Tyler remained long enough to get their schedules for the week of the twenty-second. Nick got the feeling Tyler wanted to talk more, but Walt reappeared, and they didn’t want to have a conversation about a rogue trying to convince Nick to murder his father.

Nick’s work schedule was predictable. He got off work at eight on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, but that was it. Evelyn had more of a schedule conflict. In order to make it less uncomfortable, Nick slipped away to his room so Walt wouldn’t give him a look that reminded him he couldn’t talk to other people.

Nick walked into his room and swore. Grizzizzik had a pile of teeth on the desk. “What the hell? What are you doing?”

Without missing a beat, Grizzizzik kept sorting as he talked. “Replenishing my supply of arrows.”

Nick watched his rogue dully cleaning teeth and sorting them in piles. “You… have plenty.”

Grizzizzik grunted. He tried to look bored even though his gaze held an intensity, glaring at those teeth like they were his sworn enemy. He thought maybe Grizzizzik had overheard Tyler asking about him suggesting Walt’s murder, but he understood Grizzizzik. The rogue wouldn’t react like this. It had to be something else.

“What happened at the battle today?” Nick asked.

“Nothing.” There was such a burning anger to his voice it made Nick frown.

“I can’t help if you don’t tell m—”

“Nothing happened. What makes you think I want your help? I’m fine. Completely, totally fine!” He smashed one tooth in on the desk for emphasis but swore as the broken bits landed on the ground. “That was a good one, too.”

Nick swallowed, then backed away from the door. “You clearly need some time alone.”

Grizzizzik glared. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”

Nick didn’t say anything, too afraid to trigger something. He was almost afraid smiling would set him off. Grizzizzik could be touchy and this was one of those times.

Nick slipped out of his room and headed upstairs toward the TV. He sat down on the couch and grabbed the remote. Tyler was pulling out of the driveway. He surfed through the options, trying to find something to watch.

“Have you done your homework?” Walt asked, appearing out of nowhere.

“Yes,” Nick said.

“Don’t lie to me.”

It confused Nick. He stopped scrolling through the options to look at his dad. “What are you talking about?”

Walt placed his hands on his hips. “You’re telling me all your teachers didn’t give you extra homework to do over fall break?”

“Most of my classes had tests on Friday, so there’s no homework from any of them. P.E. never has homework. I’ve done all of it because I’ll be working full time this week.” He tried to be as cordial as possible. Walt remained silent, and Nick didn’t dare look until the silence got unbearable. He glanced at his father, who was glaring back. “I’m sorry. Am I about to be punished for being on top of my homework?”

“You need to be careful. Don’t forget, you're still under my roof.”

His scarred brow twitched. “I am fully aware, yes. You take every opportunity to remind me.”

“So you really think you’re going to get an apartment in this town when you turn eighteen?”

“I’d love to get one sooner. Are you offering to let me?” Nick asked.

Walt’s glare darkened. “If it will help you learn your lesson that you are grossly unfit for adult life, I would.” For that half a second of silence, Nick’s heart lit up with hope. “But I still have parental obligations.”

And there was the drop in his heart, dipping further than it had at the start of this conversation. “Yeah, that’s about all it’s amounted to.” Not affection. Not even love. Walt chalked everything up to parental obligation. “I’d rather pay rent somewhere else.”

“You don’t know the first thing about living on your own. You must pay for everything. Your cell phone, your car. Insurance. You pay rent here, you get to keep all that stuff and I take care of all the other expenses.”

Nick furrowed his brow in confusion. “You mean you’ll kindly pay for internet I don’t use?”

“I mean everything, Nick. You’re not getting your bed. Or your dresser. Nothing you haven’t paid for yourself. You are starting out on your own, and I give you three months before you come crawling back to us,” Walt said.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Nick stood up, his heart hammering. “This is the same old conversation. You didn’t trust me to do my homework, and I did. Don’t trust me to be civil with my friends, I will. I don’t care if I have to live in the darkest cave in the bleakest corner of the world. There is no chance in hell I’m ever coming back here.” He started heading down the stairs.

“Where are you going?” Walt asked.

“Away from you.” It was the truth. He remembered why he always stayed in his room so much. He couldn’t return there, though. Grizzizzik might bite his head off. How hot was it outside?

“Nick.”

He turned to see Evelyn in her room, her door cracked open. She gestured for him to come in. Better that than outside.

He slipped inside. “Hey, what’s up?”

“That’s seriously all you have to say? After admitting Grizzizzik is trying to convince you to kill dad?” Her eyes were still wide and terrified.

Nick fought the desire to roll his eyes. “It’s just a couple of times.” Which was apparently the wrong thing to say, because she gasped, covering her mouth. “God, Evelyn, stop worrying.”

“But… but…”

“We’ve got bigger things to worry about,” Nick said. “Like the session in a couple weeks. You don’t have to attend the session, but are you still okay with Rafael in our house?”

The hesitation wasn’t long, but it was there. “Of course.” Nick narrowed his eyes ever so slightly as he folded his arms. “I’ll be fine, Nick. With you, Tyler, and Dad all keeping an eye on Rafael, I’m pretty sure he’ll be more uncomfortable with the session than I am.”

