But before I can finish, there’s a great commotion out in the bar.
“What the hell is that?” Pell stands up, setting me down on my feet as he does this. He tucks his giant dick away and buttons and zips his pants.
“I dunno.” We both kinda lean towards the door, trying to hear what’s going on. There are a lot of voices now. Excited voices. And then the music cuts off and we can hear them better.
Pell and I look at each other. He says, “Did I just hear the word ‘monster’?”
And at the same time, I whisper, “Is that Russ Roth out there?”
“Shit,” Pell says. “We need to get out of here.”
“Like. Now.”
“Come on.” He takes my hand and we walk to the door, pressing our ears up to it, trying to hear more.
“Order!” someone is yelling. “Order!”
There’s mumbling, then total silence.
Pell looks down at me. “What the fuck?”
I just shrug.
He reaches for the handle of the door, but I stop him. “No! I don’t want to go out there! Not with Russ Roth in the bar! He’s an eros! He’ll… arouse me!”
Pell chuckles. “You’re completely satisfied. So I’d like to see him try.”
I smile. Can’t help it. “You know what I mean.”
“I just want to hear what they’re saying.” He opens the door, just a crack, and we both press forward.
“The Order of the Savage Saints is now in session,” an ominous voice declares.
“Who’s that?” I whisper.
Pell shrugs.
“We have a major development,” another man says.
“That’s definitely Russ,” Pell growls.
It definitely is.
“We ran into a winged one tonight, men,” the first voice says. “It attacked Mark, and Madeline’s new man, Tomas.”
“Oh, shit,” I moan.
Just as Pell says, “I’m gonna kill him.”
“I don’t trust that new guy,” Russ says. “Tomas, or whatever? There’s something wrong with him. We need to talk to Madeline, Jim.”
“Now calm down—”
“No,” Russ growls. “No. I remember him. I’ve seen him. I’m tellin’ you! You all think I’m crazy, but those people up in the woods, they did something to me. Something to make me forget. Remember when we were kids, Anthony? ’Member?”
Someone, presumably Anthony, says, “He’s right, Jim. We were up there as kids and we saw—”
I turn to Pell. “He told me this story that day he came when we were in the hallways. He’s not lying. He did find the sanctuary as a child and Grant must’ve put a spell on him.”