I wasn’t entirely sure why but I was shocked when I saw Thomas Monroe for the first time. I was expecting more of a military action type of guy with a hardened face and buzz cut hair, not some tall guy in baggy jeans with looks that were more suited for the pages of a surfer magazine, with bright blonde hair and light blue eyes that would make even the clear sky outside envious.
By the expression on his face, he wasn’t expecting what he got with me either. I didn’t know what you wore for a training session or what went on in said training session so I kept on my flannel shirt large enough to reach down to my knee and conceal my shorts.
He was holding a clipboard and looked down at it then me and repeated the routine three times before asking, “You wouldn’t be Evangeline Cortez would you?”
“That’s me and I prefer to be called Evie.” Only Caleb went around calling me by my full name and right now I was trying to pretend the alpha wasn’t somewhere pissed off at me and all the ways that was bothering me.
“Ok, Evie. You’re early.” He turned around and moved back to the desk that looked odd in the large space. These sessions were being held in the Celestin High School gym during summer break.
“I wanted to get a feel for the place before class started. Bess didn’t mention my temporary partner was also teaching the class.” He looked surprised that I had guessed his identity. “Your nametag gives you away.” I pointed to the little clip-on positioned right over his heart.
He frowned as he looked down at his t-shirt. “I forgot that was there. Company rules decided that I need to walk around like some camp leader wearing a nametag and handing out gold stars.”
“Gold stars?”
“They are very difficult to obtain.”
I almost laughed at how absurd the conversation was and the fact he was completely serious about his little stars. “Ok then.”
“Were you a good student in school Ms. Cortez?”
“Sure.” School at the Coven was much different than it was in traditional schools, it was harder and much stricter running seven days a week. After I ran away at fifteen I obtained my GED online.
“Into any sports? Athletes make great cops.”
I knew he was asking me all these things in hopes to get a glimpse of who I was and how hard he was going to have to work with me but I hated having to open up personally and remember my complicated past. “I’m fast and a quick learner. That’s all you need to know.”
“We’re never going to be able to trust each other if we don’t get to know one another. It hurts my feelings, it really does, that you don’t like me.”
Oh my…I think Thomas might be a little crazy or a whole lot of it. “I don’t know you so I can’t dislike you or trust you.” That was the simple truth.
“Bess won’t clear you in a few days or even a few weeks so we should change this distance between us. Ask me something.” He crossed his arms and perched his butt on top of the desk.
“You’re a little erratic, are you on medication? No, I’m not joking.”
He smiled and that made me wary more than anything. “Nothing but the occasional sleeping pill.” He motioned to the empty chair near where I was standing and I sat.
“How does a human get mixed up with the supernatural?” I asked next.
“You go right for the big ones huh? A friend of a friend type of thing, it’s nothing glamorous. It says in your file that you’re a witch, you don’t look like one.” Again he took in my flannel shirt that was probably more suited for the Brawny paper towel guy.
“I didn’t know witches had a look.”
“Usually some tight dress and pointy hat.” He grinned at his own joke. “Fiction paints witches to be sexy little sorcerers. Don’t get me wrong your cute in a messy rolled out of bed and didn’t bother to grab a brush kind of way.”
I looked at my hair over my shoulders and didn’t think it was that bad, sure a little too wild but not that bad. “I didn’t know this was a beauty pageant. Can we get on with this session?”
He turned around and reached for the clipboard. “I usually have more students but since Bess made us partners it looks like she made this one a private session. Goody.”
Again I was very wary at what the session entailed. Already I couldn’t wait for the day I could work on my own. I held nothing against Thomas but I didn’t do well with having to follow another person’s lead, a problem I’ve had all my life and one I didn’t know how to fix.
Thomas flipped to another page in the clipboard and held a pen in his right hand. “Do you know how to read someone their rights? A lot of the SCF laws follow the basic standards of basic human law.”
I recited the Miranda Right and smiled at his surprise. “I watch a lot of TV on my days off.”
He nodded and checked something on the sheet of paper he was staring at. “What about cuffing someone?”
I shook my head. “TV isn’t interactive yet.”
He smiled and pulled a pair of cuffs from his back pocket, I was surprised that hadn’t hurt when he was sitting. “I think we’re going to get along just fine. You’re funny and I like that in a partner.”
No one had ever told me I was funny before but I took the compliment and enjoyed it. The meeting was odd sure yet going much better than I had thought. Again I was expecting someone stone cold serious and a stickler for rules when Bess mentioned he helped with the SCF.
“Cuff me.” He tossed me the silver bracelets. “You want it tight enough that the person can’t wiggle free but not tight enough you cut off their circulation and they go crying about abuse. A lot of law enforcement is remembering the rules and playing by them while also getting your perp.”
“Got it.”
The training session was pretty painless, Thomas taught me several of the rules to play by when interacting with the bad guy and how to go through a crime scene without making an error and jeopardizing the evidence. It was a very informative two hours and by the end I had a little notepad full of notes I’d never be able to remember otherwise.
“Tomorrow we’ll go over some hand to hand combat and gun training.” He looked down at the blue watch on his left wrist. “We should stick together for when Bess calls but that might be another hour. You hungry?”
“Sure, why not.” I just didn’t want him to go off on something else I’d have to remember about the dos and don’ts. He was a big book of law knowing everything about the codes and rights of each state. It was making more sense why Bess and her boss had him on their payroll.
He led the way out of the gym. “First we should stop by your place. You want to be taken seriously and flannel and the illusion you’re wearing no pants won’t cut it.”
I didn’t say anything because he was right, what I had on wasn’t professional but at the same time, his know it all attitude was wearing on my nerve. It wasn’t like what he wore screamed authority either. “Your car or mine?”
“Yours. I walked here.”
It was getting dark into the evening with the sun setting low and the darkness of the night casting a shadow. I put on my lights as I drove as a common curtsey even though there was still light out. I listened mindlessly to the radio and glanced over at my passenger. He was staring out the window with curiosity. He wasn’t from Celestin and I had no idea how long he had been in town lending a helping hand. I kept all my questions to myself and decided to ask tomorrow if he wanted us to share again. I’d much rather be the person asking than answering.
I pulled into my driveway and turned off the car, I needed my keys to unlock the front door. “Give me five minutes.”
“And miss the exciting tour? I don’t think so.” He got out before me.
Again I was struck by how weird I thought Thomas was. He was nothing like I expected or encountered. The people in my life were serious, painfully so and brooding. Maybe some weird humor was a blessing if I was going to have to learn and spend a great amount of time with him.
With a sigh, I climbed out of the car and met hi
m on the porch. “Don’t steal anything.” I let him in and quickly ran up to my bedroom. I pulled on some black pants and a green buttoned shirt. The outfit wasn’t extremely professional but it didn’t say bum either. I raced to the bathroom next and combed out my hair before tying it up into a ponytail.
I was making great time, it hadn’t even taken five minutes to hastily get ready and back to business but those five minutes were more than enough time for my evening to take a different turn.
Back in the living room Caleb was standing at the open front door waiting.