I sighed as I remembered my dad’s face when he told me they couldn’t come. How he smiled though his sadness, trying to keep the day still fun and celebratory. “As you all can guess, your dads said no. Said it was too risky for something as simple as a birthday party. When my dad asked me what I wanted most in this world, I thought about how I could possibly make it so we were safer. Make it so we could hang out, and our dads not be so worried, so I came up with this idea.” I lifted my eyes and hands.
“I asked him to give me a week, and then I would let him know what I wanted for my gift. I talked to the ancestors of this mausoleum, asking them how much it would be for me to own the land, talked to the director of the funeral home about how much it would be to transfer the bodies, and then contacted a contractor to see how much startup on a project like this would cost. Then a week later, I asked for a lump sum of money with the contingency that I could spend it however I saw fit.”
I laughed at the memory of my dad’s utter shock. It was the first time I ever got an expression like that from him. “It took a little convincing, but I did it, and construction began.” My gaze ran over all the weapons, thinking of all the years and money it had taken to collect these, to make this place complete after that initial lump sum. “It took a while, but I found that I enjoyed having a secret space of my own. It was quite big, and when I figured we would most likely not see each other again for a long while, I had Cosmo and Rick come with me, and it became my treasure trove.”
“So, while it was meant for a hangout for us as kids, it turned into the place I took sanctuary in.” I smiled up at them, thinking this was the best way to phrase it and not seem like a pathetic loser.
We were all quiet for a second, lost in thought before Avery lightened up the mood again. “A piece of me is pissed at my father. My thirteen-year-old ass would’ve thought this was so cool.” The two others nodded in agreement. I smiled at them all, letting them see I appreciated the sentiment.
Then I had an idea. “Since that was uncomfortable for me, I think it’s time to make it even.” I pointed to each of them. “You all have to tell an embarrassing story from when you were thirteen.” They all straightened up, about to argue, when I let a barbaric smile take over my face. “It’s only fair, right? A secret for a secret. What’s the harm between being honest with colleagues, right, Falcon?”
Chapter 18
Theyalltriedtoget out of it at first. I even threatened to grab one of the guns and shoot them in their knees if they didn’t. Ax tried to snap back by saying they could get one of the guns and shoot me first, which I then informed him he didn’t know which ones had the safety on and which didn’t, but I did. I also reminded them I had the ability to speed around and shoot them all before they even had a chance at me. They caved like a house of cards as I preened in my victory.
Avery started by telling us about the first time he got drunk and tried to dance on stage and yelled at women to shove money down his pants. Then when one of them did, he got a little too excited and came in his pants. When Ax pointed and laughed at him, he shrugged it off as he confidently said he was thirteen and asked what we expected. I winked and gave him a genuine smile, letting him know I appreciated the story.
Ax went with a time he was having his first kiss with a girl in the forest, and when he was about to try for some over the shirt stuff, he saw a deer run off through his periphery, and his wolf took over. He leaped after the deer and left the girl in the woods. Once our laughter settled, he mumbled that wasn’t as bad as when his wolf took him home that night, and as soon as he shifted, he’d peed on his dad’s shoes. That even got Falcon to belly laugh instead of the small cultured chuckles he had been giving us.
The strangest was Falcon. He hesitated for a long time until he gave us a story about how, during an experiment, he had put too much compounded gunpowder into a bullet, and when it went off, it blew up in his hand, covering his entire body in excess gunpowder. He then had to sit through a whole meeting covered in his mistake since his dad wouldn’t let him change. Ax, Avery, and I eyed each other when Falcon huffed out that this was the most he had ever been embarrassed, and that fact made us all crack up.
By the time he was done, Cosmo and Rick found us, and I ushered them in, telling them they needed to tell their embarrassing story. It now felt like a team-building exercise.
Cosmo’s was lame. It was about the time my dad and I caught him hoarding ice cream in his room. He had his own mini fridge and everything because he thought we would eat it all before him. When we assured him we wouldn’t, that neither of us liked the strawberry flavor as much as him, he conceded to always having some in the freezer downstairs. I always thought that his reaction that day had more to do with what it was like in the orphanage than anything else.
