24. CHAPTER #2
“Oh, and all your suits look like they came from Walmart. Name should have been Mr. Fucken but the only thing you’re fuckin’ is worthless.” Indy stood tall, flicked his hair back again, and then strolled over to Mr. Heiss.
Mr. Heiss gave Indy’s shoulder a squeeze. “Are you happy now?”
“Ecstatic.”
“You know fucken isn’t a real word in German.”
“Whatever. It’s a real word in Indy.”
Mr. Heiss snorted out a laugh and then cleared his throat, resuming a serious expression. He tilted his head and then waved Tanze and Underwood off. Once they’d vanished with Mr. Mitternacht, he addressed Lou, “Where’s Nyp?”
“Gone.” Lou scowled. “He must have snuck off while we were fighting Mitternacht.”
“Damn. Hoped he was dead.”
“Not that lucky.”
“Apparently, we—” Mr. Heiss turned as if he’d heard something.
Lou’s ears perked up too.
Indy wasn’t sure what it was—wait, bells.
And his thumb was glowing a pale shade of blue.
Fae.
It was Absolis and Vilanos, dressed in matching overall dresses, plaid collared crop tops, and cowboy boots. There were bunches of live sunflowers decorating their outfits and hair, and of course, as usual, they both looked absolutely flawless.
“Where have you two been?” Lou snarled. “We could have used your help.”
“Uh, excuse me?” Absolis looked Lou up and down as if he was a bug, drawling, “We were cleaning up your mess.”
“Or did you want all those humans to keep their memories and continue making more posts?” Vilanos demanded, his gaze equally as hateful.
“More tweets?”
“More reblogs?”
“More lives?”
“We took care of it.”
“All of it.”
“Every last one.”
Lou huffed and grumbled, “Much appreciated.”
The twins rolled their eyes and sneered in unison, “You’re welcome.”
“Excellent work.” Mr. Heiss glanced over them. “So glad you found the time for all that and you were still able to coordinate your skirts.”
Absolis and Vilanos hissed, and their eyes turned black.
Honestly, after facing a dragon and being swallowed whole by said dragon, Indy didn’t think the twins were that scary anymore. Still, he took a small step back to stand right beside Mr. Heiss.
Just in case.
“Enough,” a new voice boomed, the ground rumbling as it split open and a cascade of giant tentacles slithered out.
They were thick, undulating, and a rich shade of crimson.
From the writhing mass emerged Q., dressed in a sharp black suit and tie.
There was a red rose in his lapel, and his hair and beard appeared freshly trimmed.
He could have taken a spin down a runway despite having just come out of a hole in the dirt.
“They did their part,” Q. continued, adjusting the lapels of his jacket. He gestured around them. “The scene has been secured, Miss Moore is on the way to collect her cousin—”
“Cousin?” Lou cut in.
“Yes.” Q. smirked. “Dragons have families, too, Louis. He’s apparently been missing for some time.”
“Why didn’t we know?”
“There was more evidence to believe he was, and I quote, on a bender.” Q.’s upper lip twitched. “But now we know the truth. The Ides took him and—”
“And that’s it?” Mr. Heiss scowled. “There was a chance that an entire dragon was possibly unaccounted for and no one—”
“If you would like to bring your concerns to Minnie Moore personally, please feel free.” Q. crossed his arms. “She’ll be here very soon.”
Mr. Heiss glared but said nothing.
“That’s what I thought. Now, we have much more pressing matters to attend to.
” Q. turned, his gaze directed at the road.
“The authorities will be here soon to take interviews, gather evidence, and whatever else we need to support the story we are going to give them.” His eyes flicked to Mr. Heiss. “Where is Mitternacht?”
“Safe,” Mr. Heiss replied. “You just missed him. I’ll bring him in for questioning first thing tomorrow—“
“Tonight.” Q. looked at the remains of the club. “We need to find those drugs and we need to find them as soon as possible.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Mr. Mitternacht will need to survive at least long enough to help us recover as much as we can. I am also very curious to know where he found those chains. I haven’t seen anything like them in centuries.
Lou, I need you and your weres to hit the streets.
Absolis and Vilanos, you too. Mr. Heiss?
All your little fiends as well.” Q. took a deep breath.
“We need to tell them. Not just the dealers, but every monster in the city.”
“And tell them what?” Lou asked carefully.
“The truth.”
“The truth?” Mr. Heiss spat. “That there is a drug out there that can reveal our true selves to humans if you take it?”
“Yes.” Q. raised his brow. “We know this is going to alarm monsters, but some fear may be necessary. We need them to be cautious, to reconsider a short stint of euphoria that can and will put us all at risk.”
“And potentially create a panic.”
“A panic limited to our own kind is far better than what would happen if the world of humans finds out we’re real.”
