Carson Durand (dontlaugh) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2019-01-31 10:10:00 |
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Entry tags: | #december 2017, #group scene, carson, lem, nic, nick |
Who: Nic, Nick, Carson, and Lem
When: Friday, Dec 1st, afternoon
Where: the Castell house, Vex & Lem's basement
Status: complete
Carson’s nerves were officially wracked. The full moon was coming in the next couple of days, and he felt itchy and restless and like he was woefully unprepared for it. There had been a lot of back and forth and communication flying around, with Nic and a different Nick and Rylee and Adam, and while Carson thought they’d all landed on a plan, his head was spinning so much, he didn’t feel secure about that yet. Maybe he never would. Not until the full moon night was over, anyway.
Rylee was working during the time Nic had said would be best to meet him to talk in person about it all, so Carson ended up going with Nick-with-a-K. For ease of communication, he’d told everyone to call him Cooke, deferring to the Nic who was actually a local. Carson kind of liked the guy, he was big and friendly and still talked to Carson like he was a normal person even though he knew about the werewolf stuff. Carson kept wondering if that would still be true if he knew about the cousin stuff too, but he tried not to dwell there. And sometimes Carson thought he was hiding something, but he was the last person on earth to hold that against anyone.
“So Nic said the cage isn’t here,” Carson was saying as Nick pulled the car up into the Castells’ driveway. “But it’s close by.”
“I’ve still got the other one on standby,” Nick reassured him. “I can call it in if whatever setup Nic has going looks shitty.” That was part of why they were here, to check the cage and iron out all the details. This was a unique experience for him, getting to be involved on the front end of something like this, but he wanted to help as much as possible, if only to prevent more unnecessary death. Nick was positive Carson wasn’t the only werewolf in the area, but one was much easier to handle than two, so getting him safely locked away during the moon would benefit everyone.
The two men got out of the car and walked up to the front door. Carson rang the bell and stepped back, casting a nervous glance around, like the full moon might jump out and surprise him or something. He really wished Rylee was with them, but at least Nick was knowledgeable and he would pay attention.
As eager as he was to help, Nic was nervous about Carson and the other Nick coming over. He always preferred to defer to the spice shop, a safe, impersonal location, but he knew they’d want to see the cage. The house on Ludlow had been in their family for so long that he thought it stunk of magic, even when he knew that wasn’t the case. He knew it really came down to the fact that he was letting two people he barely knew, one of which he’d never even met, into his own private little bubble, but it was for a good cause. Carson was already neck deep in the weird, so he wasn’t as worried about him, but the other Nick… He felt like such an unknown.
How did a normal person come to know about werewolves? And how much did he know beyond that? Nic wanted to pick his brain, but he also wanted to do it from a safe distance. Not from his house. But there they were. He hurried down to answer the door when it rang, glad that Zania was out for this one. There might be a crowd around when it came to the full moon, but they didn’t need one now. “Hi. Come on in,” he said with a small smile, offering his hand to who he assumed was Nick. “Nic Castell.”
Nick hadn’t been too sure what to expect. He hadn’t been told much about this Nic Castell, just that he was an old friend of Rylee’s who Knew Things and could help them. That could mean just about anything in Nick’s world, but he was game to suss it out. This town and its people held a lot of strangeness, and exploring it was why he was there, after all. Nick gave the man a warm smile back, and shook his hand. “Nick Cooke,” he introduced himself in return. “Just ‘Cooke’ is fine for now though. Since we uh, share a name and all.” Nick chuckled as he stepped inside with Carson.
Maybe he was just on edge, but Carson was relieved when Nic opened the door. They might not know each other very well yet, but he was still a more familiar face than the one beside him. He hadn’t told Nick anything about the dreams and whatnot, because it was all irrelevant to his wolf problem, and he hoped Nic would share his discretion. “Hey man,” he greeted too as they shuffled through the door. “Thanks for having us over.”
Not likely, Nic thought with a little laugh when Nick mentioned them sharing a name. Chances were, Nick with a K was a Nicholas. Or maybe just Nick. But he agreed, it made things easier, especially since he already knew everyone involved. “Not a problem,” he said, leading them into the living room. He took a seat in one of the armchairs and gestured for them to feel free to do the same. “I thought it’d be a good idea for us all to be on the same page and all. We can go see the cage in a few.” It just felt better to meet Nick first before inviting him into Lem and Vex’s house. “Carson says you’re absolutely sure it has to be a bite to spread the curse,” he said to Nick. “Just a scratch won’t do it, right?”
