Trouble Brewing

“Good morning, Miss Marissa.”


Marissa looked up from her register, where she was trying to change the receipt paper roll, and smiled distractedly.

“Good morning to you, too, Sheriff Coletrain. What can I get for you today?”

“Oh, just a cup of whatever you’ve got brewed,” the grandfatherly peace office said. The tone of his voice sounded a bit too casual to her, so Marissa took a second, closer look. The sheriff smiled but she noticed the smile didn’t reach his eyes. She closed her eyes and sighed.

“Which one is it this time?” she asked, resigned to an afternoon spent chewing out one of ‘her boys.’ She handed the sheriff his cup of regular black coffee and leaned on the counter, trying to look calm even if she didn’t feel that way. She loved her life in Talbot’s Peak. She loved her werewolf husband madly and even those little hellions, Loki and Thor, whom she’d inherited when she married their dad. If given a choice, she wouldn’t change anything. But wolves were trouble. They went looking for trouble when they got bored, started trouble when they couldn’t find any, and got involved in other peoples’ trouble whenever they could. The sheriff chuckled, knowing full well what was going through her mind.

“I saw your boys hanging fliers down town. They were advertising something called ‘Egyptian Elixir of Health and Vitality.’ I figured it might be a good idea to let you know what was goin’ on before we have a repeat of Valentine’s Day two years ago.”

Right. Not one of her wolves, or at least not exclusively one of her wolves. This would be Lex, the ancient Egyptian demi god who’d raised her. If wolves were trouble, Lex was a walking, imperial catastrophe. His grandfather, a true god by the name of Nefertem, had made huge strides in the arts of healing and perfume thousands of years ago. His father, Shezmu, also had a thing for perfuming but also for wine. Lex had decided that he would make his mark on the world by brewing beer. Lex brewed some mighty fine beer, too. If that was all he did, Marissa would not have been so worried.

Valentine’s Day two years ago was just one example of Lex trying to “make his mark on the world.” He’d brewed up a special love potion. It exploded. Nine months later there had been an explosion of babies born. There was a flu epidemic running through town. Marissa didn’t know what that crazy cat god was up to but she knew she needed to nip it in the bud.

“I’m on it,” she sighed. The sheriff smiled, this time a real one, though it looked like there was a glint of pity in his eyes.