Put the dildo down!

Chapter 18

Vincenzo 'Bring out your skeletons' Rossi

The main secret of the parlour is that it isn't actually a parlour, it's more like a large gazebo on the private part of the lake shore, owned by the Alpha's family, the favorite spot for all pack gatherings, from ascension ceremonies, proms and weddings to school reunions, bonfires and pregnancy photoshoots. It's surrounded by a dense deciduous forest, perfect for the pack runs, and the bottom of the lake in this place is full of dark rocks, so the water looks really almost black, hence the name of our town and pack.

The guys asking us to meet at the parlour can mean only one thing: they want to show us something they don't want to risk bringing inside Alpha's office.

It takes us 20 minutes to get there after we managed to end passionate make-out session with me sitting on my mate's lap. Somehow he still looks like a perfect marble statue, and I'm disheveled, with swollen lips and fresh kiss marks on my neck. Our pack guards are already there and they all grin stupidly seeing my state, of course they also smell Tadhg all over me. Pablo even manages to whistle Mendelssohn's Wedding March via the mindlink, and I swear I have never been aware it's even technically possible to whistle in mindlink.

"My sincere apologies for interrupting your very important business," Jared solemnly starts and all the idiots snicker, "but while cleaning the garment factory we found an object, that requires forensic expertise by a sorcerer, and Mr Kelly is the only sorcerer we know. It stinks of wolfsbane, so we didn't risk inviting you to an enclosed space."

The guards bring a duffle bag, put it in front of Tadhg and retreat, visibly disgusted with its smell. He pulls the rubber gloves out of his pocket, like a real forensic expert, and takes a weirdly shaped object out from the bag. It looks like a turd of an ice giant, formless, mostly translucent, with some random garbage melted into it. And it stinks of Lucretia and wolfsbane.

"Wow, this thing puts the Y in DIY," mumbles Tadhg and lays it on the ground, sits beside it, and his eyes start glowing yellow. The ground changes its color to pitch black and tiny thin black sprouts grow from it, weaving around the icy turd.

"HOLY KONOLE," mindlinks Minecraft.

"IT'S CANNOLI, YOU BLASPHEMOUS DUMBASS," I hiss back.

"DID HE DO THIS TENTACLES SHIT, YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU TWO PLAYED HIDE-THE-SALAMI?" Pablo asks in the open channel and all the eyes are suddenly on me instead of the actual sorcery thing going on.

"HE SAID HE'D CURSE WITH HAIRY PALMS ANYONE WHO ASKS. HIS SALAMI IS NOT YOUR CONCERN." Let's say I embellished the truth a little, but it was justified.

"ARE YOU GONNA TATTLE?" Pablo and Minecraft holler together.

"INDEED, YOU CAN'T BUY A FRIEND, BUT YOU CAN ALWAYS SELL ONE," Jared adds.

What a shitshow.

Meanwhile Tadhg finished his turdology session, the ground returned to its normal color and his eyes stopped glowing.

"I appreciate you calling me, it really shed some light on our investigation," he says to Jared.

"What did you discover?" the latter asks. 

Tadhg is quiet for some time and then says reluctantly. "There is a child involved."

All werewolves growl in disapproval. We're really protective when it comes to our pups.

"Using children for planting dead-drops or for user-dealer schemes is not a new practice. Children are easy to coax or threaten, they are less suspicious, rarely fight for their rights, get addicted easier and if caught, it means additional paperwork for the authorities, so the police are reluctant to arrest them and often let them get away," Tadhg explains in his usual emotionless manner, as if he gives a boring math lecture for the university students.

"Sick bastards," grunts Jared and others grumble agreeing with him.

"Young sorcerers," Tadhg starts and I see he really doesn't want to say it further, "young sorcerers suffer from intense pain. Painkillers don't make much difference. Not all kind of extrasensory abilities can be cured by medicine. So gifted children are especially vulnerable for coaxing into all sorts of shady activities."

"How did you get it from that thing?" asks Grey, our Gamma.

"This object was a mere sandbox for someone training to mix Lucretia. As you see, mixing went wrong and the glass jar, utensils, drug ingredients, and some garbage that was lying around, everything melted together. But most importantly, energy weaving leaves the traces. And just as you're able to distinguish child's handwriting or child's doodles, I'm able to distinguish weaving, done by someone who received no proper guidance."

"So theoretically it can be an adult, just the one who has a gift but didn't learn how to use it," insists Grey.

"A gifted child without guidance won't make it long enough to become an adult," Tadhg says simply and we all lower our gazes. 

"The good thing is that there's no evidence Big T has an adult sorcerer accomplice. A mentor and a beginner level disciple are less dangerous than two grown sorcerers. If you're the first to find the child, I insist you consult with me before taking any actions. You're not the only ones protective toward the kids of your kind," he stares at Jared and Grey coldly, until they nod.

Hopefully, in Starfield we'll be able to locate the boss, his wingman and their vendors, and wipe them all out. Presence of the second sorcerer, even if he's a minor and even if Tadhg is lenient towards them, can complicate things, especially now that we don't know where he or she is hiding. There is a big difference between a scared toddler and a defying teenager, juveniles are not inferior to adults in bloodlust and cruelty. I understand he wants to protect the kid, and I do too, but realistically we may not have the chance to.