“Well, he’s usually always ready, so I just fuck him hard til I’m done.”
“Yeah, how about some foreplay?”
“What’s that?”
I looked up at him, thinking he was pulling my leg, but his expression was genuinely intrigued.
“Austin… how many guys were you with before Adam?”
“As a werewolf? No one. When I was a half-turn I just got fucked and that was it.”
“Let me figure out how to get this damn thing off of you, and I’ll fill you in on what Roscoe does to me.”
The keys didn’t actually do anything; it was the inscription on the ring that I should have looked at. After letting out an annoyed groan, I tossed the key ring into the garbage and grabbed a box of off-brand marshmallow cereal from the pantry. The mayor was punishing me in his own twisted way, but with the punishment came the lessons.
The only way to unlock those cages was to use the vironoct, which also meant messing with an already vulnerable mind. I did ask permission before doing it, but that didn’t seem to matter much to Austin. He was almosttooeager to obey any command. The scene played out in my head from earlier.
“All right, private. You’ve got an angry half-turn in there and one mission: neutralize the target. You’ve been trained for this, soldier, and I want to see a smile on that half-turn’s face when you’re done! Is that understood?”
“Yes sir!”
His wagging tail betrayed his serious expression. For whatever reason, he responded well to the military roleplay, his eyes turning baby blue as his stare became glassy anddistant. Maybe this kind of stuff was fine for Mosavi who was a borderline tyrant, but it made me feel kind of wrong.
As I ate breakfast, I had to turn up the volume on the television to drown out the moaning and banging coming from the second bedroom. Perhaps I shouldn’t have used the wordneutralizein that command. After nearly twenty minutes, Austin still hadn’t finished, and I was done with breakfast. The longer I sat in the living room listening to them, the more worried I got.
While I was trying to figure out the cage earlier, I thought about Roscoe. It wasn’t like him to get that upset. Hell, there was still a half-eaten plate of his breakfast sitting in the refrigerator. That alone meant there was something really wrong.
I slipped into a light jacket and stepped out into the backyard, hoping I’d be able to escape the increasingly aggressive noice. After shutting the door, I made my way toward Roscoe, who was sat cross-legged next to the lit firepit. His slight gut hung over the band of the borrowed fatigues he wore, which were several sizes too small. He stared pensively at the growing flames, not bothering to acknowledge me as I sat on one of the plastic lawn chairs.
“You didn’t clean your plate.”
“Not really hungry.”
“Are you okay?”
“Can you please take this thing off of me?” He looked up from the fire, his sad amber eyes piercing mine. “I fucked up. I’m sorry.”
“That’s really all I wanted to hear.” I smiled at him. “Sometimes your antics are annoying, and sometimes they cross the line. This could have ended badly if the mayor went through with his threats.”
“The guy’s a real piece of work. I’m glad he left. He scares the shit out of me.”
“I don’t know. I keep getting this feeling like he’s overcompensating.”
“Well it sure ain’t his dick he’s overcompensating for.” Roscoe stood from the ground before sitting in one of the lawn chairs while letting out a slight whimper. “Not sure why he didn’t do to me what he did to Austin.”
“What did he do?”
“Just mind-fucked the guy. Austin was bein’ his normal shitty self, thinkin’ since he’s bigger than everyone else, he can backtalk an elder. Ever since Mosavi did that eye thing, the poor guy’s been weird.” Roscoe caught himself. “Well, weirder.Austin just rolled over like a puppy with that creepy smile.”
“Out of morbid curiosity, whatdidMosavi do to you?”
Roscoe narrowed his eyes. “Why do you wanna know?”
“For science.”
“I ain’t givingyouany of his ideas. The only thing I’ll say is he brutalized my ass and put this fuckin’ cage on me.” He rubbed at his crotch. “I don’t know why bein’ so embarrassed kinda turns me on, but I really want this thing off, too.”
“Well, apparently the keys don’t work, so I’ve got to do something a little different.”
