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  Josh didn’t answer, but his growl was enough. And Nero kept going.

  “How many times have you imagined impressing the shit out of your father? Maybe throwing him against the wall or busting the table with your bare hands? Not science shit, but raw physical power like the kind he respects?”

  “Every fucking minute of my childhood.”

  “You have that power now. You could throw down with your brother and sister at the same time and best them both. You could shut your idiot dad up with your wolf speed and your animal instincts. Most people can’t control their gun hand enough to shoot you. They’re too frightened. And yeah, your dad would be shit-his-pants terrified.”

  Josh’s mouth pulled into a grin. “Yeah,” he drawled. He was loving the image Nero painted.

  “You’ve got confidence now like you’ve never had before. And with training, that’s only going to build. You’ll be able to take out monsters he’s only imagined in his nightmares.”

  Josh’s breath came quicker in excitement. He wanted that future, and it was possible for him. It was possible for all werewolves. Now it was time for Nero to drop the hammer.

  “But you can’t tell him that, Josh. You can’t show him the man you are. You have to appear weak and useless in front of him. You have to hide in his fucked-up image of you and not break it. Because he can’t know the real you. He can’t be trusted with the knowledge. It would endanger you, me, and everything we know.”

  “Bullshit—”

  “Not bullshit.” He rolled away from Josh, grabbing tissues in one smooth move. And while they both started to clean up, Nero continued with the paranormal facts of life. “Do you know what the most powerful force in the universe is? It’s not nuclear fusion, solar whatever, or even a neutron star.”

  Josh frowned. “Black hole?”

  “Human belief.” Nero held up his hand to stop Josh’s immediate reaction. His science brain was not going to accept this easily. “I don’t understand it, but I’ve seen it happen. Every single paranormal creature was created from human belief. Someone believed in fairies strong enough for them to appear. Werewolves and vamps became popular in literature, and suddenly, wham, here we are.”

  “It doesn’t work that way,” Josh argued. “You had to show up first and then humans started talking about it.”

  “You’d think that, but that’s not what we’ve seen.” He threw his mess into the waste can with a quick flick of his wrist. “Vamps were mean, vicious monsters until suddenly they show up in romance novels as sparkly and sensitive. We stopped taking out the usual bloodsucker ten years ago because now they’ve all got tragic pasts and hate themselves for what they are.”

  Josh shook his head. “That doesn’t make sense.”

  “I’ve seen it happen. Stupid things like that fucking doll Chucky. No one was fighting psycho toys until after that movie appeared.” He surged off the bed so he could pull up his sweats. Then he plopped back down and faced Josh. “It was more obvious before movies and the internet. A new monster would appear in a place that had just created a fairy tale about such a monster.”

  “Monster first, tales second. It’s the only logical—”

  “No. First, some really good storyteller thinks up a monster. He invests it with his passion and his belief and tells it to a community who come along for the ride. They talk about it, they think about it, they love it. And then pretty soon, the monster shows up for real because they created it.”

  “You can’t think something into existence.”

  “You can if you think hard enough, if you believe hard enough, and if enough people come along for the ride. What do you think a demon summoning is? Black magic rituals?”

  “By that logic, Jesus would be walking the earth and angels would be among us.”

  “Jesus was crucified on a cross and, if not exactly dead, he’s hanging out in heaven with all the angels.”

  Josh was obviously struggling with this concept. He shook his head as he stared at the twisted bedsheets. And when he got uncomfortable doing that, he reached for his jeans and pulled them on with quick, jerky movements.

  “Belief doesn’t create reality,” he said.

  “You so sure about that?”

  “Yes!” And then after a moment, he hedged, “Well, obviously, if you believe you’re good at something, that helps your performance. And insecurity has the opposite effect. That kind of belief.”

  “But believing something into existence can’t happen?” Nero argued. “That the ‘think yourself thin’ meditation only goes so far without diet and exercise?”

  “Right!”

