“How can you be sure? The lab is still running tests,” Saint said.
“Because one went missing a month ago.”
“How do you know it’s the same one?” Teddy asked.
“I just feel it,” Wren said, gaze asking him to believe him.
It wasn’t even a question. Teddy trusted Wren’s instincts more than his own eyes. And then his brain made the leap Wren’s beautiful mind already had. “The pet shop tonight…”
“What pet shop?” Trace asked.
“Ah, yeah,” Teddy said. “Our end of the story.”
“We saw a drug deal go down at the club,” Wren said. “This dude was handing a vial of something green that looked vaguely familiar to this girl. We went to chase after him right as the shit hit the fan upstairs.”
“You saw him?” Cyrus asked.
“Yup,” Wren said. “Short, slimy looking, dark hair, two gold teeth. And an eye tattoo on his hand.”
“Shit,” Cyrus said.
“An eye tattoo?” Saint asked and Wren nodded, drawing the shape of it on the glass table with his finger.
“This symbol keeps cropping up in Slatehollow whenever a weird case comes up,” Wren said. “The cursed house Ash burned to the ground was related somehow, the curse placed on Hart that made us aware cursebreakers could be cursed themselves was tied to it, they even carved the symbol into a tree in my sanctuary. And now this guy with a tattoo of it is connected to this case.”
“The fuck does it mean?” Trace asked.
“We have no idea,” Wren said. “We’ve been calling it a cult because it kinda feels like one, but we can’t seem to get any information about them. It’s like they’re always several steps ahead. It’s infuriating.”
“And they’re robbing pet stores,” Saint said, sounding weirded out. “Also, please don’t tell Eerie about this. A magical cult would have him mad with glee.”
“Eerie doesn’t do glee,” Teddy said.
“So the guy?” Cyrus prompted. “Tell me you have something.”
“We went to cut him off and he cast something that shouldn’t have been possible,” Teddy said. “Which, now that you mention the eye cult, it makes sense that he’s with them, doing impossible shit.”
“What did he do?” Cyrus asked.
“He made an illusion of his truck to throw us off track,” Teddy said. “But several times, while in motion. And they were all solid looking and seemingly functional clones.”
“What. The. Fuck,” Saint asked.
“That sounds sick!” Black said.
“I think my head is gonna explode,” Cyrus said with a groan. “Okay, so, Worthingham is somehow a caster, the eye cult is involved, and there is a Komodo dragon which I’m still not sure how it fits into any of this.”
“On our way back we heard about a break-in at a pet store. Third one this month,” Teddy said. “I called a source and all three of them had venomous animals stolen.”
Wren nodded. “I think all three may be related to this case.”
“Woah, woah, woah. Catch me up, here. What are these people looking for in a pet shop?” Cyrus asked over the line.
“They sometimes deal in more exotic breeds. Some even deal under the table for certain buyers,” Wren said. “What they need is a solid supply of venom. They must be running dry to be so reckless as to hit a normal pet shop.”
“Or the operation is escalating. They may be trying to meet demand,” Teddy said.
“But why venom?” Cyrus said. “And how is this linked to the nepo baby suddenly getting powers?”
