I nodded and sighed. “He’s a witch but a minor one. We have a hierarchy among those of us with magic and he’s on a rung somewhere between one and two.”
“Between one and two?” Vincent asked. “What rung are you on, Sid? Eight or nine?”
I thought about that for a few seconds, tapping my chin. “Ah…sixteen thousand, four hundred and thirty-two…ah…no…thirty-three.”
The unicorn burst out laughing, and Vincent’s expression was kind of priceless as the two werewolves started chuckling. I looked over to them when they almost immediately sobered, standing side by side.
I cleared my throat. “Well, what’s it gonna be? I’ll box up some more food at the store, and you two can drive me over to the sheriff’s cabin. If you’ll be living there, I want to put some stronger wards around the place to keep Floyd and his pack away. There are already some up, but you’ll need more when the unicorn isn’t around.”
Sam and Greg exchanged a glance before nodding at me. They looked over at the sheriff.
“Would it really be okay to stay with you, Sheriff Harmon?” Greg asked.
The sheriff nodded quickly. “Of course. I stay at Vincent’s home most of the time for…ah…” He paused. “For…ah, reasons.”
“My home is light tight,” Vincent said. “So, when Romeo and I want to have a sleepover, he stays with me.”
I snickered. Sleepover. That was rich.
“Well, that’s really nice of you, Sheriff,” Greg said. He looked over at Sam and threw an arm across his shoulder, drawing the smaller wolf up against his side as the man simply stared up at him. “That okay with you, Sam?”
Sam nodded and then turned to Sheriff Harmon, holding out a hand. “I’m really grateful, Sheriff. I mean, you didn’t have to come to our defense like that. I don’t really know what I was thinking in accepting your invitation to join you at the table but now I see that you’re a really good guy.” He glanced at Vincent as the sheriff shook his hand. “And, you too, Mr. Lasco.”
Vincent took the outstretched hand Sam offered. “You’re very welcome,” he said, bowing over the fingers. I almost expected to see claws spring from his hand, but Sam was gracious and nothing of the sort happened.
“That’s good. Let’s get over to my store, and you two can pick out some things,” I said, standing up and leaning on my staff. As I straightened my back, I realized I wasn’t nearly as tall as the two wolves, the unicorn, or even the vampire.
When everyone started helping the bar staff clean up for the night, I walked outside with Greg and Sam. I reached out with my magic as we stopped in front of the bar and after a few seconds, I turned to the werewolves.
“They’re gone. There’s no threat here. Let’s head down to the store.”
Sam and Greg accompanied me to the general store, and I unlocked the door, walking to the back and pulling out a couple of banana boxes.
“Here you go. Fill these up with whatever you want. Sheriff Harmon has all the basic pantry items, so you should probably concentrate on the perishables,” I said. “I just got some new steaks this morning.”
“Thank you, Sid,” Greg said. “I’ll pay for everything, you know.”
I nodded. “Just the meat, okay?”
“That’s nice of you,” Sam said with a smile.
I watched the two werewolves walk away, Sam taking off to the canned good’s aisle, and Greg to the produce and meat cases. They’d filled up their boxes, and I was adding up the totals for Greg when the sheriff and the vampire walked into the store.
“We’re ready when you are, Greg. Clara’s gonna lock up for you,” the unicorn said.
Greg nodded, offering the sheriff the briefest of smiles as he pulled out his wallet.
I gave him the total for the meat, and he paid me, thanking me for the rest.
I wished them well and promised to be out to put up more wards around the cabin later that night. I wanted them to be safe. I had a feeling things were going to turn out well for the two werewolves I’d grown fond of. I wasn’t a mind reader but if I had to guess, being banished from the pack was going to work out fine for them. They’d both be better off away from Floyd.
Of that, there could be no doubt.
Chapter Nine
Prosper Woods Chronicle. Letters to the editor:
“I’m writing to give a shout out to the Prosper Woods highway department. I don’t know how they taught the roadkill around these parts to clean itself up but watching that flat skunk peel itself off the asphalt and walk away was impressive.” Signed, “Ain’t today’s technology something!”
Vincent
When Rome dropped Greg and Sam at his cabin, he packed a suitcase of clothing for himself. I had a good feeling about letting him stay at my place with me as long as he wanted. We’d been spending almost every night there anyway. As we walked into my house, I could feel the exhaustion coming off Rome. All the way to my house, I’d had plans on sitting him down and getting the facts about what he’d learned from the autopsy of the former sheriff. Knowing what happened to him would help me keep Rome safe. But as soon as I saw him step out of his truck in my driveway, I felt how tired he was.
He grabbed the food container he’d hastily swept his burger and onion rings into and followed me into the house. I promised myself I wasn’t going to drink from him for the next several days at least. He was taking the vitamins I’d given him because I tasted them in his amazing blood, and yet, I knew I shouldn’t feed
