Page 50 of Mytho Investigations: Side Stories
“It’s being offered to us.”
“So we’re being given the magic to shift and new territory… Why?”
“Don’t question me, pup,” Reyman snarled. “Do you want more than Creature Hollow or not?”
Jake swallowed and shook his head. “I have a job and a boyfriend here.”
He had friends and a life. He didn’t want to leave and start over again. It had taken him too long to find his feet in the human world as it was.
“You’re a fool.”
“Maybe. But magic and territory… What do they want from us?”
“All we have to do is lead the unicorn out of the city.”
Jake’s eyes widened. “There’s wild magic here?”
“It’s all over the news.” Reyman sneered at Jake. “Don’t you watch the news?”.
“I’ve just come off a double. I haven’t seen or heard shit.” His eyes were gritty, and he wanted to eat the pack of mince in his fridge and fall into bed. But wild magic… That explained why some of the nurses had mentioned people behaving weirdly. Wild magic was powerful and dangerous and… Reyman’s friends wanted to take it away from the mythos who lived in San Francisco and give it to those in LA.
This was bigger than being able to shift or new territory.
“I’m exhausted. I need to sleep.” People were taking Samhain off to party, so he’d accepted another double tomorrow. He tried to think of the extra money in his pay packet, not how tired his feet were and how he hadn’t seen Adam in four days.
“We march tomorrow. I want you there.”
Tomorrow was Samhain, and he was hoping to see Adam the day after. They had tentatively locked in Adam sleeping off night shift at his place so they could be together.
“Yeah, I’ll see how work is stacking up.”
“Don’t worry about work. This is important. You can find a new job in LA.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Think about your boyfriend. You’ll look mostly human again.”
Jake forced a smile onto his face. “Yeah, yeah. Can I please crash out now? I’d rather sleep in my bed than on the doorstep.”
Reyman laughed. “You kids are soft these days. You don’t remember what it was like on Tariko. Hunting on four feet in the depths of winter.”
“It was summer when I started shifting, then the collapse happened.”
He’d never had the chance to hunt.
Never had a boyfriend, or sex, in any other body than this one.
Reyman slapped him on the shoulder. “You’ll love shifting again. Can I count on you?”
His stomach was a tight ball, rising higher in his throat with each heartbeat. “Is the rest of the pack on board? What about Xan’s pack?”
“Fuck them. This is about us. We deserve better than this.” He lifted a furred fist. “And I intend to take it.”
CHAPTER 7
Jake listened to the news as he cleaned up a mess in the ER. A few people muttered about mythos and the trouble they caused, as if they were to blame for the appearance of wild magic.
Someone muttered about him being a fucking dog, and Jake was half tempted to thrust the mop at him and ask if he’d like to clean up the blood and other bodily fluids the unfortunate person had spilled.
