Sherlock’s ears perked up at that. Damn, the kid’s sense of smell is good. I don’t even smell fudge; just this weird mixture of, like, old gym socks and decomposed squirrel.
“Yeah, that’s your breath blowing back at you,” Maria said.
Sherlock panted, and his ears perked up even higher. You’re right! Nice!
Maria turned back to Joe, who was looking on confusedly.
“Did you…did you just talk to your dog?” he asked. “I guess that’s not really weird, but it looked like he replied, and you—you understood him…”
Maria shrugged. “Yeah, I don’t know if I told you that or not. If I did, I don’t think you’d remember.”
Joe rubbed his head. “I don’t remember much of anything,” he admitted.
The other wanderers looked on with curiosity, as if they were studying a new exhibit at the local zoo, some alien specimen they’d never seen before. Joe looked up and met their eyes, his head swiveling around the table. When his gaze passed over Gelbus, there was a slight hitch in his turning neck, and his jaw dropped open.
“Oh, my—” His lips spread open in preparation to scream.
Maria quickly shot her hand out and covered his mouth. The last thing they needed at that point was a good samaritan calling the cops, and an officer at the front door, trying to get to the bottom of all the commotion. They would see a Gnome, a bunch of magical people, and a security guard, seemingly held against his will in the backroom. None of that would look good.
The scream that did escape Joe’s mouth was muffled and barely audible.
“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Maria said, her voice as soothing as she could make it. Joe screamed soundlessly again into her palm. “There, there, get it out.”
“Yeah, I know, Joe.” Claire spoke like they went back very far. She had worked at Rolling Hill much longer than Maria—before Maria was fired, that was—and had technically known Joe first. Whether Claire still had her job at Sephora or not, Maria didn’t know. The real world—or at least the one she had known before all of this magic came into her life—seemed very distant, and Ohio time was meaningless. “It’s a shock,” Claire continued. “I didn’t exactly scream like a little girl when I found out…but I guess we all have our different ways of dealing with things.”
“Shut up,” Tabby said.
Gelbus waved to Joe. He wore a smile on his face, and his little, sharp teeth were plainly visible.
Joe trembled and mumbled a muffled something.
Maria didn’t move her hand away. Instead, she said, “Promise me you’re not going to scream anymore. It would be bad to have the cops come snooping around here right now.”
“Oh, we could just magic them away,” Salem said.
“Is that your solution to everything?” Agnes asked, rolling her eyes at the wizard.
“What?” Salem said, shrugging. “We might as well take advantage of this new leniency we have from the Silver Griffins.”
“Abuse it, you mean,” Agnes said, crossing her arms.
“No, it’s not like I’m using magic to rob a bank or cover up a murder. I’m using it to quiet someone we kidnapped and exposed the magical underworld to… Okay, you’re right, that doesn’t sound too good like that,” Salem answered. He leaned over and kissed Agnes on the cheek. “You’re always right, sweet pea.”
The witch blushed at that. “Oh, Salem, you can’t kiss your way out of this one.”
A sly grin on his face, he said, “You’ve said that one before.”
Agnes playfully hit him on the arm.
“Okay, lovebirds, don’t make me throw up my buckeye ice cream.” Claire stuck a finger in her mouth and feigned a gag.
Gramps smiled, and Tabby didn’t hit Claire. They all laughed, even Agnes.
“Okay, what the hell is going on?” Joe wanted to know. “I saw that…that…guy in my dream.” He was pointing at Gelbus.
“That wasn’t a dream, my friend,” Gelbus answered. “You saw me plain as day at Maria’s house.”
“I…I did?” Joe shook his head, trying to jog his memory.
“You did,” Gelbus confirmed.
Joe looked at Maria, and she shrugged. “You did. You passed out twice, too. Once when you saw me perform my magic—”
“Magic?” Joe said. His face went gray, and he gulped, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down.
To emphasize her point, Maria closed her eyes and drew magic into her body from deep within the kemana beneath the ice cream shop. Her skin glowed a slight blue, bright enough to paint Joe’s grayish flesh with color.
Joe’s eyes practically popped out of his head. “What…the…actual…fu—”
“Magic, my dear boy,” Gramps said.
Maria let the magic go, and her skin returned to its normal tone. She looked at her grandfather, who still held the map in his hand but was no longer studying it. On his face, he wore a slight grin.
Don’t explain it to him! Sherlock admonished. If you explain it to him, he won’t die from a heart attack, and I won’t be able to eat him!
“I thought you liked when your food put up a fight?” Maria asked.
I changed my mind. Joe’s a big guy. He looks like he’d put up too much of a fight.
“Is he asking if he can eat me?” Joe asked with his eyebrows arched so high, they almost reached his hairline.
“No,” Maria said, waving her hand at him. “No, not at all. Sherlock is a good boy.”
Not supposed to lie to the people you love, Maria, Sherlock added.
“Two words: vegan and diet,” Maria replied.
A Bloodhound’s eyes were naturally droopy, but Sherlock’s shot open, wider than they had in a while. You said you wouldn’t mention that again!
“Well, when you keep talking about eating my boyfriend—”
Oh, shit.
At that moment, she felt the weight of every eye boring into her.
“Boyfriend?” Joe said quietly.
Maria looked up at him slowly, her eyes wide and puppy-dog-like. “I, uh…”
Joe looked as if everything that had happened in the last few hours never had.
