Bent Outta Shape by Rick Gualtieri

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


“Don’t be scared,” Aunt Carly said to me. “Come on out.” 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 weren’t Belzar’s goons. She was with Gavin and Jeremy, the wizard my father had been chatting with.

I won’t 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 weren’t 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 – which I desperately hoped they didn’t – 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 wasn’t quite sure I wanted to do that. Carly had easily been amongst my favorites growing up. Even so, she’d said some pretty damning things back at the house.

But then I remembered the glassy-eyed look she’d worn when she’d first let Belzar in. I’d 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 didn’t mean anything at the distance we stood from one another. At the same time, I didn’t 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. “I-I don’t know what’s going on. All those ... things that happened back at the house. And we’ve been running ever since.”

“I know, honey. And I’m really sorry. Look, everything’s been taken care of. Why don’t you come over here and we can head back?”

“But ... the things those people did. Roger...”

She nodded, her face growing dim. “I understand, sweetie. Believe me, I do. And I can explain it all. I promise. But come on. It’s cold out here. Your brother and your friend there have got to be freezing.”

I didn’t sense any deception in her tone, and she was being careful not to mention magic. Maybe she’d been bewitched by Belzar earlier and had finally broken free.

“Come on, buddy,” Gavin called out to Chris. “After you warm yourself up a bit, we can play some Mario Party.



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