Chapter 28 #3
“That’s hot,” I muttered, clearing the table. “Are you going to do your mid-morning fart at the table too?”
“Got nothin’ in the tank,” he said, pulling my hand. “You didn’t kiss the cook yet.” Roscoe pointed to his apron. “Sure wish I knew what happened to the one with tits on it.”
“Oh, you lost it?” I asked and gave him a quick kiss on his thin lips.
“It’s the darndest thing,” Roscoe said, scratching his head. “Can’t remember where the hell I put it.”
“That’s a shame,” I said, knowing exactly where it was as I’d thrown that ugly thing away the week after he bought it. “Hopefully it turns up somewhere.”
“Went down to the store to buy another one, but would you believe they don’t sell ’em no more?”
“Unbelievable,” I said, grabbing Roscoe’s empty plate and stacking it on top of the others.
“I’ve been rackin’ my brain trying to figure out what I did with it. I remember you was standin’ in the kitchen talking to me, and I folded it and put it in the drawer.” He shot me an intense stare. “Kinda strange, ain’t it?”
“Well, you know how things sorta vanish around here,” I said, stumbling over my words as I walked into the kitchen with him now uncomfortably close behind. “Are you actually gonna help me do the dishes?”
He folded his arms but didn’t say anything.
“You know, don’t you?”
“Yup,” he replied. “When I figured it out, I spent all day at the landfill tryin’ to find another one.” He leaned in closer to my ear. “Where do ya think that couch came from?”
And that was when I figured out something interesting about Roscoe. He could smile in your face while deviously plotting his revenge, and I had been clueless the entire time.
Mosavi knelt in front of Austin, who sat on the sofa, completely rigid from his ears to his feet. His eyes glowed silver as he tried to break through whatever enchanted wall was keeping Austin from full consciousness.
He wasn’t wearing his usual suit, nor had he arrived in his blacked-out Mercedes. He looked like any other werewolf with a torn T-shirt and frayed jeans that fit him perfectly.
“Pay attention,” Mosavi demanded. Instead of doing what he was told, Austin glanced at Adam first.
“Look at him, Austin,” Adam said, and the werewolf obeyed.
His irises went from blue to dark amber, and for a moment, whatever Mosavi was doing appeared to work. Adam’s tail started to wag as he witnessed Austin’s expression change from empty to something I couldn’t quite place.
The mayor shook his head, and Austin’s eyes faded back to blue.
“This only works if the werewolf wants to be brought back,” he said, turning to Adam. “You’re an idiot. Do you realize the severity of this?”
“He does,” I said, pulling Mosavi’s ire away. “What can we do?”
Mosavi got to his feet and let out an annoyed hiss of air through his teeth. “Hope it doesn’t last.”
“That’s it?” Adam asked. “That’s your answer?”
“That’s my answer.” He pulled a chain out of his jeans pocket and tossed it at Adam. “Put it on.”
With a nervous swallow, Adam slipped the gold chain around his neck.
“You will now know when his basic needs are not met, and you will tend to him until what you’ve done wears off.” Mosavi paused. “If it does.”
“This doesn’t help me at all!” Adam shouted, his frustration manifesting as a snarl. “I can’t keep telling him what to do.”
“Willa worked her fingers to the bone enchanting that,” Mosavi shouted, causing Adam to slink backward. “If you’re going to be an ungrateful little shit, I’ll take it back.”
Adam held the chain against his chest and shook his head. “Thank you.”
“If you can’t help him, then we’ll need to find other avenues,” Darryl said. “The ferals may know—”
“What would they know? How to rub sticks together?”
“They know more than you think,” Roscoe chimed in. “It ain’t like they don’t got no sense. They use magic, and they got elders too.”
The mayor scoffed. “If I cannot undo this, then those animals surely won’t be able to help.”
“What has he got to lose?” Darryl asked.
“His will. His mind. His body. And it really will be permanent,” Mosavi snapped.
“The witches are weaker now, and we have these rocks,” I said.
Mosavi laughed. “Rocks. Of course. The answer to holding back immense demonic forces are obviously rocks. Let me guess, you also have magic plants and beaded jewelry.”
