Paranormal Erotic Romance Box Set (32 page)

“What does he need?” I said.

“He’s giving you a gift, Sophia,” Anthony said. “Take it
from him.”

I knelt down in front of the wolf and put my hand near his
mouth.

“
Never take anything from an animal’s mouth!
” I
heard my mother screech.

“Shut up,” I said.

“Me?” Anthony said.

“No, my mother.”

I reached into the wolf’s mouth and pried the bone from
between his fangs.

“Thank you,” I said. “I think I’ll just save it for later,
if that’s okay.”

The wolf licked my face and returned to his formation with
the others. Power personified they were, a pack of warriors at the ready.

“What are they waiting for now?” I said.

“Just your praise, Sophia. They are as much yours as they
are mine or any of the others. They are here for us.”

“They are magnificent,” I said as I stared into their
faces.

They all lay down at once and rested their heads on their
massive legs.

“Sleep now,” I said and smiled as they all closed their
eyes.

“Shall we go?” Anthony said as he balled up the foil and
tossed it in a trash can.

We walked back through the field and got onto the path
with the book benches.

“Oh, man,” I said and grabbed Anthony’s arm, “that was
incredible, Tony.”

“I told you.”

“What are those medals on their collars?”

“They are part of Hades’ Army. The medals signify that
they are warriors.”

“What do they battle?”

“Oh, anything really,” Anthony said as he guided me out of
the Fairy Tale Village. “In the olden days, they used to patrol the main
grounds and keep the other wolves from crossing the perimeter.”

“What other wolves?”

“The wolves that live on Cape Cod,” Anthony said and
knocked an icicle off the railing of the bridge and looked over the side into
the moat.

“I didn’t know there were wolves on Cape Cod,” I said.

“Well, there are. Not as many as there used to be because
a lot of them were trapped. But there are wolves and coyotes and even a bear or
two. The area around the Battleroy is more undeveloped than other areas of Cape
Cod. It’s because--”

“People thought of it as a leper colony?”

“Yep,” Anthony said and smiled as we walked down the dock
toward our swan boat. “So there are more instances of wildlife around the
Battleroy than any other area and our dogs protect the grounds from that.”

“How do the animals, the alive kind, see our wolves when
people, the alive kind, can’t?”

“Gee, I don’t know, Sophia,” Anthony said and helped me
into the swan boat. “Can’t say that I’ve ever had a conversation with a bear or
coyote to find out why they can see our dogs.”

“I suppose not,” I said and smiled. “So they adhere to the
same rules as we do? They can’t go off the grounds?”

“They don’t go off the grounds, if that’s what you’re
asking. No one does.”

“Yes, that’s my dilemma, what I’m trying to figure out,” I
said and stared at the hotel as Anthony rowed us back. “I can’t believe I hit
that poor thing in the face.”

“You sure were scared, huh?” Anthony said and smiled.

“Yes, terrified.”

“But not anymore?”

“Nope, not anymore,” I said. “But when I first saw
them...holy cow.”

“I should have told you before about the presents,”
Anthony said. “That may have not made you so afraid.”

“What presents?”

“Sometimes, like they did with you, they’ll give gifts to
the animals on the other side when they’re guarding the perimeter.”

“What, like mittens and toasters?”

“No, like groundhogs or birds or even frogs, you know,
whatever they kill on the grounds,” Anthony said and looked at the sky. “They
push whatever they’ve killed with their noses just over the line so the other
animals can snatch them. The moon is so big, it’s mesmerizing.”

“Huge,” I said and looked into the full moon. “You should
find May Gaspar and invite her to sit and watch the moon with you tonight.”

“I couldn’t,” Anthony said and stared at me. “I told you
why.”

“Yes, you told me why Anthony couldn’t ask May Gaspar out,
but I bet Tony could definitely ask May Gaspar to come sit with him under the
moon.”

“Do you really think she’ll say yes, Sophia? I mean, I’ll
d-i-e if she laughs at me.”

“First of all you can’t d-i-e if you’re already dead,” I
said as Anthony rowed us to the dock. “Second, she may laugh at Anthony, but
May Gaspar would never laugh at Tony. It’s a mindset.”

