IcySeduction (15 page)

“We’ve already got the tickets and they’re non-refundable.
Why don’t you just let him stay in the apartment alone? He’s grown up enough.”

“Because we’re not out in the sticks somewhere. We live in a
big, dangerous city.”

“Just ’cause you’ve seen some bad things from your cab doesn’t
mean the whole city’s unsafe.”

A few things? He’d been held up twice, once with a knife and
once with a gun, both to the back of his neck. He’d let someone off in a
questionable neighborhood where the man had said he lived and was driving away
when the guy was gunned down. Jake went to the police, but not until he’d
gotten out of the neighborhood, praying no one had seen his cab number. And a
woman in this apartment building had recently been raped in the parking garage.
They’d caught the guy who’d been dumb enough to disregard security cameras, but
it was the sort of random thing that he couldn’t leave his young son to fend
off on his own. Not to mention what his son might decide to do if left on his
own. Jake had his own cautionary tales from when he was young.

“I’m not leaving him alone.”

“Then you’ll either have to skip this one stupid hunting
trip—why are they so important anyway?—or find someone else to watch him.”

“Which would’ve been fine if you’d given me more notice!”

Dean walked into the kitchen at that point, so Jake did his
best not to slam down the phone.

“Talking to Mom again, huh?”

“How could you tell?” He tried to lighten his tone, but he
didn’t know what to do now. No one understood why his “hunting trips” were so important
and on such a specific schedule—he and his ex had had many arguments about
that. And he certainly couldn’t tell Dean that his good old dad needed to go
howl at the moon. That was the reason he’d never just lock himself in the
closet like he’d done when Christine was here.

Dean could never find out. What if he hated him, feared him,
ran away from him? What if Jake hurt his own son? It was too much to risk.
There was too much to lose.

A couple of hours later, feeling a bit calmer, he was on
Facebook chatting with Christine, when he started going off about his
thoughtless ex and her sudden trip.

I need someone to watch him.

What about a neighbor? Does he have grandparents?

Grandparents on Alaskan cruise and they never helped
anyway. Don’t know my neighbors.

I wish I could help.

He had the sensation that Christine immediately knew she
shouldn’t have typed that.

You can help. You’d be perfect.

I’m nowhere near you.

I’ll pay for your plane ticket. Just two days and it
falls on a weekend.

I don’t know what to do with an adolescent boy!

Don’t worry. He’ll ignore you the whole time if you keep
him supplied with snacks and video games.

After some more back and forth, he’d convinced her. She’d
allow a bit more time, since Jake needed time to drive to the compound after
getting her from the airport and making sure Dean knew the ground rules.

The next day he told Dean.

“That lady from Florida?”

“Yeah.”

“Cool.”

“Still have to do your homework.”

“Not cool.”

He and his son grinned at each other and ordered pizza.

* * * * *

Christine couldn’t believe she’d just spent several hours at
the airport and on a plane to come back to Jake’s apartment, the scene of her
possible LSD trip or her boyfriend turning into a wolf, not so she could have
hot sex with Jake, but so she could watch his son. She was so not mother
material.

But then she didn’t need to be. Jake was handling that role
fine, with checklists and emergency phone numbers, where the closest hospital
was, who at his cab company to ask for if they needed to go anywhere.

“Jesus, Dad, you’re going to be gone less than two days.
Nothing that exciting is going to happen in that amount of time.”

Christine nodded and prayed that Dean was right. She was
actually more concerned about trying to cook for the kid, since that was not
her strong suit, and whether she’d have to argue with him about homework. Dean
rolled his eyes and went into his room. Beeps and squeals and weird music
signaled that he was playing video games.

Jake took the alone time to kiss her. A nice, long, lots-of-tongue
kiss. “God, I can’t believe Dean gets to be here with you and I don’t.”

“Well, drive back fast and maybe we’ll have a little time
before my flight.”

Jake gave her another quick kiss. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“So you’ll be able to call and talk to me up until
nightfall. I always try to get there an hour or two before dark just in case.
Plus it’s the only time I get to talk to the others.”

She wanted to ask him about the others but she had a more
pressing worry. “Jake, do you think I’ll feel you change this time with you so
far away?”

