Bent Outta Shape by Rick Gualtieri
Author:Rick Gualtieri [Gualtieri, Rick]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Freewill Press
Published: 2019-03-11T23:00:00+00:00
âDonât be scared,â Aunt Carly said to me. âCome on out.â She was standing further down the driveway, flanked on either side by two men. In the movies they would have all been wearing wizard cloaks stamped with their coven of allegiance, but this was the real world. My aunt was wearing a coat with the hood up while the two guys with her were dressed in ski jackets, as if they were planning on checking out the local black diamond trails after dealing with us.
As I looked closer, though, I realized they werenât Belzarâs goons. She was with Gavin and Jeremy, the wizard my father had been chatting with.
I wonât lie. I breathed a sigh of relief at seeing two friendly faces and not some assholes dressed like Christmas elves. That had been starting to seriously weird me out.
Still, whether it was instinct or paranoia, I hesitated to run out with my arms open wide.
I decided to play dumb for the moment, as there werenât a lot of options left at my disposal. Behind me, still semi-obscured by the car, I heard Cass let out a low growl. I held out a hand to her, indicating that she stand down.
Our defensive situation was only marginally better than it had been in the tunnel. If things went south â which I desperately hoped they didnât â there was no way Cass would be able to close the distance before someone got off a spell.
The thing was, that assumed the worst and I wasnât quite sure I wanted to do that. Carly had easily been amongst my favorites growing up. Even so, sheâd said some pretty damning things back at the house.
But then I remembered the glassy-eyed look sheâd worn when sheâd first let Belzar in. Iâd assumed it had been tears, but now I had to wonder whether something else was at play.
My aunt appeared clear-eyed now, but that didnât mean anything at the distance we stood from one another. At the same time, I didnât want to see her get injured if she was merely a pawn in this.
Realizing I probably only had a second or two before Chris took off running toward Gavin, his favorite gaming buddy, I took a tentative step forward. âI-I donât know whatâs going on. All those ... things that happened back at the house. And weâve been running ever since.â
âI know, honey. And Iâm really sorry. Look, everythingâs been taken care of. Why donât you come over here and we can head back?â
âBut ... the things those people did. Roger...â
She nodded, her face growing dim. âI understand, sweetie. Believe me, I do. And I can explain it all. I promise. But come on. Itâs cold out here. Your brother and your friend there have got to be freezing.â
I didnât sense any deception in her tone, and she was being careful not to mention magic. Maybe sheâd been bewitched by Belzar earlier and had finally broken free.
âCome on, buddy,â Gavin called out to Chris. âAfter you warm yourself up a bit, we can play some Mario Party.
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