Free Bizarre Life of Sydney Sedrick by Mandi Casey Page A

all.”
    Her eyes said she didn’t believe me but was not arguing the point because she was calmly waiting for me to catch up with reality. Well, reality was pretty much sucking right now.
    “Aunt Judith, did Grandma have anything like weapons? How did she take care of herself? I mean, being the Selected, I’m sure she was attacked. How’d she keep the werewolves and vampires from taking her daughters?”
    “Sydney, your grandmother wasn’t the only one with abilities.” I could have sworn my very humble aunt was talking about herself.
    “What do you mean? Do you know how she protected her family?”
    “Sydney, my friend and I have dabbled a bit with the local Wiccan community. I’ll be able to provide some protection for the house, dear. Don’t you worry.”
    “Like what kind of protection?” I was seriously intrigued. And why haven’t I heard of any of this until now? It was like I’ve been living with a blindfold over my eyes my entire life.
    “Wards, dear. I can place wards on the house so the vampires can’t come in unless they are specifically invited.” Aunt Judith was grinning from ear-to-ear.
    “How do you know they’ll work? Have you tried them before?”
    “Don’t worry, I’m sure they’ll work just fine. Now you go on ahead with that handsome boy and have a good time, Sydney.”
    I didn’t know whether to scream or hug her.
    “Good night, Aunt Judith. Hopefully this won’t take long.”
    For a mangy animal, Blake did have good taste in cars. His Audi was parked next to my Jetta, and as he said he would, he’d turned on the heat just for me, evidenced by the car’s exhaust puffing a series of clouds out into the cold air. Blake stood outside the passenger door leaning against the car. His muscles bulged out of his T-shirt while his arms crossed against his chest.
    He smiled when he saw me, and said, “All ready?”
    “I’m ready. Let’s get this over with, shall we?”
    He laughed again. Apparently he thought he heard something funny.
    “Yes, this dinner is going to be way more enjoyable for me than you.” He leaned over and opened the car door for me, another gentlemanly act. Once I was comfortably situated in the plush bucket seat, he closed the door behind me.
    The silence felt heavy by the time he finished backing out of the long driveway. “Blake, what is your take in all of this?”
    He looked at me quizzically.
    “What do you really want out of life living as a werewolf?”
    One of his eyebrows lifted in a contemplative gesture. “Oh, so now you want to get personal? I’ll answer your questions if you answer mine, deal?”
    “That’s fair, so?”
    “I want what every ordinary man wants out of life. Live for a very long time, which given my people’s abilities that will most likely come true if the Goddess of the Moon allows. I want a family, children of my own, and to keep my family and the pack safe from those that would harm them, including the vampires. As far as being a werewolf, it’s all I’ve ever known. There’s nothing about being a werewolf that makes me not want to be one.”
    “So you don’t mind having to change into an animal every month and chase after other animals?”
    “Sydney, not all wolves are hunters. Some of us stay near the den and protect the women and children, and some of us go out and hunt. It is no different from what humans do. We just happen to wear our fur coats when we do it instead of a blazing-orange, overstuffed jacket.”
    That made me smile, until he noticed. Letting him think he was growing on me didn’t go along with my cool demeanor plan, but that’s exactly what he was doing. The sooner he realized he was growing on me, the more difficult he would make things for me. He was probably just as aware of the physical attraction between us.
    He navigated the car over the deep snow through town and kept going toward the city limits. Blake headed to the vast open lands that surrounded the city proper of Kenosha.
    “So, now