Nick glanced around as they walked through the house. It seemed like it had been completely put together from antique and thrift stores, with a really hippie vibe. Someone along the way had mentioned that Nic had a sister, and Nick thought that was probably more her doing. He sat with Carson on the couch, with plenty of space in between them. He’d expected this -- questions first, trust later. Or as much trust as he was going to get here. Looking attentive, he nodded at Nic’s question. “Only a bite,” he said. “It’s spread through the saliva, so a scratch wouldn’t do anything but hurt. I’m absolutely positive.” He spoke from real experience, more than he wanted to get into with these guys. “So whoever got scratched ...” He glanced between Carson and Nic, “They’re fine.”
“One of my friends with the cage,” Nic said, answering the unspoken question. “Which is why it’s important.” The cage was meant to keep them safe and the last thing they needed was one werewolf in and one werewolf out. But they couldn’t share a cage either. If Nick was wrong and someone got hurt, Nick was going to find himself hurting as well. Nic didn’t threaten people, but he knew instinctively that if someone he cared about got hurt, he would react. “So it’s spread through saliva, but only while he’s a werewolf?” he asked, even if that didn’t necessarily matter at the moment. It might to Carson, since he was the one living with it. “I was also wondering about the tranquilizers. I understand we’d need something pretty powerful to be useful, but I wasn’t sure how that would impact Carson when he shifts back. How long do they last? What happens if they’re still in his system at dawn?”
Nick gave a nod to the first part, making a mental note of it. The guy with the cage had had a close encounter with a werewolf and survived then. Interesting. It made Nick even more eager to meet him. Or her. Or them, really, he didn’t know yet. “Only when he’s in wolf form, yes. It’s part of the biological changes they go through. Otherwise we’d be overrun, it’s difficult to get people to stop swapping spit with one another,” Nick offered with a wan smile.
On his side of the couch, Carson glanced away as Rylee popped in his mind. He’d already gotten most of these answers from Nick, but it was good to hear them again, at the same time. He couldn’t imagine accidentally spreading this to Rylee, he would’ve never forgiven himself. It was a little odd to sit there while Nic questioned the other Nick about this stuff, like he was some specimen being talked over by people smarter than him, but Nick was the expert, so he tried not to be bothered.
“As for the tranqs,” the expert was going on. “They’re potent, for sure. You don’t want to shoot a human with them, so we’ll have to wait until after the change is complete to inject him. But werewolves have an incredible metabolism, and the dosages I have should wear off right around sunrise. I’ve adjusted for the longer hours of darkness since it’s winter. Even if the numbers are off a bit and there’s still some in his system when he changes back, it won't be enough to harm him. He’ll just sleep.” He paused, then added, “This ain’t my first rodeo. I know all of you have plenty of reason to be skeptical and concerned, and that’s good. But I can assure you my only goal is making sure everybody stays safe, Carson included, and that y’all learn to handle this every month.”
Nic listened attentively, following along until Rylee popped into his mind, the thought coming across like the weird radio frequency in his head, except much more clear this time. He stared curiously at Carson as Nick’s responses filtered in, distracted enough that he just nodded along until Nick finished. “How do you know all this?” He asked, hoping for an answer that would make him feel a little better about letting an outsider in. “This isn’t the kind of stuff you just run across. I’ve had trouble tracking it down and-- and even people in the know don’t seem to know a lot.” Then he glanced at Carson and actually attempted to project his thoughts, something that seemed almost silly except for the bizarre mental signal he’d been tuned into lately. Carson… Can you hear me?
Carson had been hearing things the same way they all had, like staticy murmurings in the back of his mind sometimes. Like a radio in a distant room. Sometimes he could make it out and sometimes he couldn’t. It had given him pause, of course, and made him wonder about his sanity all over again, but it hadn’t been happening frequently enough to really make him really worry about what it was. He had enough to worry about already with all this werewolf business. But suddenly Nic’s voice rang loud and clear in his head. Carson’s eyes widened and flashed to meet Nic’s, shock turning into disbelief turning into wariness, all in the space of a few seconds. ... yes? he attempted, feeling both ridiculous and fascinated at the same time.
