Chapter 38
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Otis
I’d never wished for my week off to end before, but I had to acknowledge that I was relieved to head back into the center today.
Normally, I’d spend my time off in my cabin hiking, fixing up the place, fishing, or any number of other things I liked to do away from the constant press of humanity… or “frolicking,” as Louis teased.
I pulled my SUV into my designated parking spot and climbed out.
I had to be honest with myself. The reason I was so anxious to be back at work had nothing to do with work and everything to do with a soft, little human.
I’d missed her. I’d been so tempted to message her, but I only had her number in a work capacity, and that seemed like a huge breach of privacy.
What would I message her about anyway? The wildflower seeds I was collecting? My tomato crop?
She had moved into her new place, and Louis was pursuing her as a potential mate, not to mention Syke. She had enough on her plate without me making calf eyes in her direction.
Grunting my annoyance at my thoughts, I pressed the button for the elevator. When I arrived on the right floor, there was tension in the office that turned the air sour.
Team two was silently packing up their gear. I muttered, “Good morning,” getting a few grunted greetings back, and decided I needed to find Chet to figure out exactly what was up with team two and if we were going to have problems.
Chet was in the office we shared. It was where we kept the main computer and all the locked filing cabinets.
He didn’t look angry or stressed in any way, but that was just the way it was with Chet.
He’d been with the Creature Crisis Center since its inception, and in an unofficial capacity before that.
He’d also been alive longer than I cared to contemplate, so not much ruffled the ancient dragon.
I knocked on the doorframe, and he looked up from the file on his desk. He lifted his chin at me, and I came in and sat on the creature-sized chair across from him. We’d have a brief handover, and he’d be free to leave for the week. “How was your shift?”
Grunting, Chet shut the file in front of him. “Run-of-the-mill week by way of call outs. The full moon was a little wild, but nothing we couldn’t handle.” He sighed and rubbed his hand down his face. “The team, however, is another matter.”
Leaning back, I frowned at my longtime friend. “I thought they were working well together.” We had our issues with Allison, but that shouldn’t bleed over to team two, and eventually, we’d all get over it. Angels are going to angel, after all.
“Deuce and Liam got wind of Allison narcing to the archangel and think she was in the wrong. I can’t officially take one side or the other, but I agree. She went behind our backs and was disloyal to the center.”
I’d always thought we’d had a better working relationship with Allison, and while angels tended to be self-righteous assholes, their natures were suited to the work we undertook. “She’s a valuable member of the team,” I hedged, and Chet raised an eyebrow at me.
“In the end, I put her on leave. It got a little heated, and things were said that can’t easily be taken back.
I can’t put the whole team on leave, so I decided it was best to let her cool off for a while.
She didn’t take it very angelically and made some not so pious threats, but she’ll come around.
” For a moment, he looked every single one of his ancient years.
“I didn’t know she was going to do that.
It was a breach of privacy at the very least, and she knows better than to run to her superiors.
It lessens the integrity of the center. I’m sorry. ”
I waved a hand at my old friend. “No one blames you. Syke had to know what would happen. The last thing we want is for this to cause issues.” I gave him a half smile. “That being said, Syke might hold a grudge for a century or two if he doesn’t end up back in hell because of it.”
“Fair,” Chet huffed, climbing to his feet and uncurling his body.
“Hold onto that forgiveness while I tell you the Creature Oversight Committee has opened an audit into all our files. I’ve been buried in paperwork for most of the week.
I did what I could, but I’m going to have to dump the rest on your shoulders.
” He sighed heavily. “I’m going to fly out to the mountains this week.
I need some time away from all this, but Deuce and Liam will both be on call if you need them. ”
I slapped him on the back as he left. “Enjoy your time off, brother.”
I sat down to read all the emails and reports that appeared in my absence while I waited for the rest of my team to arrive.
* * *
“No. This is my spot. This is the perfect crossover of ley lines and magic. I will not be moved.”
The bridge troll was huge, at least eight feet tall and made from solid stone, so physically moving him was going to be an issue. I was going to have to try negotiation, but they were also notoriously stubborn.
“I understand, Mr. Bumblkin, but unfortunately, you’re in the middle of the freeway.
This is not a place you can just decide to live.
” Someone was laying on their horn twenty-five or so cars back in the piled-up rush hour traffic, and I was tempted to go down there and personally rip it out of their car.
Bumblkin sat down so heavily that I felt it through the ground, and it cracked a little of the pavement. “This is my spot.”
“You’ve had it for all of two minutes, Bumblkin. You can’t be that attached to it already. How about you come over here, and I show you some other places where the ley lines cross?” Louis cajoled, and Bumblkin’s shaggy eyebrows lowered.
“Will there be a bridge?”
Louis winced. “Probably. There has to be at least one, right?” There definitely were, and they already had their own bridge trolls, but we didn’t have to tell Bumblkin that right this moment.
