Page 50 of Live Love Lasso

“You got an underground farm, Kohdiy?”

He says nothing, but the sound of scales slithering over stone helps us follow him. He moves along the path for about a hundred yards before it opens into a cavernous room lit by skylights. Kohdiy piles all the coils of his body into the room, tucking them behind him as he descends enough to put his body mostly at the same height as ours. Even like this, he towers over us, and it ain’t lost on me that a fight with him would likely go badly for me ‘n’ Bishop.

Kohdiy lifts his right arm, pointing to the far end of the room. “We’ve been finding animals like you described, quarantining them here so they don’t affect the rest. Siral gave me that job, probably hoped I’d get infected so I can’t challenge him. But so far, whatever’s happening doesn’t seem transmissible to our kind.”

I walk farther into the giant cavity to get a good look. Sure as shit, animals stand huddled at the far end of the room. Several moose, a handful of elk, a wolf, ten or twelve cattle, and more small animals than I can even count. None of them are moving or even seem to notice one another.

Kohdiy sighs. “Siral forbade me from contacting you about it, but I brought most of these animals in overnight, and I can’t keep doing it. Every time I go out, there are more and more of them. I’m guessing you think we have something to do with it?”

Bishop shoves a toothpick in his mouth and chews. “Do you?”

The big male shakes his head, planting both hands on his hips. “We don’t know what’s going on, but it started about a week ago, and it seems to affect all the wild animals. You got any leads? Or just hoped we’d be conveniently guilty?”

Bishop spits on the ground. “If I didn’t have to keep coming out here on account of the many crimes you tend to commit, maybe my mind wouldn’t fuckin’ wander right to you when something happens. But seeing as how your crew is the source of most of my ills, not to mention my physical ailments,”—he points at the wound over his eye—“you’ll understand if I think of you first when shit starts happening.”

The ophiotaurus shakes his head. “You don’t understand what we’re trying to do, and that’s fine. I don’t expect you to. But we aren’t doing this.” He points to the animals. “We don’t hurt animals. Care of the land is as important to ophiotaurii culture as it is to minotaurs, maybe even more so. We would never do this. We don’t play by your rules, but this would be against all of ours, Furyon.”

Bishop lets out a disbelieving sound. “Not playing by our rules don’t begin to cover it.”

I hook my thumbs through my belt loops. “You seen anything at all that might explain what’s goin’ on?”

He looks over at the animals, brows bunched in the middle. “I really haven’t. Our healer has tried everything to fix them, but nothing works.”

When I turn to Bishop, he looks skeptical, but I’m not seeing anything that leads me to believe the Sidewinders are responsible. I grab one of my business cards out of my pocket and hand it to Kohdiy. “I’d appreciate you calling me if you see anything at all that seems like a cause. I’m at my wit’s end in town trying to figure it out.”

“Of course.” He slides the card into the pocket of his leather vest. “I’m going out every damn night trying to separate the infected, but at this point, I’m not sure I’ve got room to store them all.”

Pressure and frustration rise inside me at his words. If this is haven-wide at this point, we’re in even worse trouble than I thought. That poor moose who died was the first, and knowing other animals might be headed that way makes everything inside me ache.

“You should talk to that land developer, actually,” Kohdiy says. “I’ve only met him once, and he’s sleazy, but I didn’t necessarily get criminal mastermind vibes. But he’d sure stand to benefit if the land was suddenly worthless and full of poisoned animals.”

“Noted.” I’m not willing to share the info Bishop and I have already gathered on Varek. “Anything else?”

The big ophiotaurus shakes his head. “Nope.”

“Stay outta trouble,” Bishop barks. “I’m tired of comin’ out here to remind you not to be a buncha assholes.” He waves at the cattle standing on the far side of the big open room. “And don’t think I don’t see Mykel Longhorn’s brand on those cattle. Return them immediately because they ain’t yours.”

Kohdiy says nothing, nostrils flaring as he stares at us. The silence stretches long, and I look up at him. “Comm me if anything comes up, please? We’ve lost an animal to whatever this is, Kohdiy. I don’t wanna see more go the same way.”

Unease flits through his crimson eyes, and he answers with a curt nod.

When he says nothing else, Bishop and I turn to go. At my truck, Bishop hops in the bed and opens the back window. “I think we should bring Varek in, wrassle him down a little and see what he knows.”

Sighing, I lift my comm watch to call the big minotaur.

He answers with a gruff hello. I don’t relish doing this, given I don’t have a ton of info to go off of, but seeing the animals at the Sidewinders compound reminded me what we’re up against here.

“Need you to come down to the office for a little chat, Varek.”

There’s silence for a moment, then a soft grunting like he’s in the middle of something.

“Can’t do that,” he barks back. “But you’re welcome to come find me at my place. I’m in the middle of a project but happy to chat.”

“Be there in fifteen.” I hang up and glance at Bishop, who’s glaring through my back window.

“This sucks,” I offer.

The big gargoyle sheriff nods. “It does, son, but if he’s got anything to do with it, I’m gonna rip those horns right off his head.”