of the party, noting Jetta and Mack, who were holding their rifles muzzles down.
“You two clear those chambers before coming in,” Darci said. “But everyone, thank you and welcome to Rowan West. Come on in. Declan, the mud monster and the mud dragon stay outside.”
The weres all looked uncertain, and I thought they might be uncomfortable with the tight quarters. Odd, I was introduced to werewolves a scant six months ago in New Hampshire and here I was interpreting their beast form body language.
“Maybe we can use the tables outside for some of us. The restaurant’s a little small till they’re ready to change back. It’s sunny and warm out, so it should be okay,” I said.
She just looked at me. “Kid, life with you gets weirder by the day.”
“Love you too, Deputy,” I said with a grin.
I noted that she was holding Levi’s treasured AR-15 SBR, or short barreled rifle. Darci had coveted it from the moment Levi had paid the tax stamp and filed the paper work with the BATF.
“How’d you get that?” I asked.
“We had a bet. I won,” she said, striding ahead to get things ready. I was going to have to get the details of that little wager.
My aunt and Ariel were waiting just outside the back of the restaurant and when Ashling saw us, her eyes got shiny.
Erika spoke up in her brassy way. “Hi, Miss Ashling. We heard that someone was giving our favorite teacher and best precog a hard time. We all came to straighten them out. Some of us—” she looked my way, “—didn’t tell the rest of us what was happening, so we got here just after the action. Some of us are action hogs.”
“Nope, you guys were right on time,” Ashley said. “They were desperate for a reason to beat feet, and having you guys arrive when you did was the perfect excuse. Your nephew might have terrified them just a bit, Miss Ashling.”
“Me nephew? Me wee little Declan?” Aunt Ash asked. “Well now, that don’t hardly seem possible, now do it?”
The kids laughed and Delwood made a strange hacking noise in his beast throat that must have been the werewolf equivalent of laughter.
“Actually, it was Caeco with that badass axe, Mack and Jetta with their sharpshooter skills, and Robbie and Draco,” I said.
“Well I believe that more, I do. And jest what’s that great lump of dirt still doing about?” she asked.
“Guarding,” I said. “Robbie, please drag up that tree that fell, then guard. Draco—perimeter patrol.”
The giant golem headed into the woods and the dirt dragon flapped off through the trees.
Caeco looked at me and shook her head. “Jesus, you’re a real menace, O’Carroll.”
“That’s for sure,” Jetta agreed. “Did someone say there were snacks?”
We did better than just snacks. Darci, my aunt, and I threw together lunch with the speed of long familiarity with the restaurant and each other.
In short order, there were trays of sliced roast beef, ham, and turkey, along with three kinds of soups left over from the night before and a big tray of mac and cheese that the chef had premade for a birthday party on Saturday. He’d just have to make it again.
The weres had all caught the scent of the hot food and as one big pack, including Justin, headed back to the cars to Change and put on clothes, despite the pain it caused them to do it so soon. They were now in culinary heaven, scarfing down massive sandwiches and big bowls of soup.
Aunt Ash moved about the dining room, talking to my classmates as well as Ian and Neeve, charming them all with her wit and brogue. With everyone occupied, I snuck away to pull off my sweatshirt and see about the wound Neeve’s weapon had made.
Maybe I shouldn’t have used my aunt’s little office to do it, but I thought I had time.
She caught me as I was putting a Band-Aid over the little puncture wound in my left abdomen.
“When exactly were ye going to be telling me about being all stabbed and such?” she asked.
“Well, it’s just a little wound. Not really deep. But I don’t think the wound itself is the problem,” I said.
Her eyes went from my stomach to my face. “What be ye talking about?”
I reached to her desk, shoving aside my sweatshirt to reveal the grimoire. She sucked in a sharp breath.
“Is that the Sorrow book then?”
“It was,” I said. I opened the cover and showed her the bloodstained pages and the