  “Wrong. I don’t have the diet industry answer. There’s obviously a whole lot of conflicting beliefs about weight loss, so that probably plays a part. But Josh, listen to me. I’ve seen it happen. Belief created us. Belief created our enemies. Belief created magic.”

  Josh threw his hands up. “I didn’t believe in werewolves, and yet here I am.”

  “But people believed in curses and werewolves. Your origin story is well documented. Hell, the owner of this entire estate is one of your relatives. That’s how we knew what you were.”

  “A werewolf?”

  “Yes.”

  “Not true.”

  “It is true.” He held up his hand to stop Josh’s knee-jerk argument. “Look, assume for the moment that it is true. That belief creates reality.” He waited until Josh gave a reluctant nod. “Now imagine what happens if people start really believing that monsters are real. Werewolves, vampires, child-eating demons? We’re already seeing a surge in monsters because of modern media. Because it’s in the public consciousness.”

  “As fiction.”

  “Yes, as fiction. Now imagine if someone managed to prove they’re real. Imagine what we’d be fighting if suddenly everyone started believing in more than evil leprechauns. What about a planet-destroying demon or—”

  “Red Wolf.”

  Nero blinked. “What?”

  “Red Wolf.” Josh spoke the words as if he was realizing the truth as he said it. “Pretty Boy out there plays Red Wolf on TV. You said he was a surprise. That you don’t know how or why he became a werewolf.”

  Nero nodded. He’d already figured that out, and if he hadn’t rushed getting a geek squad together, he would have realized that Bing might get caught up in things by accident. People believed that Bing was Red Wolf because he played him on TV. So add in Wiz’s magic spell, and bam, the guy’s role becomes reality. Meanwhile, Josh kept explaining what Nero already knew.

  “In the cages, he looked like the wolf he plays on TV. And he does that hypnotism thing just like his character.”

  A shot of adrenaline spiked through Nero. He hadn’t heard that Bing could hypno-lock anyone, but then the actor was closemouthed about a lot of things. Mesmerizing someone with his eyes was a power they could definitely use. “Hypnotism thing?” Nero prodded.

  “Yeah. You’ve got to watch the show. The CGI is awesome.” He paused. “Except I thought the story came about because Pretty Boy is really a werewolf.”

  Nero shook his head. “Like you, this was a complete surprise to Bing. But he didn’t say anything about his hypnotism power.”

  “Maybe he doesn’t know.”

  Probably true. That was the first job of any new recruit: figure out exactly what his or her abilities are. “I’ll mention it to his trainer.”

  Josh nodded slowly. “You said you know my origin story. Anything cool in there? Claws of steel? Poisonous fangs?”

  “If that was true, I’d be dead by now.” He gestured to his shoulder. The bite wasn’t bad and the bleeding had already stopped, but Josh had definitely punctured the skin.

  Josh flushed slightly. “Oh, yeah. Sorry.”

  “Don’t be. I loved it.” He shrugged. “Virus wolf, remember? We are born from a bite and we love the rough stuff.”

  “Right. And I’m a….”

  “Romani magic. I’ll get you all the details we have.” Then he touched
Josh’s hand and Josh flipped his around so they were palm to palm, holding hands like lovers. He intertwined their fingers and squeezed. “Do you get it now? The only way we’re keeping Earth from total chaos is by maintaining secrecy. If people realized how powerful their own beliefs are, we’d have—”

  “Every monster known to mankind rampaging the planet. But we’d have gods and angels too.”

  “And what happens to our cities when Godzilla and the Terminator go head-to-head? Not to mention Titans and the Avengers—”

  “And all their villains.” And again, Josh shook his head. “That can’t be how it works.”

  Nero remained silent. Everyone fought this concept at first, but eventually, if they kept their eyes open, they saw it for the truth.

  “We have to keep ourselves secret.”

