Ada!I sit up with a jerk, rousing Ansel who seems to have drifted off. My stomach is doing somersaults.“Something wrong,” Ansel asks, drowsily.A flash of lightning brightens the sky. Behind it, is the rumble of thunder.The driver, a portly man with silver hair, has just pulled up in front of the manor. He comes around to open our door, but Ansel is still watching me, waiting for my response.“I’ll tell you when we get inside,” I say.Ansel nods and we step out into a misty rain. The stars are blotted out with clouds.The driver hands Ansel an opened umbrella.“Thanks George,” Ansel says, and despite my distress, I catch the gleam in George’s eye as Ansel says his name. Ansel’s getting better and better at treating his staff like actual people. Who would have thought?George breaks into a broad smile. “You’re welcome, Sir.” Another flash appears and fat raindrops begin to splatter down against the umbrella. We dash inside.The manor, for once, is empty. Ansel holds my hand while we
“Boss, you look like shit.”Ansel turned full steam at Henry. He glared at him with a level of menace he hadn’t felt in a while. It was an old devil, back again.“Er, sorry.” Henry immediately shrank.Ansel didn’t have the energy to shake the demon away. His head throbbed. He was tired and achy. He felt like he’d done a round against a hundred Bearmen or maybe been bludgeoned him half to death. “I didn’t mean to insult you,” Henry tried again. “It’s just - remind me why we’re doing this again? You seem like you might be better off staying in bed.”Ansel cleared his throat, trying to suppress a cough. He fished for another cough drop in his pocket and unwrapped it.“I promised Karin. She’s worried about her father. We’ll see what we can accomplish with the Full Moon Pack.”‘And then I’m going to deal with Edwin,’ Ansel thought, barely containing the rage. He balled his hands into fists, trying to prevent the shift to claws.Easy, Jeff. He popped the cough drop into his mouth. Cherry-
“I really fucked that up, didn’t I?”Ansel fell into his seat in the car. He closed his eyes and covered his face with his hand to try and cope with the pulsing headache. His chest hurt and he still felt like he couldn’t get a good breath in.Jeff whimpered. Fear began to tug at him. What he felt with his breathing was the scary part. Two old devils had come to visit today, it seemed. This one took him right back to his sanitorium past.Henry climbed in and shut the door. “The Full Moon Pack will always spell trouble. We’ll deal with her later. It’s you I’m worried about.”“Don’t be.” Ansel, still with closed eyes, addressed the gammas up front. “I need to talk to my brother. I’m sure he’s skulking around the royal estate. That’s where I need to go next.’The gamma shifted the car into ‘drive’ and they began to leave the Full Moon Headquarters behind them.“You can’t be serious,” Henry said. “Surely this can wait.”“Your opinion wasn’t asked for,” Ansel snapped. “And it can’t.”It was
“Er - hang on.”Maggie and I are standing outside in a muddy lawn, where we’ve been for - what seems like - hours, trying to train without Ada’s help.Maggie freezes while she seems to be syncing with someone.The sky is so overcast we never do see the sun. My feet are soaked and cold, and I’m brimming with anger at Ada, who I’ve finally started screaming at, but she won’t budge. The only good of it is, there’s more life in her now - I can feel that on a visceral level - but she’s stubborn as a mule and wants to spite me.“Karin, I think we’d better head back.”“Thank the goddess,” I sigh. “Sorry, Maggie,” I add.She shakes her head. “It’s okay. You’ve been working really hard. The thing is,” she says. “I just synced with Henry. He’s worried about Sir Ansel.”My heart begins to quicken. “What’s wrong?”“He’s pretty sick, it seems.”I have that sinking feeling again.We go inside. Maggie says she’s going to call for Doc. I shower quickly and change clothes. Shortly after, the door open
When we wake up, it’s me, instead of Ada, pressed tightly to Ansel, but I feel Ada more than ever. Just as with Jeff, she doesn’t have to speak. It’s a knowingness, a heightened sense of the two of us that is linked in a new way.Ansel begins to rouse around noon, I scurry over from the table near the window where I’ve been trying to brainstorm plans for a dance class.“Hi,” I say, leaning close. His breathing is still shallow and his face is pale.He tries to sit up.“Here, let me help you,” I say.“I’m fine,” he says with a growl.I ignore his foul mood and call for someone to bring him lunch. They bring in a tray of food, but he pushes it away.“I can’t eat this,” he says.“At least drink something,” I say, handing him a glass of juice.Thankfully, Ansel drinks it. I try to help him get up to make his way into the bathroom, but he won’t let me.“I don’t need any help,” Karin. His eyes are clouded with anger.He wobbles for a moment, but then he’s able to take some weakened steps.A
“Karin.”I spin around to see Ansel, still pale and sickly-looking, treading slowly after me. It’s late morning and he was well enough to come down to breakfast - and ignore me through it - but I’m shocked to see him walking around outside in his condition.“Suddenly, you can speak?” I cross my arms as he approaches me.He narrows his eyes at me. “I don’t know why I’m bothering, frankly.”“I don’t know why you are, either.” I shrug my shoulders and start to turn back around.“Wait,” he says. “Fine.”I purse my lips and stare at him in my best, ‘I’m waiting,’ expression.“I’ve been informed that you’re - “ He stops to cough. “That you’re going into town today.”“Is that okay, or am I a prisoner again?”“You’re not a prisoner,” he says. “But I want Maggie to go with you.”“I know all about your little arrangement with Maggie,” I say. “And Maggie’s a wonderful friend, but I already told her I want to go by myself.”“Why?” He peers at me with a laser focus.‘To spite you,’ I want to say.
Ansel groaned. The groan turned into a coughing fit.He was propped up in his office chair, already miserable, when Henry delivered the news that half of the pack’s children were now expected to arrive tomorrow for Karin’s dance class.Ansel’s breathing was still ragged, even without a coughing jag. It took him a minute to speak again.“Obviously, we have to call this off,” Ansel said, his voice hoarse.“The gamma I spoke with said the news is all over the pack, and there’s a great deal of excitement that the children are being invited to tour your manor - ““Tour the manor,” Ansel shouted.Henry nodded.“Did she promise them ice cream, too? College scholarships?” Ansel threw his head back. “I’m going to kill her.”“Look, I don’t know what was originally said, but I get the feeling a lot of this has grown as it’s spread through the grapevine.” Henry sat down in the chair across from Ansel’s desk.“The staff may - okay - they will - hate us for all the last-minute work that’s about to
When he returned, Doc tried to talk to him about his health. Ansel refused and left.As if to prove Doc wrong, he went out to train. Henry had gathered up the gammas to go over security for the tour and class. Ansel weighed in strategically, and when their meeting wrapped up, he led a training session, sparring with several of the gammas.By the time Ansel was done, he felt almost as sick as he did before. He cursed himself for ruining his own progress and wearily changed into one of his suits.“You ready,” Henry said, knocking on his door.Ansel opened it.“Are you okay,” Henry asked, his eyes wide.“I just overdid it a little,” Ansel said.“Maybe we should cancel this. They’ll book you again.”“We’re not canceling,” Ansel barked. “I’m not pulling out at the last second.” No way was he going to let illness get in the way. Not now, and not ever again. He wasn’t going to relive the past.He dragged himself into his office for a video call with news anchor, Beta Jack Myers. They were do