Page 19 of Riot of Autumn

8

EZRA

“Do I need to tell you again that I think this is a horrible idea?” Davis grumbles as he crosses his arms.

The two of us are standing out in front of Miri’s shop, Tonic. She makes all kinds of concoctions like shampoo, lotions, and scar cream, that she infuses with her magic. She sells her products in her store and has a pretty big online presence as well.

When I asked her to make a potion for Ruby and me to go incognito, she laughed at me. Then she got a determined look on her face and said, “I can do that.”

There were multiple days of debating and three attempts to call a meeting that I just couldn’t fucking sit through. We’ve been standing around talking for months and I’m done. I’m sick of waiting for these bastards to make their move just so we can react to it. For once, I want us to be the ones who move first.

After an unmentionable number of text messages and a pros/cons list from Lena, the others finally agreed to let Ruby and I go up to the Smithe place to check it out. It took Miri a few test batches, including one that left Archer invisible for an entire day and a half, but she eventually figured out the potion. I’m pretty sure Archer was torn about the event. On one hand, Archer enjoys being the storyteller and chatting with random people he meets on the street. On the other hand, he’s a fucking gossip. I have no doubt he listened in on conversations that he normally wouldn’t have had access to that day.

After the testing was done, Miri was able to get the potion down to a two-hour window. It was either that or a full twelve hours.

“You’ve mentioned it once or twice already,” I mutter, looking down the street before checking my phone. Ruby should be here by now. I haven’t seen her since the night in the alley when things got…intense.

I’d leaned into her. She’d been breathing–because apparently, that’s all it takes with her–and I’d lost my head. My animal, beast, fuck, I don’t even know what to call it, had been so close to the surface, I’d nearly shifted. The feel of her body pressed against mine, the scent of her destroyed me. As much as Ruby joked that she stank, she didn’t. She smelled like fucking ambrosia. Christ, I could scent how turned on she was. That was a new discovery, and if I smell that from her again, I might actually die. Or throw her down on the ground and hump her like the animal I’ve turned into.

“Troubles?” Davis raises a brow. He’s not one to ask questions or dig into someone’s personal shit, so this is basically a historic occasion.

“Did you just ask me a question about my feelings? Watch out. I might think you’re interested in knowing more about what’s going on with me?”

Davis grunts and drags a hand through his wavy brown hair. It’s long enough that it almost brushes the top of his collar. “Forget I asked.”

“No, it’s sweet to know you actually care.”

“Fuck off.”

“Is Miri making you a soft, gooey marshmallow?”

“Definitely,” Miri answers as she comes out of her shop. She’s holding two small containers that resemble travel shampoo bottles. “I’ve almost got him up to two syllable answers to my questions.”

Miri knocks her hip into Davis, and he grunts, making me and Miri laugh. Davis even cracks a smile as he hooks an arm around Miri’s neck and tugs her into his side.

A customer trails out behind Miri and I do a double take when I notice it’s the same guy who was at Puck’s Diner the other night. He’s hard to miss with his long hair and casual, I’m-too-attractive-for-the-world-to-handle, good looks.

He gives me a head nod in hello, like we’re old acquaintances or some shit. My beast shifts deep inside me, and I try to decipher what the feeling is. It’s not like when I’m around that fuck Colton and want to rip his head off, but there’s something that’s hovering on the edges of my awareness. I frown after him when he walks away down Aspen Street.

Miri holds out the bottles to me and I take them both, just as Ruby comes strutting down the street. Shit. I can already smell her from here. I’m going to die from blue balls.

She looks so perfectly Ruby. Today’s outfit is a teeny tiny red and black plaid skirt, a cropped t-shirt with chili peppers wearing sombreros on it, and a pair of knee-high socks with her red patent Docs. She should look like a hot mess, but the whole outfit makes me want to flip up the skirt, spank her ass, and then fuck her until she screams my name.

“Ah. Troubles.” Davis gives me a knowing eye, but I ignore him. No sense in admitting how fucked up my head is right now.

“Hey, gang. Are we ready to unmask some bad guys?” Ruby jumps the last step, closing the little circle we’re standing in.

“That’s all you two. Call us if you get caught. And if we don’t hear from you in three hours, we’re going to storm Colton’s house.” Miri crosses her arms, somehow looking down her nose at us like we’re misbehaving children.

Davis nods in agreement. “No piece of information is worth getting hurt over.”

Ruby slashes her hand through the air. “We’ll be fine. Ezra can just morph into a wolf, and I’ll ride him out of there if we run into problems.”

That phrase shouldn’t be hot, but now all I can think of is Ruby wearing a metal bikini, wielding a sword, and screaming her way into battle on my back. God, I’ve been watching too many fantasy movies lately.

Miri and Davis both slowly turn their heads to look at me. Why? What did Ruby just say? I got stuck on the visual of her riding on me.

“Um, excuse me. Wolf?” Miri’s eyebrows are practically in her hair. Davis looks just as surprised, which, for him, is a hell of a lot of emotion.

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