  “Okay,” Josh said, obviously reluctant. “So it’s a secret.” He rubbed a hand over his face. “But I can tell one person, right? Like Savannah.”

  “Everybody’s got one person. But the answer is no. And you do not want to test the Paranormal Department of Justice. Punishments are swift and brutal.”

  Josh winced. “Okay. Okay.” It wasn’t okay, but that’s the way their world worked. “But my family—”

  Nero sighed. They were back to that. “It’s going to suck. Even if you could have lied to your family before, you can’t now. Your aggressive nature won’t allow it. You won’t be able to sit there and pretend to be a screw-up when you aren’t.”

  Josh’s jaw firmed. “I can. I will.” He lifted his chin. “I’m not going to let my family think I’m dead or sitting in prison somewhere.”

  It was a direct hit, especially since whenever Nero thought about Gramps and Gran, he was beset by more guilt. Thing was, over the years, it was just one more screw-up to add to the list, so he’d been able to bury it. At least he had, until Josh dredged it up again. And maybe that was why he dug in his heels now. He did not want Josh to go testing the theory.

  “You cannot contact your family. Not for a very long time. Accept it.”

  Josh grinned. “We are not slaves. You told me that yourself. Once I master this wolf thing, I’m out of here.”

  “That’s the problem, Josh. The wolf never gets mastered. At best, it just gets integrated. And once you’re there, you won’t want to see your family of sheep ever again. Because you might eat them.”

  Josh stared for a moment. Then he did the most arrogant thing Nero had ever seen. He flicked his fingers at Nero and made a “Pfft” sound. As if he were flicking away a fly. “Challenge accepted,” he said.

  Chapter 15

  JOSH HAD never felt so electrified in his life. Every aspect of his life felt better, faster, and definitely more passionate. His body was more powerful and his senses snapped to alert at the most interesting times. Coffee smelled crisp, food had textures like never before, and the lust he felt whenever he looked at Nero was off the charts. Normally that would tank his concentration as he bounced between Food! Sex! Smells! But the moment he dove into the research, his hunger for knowledge skyrocketed. He wanted to learn everything about magic and monsters, but thanks to Nero’s challenge, he had a crystalline focus to his studies.

  He was going to figure out the base structure beneath magic. Nero’s equation of belief = manifestation was bullshit. The world didn’t work like that, and so he set out to understand the basic laws that governed magic.

  Normally the scope of that kind of project would overwhelm him in a few minutes and throw him into run-and-hide mode, but he felt sharp and determined. Everything he read was just one more data point in an ever-expanding pool of knowledge. And knowledge had always been his bulwark against an aggressive world. Sure, he couldn’t stop a bully from taking his favorite baseball cap in grade school, but he could figure out how to make a stink bomb and put it in the guy’s backpack. He’d terrorized his siblings with food that turned their pee blue and money that looked like it was on fire. And though he never made it onto any of the cool sports teams, he found friends and safety in being the innovative chemist among the science geeks.

  And now he had an entire field of study that most people didn’t know existed, and he planned to crack it wide open and swim in its secrets.

  That worked for less than twenty-four hours. Something about a 5:00 a.m. wake-up call the next morning completely destroyed his zest for life. He’d only fallen asleep an hour before—still in the library—and suddenly he was kicked awake by the biggest bastard of a drill sergeant he’d ever met. The guy was huge, had an Army buzzcut and the thick brow of a Neanderthal. He barked orders like he had a megaphone—which he didn’t—and he managed to terrify Josh’s sleeping brain enough that it had him stumbling outside into the Michigan winter before he’d fully cracked open his eyes.

  They only good thing about Megamouth Yordan was that he appeared to be Pretty Boy’s handler, and that pleased Josh’s childish side. Let the guy who made his living smiling for a camera learn what real sweat was like. Especially since Bing looked truly miserable as he shivered in the cold.

