“More than you have,” I said.
“Is it enough, though? What if we make it worse and Ferrick comes out? If he was alive, I wouldn’t worry about it. I know how to kick a man’s ass, but a ghost?”
“Okay, so, I didn’t want to go here,” I said, pacing the room as I spoke. Snowy followed on my heels ready for a potty break. It was unfortunate that Venal was ethereal or I’d have asked him to take my poor baby for a walk.
“What?”
“Go get help from Clarence,” I said. “He was involved with the damn book somehow and he probably knows more than we do.”
“Shit! Look – the last time I spoke with him things didn’t go so well,” Diamond said.
“Too bad. Either you risk it yourself or you go get help. I can’t come over right now,” I said.
“Why not?”
“It’s a spirit thing,” I said and it wasn’t a total lie. Sharon Claudis was a spirit who wanted to kill my true-mate. That was a spirit thing. At least, that’s what I told myself.
“I can bring it to you,” she said, sounding relieved to have figured out a solution.
“No, Diamond. You can’t. You need to stay there for now,” I said.
“Why?” she asked.
I let out a long, slow breath. The rest of the book was over here. Now that Ferrick knew that one such loophole existed he might try to look for others. I didn’t want the page they inhabited the most to come anywhere near the book. It was just a hunch that I wasn’t willing to explain.
“I need time alone for the spirit work I’m doing. I’ve only stopped to call you because the spirits say it’s urgent. She will kill again and it will break the heart of someone I believe you care about. Pami will stop at nothing! You must act now and you must act swiftly! Put aside your differences to defeat thiscommon enemy. Do you really want to risk Bree getting in the way of her path of destruction?”
It was a low blow, but it could happen. Bree was brave and curious. Pregnant dragons were territorial too.
“Do the spirits really think Clarence would know something?” Diamond asked and I glanced at Venal who shrugged.
“He knows the way forward,” I said, figuring Medwin would know someone who could help if Clarence didn’t know what to do. He might even phone my carrier. I just needed to get the ball rolling without endangering my true-mate any more than he already was.
“Fine, but stay on the line, okay?” she said and I heard her stand up.
I put my earpiece in and grabbed Snowy’s leash. Exhaustion still pulled at my brain. The book was really taking it out of me but my poor baby really needed to go for a walk. Thankfully, Clarence didn’t beat around the bush. He admitted to knowing the runic language used and agreed to help without me having to threaten to have the spirits make his dick fall off or something. Dern knew some tricks, but I wasn’t sure he knewthatparticular trick.
With the loopholes closed I went back to the B&B and fell asleep again. I might’ve eaten somewhere in there, but I really couldn’t remember as I sank into the abyss.
Chapter 20
Vatten
Guardians of Glitter Bomb Territory
I woke up the next morning still in dog form on Eran’s bare chest as if he’d cradled me all night. I stretched and licked his chin. His five o’clock shadow tickled my tongue. He hugged me and kissed the top of my head before turning to his side and snuggling into me. How late did he stay up once we got back to the apartment last night? His skin was really warm and cozy. Extra warm. Cats were always heaters, though, right? He was hard too. So hard that even cuddling him made him moan. I shifted back to my human form, and he blinked his eyes open, waking up more fully.
“Are you okay?” I asked, more worried about the fever-warm skin than the hard-on. Morning wood was real. That was a non-issue, easily taken care of. The fever on the other hand… Had the storm gotten him sick? Was it the ghost? Shifters had strong immune systems and that went double for alphas but something…. Something was happening. Could ghosts make you sick?
“I think it’s you,” Eran said.
“Me?” I blinked and felt my own forehead. “I feel fine. Maybe that’s part of whatever gave you a fever.”
“It’s not a fever,” Eran chuckled, turning on his side to face me. “It’s you. Your scent. Our true-mate response. Being so close to you.”
“Heat?” I sniffed the air and buried my face in the crook of his neck. He smelled warm, furry, and delicious. “I didn’t know alpha cats went into heat. I know ---” I stopped because saying I knew most intact, nonshifting domestic housecat toms were always down to fuck sounded wrong. I mean, that’s how it worked, but saying it to my mate was wrong.
Eran laughed, picking up my thoughts over our mating link. For a second, mortification shimmied down my spine. I had to be careful how loudly I thought in the future.
