the front door, using my not-so-hidden key. While he was inside, I got in my car and drove off. It was childish and stupid, I know, but what else could I do? If I face him, I might be unable to start avoiding him again. Mating frenzies can do that, and acknowledging them only makes them stronger. Not because the mating frenzy gets stronger, but because I then know what I am feeling and why, forcing all denial out the window.
He must have noticed something was off, because he let me drive off without giving chase. Even still, I went straight to the college, where my backup was waiting in the form of Riley. I had told him that I wanted to ask about something before class and he was eager to help, even though I did not really need help. However, having him there ensured that Ryland is not able to follow me and ask about me why I am avoiding him. How would he explain our deal to a human, after all?
To my surprise, when I returned home, he was not waiting for me, only a grocery bag full of the stuff I left at his place. I suspected he might wait until I fell asleep to ambush me, but then I got a text – I'm taking what the Beta said Sunday into consideration. I will see you Friday – and I felt I could sleep a little easier. But even with that assurance, I try to spend as much time as I can with Riley to make sure that Ryland does not magically appear when I least expect it.
"For someone who typically complains about things being too sweet, you love coffee cake," my human friend observes, watching me finish off my first slice of coffee cake. I bought two – one for me, one for Riley – but he turned down my offer when he showed up at the coffee shop.
I shrug, ignoring my manners to lick my fingers. While I do it often as a cat, humans usually frown upon the action. Riley just smiles. "I don't like eating plain sugar or things that are too sugary, no. But this coffee cake has the perfect amount of sugar and coffee mixed together," I reply, eyeing my second slice before deciding to save it for a little later, when I get hungry again. "So, why did you want to meet here after class?"
Not that I'm complaining. Distractions and public places are great for avoiding Ryland.
"You said you wanted to compare notes," Riley says, though it sounds more like a question. I frown, confused as well. It is possible I did, since I have been so out of it these past few days that I might have come up with some excuse to make him stick around longer today, but I definitely don't remember it.
-
"Cade, stop."
Something about his voice makes me hesitate. Maybe it is the troubled expression he is making, or it could be the way he commanding way he said it, but I remain where I am. "Look, I don't want to talk about it," I admit, looking away to avoid meeting his questioning gaze.
"You don't believe me," Cameron accuses, taking a step forward. I immediately take two steps back, keeping the distance as well as creating more. I do not want to believe him, but when he looks so certain of himself, it is hard not to.
I hold up my hands when he looks ready to take another step closer. "What do you expect me to say? The mate bond is something a whole hell of a lot stronger than what I have with Ryland. I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to do stuff with him, but there's a difference between lust and an actual mate bond," I explain.
"I'll concede to that. It's not a mate bond," Cameron agrees, but he does not look like he has surrendered. In fact, he looks more certain than before. So I should not have been surprised when he went on to add, "But that sounds a lot like a mating frenzy."
"No, the frenzy is..." I start, but find myself trailing off as I remember how Ryland acted when his mating frenzy first started. And not everyone goes through the jealousy phase; it is not like he has been flirting or even looking at other people. I can feel the blood draining from my face. "Shit."
-
Maybe I was hungry when I brought it up. That sometimes makes me forget things. Not that it matters if I forgot. We came straight from class and my backpack is hanging from the back of the chair since it had my money in it, so it is not like I don't have the stuff necessary; I am just not sure which class we are comparing notes for. We share two classes and three teachers – the third one teaches a class we are both taking at different times and we sometimes compare what we learned in case she forgot something or one of us missed it.
"If you forgot, that's fine. Besides, there is a much more important topic to discuss," Riley says, kicking his book bag under the table. The deceptively-youthful human leans forward on his elbows, causing me to lean back so that he does not invade my personal space. Friend or not, he is too close. "Is your sister single?"
The air filters out of my lungs with a drawn-out sigh as I glare at my friend, "Both of them are taken."
"You have two sisters?" Riley asks, clearly surprised. "You only ever complained about one of them."
I shrug, "Only one of them takes every opportunity she gets to make my life ten times harder. If you knew the kind of tortures she subjected me to growing up, you would not even think to consider asking her out."
"Dude, she's hot. Your sister could be into bondage and submission stuff and I would totally play along," he confesses, a little bit too loudly. A few of the other customers glance in our direction, giving him odd looks. However, he is completely unaware, his eyes unfocused, most likely lost in a daydream.
