It turned out being dead was much harder than Marcus had originally anticipated. He'd figured they'd cut his hair, stick him in a hat, and he'd be on his way. His mother did shave his head, the fiery red locks being a dead giveaway, but when his dad confiscated all his belongings but the clothes on his back, the gravity of it really hit him.
He couldn't get caught at any of his usual haunts, just in case they were being watched. No apartment. No parents' house. No Victoria's. Hell, he wasn't even allowed to swing by McGinty's for a beer. He checked into a cash motel off the highway under the name Kyle Shannon and essentially parked himself there watching daytime television.
It took a couple days for the plans to be set in motion. A couple of days of almost no contact with anyone. A couple of texts from burner phones letting him know progress on different projects, a call to his younger siblings to let them know what was going on, but otherwise just him staring into the mirror at a reflection that he barely recognized.
"So, Victoria just let them out?" James asked. He hadn't stopped staring at him since they met up in the woods off the interstate.
"That's what she said." Marcus glanced to his side, eyeing him for a moment. "Can you stop staring? I already feel weird about it..." He rubbed his head, the smooth bristle feeling lacking between his fingers.
"Yeah, sorry." James grinned. "It's just really weird. You almost look like an average dude now."
"Well, that is the idea."
"Sure, you're still built like a Greek god...so it doesn't exactly work, but from cheekbones up you're really nailing it." James did his best to hold back a laugh.
"Why did I need you out here again?" Marcus asked, rolling his eyes at a now snorting James.
“Because I’m a genius.” James dug in his pocket and pulled out an iron band with runes carved into its surface. “Took me a while, but I finished it.”
Marcus caught the ring when James tossed it to him and cocked his head. “What’s this?”
“The project you asked me for? Antimagic ring. It’s solar, so as long as you’re wearing it, it’ll stay charged. It’s a really limited range, no more than a couple feet in any direction.”
He chuckled and twisted the ring between his fingers before sliding it down his third finger. “How do I activate it?”
“Ahh, yeah.” James frowned. “The runes have to be activated, since you can’t do that…there was only one thing I could do to make it so you could activate it, and whatever you do, do not tell Calliope.”
Marcus’ brows furrowed, and he shook his head. “Don’t tell her what?”
James nervously rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s technically blood magic. Blood gets into the carvings and it will activate them, triggering the antimagic field.”
Marcus stopped, looking down at the ring for a moment and then up at his brother. His experience with blood magic had not been positive, but apparently it wasn’t all tentacles and parasites. “You might actually be a genius, you know?”
“I know.”
The two of them trekked westward through the woods, looking for any sign of the glimmerfangs. Tracking a pack of animals that could just phase through space at will was not an easy task. They'd pick up a trail for a minute, then it would just vanish into nothingness.
Around noon, James pulled out a couple of sandwiches from his bag and tossed one to him.
"The dead have to eat too." He said pulling his halfway out of the bag and taking a bite.
"Thanks." Marcus followed suit, but they both kept walking. They'd just lost a fresh set of tracks, so Marcus was scanning for any sign of the massive dogs.
"Hey, Callie told me not to ask, but I gotta know. What's going on with you and the girls?" James asked, no longer even bothering keeping an eye out for tracks.
"What girls?" Marcus asked, though he knew full well what he was talking about.
James gave him an incredulous look and shook his head. "What girls?" He grumbled out under his breath. "The golden ones, which ones do you think?"
Marcus side-eyed him again, "We've really got bigger things to worry about right now."
"Oh, come on, we're never going to find them." He waved his hand idly. "We're just walking around waiting for Kane to smell you. Might as well talk until he catches your scent."
He was ultimately right. There was little to no chance they would be able to track down the glimmerfangs.
"Can we choose a different conversation to have then?" Marcus grumbled, slowing his steps.
"Ummm...Nah, I'm kinda interested in this one." James shrugged.
"Fine," Marcus paused, finally shaking his head. "I honestly don't know, and I'm trying not to think about it."
"Seems like a situation that's deserving of a little thought." James took a bite of his sandwich before speaking again. "And maybe a very perceptive brother-in-law to talk about it with?"
"You're not going to drop it, are you?"
"Wasn't planning on it." He answered quickly.
Marcus sighed, looking up through the canopy at the cloudy sky above. "Fine, but I really don't know what to tell you."
"Okay. Let's talk it out then." James stuck half his sandwich back in the bag. "I assume you've already eliminated some kinda polyamorous situation?"
"I'm not interested in that, and even if I was..."
"As weirdly hot as that would be, it would never work with those two," James interrupted with a nod. "So, who's in the lead?"
"The lead?" Marcus scoffed. "It's not a competition, dude."
"It literally is. Two women indirectly fighting over my brother's heart? It sounds exactly like one of those trashy reality shows Calliope watches." He finished off his sandwich and rubbed his hands together. "I love them."
"You know, sometimes I regret introducing you two." Marcus looked up at the sound of barking off in the distance. "Perfect timing."