Oblivious to what else was happening, Nick was hedging around Nic’s question. “I have some personal experience,” he said. “And I’ve done a fuckton of research. For my books.” He waved a hand. “I’m a writer, and I have some sources that are very knowledgeable about a lot of things that most people don’t believe. This one’s kind of my specialty.”
Even though Nic had been the one to start the mental conversation, hearing Carson’s voice ring out in his head rattled him. It was so much more clear than the fuzzy snippets he’d been receiving before and it made him want to experiment with it, to understand how it all worked. Because, as cool as it was, he also didn’t want to accidentally project things he shouldn’t… like he thought Carson might have done. Which was so awkward and not exactly something he wanted to ask about. We should talk about this later, he sent back, then tried to focus on what the “expert” was saying. “For your books,” he said slowly, letting that sink in. It set off all kinds of alarms in Nic’s head and he suddenly wanted to do a lot more looking into who this guy was and where exactly he’d gotten his information from. “So how do we know you won’t be writing about us?”
Nick gave a faint smile. “Because I’m not interested in violating anybody’s privacy,” he answered. “I only tell the stories that people want told, if I’m writing about specific individuals. There’s a whole disclosure agreement that gets signed to cover my own ass. But beyond that, I’m not currently writing about werewolves, I’ve already done that. So this isn’t interesting to me as a topic.” He paused, then glanced at Carson. “No offense.” It was true enough from his position as an author, but it was interesting for his other job. The more vigilant one. But Nick wasn’t inclined to sell Carson out. The man was trying to get help, that was what mattered.
Carson was barely listening as the implications of what had just happened really sank in. Nic heard him, and Carson had heard him back, loud and clear. Which meant that the vague murmurings and sippets of voices he’d been hearing for a while now hadn’t been his imagination, he’d been hearing the others. Because it hadn’t just been male voices. They hadn’t all gotten together since it had started, so apparently distance had something to do with it? But panic was starting to fill him, because he’d thought so many things about Rylee that no one else should hear. Carson did his best to clamp down on it all to keep it out of Nic’s earshot, but how the hell did one even do that? He blinked a little when Nick looked at him expectantly, and forced out a chuckle as his brain caught up with the conversation. “None taken,” he muttered, rubbing his palms against his thighs. “Uh ... yeah, I mean, beggars can’t be choosers, right? I just wanna get through the next couple days and go on from there.”
Nic could almost feel Carson’s mental panic, the little snippets that slipped in racing too fast to make much sense. It made him distinctly aware that even though he trusted the other dreamers, there were definitely things he didn’t want them to know. Projecting thoughts felt easy, but masking them? Nic didn’t even know where to start. Clearly, neither did Carson. But what Nick was saying was more important at the moment, so Nic tried to focus on that. “What are you currently writing about?” It made him think about who came to Point Pleasant and why. How much noise did their little town generate? What kind of people came seeking answers? Most found more than they could handle, but Nick seemed to know his shit. That could be a blessing and a curse at once.
Nick gave a faint chuckle. Of course he would ask that. Nick couldn’t exactly tell them that he was there to research everything, to dig in deep and shine a light on whatever was haunting this town. “It was all the disappearances that drew me in,” he answered Nic’s question, going with the vagued-up version of the truth he used as a cover story. “But then I started to read up on the local folklore, so the focus of my book has uh, expanded. The history of this place is amazing. So I’m still sussing out what my focus is going to be, but I would never expose anybody innocent who didn’t want to be exposed. Just not worth the potential lawsuit.” Nick hoped that would be enough reassurance, but the suspicion also made him wonder if Nic had some secrets of his own.
If Nick exposed the wrong people in Point Pleasant, a lawsuit was going to be the least of his worries. In two day’s time, he’d be shut in a room with the people Nic was closest to, all of which had secrets to hide. And none of which would appreciate being the subject of a supernatural investigation. If Nick wasn’t so key to making sure Carson survived the full moon, Nic would have backed out then and there. Instead, he found himself forced to trust Nick against his better judgement. “I would take innocence out of the equation,” Nic suggested, but didn’t elaborate. Instead, he took a deep breath. “Want to go see the cage?”
It was an interesting statement, and Nick filed it away, but didn’t pursue the conversation. There was obviously something More going on with Nic, and while it was a bit enticing, Nick had other priorities. If he just had to prove himself by making sure they all stayed safe through his transition of Carson’s, then that’s what he would do. If Nic was up to something nefarious, the evidence would lead there, and Nick would pursue it then. But for now, as a secret-keeper himself, he didn’t care to rock the boat. With a touch of relief, he glanced over at Carson. “Yeah, if you guys are ready,” he said, moving to stand up. “It’s not in this house, somebody said?”