I never thought it would be this disturbing to have someone daydream about my crazy sister. "I think you mean BDSM," I grumble. It is not that my sister was kinky, but every time she heard about a new kink, she would try it out on me to see if I liked it.
Riley snorts. "Let me guess, it's one of those tortures?"
"It wasn't so much the SM part as the bondage. She bought this really tough rope at the hardware store and used to tie me to the chair. She didn't even do anything except leave me there for a little while. Though, one time, she forgot to untie me and left me in the chair for five hours while she was at a friend's birthday party," I explain, though leave out the part where ten-year-old Cade cried his eyes out because no one else was home and he thought everyone had forgotten him. At least I was rescued by Victoria before my bladder exploded.
"You know, I almost feel sorry for you," Riley says, not even bothering to hide his smile.
-
The edges of Cameron's lips tilt upward, "It's not wrong to fall in love, you know."
I growl, though it is not like I am angry at him. He simply pointed out something that I was too ignorant to see. "How long do you think I have been in the frenzy?" I blurt.
"A few days, at least. I noticed it on Saturday, but I think the definite time was after Ryland almost buried the bone," Cameron alleges.
"Enough with your weird sex phrases," I snap, but he does have a point. My physical attraction to Ryland during that would have been enough to start the frenzy. The frenzy requires are great deal of both emotional and physical attraction for a long period of time, or a short few minutes, if the attraction is big enough. I guess almost-sex counts as enough.
Now that it is a mutual interest – now that we have both shown that we are one hundred percent compatible – the bond can take root at any time. Even though there needs to be some kind of spoken or unspoken acceptance from both sides, all that is needed to start is any sort of consensual affection. And in the heat of the moment, I might agree to the magic trying to bond us. If the magic seals us, there is no way to send it back.
"I can't let this happen," I say, more to myself than to Cameron.
However, he knows what I mean. "How, exactly, do you plan to fight it? And why even fight it at all?" Cameron asks, and I cannot blame him. He has been looking for love for most of his undead life and it must be annoying to him when he meets someone who would go out of their way to avoid the very thing he craves.
"I'm not sure, but I'll figure it out," I decide, ignoring his second question. While I am not entirely for living in Italy, that is not my reason for 'fighting it'. My reason is more complicated than that.
The vampire sighs, sticking his hands into his back pockets and rocking onto his heels. "You can't just ignore this, Cade," he says, and while I know he is right, there is no way I can just give up and let it happen. This is my life.
"Watch me."
-
I squint at him, but decide not to ask why he said 'almost'; he'll probably just mention something about how hot my sister is again. "You sure you don't want this?" I ask, tapping next to the slice of coffee cake. When he shakes his head, I break off a piece and pop it into my mouth. Then I turn in my chair to reach my backpack, which is hanging over the back, "Let's go over those notes."
- - - - - - -
"How's the witch hunt going?"
Dylan grunts on the other end of the phone. "Not as well as I had hoped, but it's possible they aren't even in the area. Maybe they went on to annoy some other pack and decided to leave us alone," he suggests, though it sounds like wishful thinking to me. It is likely that they are talking to other packs, but if they said they will be back, they will be back. Especially if they need help fighting the demons.
The Fae were evenly matched with the demons, which is why the first year of their war was spent with only two different armies, the Fae vs. the Hellion. It was when they realized they could gain more power by building up their side with other armies full of werewolves, vampires, and other creatures that the battlefield became more diverse.
The witches, however, are not evenly matched with the demons. Demons can be over hundreds of years old, while witches are often limited to a human lifespan. And when they both rely on magic that becomes stronger as they age, it is not a wonder why demons would win. What is interesting is that the demons have not wiped them out yet.
A century ago, from what I was told, the dwarves were looking to become more magically advanced. However, the demons – being the strongest magically-advanced race – were not happy with the dwarves for trying to copy their magic. A war broke out and it lasted for two days before the Hellion Attack Force got involved and wiped out most of the dwarven race. Those that lived went into hiding so they could slowly repopulate, which could take another century or two.
"Why do you think they are still alive?" I wonder out loud.
It sounds like a game of tug-o-war has broken out over the phone and, for a moment, no one says anything except a few heated words between Dylan and a female voice. Which can only mean one person. "That's very rude, Cade," Erika scolds, as soon as she has control of the phone.
I groan, "You were listening?"
