36. On Theme and Stabby

Harlow eyed Foxx as he guided the boat forward. The vampire had sat there glaring at the water, his arms crossed with his lips pressed into a firm line since he'd parked his plump ass in the boat.

The man was feeling stabby, while also being…on theme. Very on theme. As Foxx had insisted on changing in the car before they'd set off.

He'd gone from a semi-normal blue sweater covered with clouds, and mom jeans, to green overalls with a matching green puffy cap, pink rain boots, and a pink sweater with alligators on it. He wasn't sure how the vampire just happened to have all that just lying around, but it was certainly…on…theme…

Though, he had yet to see an alligator… Here"s hoping that continued. Harlow would prefer it if it was only werewolves trying to eat them tonight.

They were deep into the Atchafalaya swamp now. Their only way to communicate with the outside world was a small two-way radio that connected them to the local U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Department. Who would, if they called out for help, inform local law enforcement… As if that would help. But it was all they had. They'd left their cellphones behind when they found out that they didn't work where they were going. It was definitely time for him to get a satellite phone of some kind.

The sun had set right when they'd arrived. And the super-sized moon, that had been barely there as they set off, was now high in the sky, its eerie red glow shining down on them. Which meant, by now, the wolves were no doubt already transformed and raging. Hopefully raging inside their own stolen house. It would be a long night if they had already set off to terrorize people.

Foxx"s shoulders stiffened, the man glancing away from the water to look on ahead. Harlow heard what he heard only seconds later. Breaking up the monotonous sounds of bugs, frogs, and the boat moving through the water was…howling.

Glancing at the darkness created by the looming trees ahead, he saw nothing. Then again, he didn't expect to see anything. Those howls were miles away still.

"Do you think they are roaming around or locked in the house?" Harlow mused.

Foxx slowly looked his way, his glare still in place. "It's a lot of people to lock in one house."

"They could fit, the house has three floors. Well, two floors and an attic, but based on the blueprints, it looked big enough."

The vampire huffed. "Would there even be a reason for them to stay inside?"

"If they are growing something out here that they are willing to kill for, I'd assume they wouldn't want to accidentally destroy it under the moon's influence."

"It's…possible." Foxx's nose wrinkled. "The howls do sound as if they are all coming from the same location."

Harlow grunted in response, and peered ahead. After a few minutes, Foxx went back to glaring out at the water.

Well…as they still had at least a few hours before they'd reach dryish land…

Gaze flicking back to Foxx, he grinned. "You know?—"

"NO!" Foxx snapped, not looking his way in the least.

"Oh, but I was just going to?—"

"No," the vampire snarled.

He sighed. "It's going to take us a while to get to the dock. That"s a long time to remain silent."

Foxx slowly looked at him, a sweet smile on his face now. "Do you know how long it would take to swim to the dock from here? No? Well, you're about to."

Harlow grimaced. "Shutting up."

"Damn right you are," Foxx grumbled as he looked away with a hmph.

By the time the dock they were looking for came into sight, two very silent hours had passed. Not so silent was the ever increasing in volume howls. Which had become a constant background noise.

Harlow cut the engine. Letting the boat's momentum glide them right up to the wooden dock, he grabbed on to the nearest post to stop them completely, before tying the boat to that same post.

Pulling out the small device that was tracking their exact GPS coordinates, Harlow announced, "We will need to walk from here."

Foxx grunted in response, and hopped out of the boat onto the dock. Standing there, the vampire unholstered one of his guns and began to eye him as he waited. The way he was currently looking at him… Well…Harlow was ninety-nine percent sure that Foxx had moved past the worried stage, right into the ‘I'm plotting to murder you' stage about five hours ago.

And he had no regrets, because him pushing and annoying the fuck out of the vampire had knocked Foxx out of the odd mood he'd been in when they'd first started their journey. Harlow would take a murderous Foxx over a distracted one any day. Especially when they were about to face bloodthirsty, overpowered mutts from hell.

