Massimo had no idea who she really was, where she had come from, or where she had disappeared to, but she had changed his world forever – and executed his father for his crimes. For the longest time, Massimo had fantasized that the Queen would find him – but she never did. He had vowed to be ready for the day she would take him away from all this.
“Pops, you know those aren’t the right lyrics,” Leandro said.
“Leandro, my little dancing bean. Sing with me – dance with me.” Massimo grabbed his son’s hands and swayed him in time to the music.
Massimo was only five-foot-five, and Leandro towered over him at six-foot-two. One thing the men had in common was that they were both more than human. Massimo was a Vampire, and Leandro was a Were.
Unlike Massimo, Leandro didn’t think he was the last Were on earth. He’d heard wolves howling at night, and in recent weeks the howling had increased. He had tried locating the animals, but every time he had gotten close, they’d sprinted away from him.
He wondered if they were Weres or just common wolves, hungry and on the hunt. He hoped that they were Weres, like him.
Maybe one day he’d be able to catch up to one of them and find out.
Leandro held still as Massimo tried to make him move to the music. He really wasn’t in the mood for this. “You know I hate Abba, so why would I sing with you?” he complained.
Massimo laughed and kept swaying. “Because it’s fun. ‘Dancing Queen’ is one of Abba’s best songs. Don’t you agree?”
“I don’t agree,” Leandro scowled. “All their songs are ridiculous.”
Massimo shook his head in wonder. “And here I was, thinking I’d raised you right, with a good head on your shoulders.”
“I’m not getting into another musical debate with you.” Leandro looked at the sunlight coming in the window. “The sun is still up. What are you doing awake anyway?”
Massimo shrugged. “I couldn’t sleep.”
Over the last few months, Massimo had been having problems sleeping. Before his strange bouts of insomnia, Massimo had slept through the day like he had back when his father, David, had turned him into a vampire.
Massimo was convinced that the changes began shortly after the World’s Worst Day Ever. He knew a little about nanocytes, the tiny machines that ran through his blood, from David. What he didn’t know was why they had changed, allowing him to walk in the sun again.
The return of the sun was a gift he thought would be denied him forever. The change brought a reprieve, making Massimo a daywalker. However, he still had limits. He suspected that the drain on his energy that being out in the day caused would not be so pronounced if he was to drink human blood.
So he waited until the end of each day, when he greeted the sun like a lost lover with his arms outstretched, allowing its warm rays to caress his grateful skin for as long as he could stand it.
Leandro watched Massimo with wry amusement on his face. He had really hoped his dad would sleep in today. He loved his dad, but a full day with him was always a pain in the ass. Leandro’s shoulders slumped at the thought. He had been looking forward to relaxing alone with a good book.
To avoid the annoyance, Leandro considered turning into a wolf and spending the day running through the woods. But before he could escape, Massimo requested that his son cut some firewood for the stove. Even though they already had enough wood to last them a year he was happy to do as he was asked. It would get him out of the house, away from the music.
Listening to another Abba song would make his ears bleed.
Leandro hefted the axe and glanced down at its sharp edge. He thought about using it on the stereo to stop the songs once and for all. That would only bring more problems into his life, and his problem tank was already fucking full. If he destroyed the player then Massimo would just send him on a quest to find a new one, and guilt would make Leandro agree.
Finding a replacement for something like the stereo was close to impossible now. The only place he might find another would involve a two-day run to the abandoned underground mall, and even then it would be a crapshoot.
He’d found the last one there when he was younger, and he often wished he could go back in time and stop his younger self from bringing it back. It had only brought misery to his life.
But as Leandro looked back at their house, he knew that wasn’t true. He’d brought joy to his dad, so it was worth it.
Leandro could still remember the look on Massimo’s face when he’d brought it home. It had been Leandro’s first visit to the mall. He knew he’d stayed too long and that his dad would be worried. Massimo had yelled at him until Leandro showed him the music system. It had been the first and only time he saw his dad cry.
For the first few weeks, the house was filled with songs and laughter, which Leandro loved. As the months went by, Leandro stopped enjoying the music. As years went by, he grew to hate it.
Leandro drove the axe into the wood, taking his aggravation out on the log instead of his dad’s music system.
Between swings, Leandro heard howling coming from the nearby Bora mountains. The wolves were near.
“Pops, I’m going for a run,” Leandro yelled. Without waiting for a response, he shed his clothes and turned into a wolf. He wasn’t going to let them get away from him again.
Ryder jumped over fallen trees and dodged branches in her rush toward freedom. Terrier had given her a head start, and she wasn’t going to waste it. She was both grateful for
