Chapter 39 39
We did a changing of the guard at the Lobo house, Vera took over so the boys and I could head to my lab. Tristan proved grace was not part of being a werewolf by tripping over the wagon with the quartz in it as soon as he stepped out of the portal. I was laughing so hard at him I could barely close and seal the portal. Connor shot me a dirty look before helping the pup to his feet.
“What are we looking for?” Connor asked as he moved further into the room where shelves lined the walls with their magical booty.
“Triangular rocks.” I called from the adjoining room that I used as a quarantine area. Once I had the wagon and its cargo safely stowed, I rejoined the boys in the main room. And forgot how to breathe. Without moving I calmly told Tristan “Carefully put down the book and step back.”
“What’s the big deal? It’s just a book.” Tristan asked with innocence. Connor had his it’s not funny expression on.
“Just a book? That monstrosity is not just a book. It should have been salted and burned!” Connor could be such a drama queen.
“Dude, calm down.” I turned to Tristan. “That’s the cursed items shelf. Don’t touch anything on it.” I turned back to Connor. “I’m one hundred percent sure it’s safe. I deactivated it.” Connor gave me a disbelieving look. “Ok, so I’m like ninety-nine percent sure it’s deactivated. Well, maybe like ninety percent.”
“So you’re saying there’s a ten percent chance that, if I open that book, it’s going to turn me into a 1950’s housewife? AGAIN?” Huh. I wonder if that’s where he got the drama queen behavior. Come to think of it, housewives in the fifties weren’t drama queens. He probably picked it up when he touched the homecoming queen tiara a couple years ago. He had acted like a sixteen year old girl from the eighties until I finally figured out how to break the curse….almost a week later. That was a hilarious week. I could have broken the curse sooner, but, then I would have been denied the fun of watching him try to find the perfect homecoming dress. Seeing how Connor was six foot one and works out, we’d had to shop in the plus size department. Which caused him to eat a pint of Ben and Jerry’s and cry while watching Pretty in Pink.
“You made such a good little housewife. You were so much more agreeable then.” I paused, smiling at the memory. “Except for the small problem of us not being able to find you a pearl necklace that would fit. Thankfully there were shops in Hollywood that carried man sized accessories and heels.”
Tristan gave the book a fearful look and scooted carefully away from it. “Look with your eyes, not your hands.” I told him as I rooted around in a chest. I was fairly certain there was nothing in the chest that could do anything to me just for touching it. Mentally I crossed my fingers and kept digging.
“Cole! What the hell are you doing with this? You know it’s illegal!” Connor was using his cop voice. Oh I was shaking in my boots. Oh wait. No I wasn’t. I turned to see what had his panties in a twist now. Oops. What was that doing out? I snatched the jar out of his hands and put it carefully back on the shelf. “I could arrest you for being in possession of that.”
“Well you could. But do I really need to remind you how that worked out last time?” I went back to digging in the chest.
“Ok, why do you have a jar of Tweaker?” Connor asked in frustration.
“It’s not Tweaker. It’s simply a jar of ground up henbane, chamomile, and damiana.”
“That’s the ingredients of Tweaker!”
“Duh. But, it’s not been enchanted or mixed with the jasmine oil. So right now, it’s just ground up flowers. Take a chill pill. We have bigger problems then me having spices in my lab.” I closed the lid of the chest and moved to the shelf beside it. Somewhere in this lab were those rocks, I think.
“What’s Tweaker?” Tristan really needed to eavesdrop less and follow directions more.
“Put that down! Unless of course you want the three of us to have fins and live under the sea. Take it from me, it’s not better down where it’s wetter.” Both guys snorted.
“That’s not what she said.” Connor dead panned while Tristan put down the sea shell and stepped away from the shelf.
“Triton is still pissed about the last time I was down there. Now, put your hands in your pockets and look with your eyes!” I waggled a finger at the pup.
Tristan hopped up on my work table and sat there with his legs swinging like a kid in time out. “What’s Tweaker?” He asked again.
“It’s a new drug going around. It puts people into trances and they have visions.” Connor answered from the floor where he was on his knees digging around in a pirate chest. “Too bad it can leave them brain damaged.”
“So just for clarification, it’s ok that she has a freezer full of blood with pot in it, but, it’s not ok that she has a jar of herbs?” Tristan had a valid point.
“Pot is legal, Tweaker is not.” Connor sounded like he was gritting his teeth. I briefly wondered if it was in frustration or if something in the pirate chest was fighting back.
I pulled my head out of the cabinet I was searching and called to Tristan. “Go into the sleeping quarters and look under the bed. There might be a wooden box under there. I might have put them in there.” He jumped off the table and I stuck my head back in the cabinet.
A few minutes later he came back carrying a bamboo box. “Did you know Bask was in there? He’s drooling on your pillow. You should really get him a doggy bed.”
I lunged forward when he started to open the box, barely managing to keep the lid from cracking open. “I said wooden! Not Bamboo. There’s a dragon in there! Go put it back.” I was beginning to think Jeremiah had sent me the pup as an assignation attempt.
“Are you sure this is a safe place for Bask?” Connor had moved on to the trunks stacked up in the corner. Brave man. I wasn’t sure what was in any of those.
“Safer than alone at my house with Frankie Hays looking for me. Besides, he’s drooling on your bunk not mine.”
“I think I found them.” Connor stood up from the steamer trunk and handed me an old cigar box. I carefully cracked the lid to peek inside.
“Yep. Tristan, we found them.” When we were assembled on the arrival area, I ripped a portal to Howling Ridge’s town square.