Page 25 of Wolves Always Bite

“Comeon,”Isaid.

Jeremyyawned. “Right.Thedeath witch ghost summoner dude.”

“Right,”Iagreed.

Ijumped out and jogged around to the other side of the truck to helpJeremyout.Itseemed easier to have him come out through the passenger door than working around the steering wheel if he needed a lot of help.Iwas already healed, andIknewNelsonwould be too, but humans weren’t like supes.

"Didyou run your truck through one of those demolition derbies?"Teagueasked when he arrived at our side.Heslipped under one ofJeremy’sarms whileIdid the same on the other side.

"Haha, very funny."

WhenJeremywas finally settled on one of the chairs in the motorhome,Iglanced out the window at my truck.Nelsonhad the tailgate open and was studying our reluctant guests.Basedon the wicked grin onNelson'sface,Ibet the bastards were awake and ready for a fight.Iwasn't worried.

TheEternalMagicliving in every supernatural being didn’t like to be contained and would eventually escape, but our magically blessed zip ties would keep those idiots trapped long enough to turn them over to police custody or theSupernaturalCouncil.OnlytheSChad the magical resources capable of confining someone on a more permanent basis, and it took a lot of people and a lot of maintenance to make that happen.Ifound that idea reassuring, choosing to believe it meant no one person or small group should be able to misuse that powerful magic.

Sure, there were nightmare-inducing campfire stories about ancient spells that would allow individuals or small covens to do the same thing, but thankfully those spells had either never existed or been lost or destroyed over time.

Wewere parked in the far corner of a large parking lot that surrounded a gas station.Thisplace had seen better days.Thegravel surface was clogged with weeds.Whatremained of the gas station’s paint was peeling and dull with grime.Thewindows were either filthy or covered in plywood.Twoof the three pumps hadOutofOrdersigns hanging over them.Andthe light at the pylon sign by the highway flickered sporadically.Inother words, the place was a dump.Wewere the only vehicles here, soIwasn’t concerned about someone seeing the people we had tied up in the truck.Still, we needed to be careful.Ifhumans reported us to a police station that didn’t know about supes, things would get complicated.

Iscanned the area for potential problems, butIdidn’t sense any threats, magical or otherwise.Isaacgalloped along the far side of the property.Howhe could do that in human form,Iwasn’t sure, but he sure as hell looked like he was galloping.Maybeit was the way his long blond hair flew out behind him like a mane.

Acrossthe highway was another gas station, but that one appeared in an even worse shape than this one.Isuspected it was shut down completely.Although,Idoubted this one would be open much longer either.

"Isit okay ifIcheck you now?"TeagueaskedJeremy.

Jeremystifled a yawn as he nodded his agreement.Hegrimaced in pain with the movement.Teague'seyes narrowed as he studied his patient.

"Okay, let's see what we can do."

"Where'sGage?"Iasked asTeaguestarted his examination ofJeremy.

"Hewent to meet someone," he said as he stared intoJeremy'seyes.Theozone stench ofTeague'smagic strengthened, making my nose twitch likeIhad to sneeze.

"Alone?"

"Alone,"Teagueconfirmed as he took one ofJeremy'shands in his.Apulse of power throbbed through the air, then he switched hands and did the same thing again. "Isaacis out running the perimeter of the gas station parking lot."

“Yeah.Isaw that,”Isaid, asIrubbed my nose and tried to ignore the irritating smell of magic in the air.

“Hmm…That’sinteresting,”Teaguemurmured as he worked.

Whatwas that all about?Whatwas interesting?Iopened my mouth to ask, but then a filthy sounding moan came out ofJeremy’smouth, andIdidn’t care about whateverTeaguehad found interesting.Iswallowed hard and stared at the little human.Iwanted more of that sound, preferably whenIwas touching him, notTeague.

"Oh…"Jeremymoaned again, as if reading my thoughts, as his shoulders dropped. "That'snice."

Teaguesmirked as he positioned his hands on either side ofJeremy'shead. "Thismight feel a little odd, butI'malmost done so bear with me."

Littleshards of glass slid out of the skin on the back ofJeremy’sneck.Theydropped away, landing in a flurry of soft thuds on the floor.Althoughthe cuts in his skin still appeared fresh, they weren't bleeding.

Jeremylet out a startled gasp.

Thenhe closed his eyes and hummed softly.Thepulse of magic surged for a minute—making me sneeze this time—before collapsing into nothing.Thecuts inJeremy’sneck were closed now, although the marks were still visible.

Teaguewobbled on his feet, before plopping down on one of the chairs at the table.

"It'sbeen a while sinceI'vedone that for a human."Teaguelaughed, but it was obvious his magic was exhausted. “I’dforgotten how different it is when someone doesn’t have their own well of magic.”

Igrabbed an apple from the small fridge and gave it toTeague.Eachof our magics were replenished in different ways.WithTeague’sdeath magic, an apple was almost a perfect source of nourishment.Itwas no longer alive, since it had been removed from its tree, but it still had the opportunity for new life with its seeds.Teagueate the whole thing, core and all.