Chapter 3 - Byron

"I just don't get it, man," Percy says, laughing and shaking the water from his hands. I grab the mirror from the counter and hold it up, watching as my hair slowly fades back to black. "If we put any more bleach on there, I think your head might melt off."

I set the mirror down carefully, trying to control my anger. It's not Percy's fault this is happening—I noticed it about a year ago.

I've dyed my hair a cerulean blue since the day I left my hometown. During that time, I developed a system—get my roots done once a month, mix dye in with my shampoo, and use a hair masque—which Percy caught me doing once, and hasn't let me live down since.

But last year, I noticed the blue fading faster and faster, no matter how much extra dye I mixed in with my shampoo. It was like my hair was rejecting the color, forcing it out.

And not only that, but the hair that had previously been bleached had started turning black again. At first, it was several weeks after the bleaching, then days, and now, the bleach doesn't even strip the color from my hair for more than ten minutes before it's black to a glossy black.

" Fuck ," I say, bracing my hands on the counter and forcing myself to take a deep breath. It shouldn't matter—it's just blue hair—but it's become a part of my identity.

Part of the way I remind myself that I'm not my family. Something I can do so I don't have to wake up and stare at a reflection of my brother in the mirror every morning.

"I'm sorry, man," Percy says, stripping off his gloves and tossing them in the trash can. "You already know what I'm going to say, and I know you don't want to hear it."

"Yeah, yeah, talk to Triste," I say, thinking of the mage Aris, who has recently been invited for a residency in Rosecreek. He wants her to decide to stay, but I don't care either. Obviously, I'm aware of the fact that magic exists, but I prefer to stay as far away from it as I can. I'm not a fan of the loose, changing rules for how magic functions and how to control it.

Technology is much easier to manipulate. Once you know the rules, you can do whatever you want. It may take you hours to find that tiny little character that's keeping your code from running, but once you do, the entire world makes sense.

"I'm just saying," Percy says, sighing and running his hands through his hair, which is a little longer than he normally keeps it, the loose golden curls flopping over his head. "You want blue hair; you gotta talk to the wizard."

"You know they hate it when you call them that," I say, referring to the many times Percy has referred to mages as wizards.

‘It's not a fucking Dungeons and Dragons book' , one of them snapped, when we were working on assignment in Canada.

‘A what ?' Percy had said back, looking like a confused puppy, which just led the mage to sigh and ignore him for the rest of the mission.

"I always forget the words for it," he says, shaking his head and running a hand over his chin. "But my point stands."

"Isn't she busy with Veronica?"

"Well," Percy says, letting out a long sigh between his teeth, and I regret bringing it up. I know that even being here with me right now is a lot for him—he wants to stay glued to Veronica's side, but her pregnancy is making her even more touchy than normal, and she called me, begging me to get him out of the house.

So, I asked him to come help me with my hair. Which was clearly a bust.

"I don't think there's really a lot Triste can do," Percy says, flopping down into a chair and staring up at the ceiling. "Rosa and Maisie are checking on her—but Rosa is a chemist, not a doctor, and as much as I love Maisie, she's a nurse, not a doctor. Aris contacted the guild of paranormal doctors, requesting anyone skilled and familiar with vampires and shifters, but that's obviously rare. Triste has been casting some health spells on Veronica, but she says they just make her itchy."

"Maybe that's a good thing," I muse, reaching into the fridge. I grab an energy drink for myself, a grape soda for Percy. "I think stuff itches when it's healing."

"I guess," he says, then putting his hand to his heart and accepting the soda, "you know me so well."

"Yeah," I laugh, kicking the fridge door shut. I don't need him knowing that the only reason I keep that soda is for when he comes over. I wouldn't be caught dead drinking the stuff.

"But that stuff," he says, popping the tab on his soda and pointing at my energy drink, "is going to kill you."

I resist the urge to say, that's the goal , and instead just shrug.

"Humans drink it," I say, taking a sip, "how dangerous can it be?"

He quirks an eyebrow at me but says nothing else about my choice of beverage. We sit in silence for a moment, each studying the birds hopping outside the windowsill.

"How long are you guys staying for?" I ask, trying to determine how long I need to stay hidden away in my apartment. I know events are coming up in Minneapolis and Chicago soon—but maybe they'll skip one or two until Veronica is ready to go out again.

"Oh," Percy says, can halfway to his mouth. "We're staying until the baby is born. With complications showing up this early, we don't want to risk anything happening out in the field, or the stress of the job affecting the baby's health."

"That's fair," I say, laughing, "Olivia must be pissed."

Percy raises an eyebrow at me. I'm clearly fishing, but I rarely mention her to anyone else, so I'd hoped it would come off as casual to him. He may have been under the effects of the serum back when Olivia liked me, but it's clear the others filled him in on our situation.

Or, as much of the situation as they were privy to. There's no one in this town, other than Olivia and me, who knows why we no longer speak.

