Page 32 of Horn in My Side

MAL

Mal regretted waiting five whole days for his date with Jasmine.

The anticipation was unbearable, not to mention, he agonized over the decision, wondering if they were making a mistake.

But it had been difficult to say no to Jasmine, not just because she was insistent, but because he wanted her too much.

Kissing and touching her had felt so right, even as his brain screamed this was a bad idea.

But they were both going into it as mature adults, and more important, they respected each other. At the end of this—and he knew it would end, even though his gut roiled at the thought—they would walk away from each other without any fuss.

At least that was the plan. However, the more he thought about it, the more doubt crept in that he would be able to let go of her once their time together was over.

In the last few years, he’d mostly had short-term flings and a casual encounter here and there, and what he felt for Jasmine was so different.

So, Mal counted the days until their date, all the while spending time at the shop with her as if everything was normal, though each time she came into the office to chat or he passed by her all he wanted to do was haul her into a private corner and kiss her senseless.

Thankfully with Fantastic Tails being closed on Tuesdays he didn’t have to see her for one day, though he kept looking out the kitchen window to her apartment, fighting the urge to knock on her door to see what she was doing.

Of course, he’d already memorized her day-off routine as he’d often observe her come and go the last couple of weeks.

Usually, she slept in, then went for a walk before coming home with a bag of groceries.

She never left the house after that, so he guessed she spent the day cooking and watching TV shows before going to bed at exactly ten thirty p.m.

The next two days were more torture, trying to ignore that all he could think about was their date.

When Thursday evening rolled around, he was about ready to burst with anticipation, but at least he had an excuse to leave a little early—his first day of training with the Dewberry Falls Volunteer Fire Department.

He hated to leave Jasmine alone to close up, but business was slow anyway, and she practically shooed him away, promising to text him when she finished up and got home safe.

After a stop at home to get changed and have a quick dinner, he headed to the fire station, which was about a fifteen-minute drive away. When he arrived, there was one car parked in the lot behind the building, and the lights were already on inside.

“Hello?” Mal called out tentatively as he entered.

“Anyone here?” His voice echoed through the cavernous building.

He’d never been inside a fire station before, but it was just as he’d imagined, albeit smaller.

There was a large red-and-white fire truck parked right in front of the wide sliding garage doors, a row of uniforms and helmets hung on a rack next to it, and tools and other gear were lined up on the opposite wall.

He walked toward the nearest doorway to the right, which he assumed was an office of some kind.

“Hi, I’m here—Oh, hey,” he greeted Nick, who sat on a worn couch in the corner of the office, reading a book. “I’m here.”

The satyr’s eyes flicked up, then returned to his book. “So you are.”

He waited for Nick to continue, but he remained seated, ignoring Mal. For someone who had all but twisted his arm to volunteer, Nick sure acted like he didn’t care that Mal had actually shown up. “When do we start?”

“Soon.”

He let out an annoyed snort. “And when—”

“Hey, what’s up—Mal, you’re here!”

Mal spun round, his jaw dropping at the sight of Nick entering the room. “What the—” His head whipped back to the second—or first?—Nick on the couch, whose gaze remained fixed on his book.

“I see you’ve met Ian,” Nick chuckled as he ambled toward him. “My twin brother.”

Ah, now the other satyr’s demeanor made sense. “I’m Mal,” he introduced himself. “Nice to meet you.”

“Don’t be rude, Ian.” Nick circled Mal and grabbed the book from his brother, who sent him a dirty look. Still, he got up and took Mal’s hand.

“Ian Amherst.” Though he looked and sounded like Nick, his stiff and distant air was the complete opposite of his twin. “So, Mal, did you want to be here or were you strong-armed by my brother to join us?”

“I was convinced without a chance to say no.” Mal sent Nick a sly look.

Nick grinned. “And yet here you are. Ian, Vrig was Mal’s uncle. He’s the new owner of the pet shop.”

Something shifted in Ian’s expression. “I see. Vrig was an incredible person and I was glad to have known him. My condolences on your loss.”

“Thank you.”

“I’m really glad you’re here. I honestly thought you wouldn’t show up.” Nick chuckled. “I think I hear the others coming. Let’s go out and you can meet them, then we can get started.”

They headed back to the main hall, just as four figures were making their way in from the parking lot.

“Hey, guys!” Nick clapped his hands together. “Come on, don’t dilly-dally, I want to introduce you to our newest volunteer. This is Mal. He’s new in town.”

“And he’s Vrig’s nephew,” Ian added.