“What should I do?” Anthony said as he tied the boat to
the dock.

“Just act confident, as if you don’t have a care in the
world...arrogant,” I said and got out of the boat.

“Like James?” Anthony said.

“Yes, like James,” I said and laughed. “Or even James
Dean. If you act like James Dean, people will treat you like James Dean.”

“Sophia,” Anthony said as we walked back toward the hotel,
“James Dean died in a fiery crash while driving a cool car. I died because I
ate twenty-four poisoned baked potatoes and choked on my own throw up.”

“What does that have to do with anything? Look, just go up
to May, cool as a cucumber and say: ‘Hey May, wanna go gaze at the moon?’ Just
like that. Oh, and lean up against something when you say it.”

“I don’t think I’m cool like that, Sophia.”

“Sure you are. You are Tony, caretaker of a pack of
warrior wolves from the Underworld! What the hell is cooler than that?”

“And if you find everything as soon as you look for
it, you find it in vain, you look for it in vain.”

Antonio Porchia

“Well, well, if it isn’t Joe Hardy and Nancy Drew,” James
said as Anthony and I walked into the library. “How were the hounds of hell?”

“Cute,” I said. “What are you up to?”

“Oh, just a little reading,” he said.

“I don’t think he likes me,” Anthony said into my ear and
cocked his head toward James.

“Of course he does,” I said and gave James a dirty look.
“I just think he may feel a little jealous of Tony.”

Anthony looked down at his feet and his face turned a
brilliant red. He looked at me and smiled.

“Don’t worry, Sophia,” Anthony said. “I will handle this.”

“There isn’t a problem, Tony,” I said and grabbed
Anthony’s arm.

“Tony?” James said.

“I think that--” I said.

Anthony held his hand up to my face and pressed his finger
against my lips.

“Shhh, it’s okay, Sophia,” Anthony said. “Tony will handle
this.”

“Okay, go ahead,” I said through Anthony’s fingers.

“My good man,” Anthony said and walked toward James with
his arm extended, “I mean you no disrespect and want you to know that I am not
here to intrude on your territory.”

“Uh...thanks?” James said and looked at me and shrugged.

I nodded at James.

“Please,” Anthony said and grabbed James’ hand, “a
gentlemen’s handshake. I want you to know that I only have the utmost respect
for Sophia and for you. Sophia loves you and has no interest in me.”

“Well, thank you for saying so, Anthony,” James said and
bit back the beginning of a smile.

“You are welcome. I just wanted to clear the air,
mano-a-mano
.
That means, hand to hand,” Anthony said and held his hands up and pressed his
palms together.

“Yes, I’m aware,” James said and cleared his throat.

“You see,” Anthony said and turned around to face me and
put his arm around James’ shoulder, “Sophia is my friend.”

“I can appreciate that,” James said. “I suppose I did feel
threatened.”

“Ah,” Anthony said and nodded, “I knew it. Things are
purely platonic between us. I don’t want to overstep since you and I now have
an understanding, but I hope you know, I will defend her to the end.”

“Now I know, Anthony,” James said and smiled.

“Feel free to call me Tony,” Anthony said and walked to
the door. “Now, I must say goodnight. I need to find May Gaspar and ask if she
will watch the moon with me. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Tony,” I said and sat down at the conference
table. “Come by tomorrow.”

“That was certainly interesting,” James said as Anthony
walked out of the library.

“Lower your voice please,” I said and flipped through
Alexander Battle’s diary. “Tony is sensitive.”

“What’s all this Tony shit?” James said and sat down
opposite me.

“Why?” I said and stared at him. “Are you jealous?”

“Jealous? You cannot be serious. I am me, after all.”

“Lord, James, your arrogance is nauseating,” I said and
closed Alexander’s diary.

“Lord, Sophia,” James said, “my arrogance is one of the
things you love most about me.”

“Can we just drop it?”

“Of course, butterfly,” James smiled and dragged
Alexander’s diary across the table toward him. “So, what did you think of the
Fairy Tale Island?”

“Well, it certainly was fairy taley,” I said and flipped
through the
Liber Juratus
. “You know, I wish they would have at the very
least translated these books for modern readers.”

