Chapter Eleven

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Grace groaned as a loud ding echoed around her. She blinked one eye open and then the other. She gazed around the darkened room and tried to place where she was until it all came back to her. A smile slid over her face at the memory of the night before. She stretched out, reaching for Daire, but only found cold sheets.

The dinging didn’t stop, though. Her phone. Crap. She grasped the sheets to her chest and slid to the edge of the bed, searching for her jeans. She fumbled through the pocket until she pulled out her phone.

“Hello?”

“Is everything okay?” her mom asked by way of greeting.

“Yeah. Why?”

“I’ve been trying to call you since last night. It’s not like you to not answer or call back.”

“I’m sorry. I must have set my phone on silent.”

“So, everything’s okay?” her mom asked again.

“Yeah. Is everything okay with you?”

“It is now. I was worried when you didn’t answer. If you hadn’t picked up, I’d have driven to your place.”

“No. I’m okay, Mom. Everything’s fine.”

“Thank goodness.”

“I didn’t mean to scare you,” Grace said. She glanced around the empty bedroom as she sat up. Where was Daire?

“It’s all right, darling. Did you and Caden want to come over for dinner tonight? I didn’t get to see him this weekend since Dave had him,” her mom said.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. He’s been sick with the stomach bug.”

“Oh.” Her mom’s voice deflated. With her father’s illnesses, he couldn’t be around sick people.

“He should be good by the weekend, though.”

“Saturday night, then?”

“Sure. I’ll see you then, Mom. Love you.”

“Love you too, sweetie.”

Grace hung up and gathered her clothes and went to the bathroom and cleaned up before getting dressed. When she emerged from the bathroom, the bedroom was still vacant. She peeked her head out into the hallway. That was empty, too.

Voices carried up from the kitchen.

“Dinosaur pancakes! Cool,” Caden said, his voice full of laughter.

“I thought you might like them,” Daire replied.

Grace closed her eyes and let her head fall against the door frame. Daire was making her son breakfast. Could he get any more perfect? Her heart constricted. This was only temporary. It didn’t matter what either of them wanted. His job would pull him away from her and Caden very soon.

“And you can’t have pancakes without bacon,” Daire said.

“Mommy loves bacon,” Caden said.

“Good. I planned on making her a plate, too.”

“Are you going to give her dinosaur pancakes, too?” Caden questioned.

“Nope. Those are special just for you.”

Tears pricked her eyes, and she drew in a deep breath. Would she ever find another guy who would be so wonderful to her boy? She shook her thoughts away. No sense thinking about that now. She wanted to enjoy the time she had with Daire.

She swiped at the corners of her eyes and then made her way downstairs.

“Morning, buddy. You seem to be feeling better.”

“Yeah. I’m starving,” Caden said as he shoveled a huge bite of pancakes in his mouth.

“I can tell.” She went to Daire, who was serving a plate. “Need any help?”

He placed a kiss to her cheek while handing her the prepared plate. “No, I got it. I heard him wake up and figured I could make breakfast while you slept.”

“Thanks,” she whispered. She joined Caden at the breakfast bar, taking a seat on a stool.

“Do I have to go to school today?” Caden asked around another forkful of food.

“Not today. I need to call work, too.” Her boss hadn’t been happy about yesterday. She looked at her cell phone. It was nearly ten. Not only was she way late, but she hadn’t even called in yet. That wouldn’t go over well. She’d worry about that in a few minutes. At least Caden was only in daycare and not school. It didn’t matter that he was cutting. “Why don’t you put your plate in the sink and go get dressed.” Grace ruffled Caden’s hair before bending down to give him a kiss on the cheek.

Caden hopped off his chair and put his plate in the sink before hurrying upstairs.

“Is everything going to be okay?” Daire asked as he set a plate next to Grace and joined her at the table.

She offered him a smile but didn’t comment.

