“Obviously the opposite of wolfing out!” Neil inhaled slowly and forced a friendly smile. “And then, we can all have a nice little chat.”
There was an odd clacking sound.
It was the letters in the menu that hung over the counter. They shifted around to create an open space in the middle until a single word appeared:
AHEM
“Oh! Where are my manners?” Myrna giggled. “This is Izba.”
“The fuck is an Izba?” Seymour croaked.
The floor beneath Seymour’s feet rattled and groaned.
THIS IS AN IZBA
“Okay.” Seymour took a deep breath.
Dead father he’d never met?
Check.
Werewolf, monster dog, and a talking wall?
Check.
He was officially at his wit’s end for bullshit, and he again tried to bolt for the front door. It was a short-lived attempt because Lou, thewerewolf, snatched him up with one big paw.
“Time to relax, lil’ fellow,” Lou warned, effortlessly pulling Seymour back several steps.
Seymour tensed, but he didn’t struggle. It was clear he wouldn’t win against Lou in a physical fight. He could be smart about this though, and he could play nice until he had a chance to make a break for it and get far, far away from this nightmare.
He took a deep breath, squeezed the flowers, and said, “Yeah, sure. I’m relaxed. Chilled to the max.”
Lou growled.
“Okay, so.” Neil ran his hands through his hair. “The short version is there was this wizard? And he caught all these spirits and trapped them in a magical bracelet called the Reliquary.”
“What was his name?” Seymour asked.
“What?”
“The wizard.”
“What about him?”
Seymour scoffed. “He had a name, didn’t he?”
“Uh.” Neil’s confused stare indicated this had somehow never come up.
Lou snarled angrily, hesitated, and then cleared his throat. “Norbert.”
“Norbert?”
NORBERT!
“Right.” Seymour rolled his eyes as hard as he could. “What kinda fuckin’ name is that for a wizard?”
The expression on Lou’s face definitely screamed the desire to bite Seymour’s head clean off his shoulders, but he clenched his sharp teeth together as he grumbled, “Norbert Cobbledick was one of the most powerful men history has ever seen?—”