As he had no interest in taking a dip, Harlow wisely remained silent while he carefully got out of the boat. That said, no longer on water, he smiled and pulled out one of his own gun as he said, "You know about Iggy?—"

"Harlow, I swear to the Goddess, you say one more word about Iggy, dating, or really about anything that is NOT related to this case, and I WILL feed you to an alligator."

"You'd miss me."

"I'd get over it."

Harlow chuckled and took the lead as they stepped off the wooden path and into the muck. On finding the ground soft, and completely submerged in some places, he now had one regret…not bringing rain boots—oh well…too late now.

"Well—"

"Harlow!"

"I'm just trying to have a nice conversation, brat. Since when do you hate talking?"

"Nice conversation, my ass. You are just trying to irritate me!"

Harlow hummed. "That doesn't sound right."

"What do you mean it doesn't sound right?!"

"I mean, irritating people is your job, not mine."

"Harlow Blackmore, you are full of shit. You can claim all you want that you hate talking, that you hate people, but the truth is, you love to irritate. You love to pick, and poke, and stab at people until they fucking snap!"

Harlow chuckled. "Are you about to snap, kitten? Going to scratch me with your claws?"

Foxx hissed, and there was a large snapping sound. On instinct, Harlow ducked… Just in time…to avoid a large branch to the back of his head.

"Did you just throw a stick at me?"

"I did no such thing. You must be going senile, old man. Besides…" Foxx said, before clarifying in a sickly sweet voice, "It was a branch, not a stick."

"Brat."

"Senile old man."

"My kitten's fur is in a real fluff today, huh?"

"I AM NOT A KITTEN!"

"But you are mine."

"You…YOU?—"

With an ear-piercing howl, a werewolf burst through the thick brush. But the thing collapsed forward before they even got a chance to lift their guns.

On the ground, its large body violently shook. Another howl was let loose, before the thing flopped over onto its back and started to claw at itself.

It only took a single look to tell that something…was very wrong. Covered in this odd electric blue dust, the werewolf's eyes were completely yellow, pupils and all.

It let out howl after howl, that eventually was replaced by gargles, and then…nothing, as the werewolf had torn its own throat out, its claws having cut through to the bone. The werewolf's body continued to twitch, even after its eyes went dark.

"Well…what the fuck…was that…?" Harlow rasped.

"Do not touch him. I…" Foxx swore. "I know what they are growing. And if I'm right, they will be locked up in that house, because if not…they'll all end up like this man."

Harlow took a step away from the dead body. "What is it?"

"Aconitum phoria, otherwise known as Heaven's Wolfsbane. It's basically werewolf cocaine. While not illegal to grow, according to any human government, it is a death sentence if the werewolf council finds out. And we are going to need the council to find out, because they will have to come here and destroy whatever is here before anyone else gets near this place."

"It's that dangerous?"

"It's toxic to the touch, and it spreads like a weed. While the most dangerous part of it is the pollen, touching any of it would be a bad idea."

"What would happen if I or you just brushed up against the flower with say a hand?"

"You would likely become violently ill, followed by a tingling sensation, numbness, organ failure, and…" Foxx grimaced.

"Death?"

"Yes. Even with immediate medical attention, you'd likely still die. Without it, there would be no chance for survival. As for me…I'd also become violently ill, followed by all the other stuff…and death, if one of the organs that shuts down happens to be my heart."

Harlow's eyes widened. "It could kill you too, just from touching it?"

"If enough came into contact with my skin, yes. Look, this shit's toxic for everyone. Werewolves have a higher tolerance. But not by much. As highly addictive as Heaven's Wolfsbane is, and as much as some crazy idiots are willing to pay for just a taste, its hold on people doesn't last long. Because any wolf using it will be dead by their fifth high. And that's only if they don't manage to overdose before that, like this man did."

"So, stay away from any blue plants, kill all the werewolves, and call the werewolf council to come get this shit before it spreads further and likely kills some dumb fuck who stumbles upon it?"

"Pretty much."

"What if they have some in the house?"

