Page 55 of Coven of Corpses

“All I’m saying is, Romes should have let us know he only intended for us to stay one night. If I’d known it was just for the night, I wouldn’t have unpacked, like, every article of clothing into that dresser. Oh, hey Codes.”

“Don’t call me that,” Cody said automatically, then froze as he realized he was supposed to be Demmy. “Him. Don’t call him that.”

“Yeah. Um, don’t call me that,” Demmy said. He waved his arms a bit, then stood awkwardly with his hands on his hips as he scowled at their returning house guests. It might have been Demmy’s version of a challenging stare, but looked more like really uncomfortable gas on Cody’s face.

“Okay, sorry. Hey, Dems, you okay? You look really angry for some reason. Oh.” Grant scrunched up his nose and leaned in to say in a lower voice that still carried out to the street. “Were you two about to have some private playtime?”

“Oh, my God,” their daughter Brooke said without looking up from her phone.

“Gross,” their son Conrad said, similarly distracted.

“What were they going to play?” said Dexter, their youngest, who did look up from his phone with an open and earnest expression.

“Never mind,” Mac said, ushering all three kids inside. “Go get your things set up in the guest room.”

“Oh, um, we need to change the sheets,” Demmy said.

“In the guest room?” Mac asked, tilting her head and giving him a quizzical look.

“No. In the main room.” Demmy sighed. “Our bedroom. We’ll need to change the sheets.”

“No worries, Codes. We can do that,” Grant said. “You and Dems finish your talk. Don’t mind us. We’ll fade into the background.”

As Grant followed his family down the hall, Cody stared up at Demmy with wide eyes. “What the fuck are we going to do?”

“We have to get out of here,” Demmy said. Then his stomach rumbled. Or rather, Cody heard his body’s stomach rumble rather loudly, and he made a face.

“For fuck’s sake, is my stomach always that loud?”

“Pretty much,” Demmy said, pressing a hand against his belly. “How about we go to Margie’s? It’s after the lunch rush, shouldn’t be too crowded.”

“Yeah. Anywhere but here. Tell my brother we’re leaving.”

Demmy started for the hall. Cody grabbed him by the arm and said in a stern but quiet voice, “Not face to face. Just call down to him, like I would.”

“Oh, okay.” Demmy cleared his throat and practically shouted down the hall, “Grant! We’re heading out!”

“Jesus Christ,” Cody muttered, and dragged him to the door.

“You don’t have to shout, Codes. I’m not deaf,” Grant called back.

Then they were outside and walking fast to Cody’s truck parked at the curb. Demmy pulled the keys and the hex bag out of his jacket pocket.

“What do we do with this?” Demmy held it cupped in a big palm.

“Keep it on you.” He gripped the one in his own pocket. “I’m thinking these bags probably saved our lives out in the woods.”

Demmy returned the bag to his pocket and reached for the passenger door handle. Cody stood beside him and looked up.

“You’re just being polite and gentlemanly and opening the door for me, right?” Cody said as he moved past him and climbed up into the cab.

“No. I’m used to just getting in on the passenger side when we take your truck. This is weird.”

“Let’s get out of here before Grant decides to join us.”

That got Demmy moving. He slammed the passenger door then practically ran around the front of the truck and jumped in behind the wheel. In moments, they were heading off down the street. Demmy gripped the wheel at ten and two, eyes wide as he cautiously drove toward town.

“It’s not a driving test,” Cody said. “Although that would be a hot start to some fun role play.”