Rick’s was funny because it was the first time his dad caught him kissing a boy. He sat there, beer waving around as he regaled us with an animated story about the time he shoved the vampire boy out of the window when his dad walked into one of our spare rooms looking for him. The boy had healing powers, so he was fine by the end of the day, but it was definitely the last time he saw that boy. I scoffed at him for not telling his so-called best friend that story. He was down on his knees in two seconds, begging me not to be mad since it was a request from his dad not to say anything. His dad wanted to spin it to give him more street cred, saying he was interrogating someone and got carried away.
I took a second to look around the room and revel in the smiling faces, others ribbing on each other, everyone at ease... a bizarre warmth traveled from my heart and spread throughout my body. I was about to join in when a sharp pain cut through all the warmth. Another feeling of longing hit me, and I realized someone was missing, someone that would complete this warmth.Lex.
That thought dampened the mood, taking over my mind with different questions. When was he going to show up? Was he going to start trouble right away? Was he going to show up as himself or someone else?
Either way, Lex was going to do what Lex was going to do. I just needed to keep going like I normally would, and he would eventually show up. Hopefully, without causing too much trouble, but I wasn’t holding my breath.
“Since we have everyone here, did you guys want to talk about how tonight’s going to go down?” I glanced at my clock. “Since we need to get going in about an hour.” That got everyone’s attention.
I went into boss mode as I stuck three fingers up. “We got three locations to hit tonight for clues. A dance club, a strip club, and a pawn shop. Since the first two are more packed later in the night, I suggest we hit the pawn shop first. Then the dance club, followed by the strip club, leaving the seediest one for last.” I smirked at the thought of capturing the traitors. Worst case scenario, I was sure I could find some lowlife doing lowlife things I could beat them up for. It’s been forever since I got to smash someone into the ground.
Ax cracked his knuckles as his eyes sparked with excitement and a violent lust. “I can also sniff around to see if there’s any traces of that substance around.”
“Great idea! I think we should split into teams. I will take Avery and Falcon with me to talk to the people who put in the missing person notification, and get the story from them.” When it looked like Cosmo would argue, I cut in first. “Avery has a way with getting people to talk, and Falcon is good at asking the right questions and observing mannerisms. Then Rick, Cosmo, and Ax will stake out the outside. Ax sniffing around the building and inside for the substance, Cosmo manning the front area, and Rick watching the back.”
I waited for more arguments, but when none came, I shook my head. “All right, boys, we have a plan. It’s now time to suit up. Pick whatever you want, just make sure it’s not visible. We’re running a covert war at this stage.”
They wasted no time as they all turned around to decide on their weapons for the night. This place might not have been the hangout I originally had planned for it, but it had already turned into a place that held good memories. It wasn’t a bad way to start the night.
A pair of worried and shaking werewolf parents were in front of me, explaining how their son had disappeared. “He has always been a good boy, followed all the rules all his seventeen years of life. It’s why we sometimes left him to run the shop and close up... but the last couple of days, he had been acting weird,” the she-wolf said in a shaky voice, trying not to cry as she explained the situation.
His dad was next to her with wrinkled clothes, clutching her shoulder while glancing at her with concern and devastation in his eyes. “He has been fighting with us more, storming off, mumbling to himself about how we wouldn’t understand, wouldn’t get that the Lord has blessed him and was going to save us all.”
I checked in with Avery and Falcon, seeing if they wanted to ask anything. Avery gave me a nod before turning on the charm. “I’m so sorry to be here at this hard time, but it would be so incredibly helpful if you could tell us exactly what happened the day you realized he was missing. Your last interaction with him.”
The male nodded, being the most helpful since his wife was crying her eyes out. “Rain and I have been worried sick since this is not something he would’ve even done.”
Falcon cut in quick. “What wouldn’t he do?”
“Run away. That’s what you’re here to do, right? To help us find our son that ran away.” None of us confirmed that, but Avery was slick.
“We’re going to help find your son and hopefully bring him back in one piece so you can give him a good scolding.” The woman hiccuped a small laugh, but her husband was not amused.
