26. Oz
Oz
I don’t have time to bask in the glow of what Wilder and I just shared because Willa jogs through my apartment like she owns it. She grabs my hand and pulls me off the counter, yanking me toward the door. I nearly fall to both knees, but Wild wraps a big arm around my waist to prevent it.
Relief and pleasure fill me at being touched by him and knowing it’s real.
It’s real! Real real real. It’s real.
And just like that, I’m hooked on the feeling of Wild’s big warm fingers touching my skin because he means it, and it’s not for show. Which means I can touch him anytime I want, and that’s real too.
By the time we reach the bottom of the stairs, I’m starting to wonder how Willa even knew where to find us.
Pulling my hand from hers, I spin her in place at the door to the alley outside. “How’d you even—”
She smirks. “Know where you live?” She shrugs.
“I saw the way Wild looked at you that first day, so I followed you around for a little bit. Needed to know more about you to make sure you weren’t gonna be some asshole who broke my big brother’s heart.
” Slapping a hand to my chest, she grins.
“Something tells me I don’t need to worry about that. ”
I glance over my shoulder at Wild, but he’s staring at me like he still can’t believe we just admitted our sexy night meant something.
Willa grabs my hand again and yanks me through the door, so there’s no time to process it or say anything else.
We’re out in the alley in seconds, following Willa up Main toward the Keeper’s mansion.
Wild’s by my side, shoulders hunched against the cold. We didn’t even have time to grab coats as a light snow falls from the charcoal-gray sky. The clouds are so low they’re almost a blanket over Main Street.
“Willa, can’t this wait until the m—”
“Morning?” She scoffs. “Are you kidding me, Wild? I figured out how to get past that door so, no, it can’t wait.
But I need your help… It’s been stuck closed for a really long time, since Sipan’s time, I’d guess.
” She turns and walks backward, and even like that, she’s practically jogging, vibrating with obvious enthusiasm.
“Aren’t you two the least bit excited to figure out this mystery?
I already called Lemon and Bluebell, but neither of them answered. ”
“They’re probably busy,” Wilder grouses, his tone low.
So sexy.
I turn and walk backward with her, winking at Wild. “We’ve got all night, honey boo.”
He stops in the street and frowns. “I don’t like that nickname. Give me another one.”
Will and I spin as one and walk up the street, although I shoot Wild a sexy look over my shoulder.
He shakes his head, but starts following again, jogging to catch up to us.
We’re silent all the way to the Keeper’s mansion, up the stairs, down the mystery clock stairs and across the entryway room we found before.
It’s as still and quiet as this morning, but now the door itself is shiny and clean.
And covered in weird symbols that twist around the edges of the door in a floral pattern.
Willa slaps the door’s dark green surface. “We need a green witch, which is why I invited a friend of mine. He should be here shortly.”
I’m about to ask if she called one of Bluebell’s brothers when the sound of slithering scales echoes from the staircase behind us. Freezing, I back into Wilder’s arms as a giant ophiotaurii comes into view, sliding quietly down the staircase.
From the waist up, he could be a yellow-coated minotaur.
He’s got the same humanoid upper body, stacked with muscle and a minotaur’s traditional nose complete with golden ring through his nostrils.
His eyes are a golden amber, though, rather than a minotaur’s red.
Shorty horns mark the ophiotaurii lineage as being more closely related to shorthorn than longhorn minotaurs. The tips are capped in shiny gold.
It’s from the waist down that things change.
Everything below there is cobra, golden-yellow scales with a hint of amethyst growing darker as they round to the back of what must be twenty-five feet of tail.
He uses a solid six feet of it to prop himself up, so he must stand almost a dozen feet tall.
He says nothing, just pauses at the bottom of the stairs, fists loosely balled as he looks at Willa.
“Hey, Kohdiy,” she says like they’re old friends. “This is my brother, Wilder, and I assume you know Oz since you both live here. He’s Wilder’s boyfriend.”
I shoot Kohdiy a quick look, although we’ve never technically met. I’m shocked she introduced us that way, but something about it warms me from the inside out. Last I heard the big snake man was in a power struggle with another of the ophiotaurii.
Kohdiy inclines his head. “I’ve seen you.”
Creepy. Because I don’t know when that would be.
The ophiotaurii motorcycle club sticks to the northwest corner of the haven in the foothills.
They rarely come into town. In fact, I’m not even really sure what they’re doing in a haven anyway, because they aren’t part of the community in any sense of the word.
They’ve even raided the Mabel the train a time or two, taking supplies.
