Conal opened his door and peeked outside."Thano?"
"Who's the sheriff?"
Conal blinked as if he'd just woken up despite being fully dressed."What?"
"There is a sheriff in Last Hope."
"No..."
"Lark came to me only a few minutes ago.She told me someone with a shiny star and a gun had given Eli a warning."
Conal stared at him, then flashed teeth."A sheriff?"
"She said she knew he was a good guy since he had the star Romeo had read about in one of the books, but her gut didn't agree, and she wanted to fly away."
Conal's eyes shifted color."They told me there was nothing else to discuss after you'd left."
They were trying to shut The Moonlight Ranch out?
"Byrd is still there, keeping an eye on things."
"Alone?"
Thano dipped his head in confirmation.
"I'll go in.I only need to eat something first."
"I'm to pick Eli up at six.Will you be back with the car by then?"
Conal nodded.
* * * *
Eli's hands shook as he unlocked the door to the shop for the second time that day.Joshua was a quiet shadow next to him, and it wasn't until the door closed behind them, he let out a breath.
"Fuck, it feels weird in town today."
Eli nodded.He couldn't describe it.People didn't look at each other, the teller at the bank had been jittery, and there was an eerie silence.Normally, there wasn't a lot of noise this early in the day, but if you walked down Main Street, there was a murmur of voices from people standing around talking, the occasional car driving by, and people walking, but today it was quiet.
"What will the warning mean?"
"No idea."
Joshua looked directly into his eyes."He gave you a hygiene warning because there were others in your shop."
Eli didn't reply for a long time."I can't ban others from the shop.I get most of my meat from Ciar and Draven.I can't have a no-others rule."And he wasn't sure he wanted to.
There was a tap on the window of the door, and Eli turned to see a crow balancing on the door handle while pecking at the window."See.I can't tell them they're not welcome."The last thing he wanted was to anger the others.He didn't think they'd ever care about him the same way they did about Romeo, but he did not want to make them his enemies.
"No, you can't.The question is how much trouble the sheriff will cause you.I didn't like the look in his eyes."
Eli shook his head as he neared the door.He hadn't liked it either.Gleeful.The man had been overjoyed at being able to give Eli a warning.
He opened the door and squawked as the crow flew in and sat on his shoulder.Jesus.Joshua chuckled at him.
"Funny."
"Oh, I agree."Joshua grinned and gave the crow a nod."I'll head out.It doesn't feel safe to be here today."
