April 22nd excerpt:
Dean froze up again when he saw Bowman’s tiny body shift in place from the movement, afraid of waking him. Dean was still recovering from the shock of waking to finding someone the size of his finger using him as a bed. It was the last thing he’d expected. He was dangerous to them, especially when he didn’t even know they were close.
“What am I supposed to do with him?” Dean whispered to Jacob. “Do we need to water him or something? You said he’s like a plant, right?”
April 21st excerpt:
Sam snarled, his calm countenance dropping away as though it never existed. With no other options open to him, he seized the moment to do what he’d hoped he would never have to do.
The young knight sprinted for the edge of the desk.
But he wasn’t trying to escape.
April 20th excerpt:
This thought stiffened Sam’s back. He wasn’t about to roll over and act like someone’s pet or possession.
“I’m sorry,” Sam said tartly. “You’d rather we stare at you the same as you’ve been doing? I know you can’t take your eyes off us, can you?” The impression of being watched hadn’t left him the entire time. Even when the human looked away, there was the impression that the human wanted to look at him. It made Sam’s skin crawl to the point where he almost wanted to take off his skin and wash it in the clear stream in the Wellwood to scrub off the prickling sensation.
April 19th excerpt:
Bowman sighed thoughtfully and then pushed himself to his feet. His sore legs protested and tried to knock him down again, but he made it. His eyes wouldn’t focus on anything in the room for very long, and the sleepy haze over everything only caused more confusion. There were corners everywhere. And big, hulking, unfamiliar things no matter which direction he looked.
“I’ll look after Dean,” he decided, fluttering his wings to fly over the bed and hover just over Dean’s chest. He settled his boots down cautiously, wondering if he’d wake the human. After a few more seconds of a steady rise and fall, he took it as a good sign.
“This human dwelling is strange,” Bowman groused at Jacob while he sat and then lay down on his side. “You and your blasted corners.” That said, he pointedly covered himself with a wing like a protective blanket, hiding the sight of the room from himself.
April 18th excerpt:
Before anyone else could react, Dean’s hand swiped through the air. He might be drugged, exhausted and seeing double half the time, but he was still a hunter. Not to mention a big brother who’d only just rediscovered his little brother and found out he had an adopted family. Bowman ended up snatched up in a loose fist, brought close to the glazed green eyes to inspect him for any injuries.
“What about you?” Dean asked worriedly as he squinted at the tiny sprite he was holding only two inches from his face. One of his fingers carefully nudged at Bowman’s arm to make sure it was moving okay. “Did anyone bother you while we were gone? Did anyone bother my baby?”
April 17th excerpt:
Dean took off without looking. It took a few seconds of determined walking to realize he’d gone in the wrong direction and had to backtrack. “I don’t know what they used in that shot they gave me but I can’t feel a thing,” Dean enthused to Jacob when he found him again. “Where’s the car parked?”
“Well … outside,” Jacob answered, keeping his expression as neutral as he could. Hopefully Dean wouldn’t see the smirk at the edges of his mouth in this state. Despite everything going on, it was hard not to find the drugged antics amusing. “Lemme show ya.”
April 16th excerpt:
“Use this to fill it out,” Dean said as he handed off the card, taking a heavy seat in the waiting room.
“Sure … thing,” Jacob answered, pausing when he glanced at the name on the card. Larry McGillicutty. It was the third name Jacob had gotten for Dean, and he had a sudden feeling he’d only seen the tip of that particular iceberg. He chose not to comment on it and sat down to fill out the form with information from the card.
April 15th excerpt:
There was no mistaking this car for some camping trip family car, despite its size. It was gleaming in the dark even before Jacob’s flashlight beam swept over it, black-and-chrome finish reflecting the moon and stars from above. Jacob let out an appreciative breath at the sight of the huge car. It wasn’t more than a foot or two longer than his own, but somehow it conveyed a lot more size and ferocity regardless. It looked like it could practically rear up and fight as much as Dean did.
Bowman had his own appreciation for the car, but his eyes were wide for entirely different reasons. He also looked behind them at the other vehicles, the arrangement of tents, everything about the human campsite that he could see. “This is what a car looks like?” he muttered, barely refraining from swooping off Dean’s shoulder to circle the big, shiny black beast. “And you’re sure it’s safe?”
April 14th excerpt:
Bowman smirked. “He’s the only one around without wings in the way so he introduced us all to piggyback rides, as he calls them.”
That brought a smile to Dean’s face as he remembered the years growing up with Sam. “He did?” He laughed slightly. “Man, when he was little he always used to ask for piggyback rides. He was such a scrawny kid when he was growing up.”
Dean held out his hand to approximate how tall Sam used to be before the curse, then hesitated. “Well, I guess he’s smaller now,” Dean admitted mulishly, remembering just how light Sam was in his hand.
April 13th excerpt:
Once the lantern light was behind them and Jacob’s flashlight was their only guide, Bowman hovered even closer to him. He glanced back and saw Dean’s wavering walk, and meandered through the air towards him. “Don’t fall asleep out here. Squirrels will steal from your pockets,” he quipped. Pockets that would fit a sprite, he realized belatedly.
It brought the memory of pointing excitedly at Sam’s various pockets, wanting to know what they contained. The very first day Sam came to the forest, Bowman had been intrigued by him. He’d had no idea the boy with no wings would become his family.
Brothers Apart 