"You did just interrupt our plans," she complains, though she does not sound too unhappy about that. In fact, I think she is trying not to smile. I do not doubt that she enjoys doing things with Dylan, but I sometimes wonder if she enjoys seeing Dylan irritated more. She would have made a great cat.
"Really?" I ask, letting the pleasure practically ooze into my voice like a purr. There will never be a day that I do not take pleasure in tormenting Dylan. I will not feel guilty about it, either, since he clearly enjoys messing with me as well. He deserves it.
The tug-o-war begins again, but it ends much quicker this time, "Wipe that grin off your face."
"Who says I'm grinning?" I ask, only now smiling.
Dylan growls something unintelligible on the other end. "I do," he replies after a second, his voice low and gruff. However, I know he is only jokingly angry, because he switches back to our more important topic without hesitation, "I think you should talk to your source again. See if they have any information about the witches."
I am about to say something back, but it sounds like another game of tug-o-war broke out and then the connection ends. I snicker when I realize that one of them must have pushed the 'end call' button while fighting over the phone. While it is tempting to call them back, it is possible their little game will turn into something I should not interrupt and there is a limit to how annoying I can be before they start screening my calls.
Which is how I end up at the nightclub an hour later. When I do not spot Cameron outside the club, I start to wonder if I timed my visit wrong. Though, I have no idea where he lives, so it is not like I can just show up on his doorstep to see if he is home. I have his number, but he rarely uses his phone.
"Is Cam here?" I ask the bouncer standing in front of the door.
The giant of a man looks me up and down, carefully appraising me like some kind of snake, not sure if I am deadly or friendly. He seems to come to a decision after a couple of seconds and jerks this thumb towards the door. "He's inside. If you don't have an ID, I can get him for you," the man says.
"That's okay," I reply, taking my ID out of my wallet and handing it to him. He inspects it for only a few seconds, before pulling the velvet rope aside to allow me in front of the line and into the club. There are a few groans from the people currently waiting, as it is a busy night apparently, but no one complains outright.
As usual, the noise causes my eardrums to have a temporary meltdown and the flashing lights make me a little nauseous, but after the first few seconds, they adjust to the odd sensations and allow me to focus on the world around me. How does Cameron deal with this on a daily basis?
When I find him, he has his business face on. While it does not look much different from his normal neutral expression, this one does not show emotions by a twitch of his lips or a quirk of his brow. Completely professional. Somehow, no matter what happens around him, he manages to remain stoic and uninterested, which is what makes him a pretty good bouncer.
He is currently overseeing the floor from the second level, which is a place I do not have the access to enter. The second level is VIP and guests. It is smaller, though, and is mostly just booths with a couple of open areas for people to dance next to the DJ's stage. I never really paid attention to it until now, because it is not like I have a reason to go up there anyway; it looks like a can of sardines up there when compared to the much larger space down here.
Thankfully, I do not need to figure out a way to talk the bouncer standing at the bottom of the stairs into letting me go up. As if feeling my attention, Cameron looks over the railing and spots me. He walks down the stairs and says something to the bouncer at the bottom. The man nods before walking up to take his place, leaving Cameron to stand at the base of the stairs. Glad for the chance, I skirt around the dance floor and stop next to him.
"I need to know if you have any information on the witches or demons," I say, not bothering to start with small talk. If I was here for fun, I would not mind sticking around and catching up with him, but I have class tomorrow and it is getting late. I also have to leave for the gathering tomorrow night with Ryland and I need to be at my best if I want to be able to resist the temptations.
Cameron looks down at me in surprise, having been watching the dance floor, before sighing, "Right now?"
"Right now," I confirm. I will see him again tomorrow at the college, but we will not have a lot of time to talk, especially not where no one can hear us. Even with my super hearing and his raised voice, it is hard to hear what he is saying, which means that only lip readers would be able to eavesdrop, and they would not even know on what. It helps that 'witch' is a lot like 'bitch' and 'demon' is a lot like...well, there are some very interesting words that sound like 'demon'.
"Well, as a whole, the vampire community has refused to aid either side and the Fae have not been contacted – both sides are pretty reluctant to appeal to them. The demons have been really active in our world, which cannot bode well for the humans. They accidentally blew up a nuclear factory in Russia during a battle with a witch coven," Cameron begins, going into detail about the factory and how the Russians reacted, which was not well. They are currently pointing their finger at Japan, since the small country had some interesting activity in their part of the hemisphere around that time.
