We Become the Night

An Unexpected Confession

Garrett leads me outside and back to the bike. He tosses the helmet to me again, but I have a little more trouble catching it now that my hand is wrapped up.

“Hungry?” he asks as he situates himself on the bike.

“Yeah, I could eat. There a good place around here?”

“Yeah. Hop on. I know a place.”

I climb on the bike behind him and scoot up so my crotch rests right against his butt and my chest is snuggled up to his back. My arms encircle his waist. I briefly lay my head on his back in a quick hug before he starts the bike. His hand reaches up and grasps my arm in a return hug.

The bike roars to life underneath us and we’re on the road again. We don’t go very far this time. Just to the other side of town, which takes us only about five minutes. Garrett pulls the bike to the curb and parks it. I look to the right of where we parked and see a very brightly colored café. It’s the exact opposite of the bar that Garrett’s family owns. Where the bar is dark and looming, this café is bright and happy looking.

Garrett turns and smiles at me. He dismounts from the bike, and I do the same.

“What do you think?” he asks, looking up at the café. I give the place a bit more of a critique.

“Looks interesting. I’m game.” We both set the helmets on the bike and walk hand in hand to the building. As we approach an outside table, Garrett waves at the waiter inside. We sit just as the waiter hands a menu to me and nods to Garrett. He’s a shorter man, probably in his late 30’s, with short brown hair. He’s decked out in an incredibly vibrant shirt and board shorts, in the middle of February in Montana. On his shin is a tiger’s paw scraping down his leg, the claw marks starting at his knee.

“Hello, I don’t think we’ve met.” His voice is very peppy, and his actions very cheerful. Overall, he’s an extremely exuberant guy. He reminds me a lot of Leo from Lethal Weapon 2 played by Joe Pesci.

“Uh, no. I’m Caleb, but you can call me Cal. I’m from Idaho and just moved here.” I stand, towering over him, and extend my hand. He grabs my hand enthusiastically and pumps it up and down.

“Hello, Cal. I’m Dart. My mate, Persia and I own the cafe here.”

“Dart, are you bothering the patrons again?” A tall, thin woman with long bleach blond hair pulled back into a complicated braid comes out of the café. She’s wiping her hands on her apron as she approaches.

“No, darling. This here is Cal. He’s just moved here from Idaho.” Dart wastes no time is explaining exactly who I am and why I’m here.

“Welcome, Cal. I hope my mate hasn’t put you off of returning to our establishment.” She says this with such love in her eyes, that it’s evident she’s teasing him. She looks me up and down as though she’s sizing me up. Her eyes narrow. Her examination of me makes me more self-conscious than I felt in the pharmacy.

“You’re a changeling.” She states matter-of-factly. My eyes widen. Dart drops my hand and clasps his hands over his mouth and gasps. The whole display is very theatrical.

“Are you really?” Dart is gazing at me awe-struck.

“I am. Why? How did you know?” I answer Dart and Persia simultaneously.

Persia grins. Dart grabs my hand again and continues pumping it up and down like he’s trying to get water out of an old Western style spout.

“I’m a tiger on my mother’s side, but my father is a witch. I inherited some of his gifts for reading people.” She pulls up her pant leg to show me a tattoo that’s a tiger’s paw holding a crystal ball. “This type of birthmark is exceedingly rare among our kind. It means the wearer holds great power.”

“I’ve never met a changeling before. This is a real honor, Mr. Caleb.” Dart is still shaking my arm up and down causing it to go numb. Garrett reaches over and gently pries Dart’s hands from mine.

“Just Cal is fine.” I tell him rubbing feeling back into my hand.

“Cal. Yes, Sir. I’m Dart the tiger. Full tiger here, both parents. So, are both of your parents changelings?”

“I don’t know. I lost my parents when the changeling that bit me attacked our home.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, young one.” Persia’s eyes are now filled with sorrow. She makes a small sign with her hands. I watch as she lifts her hands and head up towards the sky.

“I don’t mean to be rude, but what was that just now?” I ask.

“It’s just a small prayer. I’m trying to help your parents’ spirits make their way to the proper place.”

I don’t know what to say to that, so I just thank her.

“Well, enough of sorrow and sad pasts. You’re here now. This town looks out for one another. If you are with Garrett Killian, you are protected by this town. There’s almost no one here that wouldn’t put their life on the line for this vampire.” Dart clasps Garrett’s shoulder. I swear, if vampires could blush, Garrett would be really, really red right now.

“You both sit down. Garrett, I’ll grab your usual. Cal, you go ahead and choose what you’d like. I’ll be back in a few moments.” Dart holds the chair for me and waits till I sit before returning inside.

“You take care of this young one. He will need your guidance.” Persia remarks before leaving.

“Okay. What was all that about?” I ask Garrett once we’re alone.

“Persia and Dart are like family. They’ve raised me more than my own parents and, therefore, are like a mother and father to me. Dart is harmless and he really is just a fluffy kitten. Persia is fiercely protective of her kits. She considers me one along with her child, Tony.”

“I’ve met Tony. They work at the grocery store.”

“Yeah, that’s right. They’ve hated that name ever since the cereal came out in the fifties. They’re awfully sensitive about it, so make sure not to say anything.”