“Grace, I’m –”

“It’s fine. It will give me time to work on my other project. Regardless of what happens, that’s more important.” She’d figure out her job later. There was no point in having a job if everyone in St. Joseph was dead.

“I found some board games in the room over there. Maybe Caden and I can play games while you get some work done.”

Grace finished chewing her bacon and shook her head. “Don’t let us keep you from what needs to be done. I know you have things to do.”

“Ethney and Aric have it covered. One of us has to stay here with Kevin anyway.”

“How is he?” Grace asked.

“Sleeping.”

“Is it normal for him to sleep so much?” she asked.

“The, uh, full moon takes a lot out of him. His body must prepare for it. Plus, the sleeping medicine is working too. The clearer the head he has going into the change, the better.”

She supposed that made sense. “Okay, as long as we aren’t keeping you from doing what needs to be done.”

“Don’t worry. I’m where I need to be.”

***

"Oh, come on!” Aric cried as he smacked his remote against the couch.

“No.” Kevin stomped his foot on the floor and flopped back on the cushions.

Caden hopped up and down. “I won.”

Daire laughed out loud. He twisted his arms, trying to keep his kart on the road. It was his first time playing on the Wii, and his kart might be in last place, but he was going to finish the race even if he was in last place.

“You boys and your silly games,” Ethney said, looking up from her book to roll her eyes at them.

“Don’t knock Mario Kart until you’ve tried it,” Aric said. “Come on, Ethney. You can play next.”

Ethney didn’t look up from her book. “No thanks.”

“Give it a try,” Kevin said.

Ethney sighed and set her book facedown on the counter. “Fine. One race.”

“Here; you can have my remote.” Daire stood and handed the remote to her. It was fun, but Kevin and Aric were much more into it than he was, and of course, no one was going to ask Caden to give up his remote.

When Kevin wasn’t sleeping, he was playing video games with Aric. The two were kindred spirits in that respect. He’d never gotten the concept of video games, but this little racing game was fun. Too bad he was no good at it.

A door creaked open, and Grace’s footfalls thudded softly against the wooden floorboards. “No, Dave...I’m not keeping him from you on purpose. We have something going on that came up last minute. Besides, how am I supposed to know when you’re going to actually decide to be a parent?” She huffed, shaking her head as she flicked on the light in the kitchen. “Yeah. Whatever. You can see him on Sunday.”

Daire got up and followed after her, leaning against the doorframe as she hung up her phone.

“Everything okay?” he asked.

Grace sighed and set her cell on the counter. “Yeah. It will be. Dave’s a butt, but that’s nothing new.” She chewed on her lower lip.

“You sure?”

“I lost my job. They sent me a formal email letting me go.” She covered her face with her hands. “I figured it was coming, so it isn’t a surprise, but...”

“You haven’t missed that many days,” Daire said with a growl. It had only been a couple days.

“It doesn’t matter. I’m an assistant and can be easily replaced.”

“I’m sorry, Grace.” He put his hands on her shoulders to give her a massage. “I’ll make sure that you get more than a fair compensation for all of your help here.” Money wasn’t something he was short on. He’d make sure before he left to set her up with enough money to make her life comfortable into the foreseeable future.

“It’s not your fault. I chose to help you. Too bad I can’t tell my boss what I’m really doing.” She laughed. “No, I take that back. If I could share this, I’d have the story of a lifetime. Papers and news channels would be paying me money left and right to share my experience.  But I’m going to have to hope my book takes off instead.” She leaned in and pressed a kiss to his lips. “It’s going to be a romance novel. Those are hot right now.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. I’ll show you just how hot it is tonight after Caden’s in bed.” She nibbled his bottom lip. “Until then, I’m going to go finish racking my brain to find a connection with these lycanthrope.”

Daire pressed his forehead against hers. “I guess I have to go play Mario Kart again. Who knows, maybe I’ll win eventually.”

“Thanks,” Grace said, kissing his cheek.

“For?”