"The Mer have announced that they will help neither side, though there is some disagreement between the Pacific Mer and the Indian Mer on the matter," Cameron continues. It makes sense that the Mer – mermaids and mermen – would be reluctant to aid either side, as they try not to get involve with any issues on land. If the problem was in the water, though, they would be the first to pick sides. "The witches were not happy, since they were counting on the support of the water people to make up for their lack in water magic. The demons couldn't care less."
I frown, processing all the information as quickly as I can, trying not to accidentally miss something. "If no one has sided with the witches, how are they still alive?"
"I never said no one allied with the witches; it is just that none of the major races did. The Bigfeet have not officially accepted their proposal, but there have been some signs that the forests in Canada were fighting back in a couple of demon attacks that have taken place there. It could also be the dryads, but they have not been active in years."
The vampire pauses when one of the more drunk patrons stumbles over and tries to go upstairs and he has to redirect them back to the bar. When he returns, he continues as if we were not interrupted, "A couple of the Mayan groups have sided with the witches, but it seems that most of the Welsh groups have sided with the demons."
"That doesn't answer my question of how they are still alive."
Cameron seems to consider something for a moment, and continues to hesitate for another few seconds when he opens his mouth to say something. "I have no proof of this yet, and I would suggest you keep this to yourself, but there is a chance the witch prisons have been restored. Maybe not all of them, but at least a couple," he says.
It takes a moment for the term 'witch prison' to mean anything to me, and when it does, I inhale sharply. "How sure of this are you?" I ask.
"Sixty percent. I still haven't found a shred of proof, though, so it is very possible I am wrong," the vampire says, quickly trying to disprove himself, but it is not very convincing.
Witch prisons have not been used since the Salem witch trials. Behind the scenes, there was a battle between light magic and dark magic. The light witches would reveal to the public the location of a dark witch – though normal humans often were caught in the crossfire when humans start trying to find the witches themselves – and the dark witches would imprison the light witches in underground prisons to steal their power.
Light and dark witches had the same level or power; one just used magic for good deeds, like healing and medicine, while the other used curses and killed people they did not like. So, to steal another witch's power would double their own. But, as the power boost wore off after a couple of days, they realized that the power transfer was only temporary and in order to make it last longer, they would need to find a way to constantly draw on another witch's power.
Thus, the enchanted witch prisons were created. While I am not sure how they work, I know that they draw power from the occupants – witch or not – and give it to those in charge of the prison. I also know that there are many prisons scattered throughout North America, but there are also quite a few in other countries, made for the same purpose. However, they were all destroyed by the Fae when the witches angered one of the Fae kings.
"If you thought you were wrong, you wouldn't have mentioned it," I point out, and the vampire turns his head to give me a look that is difficult to decipher.
"All right, but please keep this to yourself until I learn something more. No need to start a panic," Cameron says, running a hand through his hair. "There is a summit for the cats starting tomorrow, right?"
I nod, "Yeah, that's why I needed the information ASAP."
Cameron is about to say something, but his head whips around so that he can look at the door. To my utter surprise, there is a small smile on his lips. I see why when Riley's brother, Jason, walks in a second later. I am not sure how he could have possibly heard Jason through all this noise, but I suspect it is some kind of vampire trick that I would not understand.
The vampire's face returns to his normal business scowl as Jason approaches, leaving no sign that he ever even noticed Jason, but I am not like him. I openly watch the human enter the club and scan the dance floor. His eyes pass over us, but then backtrack. He smiles widely when he locates my companion, though it falters when he spots me.
Jason makes a beeline for us and only stops once he is standing directly in front of us. "You're my brother's friend, right?" He asks loudly, holding out his hand. I quickly shake it before retracting my hand to my side, feeling a little awkward to be interrupting their happy reunion.
"And Cam's," I shout over the music, then glance at my non-existent watch, "And it seems I am late to meet with my other friend, the TV remote. Bye."
Cam almost cracks a smile and Jason chuckles. Glad that my joke improved the mood a little, I book it out of the club and back to my car, stopping only to jokingly salute at the bouncer out front. The giant of a man shakes his head with a smile, but says no parting words as I disappear around the corner.
Once I get home, I should call to tell Dylan all of the stuff I just learned. And hopefully, while I am taking a bath, I can multitask by thinking of a reason to get out of driving all the way to the meeting in Ryland's truck.