“I’m so sorry, Captain.”
She accepted his apology with a quick dip of her chin. “Have you figured out what went wrong?”
Josh hedged. “I think so.” He’d been mulling it over while still trying to cough up a lung. “I’ll have to look at the readings to be sure. Did any of the computer equipment survive?”
Laddin grinned. “Sure did! I had your computer reinforced when you first starting testing with fire. It’ll have to survive all sorts of stuff when you’re taking it out into the field.”
“He’s not going into the field,” the captain snapped. “He’s dangerous enough right here,” she added with a visible shudder.
“But his equipment might have to,” Laddin argued. He’d been making noises about getting into field work, but the captain liked him right where he was, keeping her organized. “Or someone using his equipment. Someone like me—”
“No.”
“We’ll see.” Laddin flashed him a wink. “So anyway, your computer was mostly protected from the blast behind the shielding.”
“Which reminds me,” Captain M interrupted. “Why, exactly, weren’t you behind the safety perimeter?”
Because he’d been trying to see with his other senses—his animal senses. But clearly he needed to rely more heavily on the computerized ones. “My bad.”
Her stare felt heavy. “Don’t screw up like that again.”
Laddin grinned. “Pick a different way next time. Eventually you’ll run out of ways to be wrong and then you’ll have the answer!”
Josh flashed the guy a quick smile. “I bet you subscribe to a dozen affirmation lists, don’t you? Every day a dozen new ways to think positively.”
Laddin responded in his usual manner: with a quick grin. “You should see my mug collection. Not a sour thought in sight!”
“He’s not kidding, you know,” Captain M said with a sigh. “He’s already filled my office with positive attitude sticky notes.” She rolled her eyes. “‘Don’t worry that Josh just blew up the basement. Be happy.’ Gah.” She stomped away.
“But it isn’t a worry, is it?” Laddin said as he bounded after her.
“Of course it’s a worry,” the captain replied. “Every single one of you is a worry.”
“But you shouldn’t—” The back door shut on their banter.
Josh watched them go. “How long before she gets sick of him and tries to rip out his throat?”
“Not her,” Nero answered. “Yordan’ll crack long before she does.”
“Nah. My money’s on Bing.” His gaze shot back to where Yordan and Bing were leaving the lab and heading out into the woods to practice. At first Josh had thought they were doing something illicit, but on the one day he’d followed them, all they’d done was practice. Martial arts moves, boxing moves, even some wrestling moves that thankfully his brother had never learned. And when they were done, Yordan went for a beer in the main kitchen and Bing wandered off to God only knew where. “Loners always crack first, and that guy is itching for a way to blow.”
“Nah,” Nero said, as he tugged Josh into the mansion. “Yordan’s watching him. And besides, they’ll be leaving soon for specialized training.”
“What? Mr. Grumpy is leaving? Be still my heart.”
Rather than smiling, Nero’s expression faltered. “I told you. Pretty soon you’ll all be leaving. Only a couple more weeks of training until you’ve each got a good handle on your wolf selves.”
A couple more weeks. The words seemed to echo in Josh’s head. A couple more weeks until this interlude with Nero was over. And it felt like they’d only just begun. The knowledge was like a ball of lead in his gut. It bothered him enough that he slowed his steps.
“I, um, I guess I better go clean up the lab. I need to look at the data and see exactly how the compound destabilized.” He said the words as a way to escape back into his work. He already had a pretty good idea what had happened, but studying the numbers was better than facing the reality of his time with Nero ending forever.
“You could do that,” Nero said, his voice gentle. “I’ll even help you. But….”
Josh looked up. “But?”
“Well, you did take a pretty good conk on the head. Maybe you ought to rest a bit first. Or at least, you know, stay in your bedroom.”
It didn’t take long for Josh to understand his meaning. If his time with Nero was limited, shouldn’t he try to make the most of it? “You want me to suck.” He deliberately phrased the words with the double meaning.
