Page 3 of Buckle Up, Buttercup

And Bluebell is the only daughter and the youngest one, although she wears first daughter energy like a cloak.

Bill and Elena are the kindest humans I’ve ever met and they’ve done more for me in the last two decades than my real parents have.

Tucker Ranch is my favorite place in the whole world.

I take my drink without flirting with the gargoyle female, heading across the station to the Pine Gulch portal. Just as I enter, another gargoyle male exits with a beautiful blond human riding him piggyback. They’re both in hysterics as she kisses her way up his neck, snickering and laughing.

“Not now, Thea,” he says, slapping her ass with his tail spade. The smile on his face is huge. He’s in love. They must be mated….and then I hear it. His heartbeat. It’s synced to hers.

“C’mon, baby,” she whispers in his ear as they pass me. “Now that this is open, we could go anywhere at any time! You’ve been promising to show me every haven for a while now, and we only did, like, two hours in Pine Gulch.”

“Later,” he gruffs, pretending to be serious, but it’s easy to see from his teasing tone that they’re just playing.

Their connection is joyful, easy, and I crave that so much, my fangs ache.

Halting in place, I watch as she bites her way up his neck until they’re both laughing so hard he nearly drops her. Just before she hits the ground he catches her smoothly in one wing. When he lifts her up and curls his wing around them to make things private, I nearly let out a groan. I’d do that in a heartbeat with…someone.

It feels wrong to keep watching the couple, though, so I force my gaze away.

Above the portal, a guardian gargoyle sits perfectly still on a platform, watching the station’s interior with glittering amethyst eyes. I’m glad I didn’t pursue the more common gargoyle career in security and guardianship. He’s guarding against any sort of breach, but given how protected this haven is, I can’t imagine he sees much action. I couldn’t do it.

Stalking beneath him, I dip my head low as I pass through the portal’s glowing green surface. It’s cool on my already chilly skin, and I don’t breathe easy as I walk down the bright green tunnel connecting the portal station with Pine Gulch.

When I emerge into the Pine Gulch portal room, it’s quiet and empty save for the minotaur female manning the ticket counter across the room. She nods at me, then returns her snout to a copy of the Gulch Gossip paper. I managed to get myself in that a couple times when I first moved, but the ancient pixie twins who write the articles seem to have moved on to other stories. Thank gods.

Reaching into my bag, I grab my communication watch and strap it around my wrist. Now that I’m back home in Pine Gulch, I can actually use it.

“Call Jasper Tucker,” I command into the face.

Jasper’s name hovers over the watch’s flat surface, and he picks up on the first ring. “Hay, you comin’ to dinner or what?”

No “hello,” no “how are you; how was the game?” Every time Jasper and I talk, it’s like we pick up mid-conversation. There’s never a hello or goodbye from him.

“If you think your folks won’t mind,” I say, knowing they’ve never said no a single time in the thirty years I’ve known the Tuckers.

“Don’t be stupid,” he says with a snort. “Gotta go.” He signs off without another word as I walk out of the portal station. Outside, a row of trucks waits for monsters who need rides, but this is when it’s nice to have wings. I get to fly everywhere. The scents of home fill my senses and wrap me up like a hug. Wheat, grass, dirt, wide-open space. Maybe even a hint of incoming snow. Bulleting up into the sky with my bag clutched to my chest, I claw into the air and head toward downtown.

The discomfort I felt being away from Pine Gulch fades as I fly over the gulch itself. Soft nickering bounces off its steep rock walls as the mustangs who live in the gulch move along the riverbank, eating grass and drinking from the river.

Swooping low, I admire their freedom as I glide over the herd, then up out of the natural space. I catch current after current, spinning up into the sky as I follow Mabel the train’s tracks along the gulch and toward downtown. Winking lights in the distance seem to welcome me home and I push my wings harder despite a leftover ache from the game.

I glide over the Dance Hall and High Moon Tattoo Parlor first, then swoop along Main Street. This late at night there’s a crowd tumbling out of every bar on Main. Gulchers know how to throw a party. A few monsters look up and wave at me but unlike other havens, no one’s snapping photos. There are no gasps of awe, no one pointing or whispering about me.

I love that so much. Here I’m just Hadrian.

As I reach the end of Main Street I angle north toward the foothills where the Tuckers’ ranch is located. Brisk wind blows my hair back and I tuck my ears tighter against my head, warding against the chill.

When their place comes into view, excitement builds into butterflies in my chest. I circle over their barn and drop into their front yard, admiring the rustic rock garden and the pebbled walkway leading to double front doors. You’d think a family of mostly green witches would have a kickass, verdant garden everywhere, but the Tuckers aren’t like others of their kind.

Rumbling echoes from behind me, and I turn to see the youngest Tucker—Bluebell—pulling into the driveway. When she sees me standing in front of the house, she grins and puts the truck in park.

She opens the door and hops out of the truck. There’s paint across her left cheek and in one of the bright blue space buns on top of her head. Like always, she seems to have just rolled out of one project or another. She can’t keep still. “Heard you demolished the Hellions, Alk.”

“Twenty-six to four,” I say with a smirk, slipping my hands into my jeans pockets. It’s a tight fit, and I make a mental note to order new clothing. The Punishers workout routine is packing the pounds on me, and nothing fits like it used to.

She gives me a quick glance, smiling as she crosses to me and hops into my arms. It’s easy to pull her up close as her arms slide around my neck and she hugs me tight.

“Missed my Tuckers, though,” I say with a little laugh. “Nobody’s as funny as you.”