The following silence was tense, broken only when Absolis spoke up and cheerfully said, “Well, on that delightful note—”
“We have work to do,” finished Vilanos. “You all have fun.”
“Have a ball.” Aboslis held up a finger. “Oh! But one thing.”
“One tiny, little thing.”
“Itty bitty—”
“Yes,” Mr. Heiss drawled. “When we’re done with Mr. Mitternacht, I will happily turn him over to you for your king to play with. Can’t promise there will be much left. Maybe enough for a small bouquet.”
“We’ll make it work.”
The twins laughed, waved, and then disappeared.
Thank God.
The ground shook once more, but it was only Izba lumbering over with a very frantic Neil sprawled across the remaining section of floor and clinging for dear life.
“Lou!” Neil shouted.
Lou ran over to quickly intercept, holding out his arms. “Jump! I’ll catch you.”
“What? Fuck you!” Neil groaned loudly. “Izba! Can you, like, sit?”
YES
Izba plopped down, tucking his legs underneath himself so he was flush with the ground.
Neil remained as he was, however. “Okay, yay. You can come get me now.”
“Coming, baby.” Lou chuckled, carefully stepping over the broken bits of foundation to retrieve Neil. He picked Neil up, covered his face in kisses, and rocked him gently as he carried him back out of the building.
“There,” Neil fussed. “That’s better.” He gasped. “Wait! Seymour! Sariel!”
“Shit.” Indy was already walking to where they’d left them. “Are they—”
“Just peachy keen,” Seymour called out, waving from where he was still stretched out on the ground with Sariel’s head in his lap. “Y’all okay?”
“Fabulous. Kicked Mr. Mitternacht in the nuts, got swallowed by a dragon. It was great.”
“Hey, my ol’ trick.” Seymour chuckled. “Didn’t think you’d be crazy enough to actually do it.”
“I am especially unwell when I haven’t received enough orgasms.” Indy shrugged.
Mr. Heiss only sighed.
“Mighty obliged to your Gammy for saving Sariel,” Seymour said, gesturing over to where she and Q. were chatting with Murray. “Swear I’d kiss her right on the mouth if I won’t spoken for.”
“I would as well,” Sariel said softly, his words slurred. “With tongue.”
“Wow.” Seymour cackled. “Had no idea you were such a flirt. Must be the blood loss talkin’.” He ran his fingers through Sariel’s hair. “Makin’ me all jealous, Daddy.”
Day meowed loudly, rolling her eyes as she settled between them.
“Sorry, yes, I know we are, and I quote, super gross.” Seymour lifted his arm to give her more room, smooching the top of her head.
Day huffed but closed her eyes, snuggling in close and purring.
Indy leaned in to hug Mr. Heiss around his waist. “We did it,” he said, laughing a bit.
“Look! We’re all here, we’re together. The day has been saved, I kicked a dragon’s ass, you were pretty sexy, too, and I remain incredibly hot.
Twelve out of ten.” He exhaled slowly, daring to believe it was real as he whispered, “Everyone is okay.”
“The one who matters, at least,” Mr. Heiss said softly.
“You said one.”
“Yes.”
“What about Gammy? Dill?”
“I meant what I said.” Mr. Heiss held Indy tighter.
Indy smiled, the comment warming him deep inside. He slid his hand over Mr. Heiss’s, but he paused when he felt something. “What the?” He stared. “The ring!”
Mr. Heiss frowned as he held out his hand. “The ring.”
It was the Memento Mori, but…
“There’s two of them?” Indy examined it carefully and then looked at the ring on his hand.
The forest of reddish hair was gone, now replaced with more black flecks to create the shapes of the trees.
The hair was inside the ring on Mr. Heiss’s hand, additional swirls positioned to mimic the lidded pot on Indy’s.
The rings were virtually identical, reflections of the original design but still undoubtedly connected as a tiny loop of hair remained in Indy’s around the pot and a fleck of black was also present in Mr. Heiss’s in the same place.
“Grow,” Dill whispered from right behind Indy.
Indy jumped in surprise. “Shit! Dill!”
Dill yelped and vanished.
Indy didn’t need to look down to see he had turned into a pickle again. He sighed. “Sorry, babe. You scared me. You, uh, got an explanation for this?”
“Sometimes the spirits can choose,” Lou said simply. “Be grateful for the gift.”
Mr. Heiss stiffened as a tiny flame figure sat on the side of his horn.
It was Aodnait, perfectly at home there next to the flames of Mr. Heiss’s crown.
Indy groaned as he kneeled to grab Dill. “I guess it’s fitting. You get the cool fiery chick and I get the himbo with the, ahem, girth.” He grinned, giving Dill a playful shake.
“Grow,” Dill grumbled.