“Vrig’s nephew, eh?” An older man with white hair and a handlebar mustache—the only human of the crew, it seemed—came forward, his hand already out, which Mal took.

“Jim Halloway. Welcome and my condolences. Vrig was a fine citizen of Dewberry Falls. I bet he’d be proud that you’re taking his place. ”

Mal didn’t have the heart to tell him that he wasn’t staying for long, so he put that thought aside for now. “Er, thank you.”

“Jim’s our chief,” Nick explained. “He was an actual firefighter back in Seattle.”

“Took early retirement when my wife passed,” Jim explained. “I didn’t want to stay in Seattle, but found that I couldn’t leave the job behind.”

Nick gestured to the figure to Jim’s right—a brawny minotaur with shaggy brown hair and bright green eyes. “This is Rafe Kincade—after you, he’s our newest volunteer.”

Rafe let out a chuff and nodded. “Nice to meet you, Mal.”

“Likewise,” he replied.

“And this is Vendrush, or Ven.”

Lanky, blue-skinned with a bright red mohawk, and long mouth tusks, Ven was obviously a troll. “Good to meet you.” He took Mal’s hand in both of his and shook it vigorously in an unusually friendly way, at least for a troll. “Glad to have you here.”

“Er, thanks,” Mal said as he extricated his hand from the troll’s grip.

“Finally, we have Sterling.” Nick indicated the last man, or rather, wolf man.

“Wonderful to meet you, Mal.” The posh British accent coming from the lupine head was bewildering for a moment, but Mal managed to keep his expression neutral as he took the furry, clawed hand Sterling offered.

“And, please, if you’re about to make a joke about a London werewolf in America, I’m afraid I’ve heard them all,” he chuckled.

“I won’t,” he said. “Great movie, though.” He glanced around. “It’s just us?”

“There’s about thirty volunteers in total,” Jim explained. “Each squad trains biweekly and then we all do one Saturday a month at a fire college in Yuba. Keeps things organized.”

“Now we’re all acquainted, let me welcome you to Squad Thirteen,” Nick said.

“Thirteen?”

Nick laughed. “It’s a lucky number for satyrs, and since I’m squad captain, I chose the number.”

“We’re still working out our name,” Sterling added. “I voted for Fire Howlers.”

“And I wanted to call us Ash Kickers,” Ven chimed in. “Like kicking ass? Get it?”

“I don’t know how we can call ourselves anything since we’ve never responded to a real fire,” Ian said.

“Anyway,” Nick continued. “Should we start, Jim?”

Jim cleared his throat. “Ven, could you please help get Mal outfitted in the proper gear while we do some warm-up exercises?”

“Aye, aye, Chief.” Ven gave him a salute.

“C’mon, Mal, I’ll show you where we keep the extra gear.

” Mal trailed behind Ven as he led him toward the back.

“So, you’re Vrig’s nephew, huh? That’s cool.

I mean, Vrig was a great guy. I loved hearing stories about his time with the Army Corps of Engineers.

I wish I could travel the world too. What do you do, Mal?

And where did you live before you moved to Dewberry Falls? ”

“I’m a contractor,” he said. “And, well, I don’t really live anywhere. I go wherever I can find jobs.”

“Wow, you travel a lot too?” Ven’s eyes widened. “That’s amazing.” His eyebrows drew together. “I’d leave Dewberry Falls if I could, but my mother and sisters won’t let me.”

“Won’t let you?”

“Yeah, my mother’s the head of our cadre and I’m the only male in the family.

She won’t let me do what I want.” He sighed as they stopped outside the door at end of the hallway.

“I know she’s worried about me and all, but .

. . Oh sorry, I don’t mean to bore you with family drama.

” The troll gestured for him to enter the room, then led him to an empty locker.

Mal placed his wallet and phone inside, checking his notifications quickly for a message from Jasmine.

Once he saw her text saying she had reached home, he sent a quick reply and closed the locker. “What next?”

“Let’s get you outfitted with the proper gear.” Ven helped him pick out everything he needed—helmet, jacket, pants, boots, and gloves, then showed him how to put it all on.

“You look great, man,” he said, giving Mal a thumbs-up as he stood in front of him in the complete uniform.

“Jim will probably want to go through a couple dress drills—that means putting all this stuff on and off over and over again. We have to practice until we can do it in under two minutes. He’ll go easy on you since it’s your first day, but make no mistake, he takes his position seriously even though we’re a volunteer crew, and he expects us to work as hard as professional firefighters. C’mon, let’s go back outside.”