  Josh would have launched into a really bitter tirade—at least in his head—except that this predawn punishment was being handed out to the other trainers too. Nero was here, looking disgustingly awake, as were Captain M and Wiz. Those last two didn’t seem thrilled, but they did appear to grimly accept their fate as they stood—not shivering—next to Laddin and Stratos.

  “Against my better judgment,” Megamouth blasted, “we’re not doing this naked. Werewolves need to get used to running around with their asses bared to the moon, but we’ll save that for another day.” He lifted his chin as if to show off that he was standing there barefoot, bare-chested, and with only a really loose pair of basketball shorts to cover his junk. “But we are going to do it barefoot, so let me see those lily-white feet now! I want to check them out before they’re covered in your own blood.” He laughed in a truly sadistic way while Captain M and Wiz toed off their slip-ons. Nero hadn’t bothered with shoes in the first place, but the rest of them just stood there gaping.

  It was cold outside in the Michigan winter. And though most of the snow was gone right now, there were still patches of ice lurking in the shadows on the frozen ground.

  “I suggest you take them off now,” Megamouth growled, his voice low and threatening. “Or I will take them off for you.”

  “You’re not serious—” Josh argued, but he never got the rest of the words out. He’d been watching the drill sergeant, preparing for the guy to be a dick and attack him. But no, Nero was the asshole who took him down. He swiped Josh’s feet out from under him and let Josh drop face-first into the dirt. And then, before Josh could react, Nero had a knee in his back and was hauling off his shoes.

  Fuck, the ground was cold.

  Then Pretty Boy glared at Nero, his expression hard as he said, “Try that with me.”

  Nero tossed aside Josh’s shoes, then hauled him upright by the back of his neck, as if he was trying to grab hold of the scruff of Josh’s fur, except Josh was fully human right then. And while Josh unsuccessfully tried to dislodge the guy’s hand, Nero looked at Bing.

  “You’re not my problem,” he said as he apparently got tired of Josh’s struggles. He calmly swept Josh’s feet out from under him again. And while Bing watched with an amused curl to his lips, Megamouth took him down.

  Or at least tried to.

  Wow, Pretty Boy could fight. Josh knew very little about martial arts except what he’d learned in a college tae kwan do class. He knew there were different forms of martial arts, but that was about it. And as far as Josh could tell, Bing was a master of them all.

  Bing had been looking at Josh, but the moment Megamouth moved on him, he spun and landed blow after blow. Hands and feet, he delivered both punches and kicks in a whirlwind of fury that had Josh sitting up to stare. He’d always thought martial arts was a kind of dance, but this wasn’t anything so tame. It was fury in motion. Anger, hatred, and pure testosterone.

  J
osh had to give it to Megamouth. The guy took it all without so much as a sound beyond the occasional grunt. And Bing was making mincemeat out of Yordan, keeping him on the defensive while he attacked nonstop.

  Until Megamouth decided he’d had enough. Bing’s mistake was that he stopped short of killing Yordan. Instead, he raised his hand and froze, just like in a movie where the hero has to decide if killing the bad guy is worth the cost to his soul. It was a pristine movement worthy of an Academy Award. But this wasn’t a movie, and while Bing remained poised, thinking about what he wanted to do, Yordan made the decision for him.

  Yordan punched him in the knee and then the nuts. Bing went down with a scream, and it took a moment for Josh to realize that the cry was not from the blow to the groin. Bing was gripping his knee as if his life was over. And maybe it was, given that Pretty Boy used his martial arts skills on TV.

  “Back off, you bastard!” Josh bellowed as he jumped to his bare feet and advanced on Megamouth. And he wasn’t the only one. Stratos was beside him, looking like she was going to rip off the guy’s nuts with her bare hands. The only reason Laddin wasn’t with them was because he had advanced on Captain M.

  “He needs a doctor now!” Laddin was saying. “That’s his livelihood!” And if glares could kill, Captain M would be a smoking pile of ash.

  But the woman held up her hand and pointed at Wiz. “Fix him,” she said.