“Good. He should be.”

She sighed. “Don’t get too overwhelmed with Grizzizzik, okay? If needed, Princess Clarissa can talk some sense into him.”

“Yeah.” Nick frowned, then glanced at Evelyn’s wall where he knew not that far, Grizzizzik was still sorting teeth. “Hey, can I borrow your phone? I need to call Derek.”

“Yeah, sure.”

He found Derek’s number and called him, listening to the ringing.

“Hey….” Derek trailed off, and at first Nick was confused. Then he realized what his friend was doing.

“It’s Nick. Hey.”

“Nick! Hello!”

“Did anything specific happen to Grizzizzik? He’s in a touchy mood, and I can only assume something happened today at the session.”

“With Grizzizzik? Uh…” Derek trailed off again, then let out a breath. “Shit, I’m not sure. We were all pretty focused on what happened with Tyler that none of us even noticed if someone was hurting Grizzizzik.”

“He’s moody. Like someone got under his skin. And when he’s like that, he’s…”

“Dangerous to be around?” Derek asked.

Nick ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah, well…”

“And he’s apparently trying to convince you to kill your dad?” Derek said.

“Shit, does everyone know about that now?”

Evelyn gave him a pronounced frown.

“That was something he definitely wasn’t subtle about today.”

Nick sighed, dropping his hand. “Just… let me know if you remember anything.”

“Will do. Phantom was there, and those two always either get along or are at each other’s throats.”

“Yeah, that sounds about right. I’ll see you later.”

***

It was Monday, the beginning of fall break, and Evelyn was studying the driver’s license handbook. She hadn’t been getting nearly as much time practicing her driving as she’d like, since her parents were so busy with their lives. And it was completely illegal for Nick to help her drive.

The door burst open, and Evelyn glanced up, seeing Clarissa there. “I sense it, in my meditation. The saber-tooth tigers, they’ve entered the dessert, but they are not protected within my bubble.”

Evelyn slammed her book shut and got to her feet. “Do you know about where they are?”

“Just that they’re in the desert.”

Evelyn pulled out a map on her phone. She tried to zoom in, but figured she didn’t know when the desert started. Instead of her phone, she grabbed her laptop and quickly logged on. She called Tyler and put him on speakerphone, placing it on her desk. It rang a few times.

“Hello?”

“Tyler, it’s Evelyn. Princess Clarissa sensed the saber-tooth tigers reach the desert.”

She heard some rustling on the other side before a thud. “Shit!”

“Um, you okay?”

“Fine, fine. Alright, so Princess Clarissa’s domain is over the entire desert, right?”

“Yes. Which according to the internet, that’s either a small section of Arizona, or all the deserts spanning Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Utah, Nevada, California, and Mexico,” Evelyn said.

“Shit.” This sounded more like a reaction from Evelyn’s words rather than whatever happened on the other side. “Okay, um… see if Princess Clarissa can sense the surroundings at all.”

Evelyn glanced at Clarissa, and she nodded. “I will try. The closer they are to my bubble, the easier I will sense where they are.”

“As soon as you get a firm idea, I’ll take Rafael and we’ll drive to meet them. We’ve got to beat Akshi to the saber-tooth tigers.”

Clarissa’s elf like features scrunched in confusion. “But… you’re not taking Ezekiel out of the bubble, are you?”

“Not at first. Rafael and I will drive to the saber-tooth tigers. Akshi doesn’t know we want to kill them, so his army hopefully has all those states to check, too. Once we get to the tigers, Rafael will teleport Ezekiel to him so he can fight the creature.”

Clarissa gasped. “Outside the bubble?”

“It’s the only way we can cure him of lycanthropy.” Tyler didn’t sound like he enjoyed saying that, and Clarissa tried to get her mouth working.

“This… this is unacceptable. The risks are too high,” Clarissa said.

“If you have another option, I’d love to consider it.”

Clarissa clenched her jaw, then looked at Evelyn. She understood instantly what that meant and also knew why Clarissa would not ask. With a swoop of her blue dress, she turned and left the room. “Um…” In no time at all, the front door opened, and Clarissa had changed into a horse, galloping away. “Something tells me she’s off to visit Ezekiel.”

“Yeah. I figured. As soon as Princess Clarissa recognizes any of the places, let me know.”

“I might find pictures of famous landmarks in the desert and let her study them,” Evelyn said.

“That sounds like a good idea. Because we don’t know where the saber-tooth tigers are coming from. Either from the eastern states, or Canada, or from Central America. All are an option. Damn, my passport is expired. Do you think we’ll go to Mexico?”

“I… don’t know.”

“Right. Of course you don’t know. Why would you know? I’ve got to call Rafael, figure out his schedule this week. The two of us might go on an impromptu road trip at the drop of a hat.”

“Alright, I’ll let you go,” Evelyn said.

She hung up, glancing out the door where Clarissa left. Evelyn tried to imagine what it would be like if Ezekiel died, and then she immediately stopped the train of thought. Despite him not being there the first month of the campaign, his absence was felt. If he died-

No. He'd be okay. He had to be.