Chapter 8: 2.3 Uneasy Alliance

  “So, what do you think?” Red asks. “Sullen and sulky or sprint out all aggressive like?”

  Jack takes hold of the handle as he gets ready to open the door. “I imagine he’s going to be pissed, for sure.” Jack lifts the bar out of place, then pulls open the door. They both look in but don’t see Wolf at the door like they expect. Red finally catches the glimmer of his eyes as he sits back in the shadows. A low growl starts to come from the car and Red just rolls her eyes.

  “Get over yourself, pup.”

  Wolf walks over to the door’s ledge and stares down at Red. “One of these days Red…”

  “Yes? Go on.” She looks at him expectantly. “I’m sure you were about to lay out a life changing ultimatum, so let’s not waste the opportunity. I don’t trust you, pup. I’m not giving you free reign around us while this is the case. If you don’t like that, then hit the road, Jack.”
  “Wait, what?” Jack looks over confused.

  Red looks back at him as well, confused by his outburst but then replays her words in her mind, before shaking her head. “Not you Jack. It’s just a saying.” She looks back to Wolf. “I’m meaning that Wolf is welcome to bail if he has a problem with my rules. If he doesn’t start working to earn our trust, then he might as well leave now.” She looks at Wolf expectantly. “So, what’s it going to be pup?”

  Wolf glances over to Jack, who nods back to him. “From now on,” Wolf starts.

  “Nope, I don’t do demands. Requests, maybe, but we’re not there yet. Try again.”

  Wolf grits his teeth. “I’ll tag along, for now, but can you stop calling me pup?”

  Red tilts her head, seeming to contemplate. “Hmm, like I said, that’s up to you. Behave like a grown up and I’ll treat you like one. But that’s enough bromance for now. We’ve got to head back to my—our world before we go elsewhere.”

  “I don’t think that’s broman—“ Jack chimes in but is cut short.

  “Shhh,” Red interjects with a hand gesture. “We need to get moving.”

  Wolf’s frustration is momentarily overridden by his curiosity. “What? Why head back?”

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  “My sword isn’t actually a trans-dimensional portal device, rather it’s a remote conduit that can draw that ability from my grandfather’s device...which my grandmother has. The same grandmother who’s actively using said device to try to kill me. I can only access that trans-dimensional ability while I’m in our home world, otherwise, I can only open local portals or ones that can take us back to our world. So, we’ll have to chance going back each time to go elsewhere, but while we’re there, she can track my sword.”

  Wolf looks back and forth between Red and Jack as both stare at him. “What?”

  “Think about what she just told you, Wolf.”

  “Yeah, I got it. It sucks, but we can’t do anything about that.”

  Red crosses her arms and Jack shakes his head. “She just told you something important. She said something, which we’re not sure even her grandmother knows.”

  “So? What’s that got to do with anything?”

  “Wolf, what did she say she wanted from you?”

  “Forget it,” Red chimes in. “Let’s just get moving. It’s not that big of a deal.” Red unsheathes the glowing blade, then opens a doorway home.

  Wolf jumps from the car, looking over to Jack. “What’d I miss?”

  “Trust,” Jack explains. “She just told you a very big weakness. She’s trying to show you trust so start giving her more reason to…some of our lives may later depend on you two trusting one another.” Jack adjusts the ammo on his shoulder then turns to follow Red.

  Wolf stares at the two on the other side of the portal, watching as they continue to walk away. He pauses longer than he had previously. Both the motivation to leave and the motivation to follow continuing to rise, neither option becoming more appealing than the other. For now, Red and Jack are the only things familiar to him. Familiar is enough for now, but that might not always be the case. The portal begins to shrink, and he runs through before it closes.

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