“Spending so much time with Caden. He wouldn’t stop talking about how much fun he was having with you while I got him cleaned up this morning. He really enjoys your company.”

“I enjoy his, too.” He wasn’t sure what was going to be harder, saying goodbye to Grace or Caden after the full moon. In such a short period, they’d wormed their way into his heart.

***

Grace set her pen down on her notebook pad. It rolled and then tumbled to the floor. She grumbled to herself as she bent over to pick it up. Her eyes went to her computer screen when she sat back up. She cocked her head to the side, sitting all the way back in her chair before leaning in again. Then she pushed back.

“Huh,” she mumbled, putting the pen in her mouth to nibble on it. “It’s a paw print. Interesting.”

She stood up and shuffled through her papers until she found an old map of the town. Glancing between the computer and the map, she plotted the points on it.

“I think I found it,” she murmured to herself, then a little louder, “Daire. I’ve got something. Can you come here?” She plopped back down in her chair, double-checking her findings. It had been right here in front of their faces the whole time. They’d just been looking too closely to see it.

Footsteps thudded against the hardwood as Daire made his way down the hall. “What is it?” He peeked his head in the partially open doorway.

Grace grinned as she leaned back in her chair. “I think I figured out how to tell where they’re going to be next.”

“You did?”

She lifted the map and showed it to him. “It’s a paw print.” Her hand gesticulated around the drawing. “I just need to do a little math to figure out where the next plot point is and I can give you exact locations.”

“That’s great.”

“I’ve narrowed down their locations for the full moon to a few as well.”

“You’ve been busy,” Daire said. He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. His lips met her neck, peppering kisses all the way down to her collarbone.

The past few days had been nothing but referencing material and reading up on the guardians’ reports. It took her mind off the fact that she’d lost her job and that her town was about to be inundated with savage lycanthrope. With any luck, she’d help to thwart their efforts.

She melted against him, inhaling deeply. The papers started to slip from her fingers. She grasped them tighter and cleared her throat.

Daire quit kissing her but didn’t release his grip on her. “What do you have?”

She scooted forward and spread her hand over the map again. “I found points in the city limits that were closest to large populations. It looks like there are four different places that would draw the largest crowds.”

“Four?” Daire sighed.

“But,” she began again with a smile, “they have to come down this road to get down from the cabin. There are several steep declines from where the cabins are. Even if they are supernatural, they’ll still make the best time coming down the road. We can head them off here,” she said confidently, tapping a spot on the map.

“No ‘we.' Their howls will lure you in. Think of it like the pied piper who lured in all the children. You can’t fight it. I want you someplace far away from town, Grace. Both you and Caden.”

She huffed but didn’t fight it. If he was right, she’d only be in the way. That wouldn’t help anyone. “Fine. I can stay with my parents. They live on the opposite side of town. Can we block out the howls?”

“If you can’t hear them, you can’t be lured out. Turning up the TV or radio should suffice.”

“Okay. I’ll talk to my mom first thing tomorrow.”

At least she’d be appeasing her mom. Grace had told her she’d come over on Saturday. How convenient that was the same night as the full moon.

“I think you’ve had enough for the night. Or did you forget that it’s your birthday?” Daire asked. He nuzzled her neck again.

It was the tenth, wasn’t it? She closed her eyes and fought the urge to laugh. How could she forget?

“I promised to take you out, remember?” he asked. His hands went to her shoulders, massaging the tense muscles.

“Yeah, but what about Caden?”

“Ethney and Aric will watch him. I already heard them talking about a Mario Kart tournament with Kevin.”

“Really?” she asked. All three guardians had been exceptionally nice to Caden. He’d taken a quick liking to them, as well. She didn’t know their backstories, but she couldn’t help but wonder if they too had been parents at one point. They certainty seemed to enjoy her son’s company.

“Is that okay with you?” Daire asked.

