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Dinner was quiet that night. My mom and Marcus kept glancing between the two of us and it looked like they wanted to say something, but they didn't.
As one, Dante and I cleaned the kitchen and then he turned to me.
"This is all your fault," he said calmly.
"I would like to point out, I wasn’t the one who got bit."
"It doesn't matter. This is all your fault."
"I have to disagree, buddy. If you hadn't been so drunk and oblivious, you would've known that there was an eight-foot-tall werewolf right behind you."
"It was your idea to go to the party."
"It was your idea to go through the woods."
He glared at me and I glared back. It wasn't real, but it was easier to banter around the problem than it was to face it head-on.
"Did you know that we can't even get drunk anymore? There’s something about my metabolism and your magic that just eats it up and it's gone before we can even feel it," he informed me.
My shoulders slumped. This was, by far, the worst news I had received so far. I went to the hallway closet and grabbed my jacket out and pulled it out.
"Where are you going?" Dante asked.
"To fling myself off the nearest cliff. If I can’t get drunk anymore and forget my problems at least for a minute, there's no point in going on," I said.
Dante stared at me.
"I just want to get out for a little while. Hopefully, I won't get shot. Or otherwise horrifically killed. I'm sure you will hear my screams of terror if I need you to come protect me."
"You don't need me to protect you. You never did, you know," he said quietly.
I stared at my best friend. I don't know what I have ever done in my life to deserve someone so good. He was a better person than me and I knew that he was right. We had grown up protecting each other, from everyone. Other than magic and some superstrength, nothing else had changed.
"Do you want to go see a movie?" I asked.
He shook his head. "Celia got me a new book. It looks good."
I raised my eyebrow at him. "Oh yeah? You and Celia, huh?"
"It's not like that. We stopped at a bookstore yesterday when we were coming home and I saw it. She bought it for me."
I stared at him.
"Not everyone is lusting after an Ortega like you," he said smugly.
I threw my keys at his face. He caught them one-handed and then I held my hand out and pulled them back to my palm.
"Show off."
I grinned at him. "I'll be back later."
*
WHEN I GOT TO THE MOVIE theater, I considered my choices for far longer than was necessary. We only had four theaters and two of them were showing the newest superhero movie. I had already seen it three times and when I saw my other choices, I knew I was going to see it again.
I paid for my ticket and walked in.
When I did, my eyes were immediately drawn to a pair of broad shoulders and a familiar canvas jacket.
Eli was standing there and he seemed to be considering his snack options as seriously as he would be considering a medical procedure. I felt irritated. I didn't need an Ortega or even Azolata constantly following me around to make sure I wasn't going to explode or kill innocent people. My control was questionable, I could admit to that, but being followed by someone all the time was annoying.
I stomped over to him and poked him in the shoulder. "I don't need a babysitter."
Eli turned around and he looked surprised to see me there.
"What are you doing here?" He asked.
"What do you think I'm doing here? I'm here to play a soccer game."
Eli seemed to be more confused than ever.
"I'm here to see a movie," I said impatiently and held up my ticket.
"Yeah, I know that. But I thought you would be at home with Dante thinking everything over," Eli argued.
"How long have you been here?" I asked.
Eli glanced over at the clock on the wall by the concession stand. "Ten minutes."
I felt my irritation fade away just like that. It was just a coincidence, him being here at the same time as me. As he continued to stare at him, I felt my cheeks heat up.
"Sorry. I guess I'm a little on edge," I admitted.
Eli shrugged. "I don't see why."
"You're right. There's no reason for me to be tense. It's not like the weight of our world is weighing on my shoulders or anything."
Eli glanced over at me. "So don't think about it. Instead, think about popcorn."
"Popcorn?"
"Exactly. With or without butter?" He asked and stepped forward in mind.
"Without. I don't like finding soggy pieces of popcorn in my bag."
"Good. Me too."
We engaged in a fierce battle over drinks and snacks, arguing the pros and cons of each. I felt a little bit of the worry and tension seep away from my mind as we settled into our seats. This was what I wanted. A normal, everyday life, with an abnormally hot guy. I couldn't stop myself from looking over at him and when he met my eyes, I winked at him and he chuckled. With one warm hand, he turned my face back to the screen.