“Noted.”

“You know what you want, Cal?” Dart sets a solid-colored cup down in front of Garrett and turns to me. I glance at the menu I haven’t looked at and choose the first thing I see.

“BLT, please, and a soda. Thanks.”

“No problem. Be back in a jiff.” With that, he’s off again.

“Cal,” Garrett turns to me the second we’re alone again. “There’s something I need to tell you.” I hold my breath. Here it comes. He’s gonna tell me to take a hike. I close my eyes and let the breath out. I nod without opening my eyes.

“Can you look at me?” Garrett takes my hands lightly in his. I open my eyes to see him looking intently at me. “Cal, I have a confession to make.” He takes a deep breath. “You see, I wasn’t surprised when Josh called me for help. I knew you were coming here.”

“How?”

“Lex told me. He’s a healer, mostly, but his mother is a seer. She told him and he told me.”

“What did she say? That you’d be saddled with an incompetent changeling?” He yanks a little harder on my hands. His expression angry.

“Don’t ever say that about yourself. I would never consider myself ‘saddled’ with you. And you are far from incompetent.

“She told Alexis that it was in my destiny to meet someone else. That’s really why we broke up. Not because it caused a fight or anything like that. Alexis puts a lot of stock in his mother’s visions, so when she told him that I was supposed to meet someone else, he stepped aside. As you can tell, we’re still really good friends.

“I had no idea that you’d be the one I was supposed to meet. But she did say that the individual would need my help to ‘find his true self.’ That’s how she put it. I knew it was you from the moment I saw you. Even half in your wolf form, I fell hard for you. I know it’s only been a few weeks, but I hope I don’t scare you off by saying that I love you, Caleb.”

My heart swells up with his words.

“When I climbed out of that trap door the following morning, and I saw you, my heart stopped. I don’t think there’s anything you could say that would scare me off. So, know I mean it when I say back to you, I love you, Garrett.”

He leans in and kisses me lightly. One of these kisses, I’m gonna initiate it.

“So, I take it you don’t mind that I introduced you as my boyfriend to my dad.” He chuckles.

“I guess not. I just worry that you’ll figure out that there’s someone better for you out there and I’ll be alone again.”

“Never. You’re stuck with me. I already told you that driving here. You remember? I meant it then, I mean it now.”

Dart heads over to the table with my food and drink in his hands before I have a chance to say anything further.

“Enjoy.” He says as he sets the dishes down in front of me. As I see the food, I become aware of just how hungry I really am. I tear into the sandwich and fries like a starving man in the desert. Garrett sits back and watches me, which should make me self-conscious, but it doesn’t. He sips out of the cup, and I can smell blood over the smell of my food.

As I shovel in food, my mind takes the much-needed respite to process what Garrett has just told me. He’s been waiting for me. Here I had no idea that there was someone that was meant for me out there and he’s been waiting.

“How long?”

“’How long’ what?” Garrett looks confused at my question.

“How long have you known? That we were meant to be together. And are you sure that she meant me?”

“I’m positive she meant you. She said I’d know the second night of the Wolf Moon. The Wolf Moon is the name for the full moon of January. Last month was the first Wolf Moon that I’ve met someone new since Lex told me.”

“You didn’t answer the first question.” Garrett sighs. It’s obvious he doesn’t want to say.

“Around a century,” he tells me grudgingly.

I swallow a French fry before I choke on it. “A century? Now, I feel bad.”

“About what?”

“Here you’ve had to wait 100 years to find the person you were told that was meant for you. Whereas, I’ve had no inkling that something was missing. It hardly seems fair that I have you when I didn’t have to suffer through the waiting.”

“I’d suffer through another 100 years if it meant that I’d be able to find you.”

“It seems very strange to me.”

“What’s that?”

“I’ve known you for only a few weeks, yet, already, I can’t imagine my life without you.” Garrett smiles at me as though to say that he feels the same way.

“Finished?” he asks.

“Yeah. I’m good.”

“Cool. Let’s head out...” Garrett trails off, looking at something over my shoulder. I turn to see a pair of guys walking our way, definitely with a purpose.

“Uh, can we help you guys?” I ask once they get close. They don’t say anything. Instead, in unison, they both stop right in front of me and keel down on their left knee. The right knee is bent up with their right arm across it. Their heads bowed down. My eyes widen and my head snaps back as if I was struck.

“What the hell are you doing?” I ask, astonished.

“We are here to serve you, my liege,” the one on the right responds.

“Serve? Liege? What the hell are you talking about?” Before they have a chance to answer, I turn back to Garrett. “Gare, do you know what the hell they’re talking about?” He slowly shakes his head, his eyes as wide as mine.

“We have come to serve the king of the changelings.” At the mention of “king,” I shush them loudly.

“Shut up about that. You can’t be here. Get up. Get up.” I’m frantically trying to get these two up before they attract any unwanted attention. They lift their heads, but don’t get up from kneeling. There are two people in the café that have started to look out the window.

“Dammit. Get the fuck up off the ground now.” I hiss at them. They slowly rise and then just stand in front of me. “Sit down. Quit standing there like a couple of jackasses.” They sit in the two chairs opposite me and Garrett.