"Israel," my Dad said, his back turned to me just like last time. He was looking at that stuffed and mounted bear, and part of me really wanted to know what he was thinking about. Was it really his "good old days" or fuming over whatever he and Mom were fighting about? It was hard to tell, and when he turned around to face me, the placid look on his plain features still didn't tell me anything.

  "What's up, Dad?" I needed to get this over with fast. The longer I stuck around here, the greater my chances were of failing to prevent Joshua from casting his spell. Hell, for all I knew it was already too late, but I had to try.

  "I've noticed an increase in your nocturnal activities."

  Alright, time to go with the flow. "I've been doing a lot of patrolling, yeah. So?"

  "Don't get uppity with me, Israel. It isn't your place to patrol. That's for your mother and sister to do."

  It was time to go in for a cheap shot. "Is that why you and Mom are fighting, because I'm doing women's work?"

  Dad's placid look warmed up into the familiar frown as the lines creased in his forehead. "What did she tell you?"

  "She didn't. I just know these things." It also helped that I lived through this argument and already knew how it was going to end.

  "You're meant for better things than the grunt work, son. You're growing up to be a man, and the men have certain obligations in this family. It is our duty to keep the lineage intact; to keep it strong."

  "So all I'm good for is to give you a granddaughter? Is that why you keep on introducing me to your investor's kids? You're hoping I'm going to sneak off and get one of them pregnant?"

  "You'll keep a civil tongue in your mouth, boy. You're not man enough to take the mantle of head of this family."

  "Dad, I just want to live my own life. I don’t want this to turn into an argument.” I didn’t even realize I was going to go off script until I did. I guess part of me didn’t want to stir the pot. Of course, I was also on the clock. I had to get to Joshua before it was too late.

  His frown was smoothed away, the placid look in his eyes making a comeback. "I admit, I’m surprised it hasn’t already.”

  “Maybe I’m learning when to rebel and when to not push my luck. I don’t know any hardships, and that’s why I patrol.”

  Dad broke the glacial look with a raised eyebrow. “Meaning?”

  “There are normal people out there who have no clue what’s lurking in the dark. I do. I have these amazing gifts and I feel like I need to use them to help others.” How much time did I have? I needed to go, and I needed to go now. “I know this isn’t over, but I have to go. I promise you, we’ll finish this talk.”

  “Where did my rebellious son go, and who is this young, respectful man who’s taken his place?”

  “I have no clue, Dad,” I said as I started to leave the den. “But hey, maybe he’ll be back tomorrow.” If I didn’t relive today, that is.

  I had a terrible feeling going off the script was liable to cause me some major trouble but I couldn’t help it. He was my Dad, and I didn’t want this constant bickering between us. Especially if I had to relive this day again.

  I drove back to Joshua’s house trying to think of an excuse to see him. I didn’t want to lie to him about a nonexistent fight with my Dad. What if he had the mojo to sense lies in a person’s aura now? I knew he could tell I wasn’t human, but kudos to him for keeping it secret until I practically forced him to talk.

  It wasn’t until I walked up to his front door when the reason hit me. It was so obvious, I’m surprised I didn’t think about it first. I knocked on the door and waited. Nothing. Then I rang the doorbell, forgetting his house was almost as big as mine. Still nothing. Was he casting the spell now? Was it too late?

  I briefly contemplated breaking down the door when Joshua finally answered the door on the third ring. “Izzy? What are you doing here?” He was still wearing his outfit from today, so at least he didn’t get into the ritualistic robes. Thank God because I had zero faith he could pull off the look.

  “Hey, I felt like sharing some good news with you,” I said, grinning down at him. “Mind if I come in?”

  “What’s the good news?” Joshua asked as he stepped aside to let me in. I didn’t feel any itch, so maybe that was a good sign. Maybe the spell hadn’t happened yet.

  “Dad wanted to talk to me,” I said as I flopped on a couch. “And for once I didn’t escalate things into an argument.”

  “Who are you and what have you done to Izzy?” Joshua asked as he sat down across from me.

  “Very funny,” I said. “Was I interrupting anything?”

  Joshua looked up the stairs towards his room. “No, I was just studying.” He then looked back at me. “So why didn’t you just text me like you usually do?”

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  Uh oh. Crap. That was what I’d usually do, huh? “I just felt like getting out of the house because Mom was also making some weird dish with squid and ink.” There, not really a lie as there was no way I wanted to eat that stuff.

  “Huh, that does sound weird but I like your Mom’s cooking.”

  I flashed him a grin. “Then you can try the leftovers tomorrow while I have steak.”

  Joshua’s face scrunched up in disgust. “I think I’d rather have the leftovers.”

  I rolled my eyes at him. “You’re not going vegan on me, are you?”

  Joshua frowned. “I’m a vegetarian, thank you.”

  I waved a dismissive hand “Whatever. Is that where you don’t eat anything that casts a shadow?”

  This time Joshua rolled his eyes at me. “You stole that line from Drag Race.”

  I shrugged at him with a grin. “Steal from the best, I always say.” I then glanced up at his room. “So what’re you studying? Stuff from that book? Finding out a way to use what you bought at Candleworks?”