Carson couldn’t spare the brainpower to worry about whether or not the author was trustworthy or not. Maybe he should’ve been more concerned, but he didn’t really feel like he had much choice in the matter. Everything was falling apart in spectacular ways, and he had to cling to the one person who actually knew their shit about his problem -- this specific problem, anyway. Carson had a whole damn list. Nodding, his nerves fluttering up again in his stomach, he stood up too.
“No, it’s next door,” Nic said, rising to his feet and leading them towards the door. “We built it in the basement, so it’s kind of hard to move without deconstructing it. Which, long term, if you have some place else that you’d like it, we can do.” It was just a lot of work and too close to the full moon to do now. He wasn’t sure if Carson had some place else that work either. It wasn’t just about housing a cage that large, but keeping it out of sight and making sure that wherever it was setup there was some kind of sound proofing in place. Nic was willing to help with that magically, if Carson needed him to, but he couldn’t volunteer that with Nick around.
Carson was just incredibly grateful that this cage existed at all, he didn’t care where it was. The people who lived in the house might not want to put him up every single month, but they would figure all that out after this upcoming full moon. Until then he couldn’t think past the next couple of days. He just planned to thank them a million times. “We live in an apartment, so right now I have no idea,” he muttered in response to Nic, following along as he led them out of the house. Nick was right behind him, and didn’t comment.
“Yeah, this won’t work there,” Nic said with a little laugh as they headed across the yard. “I don’t think they mind, but if they do, we might be able to find a place for it in the basement.” He was well aware that Carson might want to find some place more private, where there weren’t so many people involved, but he didn’t want him to think he had to either. He planned to offer extra protections wherever he ended up setting up. Nic knocked on Lem and Vex’s door as they stepped up onto the porch and waited for one of them to answer. He’d let them know that they might stop by, fully expecting them to want to see the cage before the full moon.
They’d had some warning that there were visitors impending, so Lem was at least somewhat prepared for the knock on the door. Nic just hadn’t been able to be specific about a time -- not that she or Vex paid much attention to time -- so she happened to be alone in the house when it came. Lem opened the front door, her hair freshly buzzed, wearing her spikiest jewelry and all black, with dark lipstick and eyeliner to match. She hadn’t been doing much makeup since they’d moved here, but facing down three big men on her porch was a little easier with the tough girl mask on. There was a small gun hidden in her boot, and a knife in her pocket, too. Just in case. One of said guys was Nic, and she felt he would try to protect her, but the Pegasus helped those who helped themselves. She looked over the assembled males coolly, then focused on Nic. “Hi,” Lem greeted. “Which one’s the werewolf?”
Nic’s eyes widened a little when Lem answered the door and he couldn’t help but take her in. Since they’d met, he’d seen her in various states of dress, but he wasn’t sure he’d ever seen her done up like she was. It gave her a harder edge, which he was sure was the intent, but he found himself smiling in return, thinking of all the things he’d like to do to her after Carson and Nick left. Which was probably not what she was aiming for, but he couldn’t help it. She was hot. “This is Carson,” he said, partially answering her question, but also in introduction. “And this is Nick Cooke, the expert.” As in, the one who’d said they didn’t have to worry about Vex turning. Nic had filled Lem in on as much as he could, since they all seemed to be in this together.
Lem sort of liked the way that Nic smiled at her, though she didn’t let that show for a second. The ripped black jeans and the spiked collar and the near-black lipstick were all part of a shell that she pulled around herself when she felt like she needed to, and looking like a lovesick puppy didn’t match. So her face was still grim as her eyes ticked to Carson. He looked like a dudebro jock to Lem, especially with all his ink covered up, but there was something guileless about the way he was looking at her. The other one, with the beard, the so-called Expert ... she wasn’t so sure about. He just nodded at her.
“Hi,” Carson tried first, giving the goth girl a tentative smile. Weirdly enough, she kind of looked like the kind of person who would have a werewolf cage in her basement. Not very welcoming so far, but he hoped desperately that would change. He couldn’t blame her for being suspicious. “I’m the, uh ... yeah. The werewolf. You’re ... um, Lem?” Carson tossed an uncertain glance at Nic, who hadn’t said the girl’s name out loud, but Carson was fairly certain he’d heard it run through Nic’s mind when she’d opened the door.
