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“I hope that’s mud on your boots and jeans,” Oliver said.
Cody glared at him, then dropped the muddy shovel on the dirty carpet and held the lantern and toilet paper out toward Demetrius, who took the items without saying a word.
“You’re pushing your luck today, Ollie,” Cody said with a growl. “Right to the edge.”
“Right back at you, big guy.”
Cody delivered a hot glare that Oliver met and disarmed with a cool, level stare.
Demetrius sighed and set the lantern and toilet paper on the rickety dresser then closed the door. “As fun as this all is between you two, it’s not helping us find Dave.”
“Which we wouldn’t need to do if someone had been keeping an eye on him.”
“Hey, we were keeping watch!” Oliver snapped.
“He was keeping watch while you slept.”
“Enough!”
Demetrius’s voice was loud, much louder than Oliver had ever heard him. An edge of raw anxiety to that single word shattered the standoff between Oliver and Cody and made them both look at him in surprise.
“At the risk of losing the short attention span you both suffer from, I will repeat myself,” Demetrius said, the tone of his voice making it clear in no uncertain terms that they should not push him. Oliver wondered if Demetrius might still have a bit of werewolf in his system.
“This bickering and bullshit between the two of you isn’t helping Dave,” Demetrius continued. “And he needs to be our main concern. Do you both agree?”
Oliver and Cody glanced at each other and muttered, “Yeah,” at the same time.
“Okay.” Demetrius blew out a breath. “It’s late, and it sounds like this storm isn’t letting up anytime soon. Let’s come up with a watch schedule for the night, and then try to get some rest and resume looking for Dave tomorrow at sunrise. Do you both agree?”
Oliver and Cody both muttered their agreement. Demetrius directed Cody to go outside under the sagging overhang and knock the mud off his boots and he complied without argument, which Oliver thought was pretty astounding. When Cody came back in the room and closed the door, they decided Oliver would keep first watch, then Demetrius, then Cody. Oliver set himself up in a chair by the window, one of the long iron pokers close at hand, and watched Cody and Demetrius try to find comfortable spots on the horrible tarp-covered mattress.
“It’s like sleeping on a body bag,” Cody grumbled, and Oliver had to turn away to hide his smile. There was no way he was going to let Cody know he’d said something funny.
After a lot of fidgeting and some grumbled curses, Cody and Demetrius finally got to sleep, their breathing aligning in a slow and deep rhythm. Oliver observed them for a few minutes, taking in how Cody took the position of big spoon, of course, and the comfortable placement of his hand on Demetrius’s hip. Demetrius had one foot cocked back and Cody had captured it between his ankles. It almost looked as if Cody were trying to keep Demetrius in place, as if he were scared Demetrius might float away during the night. It was actually pretty sweet, and seeing them so in tune with each other and so vulnerable made Oliver’s heart ache even more for Dave to come back.
He turned away and parted the mildewed curtains to squint out into the rainy night. Nothing moved, and he sent thoughts of love to Dave wherever he was out there.
* * *
Oliver woke with a start then lay very still, moving only his eyes as he tried to see in the dark. He was on his side facing away from the motel room door, but he could feel a damp breeze and that sent a sliver of icy fear into the center of his chest. Rolling over, he found himself face to face with Cody who lay a couple inches away, snoring heavily. Oliver jerked back then sat up and looked around the room. The lantern was off, so the room was dark except for the dim light coming in the door that stood wide open.
Oh, shit.
“Demetrius?” Oliver said, then extracted his glasses from the case and put them on. “Demetrius!”
Cody snorted and sat up, eyes wide but still glassy with sleep. He stared at Oliver in something close to fear for a moment.
“Ollie?” His voice was deep, scratchy, and full of confusion as he looked down at the bed and back up at him. “What the…?”
“Relax, Captain Ego, nothing happened. We’re fully dressed and your husband was a few feet away. But I don’t know where he is now.”
Cody looked around the room then back at Oliver. “Where’s Demmy?”
“Like I said, I don’t know.”
Bouncing off the bed, Cody stumble-lurched around the room. “Where the fuck is he, Ollie?”
Oliver got to his feet and dodged to avoid being run down by Cody before he grabbed the lantern and stepped outside the door. A heavy rain still fell, and the susurrus in the leaves would have been soothing if not for the fact that Demetrius was gone. Missing right out from under them just like Dave.