  “I… was just doing some research, that’s all.”

  Uh oh. He was being cagey. Did he actually have time to cast it? “You didn’t actually use the stuff before I got here, did you?”

  “I might have tried out something, but it didn’t work. I guess magic isn’t real.”

  Wow, if I hadn’t known magic was, for a fact, real, I might have believed him. Maybe he honestly thought the spell didn’t work, but he knew damn well magic existed. It kind of hurt me that my best friend could lie to me like he did.

  Even worse, he already cast the spell which meant I was in danger and I might have brought the danger to him. “Sorry it didn’t work out,” I said, rising to my feet. “But now it’s time for me to go do my daily workout. Wanna hang out afterwards? I feel kind of bad for popping in then splitting almost as fast.” Not really a lie as I did feel bad. I’d feel worse if Manny found me here, though.

  “Sure, I’ll be home.”

  “Great, see you when I’m done.”

  Once I was outside I bolted for the jeep but did my best to drive casually away from his place. When I felt I was a good distance away I immediately had a lead foot on the gas pedal and drove like the devil was after me to the high school.

  Which for all I knew, a devil was after me. How did Manny get there? Did he drive? I don’t remember seeing his car when I left the last time this happened. Maybe he had it hidden?

  Night had fallen by the time I got back to the school grounds. I parked my jeep next to the football field like last time and ran towards the chain link fence, getting over it easily again, and continued my run to the building behind the bleachers. Once inside, I watched the door, waiting for Manny to show.

  And waited.

  And waited some more.

  I checked my phone and it was well past time for him to show. Where the Hell was he? Why wasn’t he here? I waited another half hour until I finally decided to go back to my jeep. What was going on? Did Joshua really screw up the spell?

  As soon as I got behind the driver’s wheel my phone rang. It was a call from Joshua, which was weird because he always texted unless it was an emergency. “Hey,” I said, trying to ignore the creeping dread in my gut. “I was just about to go back to your place.”

  “Have you seen the news?” he asked.

  “No, I was working out. Why?”

  “Manny’s dead.”

  The dread filled up my gut and I couldn’t ignore it anymore. “What? What do you mean he’s dead? How do you know?”

  “It’s on the news. The report says he killed his father and tried to attack the police called to the scene. They shot him dead, but not before he critically injured an officer.”

  “I’m on my way over right now,” I said before hanging up and once again driving like the Devil was after me. Only he wasn’t after me because I was going after the one who summoned him. To be fair, if I was right everything was going to reset anyway, but I had to at least try to figure out where I went wrong with this scene. Why did Manny change his target from me to his dad? What happened between the time I stopped him from bullying Joshua to being filled with murderous rage?

  This time Joshua answered the door without me having to ring the doorbell. “How did the spell go wrong, Joshua?” I said as I entered the house.

  He took a step back, his eyes wide as saucers. “W-what do you mean?”

  I pointed a finger at him. “I know you can do magic, Joshua. Let’s not lie to each other. Not right now. Manny is dead because of you.”

  Joshua hung his head, going right into his self-defense mode. "I… I was trying to teach Manny a lesson. I thought it was a spell that would make him impotent. He's always bragging about the girls he has sex with; I thought that would be ironic justice. I… don't know what went wrong."

  I shook my head. “I’m sorry for blaming you for Manny’s death, dude. If he hadn’t bullied you, this wouldn’t have happened. I’m sorry I didn’t stop him sooner.”

  Joshua looked up at me. “How did you know I could use magic?”

  “Magic makes me itch. I’m really sensitive to it because of what I am. Still can’t figure out if it’s a perk or a disadvantage. I guess a really powerful source of magic could incapacitate me from having to scratch all the itching.”

  “You said what you are. Meaning you’re not human.” Joshua stared at me for an uncomfortable amount of time, and I almost answered his question before he asked. “When did you become a werewolf?”

  “Never, because I’m not a werewolf.” Hell, I was so far off the script I didn’t know what was going to happen next, so figured I needed to steer the conversation back to some semblance of familiarity.

  Joshua blinked, then shook his head. "But… your aura. It matches the ones I've seen out in the woods. I saw them change. If you're not a werewolf, then what are you and your family?"

  Time for me to put on a show again. As I stripped off my shirt and took off my shoes and socks, I said "You might want to sit down," and began the slow, gradual change into my werelion form. Since it was slow, the pain was almost nonexistent as my mane blossomed out along with the tawny fur. I had plenty of time to adjust to my new center of gravity as I grew in height and bulk. When I was finished, I winked down at Joshua. “Does this look like a werewolf to you?” I said, trying to keep my voice and body language as non threatening as possible.

  Joshua swallowed audibly but didn’t bolt, so I guess I did okay. “I think I need to sit down,” he said, backing up to the sofa and falling down onto it, never taking his eyes off me.

  As reactions go, he handled the news well, but a couple of questions in my head remained unanswered: what did I do to make Manny go off script and was I bound to repeat this day again? Hell, why was I going through this again?

  I immediately checked my phone when I woke up the next day only to find out it was Wednesday. Again.

  Dammit.