Page 28 of Jacob Michaels is Dead

“I think he’s been around a really long time, babe.” Lucas shivered.

“Right.” I nodded. “He’s been siphoning it and parceling it out. Preparing for…I don’t know. His return?”

“Okay. I can follow that.”

“Now he’s sucking it all back up. He’s loading up for bear, Lucas.”

“Are you the bear?” Lucas whispered.

“Obviously.” I shrugged, then shivered involuntarily. “I just don’t know why I’m a bear. I’m barely…anything. But, without my memories, I have no clue if I know the answer to that stuck somewhere in the deep corners of my mind or not. Maybe I do know…I just can’t remember?”

“We have to see Esther Jean,” Lucas stated firmly. “If she’s losing her magic, too—”

“She said the other day that the Kobolds disappeared because…”

“Because why?”

“She made it sound like it was because I had jumped in the well and used up the magic that was left there,” I said quickly. “Maybe that was a reservoir of some kind that only people in my family could get to…or maybe they disappeared because he’s been draining magic for years now. The magic in the well was the only thing keeping them from being…sucked up…too?”

“That makes a little sense,” Lucas said, then grumbled. “I wish I had my freaking memories. The real ones.”

I nodded along. “But Oma—Esther Jean—said there was no point in planting the garden anymore. I’m not sure why she ever started planting it—I don’t have a memory of the first time she planted it—but maybe she meant that the magic in the land was getting sucked up and the garden wouldn’t thrive anyway. If that makes sense?”

“A little.”

My eyes met Lucas’.

“He’s definitely planning something big, babe.”

“Let’s see Esther Jean,” Lucas repeated. “Let’s go.”

Sighing, I reached for the keys in the ignition. Pausing, I turned my head to look into Lucas’ eyes again.

“If she kills me, you, or both of us, I’m going to be very pissed at you.” I winked, though my stomach was like lead.

“Well, we can argue about it in Hell.” Lucas chuckled nervously.

“Why wouldn’t we go to Heaven?” I laughed as I started the car.

“No one is going to let two perverts like us past the Pearly Gates, babe,” Lucas replied as he fastened his seatbelt.

“God loves the gays.” I admonished him playfully as I put the car into reverse and eased up off of the brake. “He gave us Matt Bomer and Luke Evans.”

“And another certain gay, hunky movie star.” Lucas reached over to pinch my cheek as I laughed and started backing up.