“What about your friends? I thought you wanted me to solve that fire blast thing?” It was horrible of him to throw that at Nero. The guy was still grieving, and Josh had implied that Nero had forgotten all about it.
Not surprisingly, Nero’s eyes chilled, but he didn’t lose his cool. “Any help you can give us on that will be richly rewarded. Things might even go back to how they were before all this ever happened.”
Josh glared at the man for who-knows-what-reason. He was pissed off, and Nero was the best target. But he couldn’t stand here, eating and throwing irritation at random targets. He needed to do something to distract himself from deeper emotions. From the fact that he was a werewolf now and that his family didn’t give a shit that he’d been abducted. So he went for the second-best distraction.
“Fine,” he growled, and it was a growl. Did he do that now? “Point me at the science.”
Nero’s expression didn’t change, but Josh felt the ramp-up in intensity. Like Nero was holding himself back from leaping on the suggestion. “You sure?”
“You said you need me to figure out magical fire resistance, right?”
“Yes.”
“So show me what you got. Point me at the diagrams, the biology, the facts and figures. Hell, I want to see your alchemy experiments. You needed a geek, let me go geek.”
“Really?” The hope in his voice was palpable, but even so, Nero tried to give him a different option. “I assumed you’d want to get adjusted first. To understand what it meant to be a werewolf.”
Like his identity could be figured out in an afternoon. Not if you were an egghead. “I’ll bet you played football in kindergarten.”
“Yeah, and it was called peewee ball. So what?”
“So you go at things from a body perspective. You approach everything from what you can hold, throw, or smash. That’s how you get adjusted.”
Nero straightened. “And you do what? Think at things first?”
Josh shrugged. “If I can conceptualize it, then I can deal with it. I can manipulate it, reverse it, and blow it up. So get me on your database and I’ll take it from there.” Plus, it had the added advantage of getting him out of proximity to Nero, whose simple presence was enough to muck up his thoughts.
“Works for me,” Nero said with real enthusiasm. “This way.”
Josh followed a couple of steps behind as they headed to the door downstairs. He tried not to notice the way Nero’s body moved, tried not to watch the tight ass and broad shoulders. Didn’t work. Same with trying to ignore the guy’s scent or block the memory of orgasming in his massive hand. He tried not to think of a dozen different sexual things and only managed to get himself even more hot and bothered.
God damn it, nothing would stay settled. He couldn’t be angry and attracted, but he was. He couldn’t be science geek and werewolf—nothing like that ever happened outside of the comics. And he sure as hell couldn’t be missing his family that he hated.
Right in the midst of all his conflicting, confusing emotional turmoil, another person came up through the basement door.
It was a measure of Josh’s distraction that he hadn’t recognized the guy last night. Even in wolf form, Josh should have known he who he was. He’d been in the last cage, and now that Josh saw the human behind the fur, everything slipped into place.
“Holy shit,” he gasped, “are you Red Wolf? LiketheRed Wolf?” He couldn’t even remember the actor’s name, but Red Wolf was as famous in manga circles as Wolverine was in comic book stores. The story had started as a series of manga comics but then spun off into a live action TV show with kickass martial arts. This guy played Red Wolf, the mysterious, moody loner of a werewolf who sometimes saved the day, sometimes destroyed it. The fans loved him.
And if this guy wasn’t an actor but really was a werewolf, then…. “Are you saying that the manga is real?”
The actor/werewolf turned to him, his Asian eyes as flat as his mocking tone. “Yeah, dude, manga is totally for real. Obviously.” He rolled his eyes. “Not.”
Josh felt the burn of embarrassment roll up his face. Jesus, he’d made a fool out of himself fanboying over a manga-turned-real-life actor. God, he was an idiot. And what a jerk this guy was to rub that in his face.
“Oh, right,” he drawled, making sure the sarcasm dripped acid into the room. “Red Wolf is a sophisticated character. A complicated good guy beneath a scary exterior. That can’t be you ’cause you’re just an asshole.”
He saw his words hit as the guy’s skin flushed ruddy. He squared his shoulders and bulked out in the way that every Red Wolf fan had tried—and failed—to imitate. “Look, punk—” he growled, but Nero stepped in between them.
“And that’s enough getting-to-know-you time until everyone’s belly is full. Quick note to the new recruits: everyone is cranky on an empty stomach.” He swung the actor toward the kitchen stool and shot Laddin a look. “Can you fix Bing some breakfast?”
“Sure thing,” Laddin answered, chipper once again.
“And if you’re done eating,” Nero continued as he pulled Josh around, “let’s get you to the lab.”
That would normally give Josh a graceful exit, but Bing Wen Hao (as he now remembered the actor’s name) was giving him the stare down. It was a Red Wolf trick that—on screen—came complete with glowing red eyes and an unnerving sound effect. And damn it, Josh couldn’t break eye contact even if he wanted to, which he didn’t. He was going to stare down this asshole until the bastard whimpered “uncle” in his puffed-up prettiness. Because, he had to admit, the actor had won the beautiful looks lottery. And that the hypno-lock was real.
Shit. He really couldn’t break his eyes away.