“And the dogs,” James said, “what did you think?”

“Dogs? You mean wolves, don’t you?”

“Yes, wolves.”

“God, I was fucking terrified. But then when they showed
themselves and I showed myself, I fell in love, really. Look, they gave me a
present,” I said and pulled the bone out of my pocket and put it on the table.

“Yum,” James said and flicked the bone across the table.
“Yes, we are blessed with very altruistic, vicious wolves.”

“Anthony told me that they push the present over and
coyotes or other wolves on the other side come and snatch it away. I wish I
knew that first night that they were there to protect me and not kill me,” I
said.

“What would you have done differently?”

“I’m not sure that I would have done anything differently,
but maybe I wouldn’t have been so scared.”

“Seems impossible not to be scared that first night
though. It’s a pretty scary event.”

“Yes. You know, Anthony told me that he saw May Gaspar before
he died, just like I saw you. Even though there is still life, death is
imminent so we’re able to see others even though we’re not yet others.”

“It is a pattern,” James said.

“It indicates to me that once set in motion, the plan
can’t be stopped.”

“It is what it is,” he said.

“So, why’d you try to stop me?” I said.

“Well, I didn’t try that hard, did I?”

“You were pretty persistent.”

“But you’re here, so it seems my plan to thwart your death
didn’t work.”

“Have you tried to intervene before?”

“Nope,” he said.

“Then why me?”

“I don’t know, Sophia. What do you want me to say?”

“I want you to tell me why you bothered.”

“Sophia...”

“Come on, James. Can’t you for once be honest with me?”

“For once? When have I not been honest with you?”

“Just tell me why you tried to stop me.”

“I was in the rose garden when you pulled up with him and
I watched you. You seemed so sad and I felt sorry for you. I didn’t want you to
experience any more pain. Okay, happy? Let’s go eat.”

“But you took a huge risk. It’s against the Law to
interfere. And that kiss...”

“Yes, that kiss,” he said and frowned. “I didn’t try as
hard after that kiss. I sat outside the door to your suite while it was
happening and I wished for you that it would be over soon.”

“You could have intervened then.”

“I didn’t want to intervene then, I just hoped for a quick
death for you.”

“Aw, you couldn’t live without me.”

“I could live without you, Sophia.”

“Oh, that’s nice. Well, if that’s the case then you should
have tried harder.”

“You didn’t let me finish.”

“Finish what...insulting me? No, thank you. Let’s just
drop it.”

“Let me finish what I was saying!”

“Lower your voice. Okay, finish.”

“I had a change of heart. A...fuck, I don’t know, an
internal struggle. I could live without you, Sophia. But after that kiss, I
didn’t want to live without you.”

“I should have let you finish,” I said and spun the bone
on the table.

“Yes, that’s a problem. So quick to judge.”

“I’m sorry. But it’s not like I ever know what you’re
thinking.”

“Because they’re my thoughts, perhaps? We don’t have to
know what one another is thinking to be close, Sophia.”

“I don’t want to live in your head. I just would sometimes
like to know what you’re thinking. What you think about--”

“You?”

“Now who’s interrupting?”

“Is that what you were going to say?”

“Yes. I don’t feel very close to you sometimes and that
makes me sad. Before our adventure tonight, Anthony and I only spoke to each
other a handful of times. I always only thought of him as the kid who died from
the poisoned baked potatoes.”

“He is the kid who died from the poisoned baked potatoes.”

“Right, however, tonight I learned he’s so much more than
that. We played Secrets.”

“What the fuck is Secrets?”

“I can’t tell you that. The point is we shared things
about each other that caused us to feel differently about each other. And now,
to me, Anthony is no longer just the kid who died from the poisoned baked
potatoes.”

“So, you want more of me? Impossible, you are,” James said
and ran his fingers through his hair.

“You asked.”

James stared at me and sighed. He picked up the bone and
pointed it at me.

“Grab the other end of the bone,” he said. “If you can
snatch it out of my hand, I’ll tell you a secret “

“I’ll take that challenge,” I said and stood up.

James stood and I grabbed the end of the bone.

“Wait, this isn’t fair. I have the side with the meat.”

“Fine,” he said and turned the bone around.