Foxx shook his head. "They won't. The tour group died weeks ago. If they were using, they'd all be dead already."

"What happened to him then?" Harlow frowned, looking down at the dead body. "Is he one of them?"

Harlow couldn't tell, even though the man had transformed back, as he hadn't actually gotten a look at the pictures they were sent. Though, now that he thought about it, those cops had managed to get a shit ton of information, despite how annoying it was that they'd waited so fucking long.

"Yes…he is. Maybe…he didn't make it back before they locked up? I've heard that the scent the flowers give off attracts werewolves."

"Ah…so once the moon came up…"

"Like a fly to honey."

Harlow clucked his tongue. "Well…one down, and…fifty-one to go." His gaze flicked to Foxx as a thought occurred to him. "You know, I didn't even hear him approach, did you?"

The vampire blinked and then slowly shook his head.

"Were you trying to?"

Foxx winced. "Message clear, let's stop fucking around and get serious."

"I'm always serious."

"Don't make me shoot you, Harlow."

* * *

Harlow chucklingin response to Foxx's threat honestly made his trigger finger feel itchy. Stupid branch should have hit him.

Shaking his head, he sighed and forced himself to pull back from the murderous thoughts and irritation, to actually listen to the world around him, because none of this was worth dying over. The last thing he needed was to be snuck up on, or to walk into a fucking poisonous plant, just because he'd been too distracted by his damn emotions.

Listening, he heard a hell of a lot of small creatures, bugs, frogs, and howling, but not so much as a single heartbeat besides their own. Nor did he hear any large creatures, like say, a high werewolf crashing around the swamp. Actually, he didn't hear any large animals at all… Maybe the presence of the wolfsbane chased them away?

"If he got left outside, he may be the only one. I don't hear any nearby heartbeats or movement that would suggest someone else is out here with us."

"It"s possible, but we are also still about two miles away from the house, so there could be more outside when we actually get there."

"Two miles?!"

"Foxx, you can walk two miles."

Foxx huffed. "At least it's not cold, I suppose. Just muggy and damp."

Harlow snorted. "Come on, let's go."

He was about to follow, but stopped to eye the werewolf. "I don't think any body covered in Heaven's Wolfsbane can be burned… At least, not here. It would have to be somewhere contained to stop the drug from dispersing into the air."

"Then it's a good thing we aren't burning anything. This is a protected area, and there is just too much plant life out here to risk that. The plan was always to send in a clean-up crew after we've finished. But I guess it's going to have to be after the werewolf council finishes now."

"Right. They may take care of all the bodies."

"Details that the Guild and the council can work out. Come on, let"s go."

With the GPS tracker in one hand, and his gun in the other, Harlow started walking again, making a wide berth around the body as Foxx followed.

They walked in silence for a bit before Harlow, the bastard, seemed to not be able to help himself. "So, you just had that outfit ready to go, huh?"

"What about it?" he ground out.

"It's very…you…"

"It is me! It's adorable! And adorable defines who I am!"

Harlow chuckled. "You are very cute."

Foxx spluttered, his face heating. "Shut up!"

"Why?"

"You are not allowed to call me cute!"

"Why not?"

"Because I said so!"

"It seems a lot of things are because you said so, without any actual reason."

"Harlow, it is silent time until we get to that damn house."

"Fine, fine, I'll be quiet for MY cute kitten."

Foxx's eye twitched as he suppressed the unholy rage that tried to release from inside of him.

He wasn't sure he had ever found Harlow so fucking annoying. Had he thought he liked him?! Well…he did, but this was just—UGH!

Why was he being like this…? Well…it was obvious, wasn't it? This was his revenge. Harlow's way of getting back at Foxx for saying no.

At least with all the bickering they'd done, he was able to push past the stupid headspace he'd been in. Because while he still didn't want Harlow to die, he was very much hoping the bastard would get injured. Just a little…

Regardless, he was going to make sure that payback was a bitch. But the human getting slightly maimed would prevent the man from escaping his grasp when he was ready to make him suffer.