“Yeah,” Lem answered, her gaze sweeping over them all again. She pushed the door open wider and walked backward a few paces, motioning them in. “I’ll show you the basement.”
Nic didn’t realize he hadn’t said Lem’s name until Carson said it and he glanced over at him, wondering what else he might’ve picked up. He didn’t have much to hide at this point, Carson knew the secrets that tended to float through his mind on a regular basis, but it was definitely something he would want to get under control. He didn’t like the idea of sharing things unintentionally, even with someone that seemed trustworthy. “Thanks,” he said, following her in, resisting the urge to rub a hand over her freshly cut hair. He had the feeling it would not be appreciated at the moment. “Is Vex around?”
“Nope, he’s out,” Lem said. She didn’t sound too happy about it either, but she hoped Nic understood that was because there were two strange men in her house and it wasn’t directed at them. They were both big and muscular-looking, but she knew Vex would’ve torn them apart if he needed to. He probably wouldn’t be super happy that he missed this, but the full moon was coming up on them fast, and they would all meet each other then anyway. She glanced over at Nic as she led the way through the messy living room and into the equally messy kitchen. Lem hadn’t thought it worthwhile to clean anything, really. She was tempted to take his hand, but she didn’t, just headed for the basement door and flicked the light switch just inside before she started trotting down the steps.
Carson wasn’t sure how he felt about the mess. The house looked like some old lady had decorated it, then teenagers had moved in and made themselves at home. Not that his and Rylee’s apartment was the bastion of cleanliness, but the fast food bags and soda bottles and pizza boxes kind of bugged his stressed mind. Plus there were broken knick knacks here and there and some writing on one wall he just caught a glimpse of. He wasn’t there to redecorate their house, he was there to see the basement, and that’s where they were going.
The basement was roomy, but the cage still took up a good chunk of it, with the thick iron bars from floor to ceiling, reinforced with more metal and driven deep into the concrete floor. The door to it was currently open, but the chain and locks that secured it were thick. Lem just kind of wished they’d been tested, but the only werewolf to be in there had died before they could see if it all held. “It’s all reinforced with magic,” Lem told the men. “And soundproofed.” She stepped aside and crossed her arms over her chest. She was painfully aware of the barrels shoved off into a dark corner of the basement. They’d stacked boxes up around them and covered them with other basement-junk, but it was still hard not to feel like they were screaming ‘there’s a body in here!’
For his part, Nick was fascinated. The whole setup was obviously handmade, and he had to wonder what had inspired this small girl and whoever ‘Vex’ was to build it. The mention of magic caught his attention, naturally, but he didn’t show it besides a flickering glance in Lem’s direction. Instead he moved forward to start examining the cage, tugging on a couple of the bars as he looked upward and downward at their bases, then stepping inside to get a closer look.
Nic was quiet as she led them through the house, putting himself between her and the guys. He got the feeling that she wasn’t comfortable with this arrangement, but couldn’t say anything to ease her worries without drawing attention to them. So he kept quiet. He stood beside her as Carson and Nick looked over the cage, his eyes ticking over to her when she mentioned the magic. Carson would know it was him and Zania, of course, but Nick… he supposed Nick would find out if it was necessary. “We bounced some pretty heavy objects around inside, but I don’t totally know the strength of a werewolf on the full moon. Let me know if there’s anything else we should do.” Like Lem, he wished they could test it, but testing it required a live werewolf, so… he supposed they’d find out on Sunday.
Just the presence of the stranger-men would’ve been enough to make Lem uncomfortable -- if Nic hadn’t been with them, she wouldn’t have let them in at all -- but it was compounded by knowing the dissolved pieces of the man she’d killed were still in containers in the same room. It was something she would have to deal with, and there was no reason for anyone to go snooping, but still. It made her nervous. Especially without Vex there too. She inched in closer to Nic as the other men explored the cage, letting their arms touch.
It was surreal for Carson to walk into the cage, and he did so only after Nick was already in there. Not that it technically made any difference, but something in him didn’t want to be alone in there. Not yet. He gripped the bars here and there too, though he was far from an expert. He’d broken through the chains he and Adam had tried to use like they were nothing, apparently, so Carson had no idea what might hold him or not. He just felt very apprehensive about being in there in the first place. “Whoever buys this house next is gonna get a weird surprise,” he muttered to no one in particular.
