Page 26 of To Teleport, or Not to Teleport?
“You’re preaching to the choir. G? Do we have any idea what the truck was all about?” Kaleb asked, taking the spot Bear had vacated.
“It started accelerating without the pedal being pressed?” I asked.
Kaleb nodded and cupped the back of his neck with both hands. “Yeah, it was like it had a mind of its own. Real creepy shit.”
“Do you remember when it started? Was it from the moment you took the truck or when you got close to the outskirts of town, or somewhere in the middle?” I asked.
Kaleb ran a hand over his closely shaven head. “Middle?”
“When we came to the fork in the road,” Bear said, leaning against the wall. “If you go one way, you leave town, if not, it gets you on the road here.”
Kaleb nodded. “Yeah, yes, he’s right! The odometer started going up the closer we got to the fork. We barely managed to get the turn. I’m not sure how we managed the mile we did before… I’m sorry,” Kaleb said, lowering his chin to his chest. “I thought I had it under control.”
“I’m not sure you ever had control,” I announced.
“What do you mean?” Grayson asked.
“Someone must have enchanted the truck to leave town. It makes sense. The truck is yours, so on a normal day, you’d be the one driving it, right?”
Grayson nodded. “Yeah, they borrowed it to come get drywall we have in the barn out back.”
“Grayson, you’ve had graffiti on the windows, an electrical fire, and substantial mold. I’d bet money the truck was charmed.”
“The fire was because of a leak we found after the storm,” Kaleb said.
Shaking my head, I pushed to my feet. “No, the storm was not normal. We don’t get storms like that. Baba Yaga came by the school thinking it was a teen just messing around. We get rain and occasionally a bolt of lightning, if that. The storm had to be conjured by someone.” I paced around the living room, my mind taking in as many of the details as it could. “The worst damage happened within a few blocks of Gray Designs. Cami’s ovens took a hit, the dumpster fire behind the diner, your fire… I’m sure if we ask the neighboring businesses, they also had something happen.”
Bear’s growl filled the air, drawing everyone’s attention. “Why would someone fuck with Grayson? He just got back.”
I paused and peered at the man in question. After I’d left his side, he’d moved to the edge of the couch and pressed his elbows to his thighs, his hands dangling in between. “Grayson…”
“The sins of the father are to be laid upon the children.”
“What the fuck does that mean?” Kaleb asked.
I chuckled. “It’s a William Shakespeare quote—”
“It means, some of the people in this town blame me for what my sperm donor did.”
“Fuck that,” Kaleb hissed. “You’re your own man.”
Grayson laughed without humor. “Not to some of these people. Dad got wrapped up in some bad shit. Stole money from some, and worse, he helped a group of honey badgers who were trying to steal magic.”
“No one messes with those ugly fuckers,” Kaleb said, shivering with disgust.
“Then why come back here? Why go through all this trouble setting up shop and settling in?” Bear asked.
Grayson turned his attention on me, and my heart thundered in my chest. The air in the room became electrically charged, and I felt a pull in my belly to move closer to him.
“I came back for my mate. I left her once, when I was just a kid who couldn’t handle the looks and whispers. I’m not the boy I was. They’re not running me from town.”
“Oh,” Bear whispered with wide eyes.
Kaleb nodded. “Everything makes sense now.”
I shook my head. My mouth opened and closed a few times. He’d said just as much to me more than once, but it felt more real when he said it in front of his friends.
“So you see, I’m not leaving. If either of you wants to go, there won’t be any bad blood. Y’all have been my brothers for a long time, but this is my fight, not yours.”