Roscoe and I glanced at one another. He might have been sarcastic, but he also wasn’t far from the truth. I pulled one of the smooth stones out of my pocket and handed it to him.
“This is what shattered the spell I was under. The ferals gave them to us.”
Mosavi rolled his eyes. “You’re going to do what you want and put your trust in dirt-covered trinkets. I won’t stand in your way. It is not like I have been able to since you arrived.”
“I know you don’t like it, but it’s either this or we get the organization involved,” Darryl said.
Mosavi grabbed a tuft of Darryl’s mane and pulled. “You are now threatening my town.”
The larger werewolf snatched Mosavi’s hand and squeezed. “I’ll do what needs to be done, so let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. Austin may have been an insufferable prick for years, but he doesn’t deserve this.”
Both werewolves pulled away, lowering their hackles.
“Let me discuss things with my wife. If the ferals cannot help, and you involve them… we will have no choice but to leave this place.”
“Like I said, it’s a last resort. I—” Darryl paused and shook his head. “I don’t want to cause you and your wife any trouble. This town is something I didn’t think was possible.”
Mosavi took a step back and blinked in surprise. “It is my dream come to fruition. I may not be the nicest person to be around, but I care deeply for our kind and for the humans that welcome us.” He eyed Darryl again. “How do I know I can trust you to not tell anyone what you have seen here?”
“You don’t,” Darryl responded, looking at me. “You can trust him, though.”
Mosavi turned to meet my gaze.
“He is a lifeguard,” I said. “If you can’t trust one of those, who can you trust?”
“I suppose,” Mosavi said before walking to the door.
“You’re not going to shift back to your human form?” I asked.
“No one would recognize me in this pauper’s outfit, and the shifting back and forth has been taking a mental toll on me lately.” He turned back to me after pushing the door open. “At your earliest convenience, I’ll meet with you alone at city hall.”
“What time?”
“Earliest. Convenience. Cody,” he repeated and shut the door behind him.
“Mayor Douchebag has left the building,” Roscoe whispered with a snicker, not realizing the living room window was wide open.
The doorknob clicked, and the entrance creaked open. Roscoe winced, cowering behind Darryl as Mosavi pointed at him. “I’ll see you at the jail later, Roscoe.” The door slammed shut, and we all stood silently, waiting for him to walk out to the road.
“What’s he gonna do, have me arrested?” He looked out the window at Mosavi as he held his cell phone to his ear.
“I don’t know why you keep doing this. You know he’s got a short fuse, and you’re always trolling the wrong people. Need I remind you about the taser incident?”
A patrol car pulled into the driveway, and we all looked at one another in silence.
“Oh come on.” Roscoe watched with a stunned expression as two werewolves in uniform strutted up to the porch. I recognized one of them from the barbeque restaurant.
The cops opened the door without knocking, and the one I recognized stepped inside, twirling a pair of cuffs around his finger.
“We got us a repeat offender.”
“Now I know for a fact this ain’t legal!” Roscoe shouted as the officer jerked his arm behind his back. “I know my rights!”
“That’s great, Roscoe. I won’t have to tell you about the one to shut the hell up.
” The other officer held the door open as the cop behind Roscoe shoved him outside.
He flashed me his teeth and tipped his hat.
“You all have a pleasant day. You should come by the restaurant again, Cody. Everyone misses you.”
I thought back to the other day when I brought Roscoe and took them up on their offer. “It was fun, wasn’t it?” I said, prompting Roscoe to look back at me, his mouth agape with a furrowed look of betrayal. “Will I at least get conjugal visits?”
The officer looked back at me without answering. “He’ll be ready for you to pick him up in a few hours.”
He shut the door, and they dragged Roscoe away. His protests soon silenced as the car door slammed shut and the patrol vehicle sped off.
“Roscoe’s making friends wherever he goes,” Darryl said. “Now I’m in the mood for barbeque before I leave.”
“Darryl, Roscoe just got arrested,” I said. “I should go talk to the mayor again.”
“You can’t fight city hall,” Adam said, touching the necklace he wore. “Plus, Austin wants barbeque.”
“You can tell that?” I asked.
Adam nodded. “I guess this necklace is pretty handy after all.”