"Watch your movie, magician."
"It's your movie too," I said.
*
IN MY OPINION, THE movie was not long enough. Even though it was close to three hours long, inside the theater, I felt more relaxed than I had in a long time.
Maybe not a long time, but at least four days.
"Did you walk?" Eli asked.
"Yeah. It's not far." I turned in the direction of my house, which I knew was in the opposite direction of Eli's but he stayed at my side.
"You don't have to walk me home. I know the way," I said.
Eli glanced around us. Although there were many town residents still on the street, I couldn't help but notice that the number of Ascendancy guards had doubled, maybe even tripled.
"It isn’t for you. It's for me. If I know that you are safe at home, I'll sleep better."
I couldn't help but feel my heart warm up at that thought.
"Okay," I said softly.
There was a chill in the air and the cold soda I had during the movie wasn't helping matters any. I shivered and without saying a word, Eli took his jacket off and offered it to me.
"Here," he said, holding it out to me.
I stared at him and shook my head. "No. You'll be cold."
Eli stopped in front of a small parking lot that was well lit by light bulbs strung across the street.
It began to rain.
"Now you really will be cold," I said and looked up. It was barely a drizzle but with the temperature already dropping, it would be easy to get colder a lot faster out here.
Eli ignored me and draped the jacket over my shoulders. Then he took one of my hands and put it to his face.
I felt like the world stopped. I had never been this close to him and I didn't know if I had full control over all my limbs.
"Shifters run warm. We always have. I ran through a blizzard in Canada and that was the only time I knew what it was like to be cold," he said.
Underneath my hand, his stubble rubbed pleasantly against my palm. He was warm, but not unpleasantly so.
"And you could still get pneumonia. I can’t," he said.
Convinced now, I shrugged into the jacket and continued to watch Eli. He was only a couple inches taller than me, but it was enough for me to have to tilt my head back to look at him when we were standing so close.
And I realized that we were standing close. Neither one of us moved away. The people that were passing us by didn't seem to notice anything odd about the two of us standing there, under the lights, staring at each other and not saying a word.
"Must be nice, being your own furnace," I remarked, for lack of anything better to say.
In response, Eli took hold of both my wrists and put one on the side of his neck and the other on his cheek.
"Your hands are cold," he said.
They weren't, not really. But I wasn't going to argue with him, not when it brought me this close to him.
For another moment, we stood like that and, figuring I had nothing to lose, I leaned in and pulled him just a little closer to me as well. “I'm a little cold everywhere."
Eli put his hands around my waist and slid them up the back of my shirt. His hands were pleasantly warm and I could almost forget the past four days and pretend that we were just two normal guys that met in college and went out on a few dates. I could forget about magic and werewolves and people hunting us down. I knew that if I let myself I could have this one moment.
So, I let myself.
I leaned in and pressed my lips to his.
Eli really was warm everywhere. His lips were soft and he tasted a little bit like strawberry Chapstick. There was no hesitation in the returned kiss and I could feel a part of myself, a part that had been locked up in worry and wanting and lust, start to loosen up a little bit.
I could feel myself start to want this, more than I had wanted anything else in a very long time.
I pulled back and looked up at him. "Was that okay?"
"No. I shouldn't have done that," he said softly, his warm green eyes searching mine.
I could feel the sting of that hit harder than I wanted to admit and began to shift away. "I'm sorry. I guess I just misjudged –"
"I'm your TA. I can't have people out here thinking that I'm trading grades for sexual favors," he said and a slow smile appeared on his mouth. His grip on me didn’t loosen.
"If I were out here trading sexual favors for grades, I think I would deserve better than a B," I scoffed. We grinned at each other, exhilarated, standing on the edge of something like this together.
Of course, that sweet exhilaration couldn't last. Our eyes were drawn away from each other, as we heard raised voices across the street.
There was a kid there, probably fourteen or fifteen years old, cradling a dog in his arms. He looked like he was leaving the groomer’s store that was right behind him. I vaguely recognized him from around town and knew that he worked there. The dog in his arms was his own. I knew for a fact that this kid took his dog with him everywhere, short of going to school with him.
"No, he's not anything," the kid argued. There were tears in his eyes and the small mutt in his arms was trying to burrow and hide in his arms.