“This looks really good for amateur work in a basement,” Nick said, sounding a little impressed. “It’s a good size, too. If all goes like it should, the strength of the bars won’t even be tested, but better safe than sorry.” He examined the hinges on the door and deemed them good enough, then stepped out of the cage and glanced between Lem and Nic. “And if it fails, we’ll still have the tranq gun.” He was sure they all realized that there was no way to make this completely safe, but he would at least help give them the tools to deal with it.
Nic’s fingers laced briefly with Lem’s, giving them a little squeeze as Carson and Nick examined the cage. He knew what else was down there in the basement, but Carson and Nick had no reason to go snooping and asking questions and he doubted they’d ever be left alone in the room, just in case. “What do you mean ‘they won’t be tested’?” He asked. “What’s the plan?” He’d expected Carson would be in the cage, then he’d shift, and everything else was just a safety precaution. He almost said that he and Zan would be there too, if the cage failed, but that required more explanation and hopefully didn’t need to come out at all.
Nick glanced at Carson, who was just watching him expectantly, then back to Nic. “Well ... I was thinking, you lock him up beforehand, wait for the shift to fully commence, then knock him out,” he said. He’d thought they were all on the same page about that, but maybe not. Nick tapped a knuckle against the closest iron bar. “This might be well made and strong, but a pissed off werewolf trying to break out to get to the tasty appetizers that are standing all around the cage? Is gonna escape eventually. Or hurt himself trying. It’s safer for everyone -- him included -- if he’s unconscious for as much of the full moon as you can manage.”
“That’s how I want it,” Carson hurried to blurt out, his gaze ticking to the faces around the room. “Rylee’s going to insist on being here, and I don’t want ... I mean, whatever’s safest, you know?” He really didn’t want her to see him as a huge crazy monster like the one that had bitten him. It had been absolutely terrifying, and he didn’t want any of them to associate that with him, but especially not Rylee. Even if the tranqs messed him up or whatever, he didn’t care. Better safe than sorry. If he killed any one of these people, he would never forgive himself.
“Yeah, that makes sense,” Nic nodded, looking from Nick to Carson. “Just from the sound of it, I for some reason thought you might be knocked out before you shifted and I didn’t think that would work. But yeah, that sounds like a good plan.” He thought the cage would hold, but didn’t think that a werewolf throwing itself against the bars would be good for anyone, certainly not Carson. He might not get out, but the pain he felt as a werewolf would be far worse when he was a human, so it’d be best to avoid it. “We won’t let anything happen to Rylee,” he promised. He couldn’t guarantee everyone’s safety, but he knew she mattered more to Carson than anyone else.
This was all starting to sound crowded to Lem. There was enough physical space in the basement for all of them and more, of course, but she wasn’t sure how Vex was going to feel about having that many strangers in their house. Especially so close to the barrels with body parts in them. Maybe she could ask Nic to hide them with magic when everybody came, just in case. It would all be stuff to discuss in private, so she didn’t say anything, just squeezed his hand a little and watched the other two men.
Carson felt a bit more relief at that. He barely understood what Nic was or what he could do, but he knew Nic and Rylee were friends, and as long as someone was looking out for her specifically, Carson felt better about it. He gave Nic a grateful nod, not sure if his gratitude came through whatever weird connection they apparently had -- something to worry over and talk about later, his brain really couldn’t handle any more Problems at the moment -- and stepped out of the cage.
“We’ll make sure it all goes as smoothly as possible,” Nick offered, sounding fairly confident about that. They had the equipment, at least, so as long as nobody got freaked out and trigger happy, they would all be okay. He glanced around at the assembled faces and raised an eyebrow. “So we should all gather a little less than an hour before the sun goes down. It’ll go faster than you think, and we want to be ready for it.”
“We’ll be here,” Nic said, giving Lem’s hand a squeeze back. It sounded like a good plan to him, like everything was set and they were prepared, but the whole thing still made him nervous. He knew Lem and Vex had been prepared last time as well and that had gone horribly wrong. The difference was that this time the werewolf would start in the cage, so as long as the cage held and their failsafes succeeded, they shouldn’t have a repeat of last time. That would be devastating to everyone involved and made him think they should probably have less people present… except he doubted there was a single person who’d willingly stay away.