Liam huffed his agreement, his nose pressing into Simon’s neck. “Cut that out. It tickles.” Simon chuckled and moved his head to avoid Liam’s snout. Liam licked his face, cleaning up the dribble of blood that traced down his cheek. “Seriously, Liam. Knock it off, you pest.” Liam sighed and went back to staring out the windows, watching the darkness around them for any sign of a threat.
They arrived in front of the huge black gate after a few minutes. It opened immediately, and Simon started to drive through. A pack member he recognized as one of the cub’s parents ran up to the car. Simon stopped, and he opened the passenger door and got inside. “Alpha is waiting for us,” the man said.
Liam nodded and Simon drove again. He pulled up in front of Gray’s house. The car was barely parked when his door was jerked open, and Gray pulled him into his arms.
“I’m okay, Gray. I’m fine.”
Gray didn’t seem satisfied with his words. He looked at Liam, who seemed to be communicating with him, then grabbed Simon’s left arm gently.
“Gray, really, it’s just twisted or something. It’s not important. I have to show you what I found.”
Simon pulled away and reached into the car for the journal. They started inside the house, and Aunt Maggie appeared, a towel full of ice in her hands. “Here, sweetie. Let’s get some ice on that.”
It amazed Simon how seamless they were. Garon ran down the stairs and threw himself against Simon. Simon held him tight. “I’m fine, little man.”
“Don’t leave again, Simon! You belong here with us.”
Simon hugged him a little tighter. He wouldn’t lie to Garon andtell him he wouldn’t leave again. There were just too many stumbling blocks in the way for that to happen.
They settled in the living room, Simon and Gray, Garon and Aunt Maggie, Cade and a man Simon didn’t know, along with Liam and the guard from the gate—it bugged Simon that he didn’t know the man’s name. He went over to him, holding out his right hand. “I’m sorry, but I don’t remember your name.”
The man smiled and shook Simon’s hand. “I’m Robert, Danny’s dad.”
“Hi, Robert.” Simon turned back to Gray. “And I don’t know that guy either, but he doesn’t feel like one of us.”
“You’re right. Simon, meet Rocky. He’s from another pack, and I brought him in to help with security.” Simon shook Rocky’s hand, then went over to the couch with Gray.
“Is it okay to talk about what I found with everyone?”
“Yes. I trust everyone here completely.”
Simon looked around the room. “You all need to understand that what I am about to share needs to be kept between us.”
Everyone nodded agreement.
Simon opened the journal and laid it across Gray’s lap with a smile. “I found something that might help.”
“Might?”
“Well, I guess I should say I found someone.”
“Simon, just tell us. I don’t want to read all this now. Give me the rundown, and I’ll read it later.”
Simon grinned. “Okay, here it goes. A long time ago—centuries or something, it isn’t clear—there was a vampire who had this brilliant idea to try to turn other magical creatures into vampires as well. My grandfather says that he was probably trying to build a powerful army or something.” Everyone waited for Simon to continue. “So he hears about this one Enchanter who lives alone out in the woods.”
“Simon, what’s an Enchanter?” Garon asked.
“I’m not entirely sure, to be honest, but that’s what Grandfather called him. So, the vampire goes to find this Enchanter and finds out the guy has a familiar.” Simon paused and looked at Garon. “That’slike a friend that’s an animal.” Garon nodded his understanding. “Well, this guy’s familiar was a wolf, but not just any wolf. He was a werewolf.”
Everyone gasped their surprise. “Exactly. So the vampire tries to be charming and convince the Enchanter that he should become a vampire so he can live forever. He offers to turn the familiar as well, tells them they will always be together.”
“You mean so they can be best friends forever?” Garon asked.
Simon felt his ears heat up and cleared his throat. “Something like that,” he said, looking Gray in the eye. The men were lovers, being offered a chance at eternity. Simon glanced around at the other adults and realized they’d caught the implication behind his words. “They said no, they weren’t interested. The vampire waited and finally caught the Enchanter unaware. He attacked him, tried to turn him into a vampire, but something went wrong. It didn’t work like it was supposed to.
“So the Enchanter goes crazy, hurts a bunch of people, ra—uh, does some other bad things, but finally, he comes to his senses. He goes back to his home and finds his lov—uh, familiar dead, along with the vampire who attacked them. Apparently, the vampire had tried to turn the wolf also, and it backfired as well. The wolf went crazy and attacked the vampire.”
Gray stopped him. “Simon, how does this help us?”