There was an Ascendancy guard in front of him, and though I couldn't see his face or really hear what he was saying, I could tell that he was spoiling for a fight. As we watched, more and more people started gathering around or pausing in their own walks to see what was going on.
I looked around at the other Ascendancy guards, wondering if they were going to stop their colleague. My hope was quickly dashed when I saw a few of them exchange looks and smirks. The guard reached for the kid's dog and the kid jerked the dog back and stumbled away from the man. His heels caught on the curb and he fell on his butt on the sidewalk but he never let the dog go. I didn't need super hearing or supernatural vision to know that the kid was terrified.
I looked up at Eli and saw his jaw flex. His eyes narrowed at the guard and I knew every single one of his instincts was running rampant in his head, telling him to go and help the kid out.
The tensions in the town were high enough as it is, without having Eli confront a guard. But as I looked around, I noticed more and more people were glancing our way, more specifically, glancing towards Eli. It wasn't like they could feel the tension rolling off of him, like I could, but more that they expected him to do something.
Like this was his job.
He looked at me and there was a helpless apology written all over his face. I nodded once and as he started towards them, I was right on his heels.
"No, go back to the sidewalk," he said over his shoulder.
I shook my head. If he was going in, then I was going in too.
As we got closer, I could finally hear what the guard was saying.
“It's a new order. We have to check all the animals. Come on, hand it over," the man was saying.
I wanted to punch him in the face myself. I could tell he was lying and I didn't need any magic to tell me that. He was terrorizing this kid for entertainment’s sake.
Eli stepped up close to the man and cleared his throat. I went around Eli and to the kid and helped him to his feet.
"Go. Go home and lock your doors," I whispered to him. He didn't need to be told twice. In less than a few seconds, he was down the block. He didn't look back.
The guard was staring at Eli and it seemed like he was trying not to laugh.
"Are you here for a haircut?" The guard asked and looked at the dog groomer’s behind us.
Eli remained silent and I envied his ability to stay calm with this guy so close to him.
"Come on. Were you just learning a new trick, were you going to get a treat for being a good boy?" The guard said and reached out to Eli's head like he was going to pat him on the head.
Before he could, Eli caught his arm and threw it away. The man stumbled back and he looked surprised at how much strength Eli had. Although Eli was broad and muscled, he didn't have the physique of a bodybuilder. I knew that whatever strength the guard was feeling from him, it seemed abnormal, even for a werewolf.
"You had your fun. Now leave," Eli said quietly. The order was clear in his voice and I almost did as he said. The guard seemed to hesitate for a second and then remembered, after glancing around, that he wasn’t alone. They were even more and more guards gathering around.
"I don't take orders, doggie. I give them. Tuck your tail between your legs and take your boy home," the guard sneered and pushed Eli.
I could see the hesitation in Eli. I could read it as clearly as I could Dante. He knew that if he did that, that if he followed the guards orders and went, there wouldn't be a problem. But Eli was proud. This was his hometown, and these were his people that this guard was mocking. And he couldn't stand for it. It had been building in the past days, with the guards swaggering through town and ordering people around like they were slaves. Everyone had their breaking point, and it seemed like we were rapidly approaching Eli's.
The air was still, but I could feel see papers rustling in the distance.
"I'm not going to say it again. I don't care what kind of bullets you have in your gun, I can rip your throat out before you get your finger around that trigger," Eli said in a calm and even tone.
For the first time, I saw a glimmer of fear in the man's eyes. Maybe he finally did remember who he was up against. Maybe he remembered for a second that there were so many guards in town for a reason.
That fear was quickly shut down and the guy pulled his gun and aimed it for Eli's head. Eli didn't move, no one did. The man pressed the gun to Eli's head and pushed him back a step, then another, until Eli's back was pressed against the brick wall of the dog groomer’s. I was off to the side and distantly I heard something creak, like metal bending against its will.
But I couldn't focus on that. Eli was here and suddenly everything was too clear, the colors were too sharp and the smells were too clear. I felt like there was too much air, which was strange. It felt like it was all rushing into me like I was in the center of a whirlpool that no one else could see or feel.
"I could put you down right here, doggie. And there isn't a single person here that could stop me," the man said.