I can’t find a single word to say, and Kohdiy doesn’t offer anything either.
“Okayyyy,” Willa says. “So it seems like maybe y’all don’t know one another well, and that’s fine.
Kohdiy’s got green witch powers, and he’s gonna help us open this door.
” She waves at the thick metal. “But then we need some muscle power, which is where you two come in. I asked the house for help, but it still seems like she can’t help us down here. ”
Despite my shock at Kohdiy’s appearance or the fact that Willa seems to fucking know him—(how?!)—I nod. Sure, why not?
Wild slings an arm possessively around my core and pulls me to his side, away from the giant ophiotaurii. Kohdiy’s eyes flick to Wild’s hand, but then he looks toward Willa. She’s smiling at us, but looks up at the big male, lashes fluttering.
Oh. Oh.
Ohhhhhhh.
“Come see this,” she says to him, running her fingers over the scrolled symbols. “It’s a pattern, and I can’t fully read it, but I think I can pick up enough to guess at—”
Kohdiy slithers past us and bends down, cocking his head to the side like a snake as he eyes the words.
He looks at Willa. “It’s our language, the ancient ophiotaurii royal tongue.
It’s rarely spoken aloud anymore, but we teach it to our younglings, a way to keep our heritage alive for those of us who can remember it.
Technically though, our clan has no royals. ”
Willa frowns. “You should though, shouldn’t you? I thought all ophiotaurii clans had a queen. Because if you don’t, then how—”
“We haven’t for a while,” he says quietly, but abruptly enough to halt her line of questioning.
Willa scans his face, her shocked look falling. “Hmm.”
For a moment, there’s silence, and I wonder if I’m seeing what I’m seeing. Wild’s hand is still on my left hip, locked there like he’s branding his touch onto me. I lean into it as we watch Willa and Kohdiy.
The ophiotaurii rises tall and runs both hands over the ornate symbols.
“It’s a spell, not a traditional spell but something made up by a very talented green witch.
I would assume this haven’s original keeper, since he was a green witch.
He died a long time ago, but I’ve heard this place was different then. ”
“Different how?” I can’t help the question. It’s so odd to see or interact with one of the reclusive monsters.
He glances at me with a frown. “More welcoming. More accepting.”
My mouth drops open, but I can’t think of anything to say to that. Yeah, Gulchers are a little stuck in our ways sometimes, but there’s a reason we throw a party for every damn holiday. In the six months I’ve lived here, I’ve found the Gulch to be extraordinarily welcoming.
“Let me try the spell,” Kohdiy says after clearing his throat.
Wilder tugs me slightly behind him, and I’d laugh at his protectiveness, but this whole situation is so…disconcerting.
Kohdiy lines a finger up beneath the topmost symbol and begins to speak.
He adds a guttural hiss somewhere in every word that almost makes him sound like a snake.
I’m sure I’m not the only one holding my breath while he follows the symbols all the way around the huge door.
When he’s finished, I exhale and wait for something to happen.
A long minute passes, then two, then a creak rumbles from the door’s hinges. Something pops, and Kohdiy yanks Willa away from the door. An enormous hood of skin flares wide from the sides of his neck, making him look every inch the cobra part of his genetics.
Willa stares up at it, a soft smile curving her green lips upward. He doesn't look down as the door clicks and cracks. A second pop emits from the edges of the door, and smoky dust pours out in billowing clouds. Willa shakes off Kohdiy’s hold and lurches toward the handle, yanking on it.
Kohdiy plants both hands on his hips, staring down at her. “You couldn’t wait half a second to make sure it’s not booby-trapped?”
She scoffs up at him, completely ignoring the concerned bunch of his dark brows. “This isn’t Raiders of the Lost Ark, dude; it’s a green witch lair.”
He crosses his enormous arms. “I don’t know what that means.”
“Well,” I say with a laugh, “keep an eye out for giant rolling balls, and if she says run, just run.” Realizing I just told a male with no legs to run, I blanch.
Kohdiy frowns at me. “Got it. Big balls mean get out fast.”
Is he making a joke? Or is that sarcastic? I have no idea.
“Well,” Willa chirps, “shall we see what lies behind this door?” She looks at Wild and me. “Sorry, boys, I really thought maybe we’d have to manhandle it open. But now that you’re here, you want in on this adventure, don’t you?”
“Hells yeah,” I snort, pushing out of Wilder’s tight grip to join her. He’s right behind me, halting at my back as we stand looking into the darkness. “Adventure, here we come!”