“Sure. Is there anything else we should be doing here? The full moon is tomorrow night.” Time had flown by, and she couldn’t believe it. After tomorrow, she would never see Daire again. A lump formed in her throat at the thought. She wasn’t ready to say goodbye. She may never be. But it was going to happen. Tears pricked her eyes at the thought.

“You okay?” Daire asked.

“Yeah.” Her voice came out a croak. She cleared her throat. “I just... Our time has gone by so fast. It snuck up on me.”

He pulled her chair away from the desk. “Which is why we should enjoy tonight. The lycanthrope won’t do anything tonight. They need the rest to prepare for their change tomorrow evening. It’s safe for us to enjoy ourselves. Ethney, Aric, and I will plot our strategies in the morning.” Daire took her hand and hauled her up, so she was in his arms. “Come on. I owe you a proper date.”

Grace let him lead her out of the office and down the hall. “Should I change?” she asked. “Where are we going?” Would her jeans and tee be okay? She hadn’t brought anything else with her. At the time, she didn’t think it would matter.

“You look beautiful just the way you are,” Daire said. He handed over her winter jacket.

She shrugged it on and zipped it up.

“Bye, Mommy,” Caden said. He bounded across the front room and tossed his arms around her. “Have fun.”

She bent down to kiss the top of his head. “You too. Be good. I love you.”

“Love you too.” Caden took a step back, waved, and then sprinted back into the kitchen where the other two guardians were.

Daire opened the front door for her. Grace went out first and shivered. The cold air knocked her breath away, and her teeth started to chatter. She wrapped her arms around herself and hurried to her car, which  was already turned on and warming up.

Snowflakes flitted to the ground. It was odd that they hadn’t had a heavy snowfall yet this year. She wasn’t going to complain. They were only expecting a few flurries over the next few days—no accumulation. After the full moon, she didn’t care what the weather did.

Grace climbed in the driver’s seat and put her hands up against the air vents, letting the hot air warm her already numbing fingers. The snow wasn’t sticking to the ground yet, but with the sub-zero temperatures, it would be soon. She wiggled her fingers until Daire hopped in and shut his door.

“Thanks for taking me out,” she said, glancing his way.

“I thought you might like to get out of the house. Plus, it’s your birthday. You shouldn’t be inside doing nothing on your day,” he said, reaching to put his hand on her thigh.

“Do you celebrate all of your birthdays?” she asked, curious. He was well over 1500. That’d be a lot of birthdays.

He shrugged. “I get a drink and do something. Unless it’s a full moon.”

She frowned. That didn’t sound much fun. “I’d like to return the favor for you this year. Do something fun. It’s next Saturday, right? Do you have to leave right after the full moon?” She held her breath and focused on the drive as she made her way down the gravel road.

“I won’t have a choice, but maybe I could speak with Astraea, and you could be a consultant for us. You’ve found out more about the lycanthrope than any of us have. You have a way with using the Internet that none of us do.”

“It’s just fresh eyes.” She shook her head. If the goddess agreed to that, she could stay with Daire, but how long would that work?

“Would that be something you’d be interested in?” Daire asked. His hand left her thigh, and his fingers curled around her hand resting on the gearshift.

Yes was at the tip of her tongue, but instead, she shook her head no. “I can’t, Daire. It’s not that I don’t want to. Caden will start kindergarten next year. You have to move around monthly, and I can’t be uprooting him like that. Then there's Dave. He might be a total dick, but he’s still Caden’s father. It would crush Caden if he didn’t get to see his dad on a semi-regular basis. Then what about us? It might work for a few years, but in ten years my age would start to show. I’d continue to age, and you’d stay young. It wouldn’t work. I think a clean break is probably for the best.” Her voice broke on the last sentence. She blew out a breath and stared out the windshield.

Daire squeezed her hand. “Let’s just enjoy tonight. We can worry about the rest tomorrow.”

She forced a smile. They might as well enjoy the night. It was all they had left together.