Recipe for Disaster (Compass Cove Cozy Mystery Book 10) by Mara Webb

Author:Mara Webb [Webb, Mara]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-04-24T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 16

What was this mysterious top-secret department, you might ask? Well seeing as I had a bag over my head, I can’t readily relay what I saw in there, but I heard jazz music and what sounded like a baseball game playing on an old TV.

Super important stuff, obviously.

Once we were in the right place Ralph sealed the wall behind us and magicked away the black bags. I’d been in the darkness for less than a minute, but I still had to blink a few times to get my eyes to adjust.

We were standing in a small waiting room, staring at a wall of glass windows that looked into a large laboratory. The walls of this laboratory were lined with hundreds of snake tanks (or vivariums, I guess you really do learn something every day) stacked five high. It was like some sort of mega apartment complex for snakes.

At the very back of large laboratory there was one man in a lab coat crouched over a desk. He looked to be in his mid-forties, and his black hair stuck out at all sorts of crazy angles. Heavy bags under his eyes suggested that he hadn’t slept for a few days, or routinely slept quite poorly.

“Geraldo, your guests are here!” Ralph hollered across the laboratory, though the scientist working at the desk didn’t seem to notice us. The windows looked as though they were hermetically sealed, so I imagined that sound didn’t travel very well. Ralph turned to us and lowered his voice. “Well, gotta run folks. Things to do!”

Ralph popped out of existence and Wendy tutted loudly. “He literally can make as many of himself as he wants, he doesn’t need to go anywhere. He just doesn’t want to be around Geraldo.”

“Who doesn’t want to be around Geraldo?” a serpentine voice said. The three of us jumped and saw a white snake with red eyes perched on a coffee table next to us. There was an old magazine on the table. Snake Weekly. Man, there were some niche hobbies out there.

“Mother of mercy,” Wendy sighed. “You frightened the life out of me.”

The snake flicked its tongue. I wasn’t sure if snakes could smile, but I could swear this one was smirking. “Been some time since you were down here, Forks…” it hissed. “Come back to consider Dr. Geraldo’s proposal?”

“No, definitely no.”

“Who are your friendssss?” Wendy introduced Hermes and I to the weird talking snake, who was apparently called ‘Totem’. Totem’s red eyes flicked my way. “I know who you are. You’re the prismatic witch. The one that can’t stay out of trouble.”

I stared at the snake for a moment before shaking my head. “I’m sorry, this is too weird. You’re a talking snake.”

Hermes looked at me. “What’s weird about that? I’m a talking cat, and you own me.”

“But that’s different. I’m used to talking cats.” I waved my hands at the snake in exasperation. “A snake? That’s too weird.” It was an arbitrary distinction, sure, but that was how I felt.

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