TobyI closed the office door. My afternoon class had felt like it went on for an eternity. I still couldn't get over the fact that Victoria had called me by my first name. I hadn't told any of the students what it was. Somehow she'd remembered. It had freaked her out, but she'd remembered. A mixture of hope and frustration filled me as I watched her run into the cafeteria after our lunch together. It continued to run through me, making it hard to focus on anything else. Despite her inability to remember our life together, it was still there. It was just a matter of breaking the barrier, and it was already cracking.
The sound of her voice saying my name continued rolling around in my mind. I couldn't stop thinking of the look in her eyes when I'd put my hand on hers.
Things were clicking—her memories awakening. I just needed to find a way to help the process along without sending her running every time.
Knock, knock.
I sat in my chair and grabbed a stack of papers so I'd look busy. "Come in."
The door opened and Roger came in. "Some of us have a weekly poker game, and a spot just opened up. Interested?"
His question caught me off guard. "I'm not really a gambling man."
"Oh, it's just for fun. I've never lost more than forty bucks. Drinks, snacks, and guy time."
I thought of my unruly pack the previous night and wasn't sure I needed more testosterone-filled time. Roger closed the door and walked to my desk. "Let me level with you."
I arched a brow.
"It wasn't easy convincing the others to let you in." "Why's that?"
"No one trusts you, but if you join us—"
"What? Why doesn't anyone trust me?"
He took a deep breath and sat in the student seat across from me. "Look at all the facts, man. You're new and young, yet you have a reference list longer than anyone else."
I shrugged like it was no big deal. "I've moved around and taken my career seriously."
Roger scooted closer and rested his arms on the desk. "You live in the middle of the woods on a huge property."
"Something wrong with that?" I tilted my head.
"Only the fact that everyone in town is curious about that place. It was abandoned so long, it became common knowledge that it was haunted. And now a mysterious new professor comes to town and renovates it with a bunch of college kids." He held my gaze. "People are talking—a lot."
I took a deep breath. In trying to lay low, I'd only managed to raise everyone's suspicions. "I assure you it's not haunted, and nothing weird is going on with anyone living there. They're my family."
"Family? You've got every race in there from white to Asian to Samoan."
"There's been a lot of adoption. And besides, you forgot Hispanic and African. I have an equal opportunity family."
Roger chuckled and leaned back. "You don't have to explain anything to me. I like you, and I'm sure you have your reasons. You strike me as a guy who just likes his privacy. Nothing wrong with that. Join the game, and it'll show everyone that you're a normal guy."
I ran my hands through my hair. "It's weekly?"
"Every Friday night. Vinny from the history department brings his famous moonshine—I'm telling you that alone makes it worth it. But it's a ton of fun."
I took a deep breath. Did I really have time for a weekly game? On the other hand, I knew how fast things could go south when the locals didn't trust us. I held back a shudder.
"Can I get back to you?" I asked.
His eyes lit up. "Let me know by tomorrow."
"Okay."
"Think seriously about it."
I tipped my head. "I will."
He got up. "See you tomorrow."
"Bye, and thanks for the invite."
Once the door closed behind him, I rubbed my temples. I almost had no choice except to join the weekly card games. I'd thought that becoming a professor would help stave off questions and doubts, but apparently not. I'd have to talk with the pack and see what everyone thought. A weekly game on top of my job just felt like too much of a commitment.
I opened my wallet and pulled out my picture of Victoria. Oh, how I longed for the days when we were both in love with each other. I really had to get to the bottom of that mystery. Figuring that out was far more important than a game—unless not going would put my pack in harm's way.
I'd had one home burned down. I didn't want that to happen again.
"I wish I could talk with you about this," I whispered to the picture.
Another thing I wished was that I still had all my old photos of her. But they'd been destroyed in the fire, and that had been before the days of digital photography. Nothing was stored on some remote cloud. Back then, clouds had only existed in the sky.
My phone vibrated. I pulled it out of my pocket and saw I had a new text from Gessilyn. She'd probably expected to hear back from me by now. Gessilyn: U OK?
Toby: No
Gessilyn: Want 2 get 2gether? Toby: Yeah
Gessilyn: Free now?
I checked my schedule. I didn't have any student appointments, but it would only be a matter of time until they filled my afternoons.
Toby: Yes
Gessilyn: Ur place?
Toby: Gimme 20 min
Gessilyn: OK
At least I had a witch on my side. She had ways of finding things out that no one else I knew did. And she wasn't just any witch, either. She was the high witch and could do things others only dreamed about.
I gathered my things and locked my office. Down the hall, I could hear Roger talking about the poker game.