“God, I hope not. If you’re awake and have the TV on or
whatever, I don’t think you’ll be that connected to me when it happens.”

“Don’t go to bed early…gotcha. So, what are these others
like?”

Jake smiled. “Well, for being a bunch of werewolves, they’re
pretty normal.”

“Not all drop-dead gorgeous?”

“I’d say they’re all pretty athletic, but they’re different
heights, hair color.”

“What about their eyes?”

“They vary too, but they are all colors you’d see in wolf
eyes, blue, hazel, gold.”

All too soon, Jake left Christine alone with his son. She
shouldn’t be nervous, but sometimes kids saw things a lot more clearly than
expected. She was worried he might ask her some awkward questions about her and
Jake’s relationship or he’d give her a hard time and question her authority.

She knocked on his bedroom door. “Yep!” She took that to be
permission to open it. He paused his game.

“So…when do you usually do homework?”

“Whenever.”

“And do you want something for lunch? It’s about that time.”

“I’ll micro something. Don’t worry about it.”

“Okay, well, I’m here if you need me.”

“I won’t.”

With that, Christine ducked out of the room and went to find
her laptop. Even though she’d conceded to Jake’s request, she still had tons of
work to do and hopefully that would make her awkward time with Dean pass
quickly. The kid appeared briefly, microwaved some Hot Pockets, then
disappeared into his room again. A couple of hours later he popped out. “Just
letting you know I’m doing my homework. I’m sure my dad will be calling you
soon, so you can tell him.”

“Uh, okay.” Should she ask for verification? She decided
that was beyond the role of babysitter. He returned to his room.

Jake called at four. “How’s it going?”

“Peachy.”

“That good, huh?”

“He told me to tell you he’s doing his homework.”

“Did you actually see the homework?”

“I think I’ll leave that for you two to work out.”

Jake chuckled. “Okay, I’ll let you slide on that one. You
know, his mom’s probably right that he could stay home by himself, but he’s
still…”

“Your little boy. I know.”

“I probably won’t call again tonight—gets pretty noisy
around here even before nighttime. I’ll call you first thing in the morning,
though, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Love you.”

“Um, yeah.” She clicked the red button to end the call and
sighed. Her feelings for Jake were intense and complicated and she just couldn’t
bring herself to say she loved him, though she had the sneaking suspicion that
she did.

Outside, the long shadows from the setting sun made for a
premature dusk. The moon hung in a space between two buildings that Christine
could see out of the apartment window. She leaned her head against the glass
staring at it, thinking about Jake, when she heard something crash in Dean’s
room. She opened the door just as he screamed.

“What’s wrong?” Her heart was in her throat.

“I don’t know!” Tears were coming down his face. His
drinking glass was shattered on the floor, Coke soaked into the carpet. His
chair and desk were flipped backward and his homework papers flung throughout
the room. His body jerked and he cried out, “It hurts!”

She ran up to him. “Tell me where.”

“Everywhere.”

She hugged him and he felt like a furnace. She started
checking his arms for breaks, and realized his skin was covered with hives,
which he had scratched to bleeding. His eyes were tearing, he was panting, and
his teeth seemed to grow long before her eyes. His finger nails lengthened and
yellowed. Christine touched his cheek to turn his face toward her. His eyes
were glowing.

“Christine, what’s happening?” He jerked away from her and
screamed again.

The only time she’d ever seen someone in this much pain was
at the last full moon. Jake. But he’d never said anything about Dean changing!
And wouldn’t he have taken his son with him to this mysterious compound if he
changed just like he did?

“Dean.” His whimpers were so loud she wasn’t sure if he
heard her. “Dean! Um, I’m going to get my phone, okay? And call the ambulance,
okay?”

In the kitchen, she tried to keep from hyperventilating as
she scooped up her phone and called Jake. It went to voice mail. God, was he
already out of reach? It was barely six o’clock. She dialed again. Voice mail.
What if he never answered? What should she do? If Dean was really changing in
the same way Jake did, then she couldn’t take him to the hospital. She dialed
again. She texted. Then she dialed again.

