July 3rd excerpt:
Dean kicked at the second hand that was too slow to grab him, one boot grazing Stan’s skin as he launched himself towards the small round table that stood next to John’s armchair, aiming to use the space under the legs to gain some distance.
Stan cursed under his breath as Dean evaded his grasp, hurrying to his feet to circle around the side table and chair to wait for an opening.
Oh my gosh, that’s great! Looks like I shouldn’t be tagging things after a long, exhausting day of work! (This is why I usually do my blog upkeep on weekends, but everyone’s so into the guessing game, I can’t leave ya’ll hanging…)
However it happened, you earned a sneak peek of A World of Secrets! Which Jacob and his family just stumbled into!
If Sam could inch away from the two giants the pocket concealed him from, he would. The stern tone of voice Jacob’s mom had taken on was very familiar, and Sam couldn’t stifle an involuntary yelp of surprise. He heard it from his dad almost constantly. Dean was the patient teacher, John was the stern drill sergeant.
They were mad.
Sam put a hand on the hilt of his knife, drawing strength from the gift Dean had given him. Please don’t hurt me.
Jacob heard Sam’s quiet noise, and thought back to moments ago when the other kid worried Jacob’s parents would be mad at him. He was scared of them. Telling mama and papa about him would be breaking a promise and would probably make him cry. Jacob didn’t want to do either of those things.
He also didn’t want to keep lying. He was supposed to listen to them when they told him to do something. Jacob’s toy trucks fell to the floor and he pressed his hands against the wall behind him while the conflict practically dug into him. What was he to do?
“I don’ … don’t wanna be mean,” he finally murmured lamely, hanging his head but still peeking at his mother and father. His mouth was angled in a frown and his eyes stung.
“Hey, Jake, kiddo,” his father said quietly, stepping around his wife with care that didn’t seem to fit his huge frame. He stooped and braced his hands on his knees, peering at him with a serious but kind look. “You’re not in trouble, okay? I don’t know what got you so worried, but we do need to know if you’re hiding something from us, especially if it’s alive. Okay?”
Jacob stuck out his lower lip in a pout while he let his father’s low rumble of a voice sink in. He knew they would come and check his pockets if he didn’t give in. He thought he might have a chance at avoiding some trouble if he complied, and after a second his hands moved hesitantly to his pocket where he knew Sam was curled up in fear.
Now my new friend is gonna hate me, he thought sadly as he reached into the pocket and scooped his fingers under the small form to lift him out.
June 30th excerpt:
Breathing deeply as he sank into the armchair adjacent to the bookshelf, Stan hesitantly copied Dean’s hand position and moved it closer to the smaller man like a platform. “Don’t worry, I keep clean hands,” he quipped to hide his anxiety behind a smirk.
“Good, ‘cause the last thing I want is to end up smelling like Cheese Curls,” Dean quipped back, hiding his nerves the same as Stan, aided by the fact that his face, so much smaller than the others, was much harder to read. Thus far, he’d only ever allowed Sherlock and John to hold him.
June 24th excerpt:
“You okay?” John called softly, opening the door a crack to peer in at the small person within.
Caught off guard by the unexpected flood of light, Dean stumbled to his feet, one arm half-raised in defense with his other hand diving for his knife. Years of instincts developed from his current size had combined with the wariness he’d learned from his father, putting him constantly on edge and ready to act at a moment’s notice.
Realizing who was there, Dean’s eyes narrowed and he felt the tension leave his back. It was just John, and he meant well, despite how startling he could be.
WELP. I’d say this hasn’t been on my mind but that would be a lie since I wrote an entire story for it…
The phone started to ring.
Everyone hushed, staring at the speaker with trepidation as Walt backed off to join Sean. The only person focused elsewhere was Mikael, and that was only because someone needed to keep an eye on the door, and no one was eager to be the person who talked to Dean. Just the thought of his size made them nervous.
The rings cut out and everyone held their breath.
“Hello? ”
The gruff voice that rumbled out of the phone was enough to freeze them where they stood. Dean sounded tired and grumpy. The call must have woken him from a deep sleep.
Apprehensive, Walt glanced out the expansive window across the room, staring at the rising sun. He cursed to himself. It was bad enough they had to call the hunter in the first place. Now they were making it worse with bad timing. Humans had such different schedules from Walt’s people, it was easy to forget Dean might not be up when they called him in their desperation.
Dean, of course, was oblivious to the subtleties on the other end of the call. He continued on. “Who is this? How did you get this number? ”
June 13th excerpt:
His hand was around the kid in seconds, plucking him free of the edge. Dean lifted Jacob up to his eyes. “What in the world were you thinking?” he demanded.
Jacob blinked rapidly, as always a little dazed with how quickly he moved in Dean’s grasp. He was getting used to it, which was weird all by itself, but he still had a ways to go. In the meantime, it took him a few seconds to put together a coherent response to Dean’s question.
“I was thinking I’d get to the floor,” he answered, a little cheek and a lot of dizziness in his tone.
June 8th excerpt:
Dean tossed his tie on the bed and shucked off his jacket. “Didja miss me?” he called out to the room at large, scanning for Jacob on the table.
Jacob only peered around the laptop once he was certain it was Dean. All human voices tended to rumble a little in the air, but the deep, gruff cadence was coming to be more and more familiar to the cursed teen. He poked his head out from his hiding place before stepping out fully.
June 6th excerpt:
“Gonna just walk right in?” Jacob asked, finding something to ask to take his mind off his sudden nerves in the shadow of an enormous hunter. “That actually works?”
Dean bobbed his head as he slipped his fake ID back into the inner pockets of his jacket. Pockets that were large enough, gaping enough, for Jacob to disappear into the same way. And If Dean didn’t want him found, he never would be.
“All it takes is confidence and the right outfit,” Dean told Jacob as he ambled over to the bed and pulled his handgun out from the back of his pants.
June 3rd excerpt:
Watching the computer boot up for a second or two, Jacob shoved his hands into his pockets and glanced over the expanse of the table. For the moment, that was how far the world went for him. He didn’t have any way to climb down, and it was well-established that Dean wouldn’t be letting him on the floor.
At least the attention was off him for a moment. Jacob, assuming he was off the hook while Dean worked, wandered towards the nearest edge of the table, looking out over the room at the gargantuan furniture and faraway walls.
Unfortunately for Jacob, that wasn’t what Dean had in mind for him.
A shadow fell over his body as two fingers pinched his hoodie between them. He was hauled off his feet and brought over to the laptop, dangling over the keyboard for a few seconds before being unceremoniously dropped down between the trackpad and the keyboard. He pitched forward and caught himself on his hands, noting that the plastic was already getting warmer from the machine at work within the casing.
June 2nd excerpt:
Dean went over to the coffee pot in the kitchenette, getting out a mug. He kept Jacob in his hand while he poured himself a cup, sighing at the smell. “There’s nothin’ like a good cup of joe in the morning,” he said, half to himself and half to the kid that was hanging out in his fist. “I don’t know what I’d do without it.”
He brought the cup over to the table and set it down. “Almost forgot.” He grabbed the bottlecap from the nightstand. “Can’t leave you out, now, can I?”
Brothers Apart 