Syke sat to the side, picking at his nails. Diplomacy wasn’t his strong suit, but if Bumblkin didn’t move soon, we’d have to use the demon’s abilities to make him. Bridge trolls were fairly immune to mental manipulation, so we still might need to heft him somewhere else.
“Move or be moved, Mr. Bumblkin,” I rumbled and gave him my best stare down. Trolls didn’t have a dominance hierarchy. They were loners, and they respected each other’s territory. They just didn’t respect anyone else.
Today was the first day that Hailey would man the phones alone, and it had been a long time since the entire team had left the center.
I had to admit, a strong part of me didn’t enjoy her being alone in the office.
It was making me a little less understanding with the current scenario than I would normally be.
Bumblkin grunted. “Try, little man.”
Louis laughed. “I love it when you aren’t the tallest creature in the room, Big O.
” He went over and patted Bumblkin on the shoulder.
“Come on, big guy. Have you noticed all this traffic? Can you not smell the fumes? This is a great ley line crossing for sure, but it’s noisy and stinky, and honestly, I think you could do better. ”
Someone laid on their horn again, and a truck seemed to be jamming on the gas while in neutral until the noise was overwhelmingly loud. Syke was definitely heavily suggesting the humans around us be extra noisy.
Bumblkin sighed heavily. “Can’t they go around?”
Louis shook his head sadly. “It will still be noisy and stinky. People need this freeway to go to work to feed their young and bring kids to school. You can’t stay here.” Bridge trolls were protective of children, even those that weren’t their own species.
Groaning, Bumblkin stood. “I just want a place to call home.”
Louis gave his elbow a friendly squeeze. “I know, Mr. Bumblkin. Let us put you in touch with someone from land management and see if we can’t find somewhere better, hey? Come over here, and we’ll get it sorted out.”
Louis, sweet, helpful Louis led the troll to the side of the road and pulled out his phone.
I helped move traffic along with the assistance of some of the CVPD, and soon the traffic was flowing again.
I ignored the slurs yelled out of windows and the rude gestures by humans who thought driving away meant they were in the clear.
To a degree, they were. We were used to it now.
Syke fumed silently, but that was just his way. Ilyas liaised with some of the traffic cops from the PD, so I pulled out my phone to check in on Hailey.
The line rang twice before she answered. “Creature Crisis Hotline, Hailey speaking. How may we help?”
The sound of her sweet voice instantly eased the tension coiled in my chest. “It’s Otis. Just checking in.”
“Otis! How did things go with the bridge troll?”
Bumblkin was on Louis’s smartphone, and it looked like he was holding a child’s toy to his ear. “A positive ending, I think. Any other call outs while we’re on the road?”
I could hear the shuffle of paper. “No call outs. A couple of calls for information, like a lion shifter who wanted to know about safely moving a family of brownies from beneath her stairs. I suggested that perhaps she could leave them some bread and butter pudding and embrace her new housemates, because who doesn’t want someone else to do your dishes for you, even if they do make a racket under your stairs?
But just in case, I gave her the number for the fae court. The usual stuff, you know?”
“I do. You’re doing great, Hailey. We should be back in under an hour, given the traffic.”
“Wonderful! See you then.”
She hung up, and I slid my phone into my pocket.
“You’re smiling,” Syke said beside me.
I frowned immediately. “I enjoy my job.” I strode toward our vehicle.
Syke smirked. “Sure, that’s it. Bumblkin the bridge troll is making you grin like a giddy teenage girl. It definitely has nothing to do with our pretty hotline operator.”
Glaring at him, I unlocked the car, searching for Ilyas and Louis. Louis was waving goodbye to Bumblkin who was heading across the field in the direction of the city, but Ilyas was still giving information to the PD officer. “Hailey is my employee.”
“Sure, an employee you’ve jerked off to in the shower.”
“Syke!”
“Who is Otis jerking off to?” Louis asked as he appeared, and I wondered if Syke would shut the fuck up.
“Hailey,” Syke told the wolf who was literally courting her.
“For fuck’s sake, Syke,” I grumbled, climbing into the SUV.
Louis, that amiable fucker, just laughed. “I bet. He has those big heart eyes every time she comes into the room. If he hasn’t been jacking off to her, then I’m a cat shifter.”
“Louis.” My voice dropped low. “Don’t talk about her like that.”
He wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “I’m talking about you like that, Big O.
Hailey is fucking perfect, and one day, she’ll be my mate, which is why I’m going to tell you that we talked about your giant minotaur dick yesterday, and she smelled so fucking sweet as she did mental gymnastics, trying to work out how to make you fit. ”
I blinked at the man who’d been on my team for five years, the man I considered a friend.
For the first time—maybe ever—I had no idea what to say, so instead, I climbed into the driver’s seat and stared out the windshield, trying to get my “giant minotaur dick” to forget what Louis said and stop hardening in my pants.
When Ilyas finally climbed into the back of the SUV, we drove to the center in silence, just the sound of Louis’s soft chuckles filling the interior.