“Pick up, pick up, pick up.” Dean’s screams were so loud she
was afraid a neighbor would call the cops. She had to do something. She went
back into the bedroom holding the phone to her ear. “What do I do? What do I
do?”

Finally she heard Jake’s voice. “What’s wrong? Is Dean hurt?”

“Um…” She burst out crying, because the boy before her was
in so much pain as his bones began to contort and his skin took on a red hue
and he scratched it until it bled.

* * * * *

The laughter, boasting, and conversations filled up the hall,
making it impossible to hear. Folks were starting to strip out of their clothes
and move out onto the broad teak deck outside. Jake hadn’t heard his phone,
just felt it vibrating, but the sudden panic was unmistakably Christine’s. And
now she was sobbing in his ear.

“Christine, I’m starting to change. I won’t be able to talk
to you much longer. Tell me what’s going on.”

“He’s changing. He’s changing like you! I don’t know what to
do, how to help him!”

“He’s what?” Jake’s heart lurched and he sank to his knees.
No,
that’s wrong. He’s never changed before.

“He’s changing, Jake. What do I do? He’s going to hurt
himself. The neighbors are going to call the cops. He can’t go to the hospital.
What do I do?” The phone became muffled. “Come here, Dean baby. It’s going to
be all right. I know it hurts.” Then her voice was loud in Jake’s ear again. “What…do…I…do?”

Saron came up to Jake and placed his hands on his shoulders
waiting for him to look up into his questioning face. Jake covered the
mouthpiece of the phone. The screen was now wet and smudged with his tears. “My
son…” Then his own change bit into him. He hadn’t even realized the sun had set
completely. “My son…”

He no longer heard voices coming from the deck. He heard
howls, growls, and yelps. The wolves were launching off the deck into the
forest to race and play and hunt. Jake was holding off his change as best he
could, but soon it wouldn’t matter what he wanted.

Saron took the phone from him and told him. “Go. I can hold
off longer.”

He heard Saron start to talk to Christine in a calming
voice, but then pain racked him and in a few minutes, he no longer remembered
what a cell phone even was.

Christine decided she didn’t have time to panic because she
could feel Jake’s change coming on within her. She was about to lose touch with
her lifeline because he was turning into a wolf too.

A strange voice said, “Christine?”

She put the phone back to her ear. She’d wrapped Dean in
blankets, trying to stop him from scratching himself, but he kept thrashing so
they’d fall off again. He wasn’t screaming now, just whimpering, horrible,
pitiful sounds like a hurt puppy.

“Christine, I’m Saron. Jake’s mentioned me?”

“Yes.”

“I only have a few moments before I too change. You
understand?”

“Yes.”

“I know you’re worried about the boy and his pain and
confusion, but the boy is most dangerous to you. He has to be restrained,
quickly, before he’s completed his change. He’ll be hungry and you’ll look like
food.”

“But Jake didn’t hurt me when he became the wolf.”

“Jake has been changing every month for years. The first
time is the hardest and scariest and the wolf will react in fear. Do you have
some place and some way to restrain him?”

“The closet.” She didn’t know if Jake had left it empty with
the collar in there, but it was the only place she could think of.

“Use a low, calm voice and coax him into that closet. Then
lock that door, leave the room, and lock the next door. Find yourself a safe
place to hide where his claws can’t get to you when he breaks through.”

“When he breaks through?” What if he broke through and went
out into the city? He’d be shot.

“Do it now. The moon calls me. I have to go.”

Dean’s eyes had lost any human quality. Christine reached
for his hand, his paw, and said, “Come with me, sweetie. I’m gonna make it all
better. It won’t be long now. You’ll be fine.” She kept up the litany as she
guided him from his room into Jake’s.

“My dad…” Dean’s last words before his human voice left him.
He looked more and more animal.

“I just talked to your dad. He’ll be back tomorrow. For now,
I’m going to keep you safe. He’ll explain it all tomorrow.” She opened the door
to the closet. Jake had hung some of his clothes on the rack, but the floor was
mostly clear and the collar and chains were still attached to the wall. Dean
was starting to react badly to her leading him anywhere, pulling back,
growling.