“Really? And how much does working for you pay? How soon is he going to repay me for all that tuition money?”
Josh glared at the table. “I have to repay my student loans first, but then you’ll get your money.” He shot a resentful look at his brother. “Have you repaid him all the money he put out for your fire training?”
“Most.” Then Bruce shrugged. “Well, some.”
“Well,” Ivy quipped, “thanks to the military, I’m free and clear of debt. I just don’t have anything to show for it. Except this snazzy haircut.” She pointed to her utilitarian short bob.
Mrs. Collier smiled at her daughter. “You’ve got experience and training. And being free of debt is impressive, especially for a girl your age.”
Ivy smiled. “Thanks, Mom.” Which would have been a lovely exchange if Mr. Collier hadn’t spent the whole time staring at Josh. But when he spoke, his words were aimed at Nero.
“And who do you work for? What do you do?”
“I train people like Josh.”
“Do-nothing students who never amount to jack?”
“Henry!” Mrs. Collier huffed. “If you treat him like that, is it any wonder he ended up in a hospital?”
Josh ground his teeth. Nero could hear it loud and clear. “I didn’t go to a hospital. I—”
“Yeah,” Nero interrupted, “you did. Just not for very long.”
“That wasn’t a hospital.”
“It wasn’tnota hospital. And don’t be so narrow-minded. It’s good and healthy to ask for help when you need it.”
Josh narrowed his eyes, which was bad enough, but the expression of hurt lurking beneath the angry expression did him in. “Why are you being such a dick?”
“Joshua Collier!” his mother cried. “We do not speak like that to our guests.”
Josh whipped back to his mother. “He’s not a guest. He’s my jailor.”
“So now we have it!” Mr. Collier’s meaty fist landed on the table hard enough to rattle the dishes and silence everyone. “You got in trouble, didn’t you? Something happened at that dress-up party that you went to. The one where Savannah said you disappeared. You did something stupid like you always do, only this time, you got caught and were put in jail. You didn’t call us because maybe you couldn’t. And in jail, something happened to you. And now you’re here, asking me for some Volcax, which you know I can’t get you. I’m not doing anything illegal. Not for you, boy.” His glare landed hard on Nero. “Or you, whoever the hell you are.”
Wow. Never had anyone gotten things so right and so very wrong at the same time. Everyone at the table was stunned into silence. Even Nero didn’t have the capacity to form words. But Josh had enough built-up fury to shove himself upright so hard, his chair toppled behind him. He planted his fists on the table and glared at his father.
“I’m not—” He cut off his words, his face turning nearly purple. And then he lifted his chin. “Yeah, Dad. I’ve been in jail, and they turned me into something horrible. And this guy here, he’s the prime asshole. Big ol’ wolf of a dick. And the only way I get out of jail is if you give me some stupid fabric to save this asshole’s life. I need it cut and stitched into something insane because I’ve gone off my rocker. Because I got turned gay in jail.”
“Joshua, please,” his mother begged, the words filled with pain.
“Please what, Mom?” he pressed. “Please don’t be gay? Well, I am. And I’m a whole lot worse than that. So how about I make you all a deal? You get Dad to save this ass—jerk’s life, and I’ll get the hell out of your life. It’ll be like you never had a gay son and I never had homophobic parents. But don’t you worry, Dad. How about you tack on a nice big profit to whatever you’re going to charge and consider it repayment of my tuition? All those wasted years in school, and all I have to show for it is an ABD, which will only get me a job that pays one hundred thousand dollars a year.”
No one at the table seemed to know what an ABD was, and a few seconds of confused stares had Josh throwing up his hands.
“It meansall but dissertation!” And then he stomped out of the house.
Chapter 23
JOSH MADEit outside, but then he didn’t have a single place he could go. Nero had the keys to the car, so that was out. He could walk somewhere. Hell, he could go wolf and roar through the streets of suburban Indianapolis, but that probably wasn’t the smartest idea either. So he stood outside, breathed the crisp winter air, and tried to just exist without exploding.
It didn’t work. Because a few minutes after his screaming exit, Nero wandered outside to stand next to him. And when Josh didn’t say anything, Nero eventually spoke, his voice low and soothing.
“I know that sucked,” he said. “But now you’ve broken from your family. Now you can go on with your wolf life however you want without your past interfering.”
It took a moment for the words to slip past his fury and coalesce into meaning. But once it got in, it was like setting a match to dynamite. He rounded on his former friend and let fly with every filthy curse word that flowed from the cesspool of his thoughts. And when those slowed down, he found his real words. And those he spoke with precision.
“Don’t you dare pretend that this was for my own good. You think I don’t know what’s going on? I get the same goddamned alerts on my computer that you do. I know that Wisconsin is dying inch by inch, foot by foot, more each day. I know you want to kill that fucker more than you want to breathe—”
