Total pages in book: 151
Estimated words: 147649 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 738(@200wpm)___ 591(@250wpm)___ 492(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147649 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 738(@200wpm)___ 591(@250wpm)___ 492(@300wpm)
Another rhetorical question. Because the monsters on my roof are indeed holding red cups. Which are presumably filled with alcohol because there’s a keg on the roof.
“Holy shit.” I look at Pell. “How the fuck did this happen? We’ve been gone like thirty minutes!”
“It’s actually been four hours.”
“What?” I pull out my phone, and sure enough, it’s already after two in the afternoon.
“But this ends now.” Pell parks the truck and he’s just reaching for his door handle when I put a hand on his shoulder.
“You don’t want to be a dick about this.”
“Me?” He points to himself. “I’m the dick?” He points to the rager. “They’re about to crash through your roof, Pie.”
“Be nice about it, that’s all I’m saying. Because the way I see it, these monsters are like teenagers. They do things to make you react. They want this anger, Pell. And if you give it to them, it’s gonna divide us into groups. Us and them. Do we really want that kind of division when there is already so much going on?”
He sighs and looks out his window. “So I’m supposed to ignore this?”
“Not ignore it. But you need to play it smart. Go in there, turn off the music, and… I don’t know. Give them all jobs to do.”
“Jobs? You think that’s the answer?”
“It’ll keep them busy.”
“They’re drunk, Pie. And they’re satyrs. They want to fuck, and drink, and smoke.”
“But they were fine for weeks.”
“That’s because there were no women. Now we’ve got bad girls coming out our asses. I need to go in there, scare the shit out of them, threaten them, and then probably maim two or three. Otherwise they’ll just keep doing this.”
“Maim? You’re not going to fight them, are you?”
“Why not?”
“It’s kinda childish, don’t you think?”
“Childish?” He raises an eyebrow at me. “They’ve got a keg on your roof, Pie. They need to be put back in their places. And that includes Nysta. She’s the ringleader of all this. We need to send all the wood nymphs back to Vinca.”
“What if Tarq’s not ready? Didn’t he tell you to wait for his signal?”
“He’s not the king of me. And Saint Mark’s is mine. I’m the king here and I’m over it.”
I expect him to just get out of the truck and go do all this, but he waits.
This makes me smile.
“Why are you smiling?”
“Because you want my approval.”
“I don’t require your approval.”
“I didn’t say ‘require.’ I said ‘want.’” I smile bigger. “Because you care about my opinion.”
“Well? Do you agree I should do this?”
“Not really. But… maybe you’re right. Maybe a heavy hand is necessary.” We both look at the party. “Maybe it’s just a few of them? Maybe we should go inside and look before we get all fired up?”
“Fine. I’m not really inclined to give monsters the benefit of the doubt—unless they are Tarq, of course—but I will do it this one time. Just in case it’s not what it appears to be.”
“Why do you give Tarq the benefit of the doubt?”
“What do you mean? He’s my best friend.”
“Best friend?”
“Well, you’re my best friend.” This makes me smile. Because he’s so serious. “But Tarq is my oldest friend. He has earned the benefit of the doubt.”
“Has he, though? Has he really? I mean, you guys haven’t even seen each other in thousands of years. Isn’t it possible that he’s a dick and you just don’t realize it yet?”
“What are you saying?”
I sigh. Did I or did I not just spell out what I mean? It’s like Pell has some kind of block about Tarq. None of what Tarq’s been doing seems suspicious to Pell.
“Never mind.” I drop it because if there’s one thing I know about Pell, it’s that he’s loyal. And even if, in my opinion, his loyalty to Tarq isn’t deserved, Pell needs to see it for himself. “Let’s go.”
I get out of the truck and meet up with Pell on his side.
A bottle crashes down onto the gravel not even ten feet away, glass flying everywhere. A little bit of it sprays into my arm, stinging me. And when I look down at it, there’s blood.
I look up at Pell. “Don’t overreact. It’s a tiny cut.”
But he’s about to explode.
“Pell.”
He takes a deep breath. “I’ve got it covered.”
Then he takes my hand and we walk through the gate.
Inside, it’s every bit as bad as it is outside.
Actually, it’s worse.
There are naked monsters having sex everywhere I look. Big, giant dicks all over the place. Nymph tits, and asses, and… yeah. This is gross. I’m so glad that Pell didn’t let me bring Jacqueline and the kids here.
Aside from the sex, the air is thick with smoke. And I don’t think it’s pot. It smells totally different. When I look up the hill, I spy a hookah on top of a tomb and about a half a dozen satyrs and nymphs dancing around it as they toke.