When I got home, Dillon was staring out a window, muttering to himself.
"Everything all right?" I asked. He glanced at me. "Fine." "Talk to me."
"Honestly?"
I set my bag down. "Of course."
"Sometimes I wish I lived in a normal pack." "You mean one with a harsh alpha who demands unyielding obedience?"
Dillon frowned. "I mean one that didn't allow other species in."
"Did Ziamara use your hairspray again?"
He glared at me. "No. I was taking a leak when your witch friend jumped through the mirror." I held in a laugh, but a smile escaped. "It's not funny," he snapped.
"No, I'm sure it wasn't." I cleared my throat. "I'll talk to her about traveling through a different mirror."
"Yeah, well, tell her I hope she enjoyed the show, because that's all she's getting." He stormed past me and went outside, slamming the door behind him. At least I never had to worry about life being boring. I sniffed the air and smelled the scent of a witch in the kitchen. It smelled like someone else was with her.
I went into the kitchen. Brick was laughing with Gessilyn and Soleil. Gessilyn, as usual, looked more like a fitness instructor than a witch with her yoga pants, pink racerback tank top, and a blonde ponytail.
They all stopped laughing when I came in.
"Don't stop on my account." I went into the fridge and grabbed some juice. I sat next to Gessilyn. "Dillon says hi."
Her face flushed red. "I should probably place a rune on a different mirror for traveling here. You don't mind, do you?"
I chuckled. "The guys who use the downstairs bathroom would probably appreciate it."
"You won't tell Killian about that, will you?"
"Your secrets are safe with me, but he'll probably find it funny, too."
"I know. That's the problem."
"Did we miss something?" Soleil asked.
"Nothing important." I took a swig of my juice. "But something big did happen today."
"What?" Gessilyn asked.
They all leaned closer.
"Victoria accidentally called me Toby." I could still hardly believe it. "I never told her my first name."
"Really?" Soleil asked. "You sure she didn't find out some other way?"
"I wouldn't know, but she was so shaken up, she ran off." "Do you think she remembers anything else?" Gessilyn's eyes widened. "We might be getting close. Soleil filled me in on what she found out."
I turned to Soleil. "Did you find out anything new?"
She shook her head. "I haven't been able to talk to her alone, but I'll keep trying."
"Does she remember anything else?" Gessilyn repeated.
"I can only guess at this point. When I look into her eyes, I swear I see her wheels turning, but she won't open up to me. I think we need to look into the jaguars some more."
Everyone nodded.
"What do you know?" Gessilyn asked.
"Aside from them being super rich?" Soleil asked. "I've heard some things," Brick said.
We all turned to him.
"What?" I asked.
"Rumor has it they practically rule certain parts of the world—well, the supernatural creatures, though their influence does seem to creep into human territory, too."
"Where?" Gessilyn asked.
"Mostly Mexico and Central America, but as we've seen, they're moving north."
"But what do they have to do with Victoria?" I exclaimed. "Are they behind her memory loss?"
"That's what it seems," Gessilyn said. "Before you found her, all my locator spells came up with jaguars, remember? They seemed to be protecting her."
I frowned. "From me?"
"Who knows?" Soleil asked. "It could be anything." "Between us, we should be able to figure out something."
I stared at Gessilyn. "You're learning new spells every day, right?"
"It's more complicated than that, but basically, yes."
I turned to Soleil. "And you can learn people's secrets by drinking their essence."
"But I can't get to what she doesn't know."
"Can't you find a way to get some jaguar essence? Like that one she was dancing with?" My stomach tightened at the memory.
"They're hard to get that close to. I can't get it from across the room, and like I said, I can't get into their club."
I turned to Gessilyn.
"I'm not a jaguar."
"But you're a witch. Can't you concoct something?" "I can look into it. The problem is that I know so little about them. This is the first I'm aware of them being so far north. They're probably going to hate how cold our winters are."
I sat back, feeling full of resolve. "Then I'm going there." Brick's eyes widened. "What are you going to do, sir?" "See what I can do. I won't know until I try."
"I'm going with you."
"I think I should go alone. Otherwise, they may feel threatened."
His face tensed. "Then I'm going to follow you, and watch from a distance. No way I'm letting you walk into that alone."
"I've already been there once."
"When?"
"As a wolf."
"So, that's where you went."
"And I'm going back, and I'm not leaving until I have some answers."
"Wait," Gessilyn said. "Give me a chance to work on a spell for you. Do you want me to cloak you with invisibility? I'd offer to disguise you as one of them, but I'd need some jaguar blood."
My teeth gritted. "I'd gladly supply you with some."