"No way. You gotta give me something. The anticipation is killing me."
"Alright, drama queen." They stopped walking, and Marcus turned to face him. "As an impartial outside observer, what do you think?"
James raised his eyebrows and cocked his head, studying his face for a moment. "Depends."
"Depends on what?"
"What you want." James shrugged. "Ophelia is safe. She's got a good head on her shoulders. The kinda girl that's going to make a kick-ass grandma one day. She'll ground you and give you peace. Something you desperately need, in my opinion."
"And Victoria?"
"Victoria's got that same fire you've got." James poked him in the chest. "She'll match your crazy at every step and push you to be better. She's not going to try to change you, but I imagine that's gonna come with some volatility. Lots of baggage, though. You two would have to grow together, or you'll burn out fast."
He glanced over at his brother-in-law, jaw shifting slightly as he considered his words. There was truth in them, but he wouldn't exactly call them helpful either. He let out a sigh and opened his mouth to speak as a pink puff of smoke burst in front of him followed by a blur of dark fur.
Kane emerged from the plume, still in full sprint, and bowled right over him. Runt or not, the glimmerfang was powerful enough to knock him right on his ass, thick tongue covering his face as he lapped and barked at him.
"Ooof.." Marcus groaned as he hit the dirt hard. His hands came up and scratched the glimmerfang behind the ears. "Good boy. Alright, alright. Get off."
Kane backed off him, bouncing around wildly, yipping as four other pink puffs emerged around him. The other glimmerfangs, much larger than him, attempted to herd him back the way he came, but he evaded each little nip.
"Alright, let's get started." Marcus pushed himself back up to his feet.
James was already in the middle of drawing the rune circle, so Marcus dug through his backpack, pulling out a belt that was fashioned into a collar. Spaced evenly along the leather, small flat stones inscribed with the rune used to combat the early signs of the infection and increase the vaccine's effectiveness. He fastened it around Kane's massive neck and pulled out a vacuum sealed bag with a single syringe.
"Hold still, buddy." Marcus grabbed the scruff of his neck and lifted gently. Kane whined softly, but didn't move as Marcus pushed the needle in and plunger down. "Good boy." He dug his fingers into the thick black fur on the top of his head as he pulled the needle out.
"Alright, we're ready." James said, standing up from the rune circle he drew. "It's gonna be a little rudimentary, but should work."
"Help me with the rest of them?" Marcus tossed a couple belts and syringes to James.
The other four glimmerfangs were not as amenable as Kane. The collaring wasn't so bad, but when the needles came out, so did the fangs. However, much to Marcus' glee, Kane immediately corrected their behavior, snarling and nipping at any of the dogs that even bared their teeth at James or himself.
Once they had all five of them collared and vaccinated, Marcus pulled the jar of brown-yellow liquid from the bag. Gloved up, he wet a rag with a little of the blightshrew urine and James activated the runes. They flared a deep earthy color, mounds of dirt rising and morphing into uncanny rodent shapes.
Kane was already wary of them before Marcus started spreading the scent of the rag on them. They wobbled and jerked unnaturally, but it would do for the initial training.
"Ready?" Marcus looked over at James.
"When you are."
Marcus nodded, took a look at Kane, and then ran off.
His canine companion chased after him at first, vanishing and popping into view ahead of him, but every time he did Marcus would cut sharp and force the earth-made blightshrews closer and Kane further away. It took a few minutes, but eventually Kane figured out he was being chased by the fake rodents.
It became a game, which Marcus was afraid of. They were playing run from the rocks now. The other glimmerfangs kept a distance, but watched closely. He needed to raise the stakes, or this very dangerous situation would just be another fun bonding experience for the dog. Marcus spun around a tree and purposely tripped as they were approaching James again.
Kane slid past him, stopping and barking at him. The fakes were not far behind. One of them lurched over at a speed that it didn't seem like it could reach with its awkward movements and leapt at him. Marcus made sure to grab it with his gloved hands, being careful not to get any of the dirt that crumbled from it on his skin.
"Kane! Help!" he called out, actually struggling a little with the earth as its rock teeth gnashed at him. Kane inched closer to investigate, a low growl building in his throat and his hackles raised. Another one rounded the corner and jumped at him. Kane snatched it in his jaws, jerking his head back and forth before flinging it in an explosion of dirt.
"Good boy! This one too." Marcus got a grip on the fake blightshrews legs and tossed it into the air. A puff of pink, and the largest of his pack, fur streaked with a deep blue, snatched the faux rodent out of the air. The enormous female crushed the rock and earth in her jaws as she landed, shaking her head to get the remnants of dirt out of her mouth.
They did this exercise several more times over the next hour. Up until Kane figured out where James was generating the fake blightshrews from. He parked himself in front of the circle and crushed each pile of earth as it rose under heavy paws.
Marcus rubbed the back of his neck as he watched the glimmerfangs gathered around the little rune circle like a game of whack-a-mole. "Not exactly what I was hoping for, but I think they've got the idea."