5. CHAPTER #3
“Can I help?” King interjected. “I am quite the healer! I only need some peanut butter and dock leaves!”
Indy cringed. “How about you just keep your mouth shut about this? And by this, I mean everything you hear. Can you do that?”
“No.”
Indy groaned. “Please?”
“Maybe.”
“It’s all right, sweetie cakes. Don’t you worry.” Gammy nodded firmly. “We need to go to Anna Graham’s immediately and I can take care of it.”
“Can you, ahem, fix me?”
“Yes. No.” Gammy hummed. “A very strong maybe.”
“Gammy…”
“Your illness was tied into a demonic deal.” Gammy threw up her hands. “There could be lingering complications, sweetie. At the least, I can slow it down and keep you alive for a few more years.”
“It’s a deal—”
Gammy cringed. “Maybe say something else?”
“Done. Yes. Okay. I’ll take it.” Indy glanced toward the door. “Mr. Heiss said he wasn’t going to let me out of his sight, so if you want to go to Anna’s? First, we have to find a fucking way out of here. And then, yeah, we’ll have to move fast before that dumb shit notices I’ve run again.”
Gammy grimaced. “Indy—”
“Like, so very, very fucking fast.”
Gammy’s grimace deepened, her gaze shifting to something over Indy’s shoulder. “Sweetie cakes.”
The floor creaked.
“What?” Indy sighed in frustration. “He’s right behind me, isn’t he?”
King whispered loudly, “If the dumb shit is Mr. Heiss, then yeah, sure is.”
Indy turned around to confirm that Mr. Heiss was indeed standing right behind him.
Mr. Heiss’s broad demonic body pulled at the seams of a slick black-and-red pinstripe suit. His eyes glowed as he glared down at Indy, and his upper lip was curled in an unamused sneer.
“Aw, hi there!” Indy smiled sweetly and batted his lashes as he cooed, “Let me say it louder in case you didn’t hear me. I need to move fast before the dumb shit—”
“I heard you,” Mr. Heiss said sourly as he rolled his eyes. “What do you need at Anna Graham’s? And why?”
“It’s for my prep enchantment,” Indy replied without hesitation.
“Prep?”
“Yeah. Prep. How do you think I take all those giant monster dicks without literally being split in half?” Indy let his eyes flicker over Mr. Heiss and back to his face with a sneer. “Too bad you’ll never know.”
Mr. Heiss came closer, leaned in, and smiled. “We shall see about that. Won’t we?”
Indy flushed, and his heart skipped a few beats.
This absolute dumb shit demon.
The dumbest! Shittiest! Ugh.
He was so lucky he was hot.
Dill growled, apparently not a fan of how close Mr. Heiss was.
Mr. Heiss appeared to ignore him as he continued to stare at Indy, though he did take a single step back.
Dill huffed and then lumbered back to the table. Aodnait was gone now, the candle smoking as if she’d just left. Dill seemed sad, but he was smiling as he watched the smoke curling toward the ceiling.
“Ahem! What are your intentions with my grandson?” Gammy demanded, putting herself in the new space between Indy and Mr. Heiss. “I do not like this one bit, mister! I am more than capable of banishing your high and mighty ass straight back to the Celestial this very instant!”
“My only intention is to remove that ring from him as soon as possible.” Mr. Heiss glared toward Dill and then back to Gammy.
“Uh-uh! I see you giving him those soft goo goo eyes!” Gammy stood up as tall as she could and gave Mr. Heiss a firm jab in his chest.
Mr. Heiss bristled.
“Trust me. Nothing was soft.” Indy smirked. “He’s just an asshole.”
“Just because he’s a sex worker doesn’t mean he’s a slut!” Gammy ranted on. “So, back off, buddy!”
“Yeah! Away and bite a bollocks!” King chimed in. “We don’t slut shame in this house!”
“I just said he’s not!” Gammy shouted.
“Make up your mind, woman!”
Mr. Heiss’s upper lip twitched, and the flames between his horns flickered.
“Okie dokie, thank you for defending my honor and all, but let’s focus, okay?
” Indy gently urged Gammy out of the way, saying, “Look, we need to go to Anna Graham’s.
Pronto. The enchantment has to be recharged regularly or my asshole might fall out and splat all over the floor.
Do we understand each other? No juice in the boot means my caboose goes sploosh. ”
Mr. Heiss was clearly alarmed by that visual and very quickly said, “Fine.”
Indy turned back to give Gammy a grin as he asked, “So, you know what we need for the recipe, right?”
Gammy grinned. “Of course!”
“Make a list,” Mr. Heiss said sternly.
“What?” Indy frowned. “Why don’t we bring her with us?”
“Am I going?” King called out.
“Because we’re not going directly to Anna Graham’s,” Mr. Heiss replied in a patient tone, the sort reserved for children.
“Hey! Hello!” King whined. “Talking skull here! Your best friend in the whole world. Your confidant, your chum, your bosom buddy. You still haven’t answered me yet, fuck face.”
“Be quiet or you’re going in the safe,” Mr. Heiss warned.
King gasped. “Why, I never!”
“Well, where the fuck are we going then?” Indy asked flatly. “A spa? Are we getting our nails done?”
“To meet with the other members of the Mostro Family.”
“Uh, why?”
“Because you’re a witness to a murder.”