It's my fault, and I know that, but there's also nothing I can do to change our circumstances.

"Why would she be pissed?" he asks, slowly, as though he's afraid of what my reaction might be.

"Oh, it's just—I mean, she's been out on missions for months. It's clear she's…avoiding being home. I just figured she'd be pissed to be stuck here until the baby is born."

"She's not," Percy says, wrinkling his brow and tilting his head. "She's probably landing in Minneapolis now."

"What?" I ask, my brain not comprehending what he's saying.

In my opinion, Olivia and Veronica didn't receive nearly enough training to be out in the field. Of course, they're stronger and faster than humans just by virtue of being shifter and vampire, respectively, but we're not always—or even usually—going up against humans.

But Aris claimed that the two of them learned the ropes quickly.

I've always seen how capable Olivia is, and she and Rosa had taught themselves and Kaila self-defense in case Rosa's father ever found them—not that it would have done a lot of good—so maybe that's why she did so well.

Or, maybe she was just determined to get out of Rosecreek as fast as possible.

"She's doing the Minneapolis mission herself," Percy says, as though it's not a big deal, as though him not being there doesn't change a thing. The only thing that allowed me to relax with her out in the field was Percy, who was there, too, and someone I had worked with multiple times in the past.

Percy had saved my life before. Hell, he had been ready to take his own life if it meant protecting our team. If it meant having Rosa's antidote tested on him instead of others. I trust him with my life, and with Olivia's.

"She's doing a mission by herself ?" I ask, rising up out of my chair, holding my can so hard it dents under my fingers. I force myself to take a breath, but it does nothing to quell the rising panic inside me.

"Well, yeah," Percy says, "just like you or me—"

"Dude, come on," I say, shaking my head. "You know that's not true—we had years and years of training before we ever went out on our own."

"Olivia is smart."

"I know that!"

I close my eyes and dip my head, putting a hand to my forehead.

"Shit," I breathe, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to raise my voice, but…"

"Why don't you just talk to her, man?" Percy asks, his voice small. He's only ever brought up the subject of Olivia to me once before, and I shut it down quickly. Something in my chest begs me to tell him, to explain to him why it would never work between Olivia and me, but I can't.

It's too painful to think about, let alone talk about, the fact that I can't be with my mate. That living the rest of her life with me would be the worst thing for her.

That no matter how much she hates me, I'm saving her by refusing to be with her.

"Not an option," I say, my brain flashing back to what happened last time Olivia and I talked, how royally I had screwed everything up. I try to actively forget that night as much as possible, but it's like it's always there, floating in the background, ready to superimpose over my reality at a moment's notice.

"But I just—" Percy starts, but I shake my head, pacing over to the door. My hair is still sopping wet, and faintly smelling of bleach, and I should wash it before going out, but I can't be in this apartment with my friend for another second.

Or I might break down and tell him the truth.

"You're right," I say, setting down my mostly full can by the front door. "I should go talk to Triste. And maybe you should go see Veronica."

"Byron," Percy says, standing and taking a step toward me.

"Off to the wizard," I joke, not wanting to linger in this conversation, already waiting for the next time Percy and I see each other, when we can pretend none of this ever happened. Without another second of hesitation, I open the door, push through, and jog down the steps to the street.

Aris gifted me an apartment in downtown Rosecreek, and as soon as I'm on the sidewalk, I pull up my hood, stuff my hands in my pockets, and walk with my head down, ignoring the people out and about.

Now that Halloween is finished and Thanksgiving is quickly approaching, it's like the entire town has shifted gears. Gone are the spooky decorations, and a warm, cozy, inviting ambiance is in their place. The coffee shops advertise pumpkin drinks, the home decor shop has gourds and red cloths in the window, and the bakery is advertising a deal on apple pies.

Apparently, I'll do anything to avoid talking about Olivia with Percy, even if that means paying a visit to our new resident mage.

By the time I get to the pack center, I feel like I'll always smell like pumpkin spice. Everyone I pass on the street smiles at me. I want nothing more than to disappear into the background and float through the world without them even recognizing that I exist.

But, unfortunately, even the humans in this town are aware of Aris's team, and they all want to say hello to me, thank me for bringing faster Wi-Fi to the town.

I want to tell them that I didn't do it for them; I did it for me because I was lagging way too much while playing online games.

The pack center is also bustling, with shifter kids running around and playing at the indoor park, some sort of cookie swap happening in the dining area, and a whole committee meeting taking place, already talking about what kind of holiday decorations should go up after Thanksgiving.

It's exhausting, just being in this building.

I make my way up the stairs to the quieter area restricted to members of the agency, and buzz through the security doors with my badge and thumbprint. I'm halfway to the mage's office when I hear a phone ringing at the secretary's desk.

She has a little sign up that reads out to lunch . I stare at the phone for another long moment, then sigh, reach over, and pick it up.