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The male shrugged. “I just came to check up on my cousin since no one heard any word of him in a while. I tracked this place as his last known location, I guess if he’s late for the living that means that he passed on. May I ask when?”
“A year and a half ago. You should have received word. I filed the documentation for his death. It would have notified all living family members.”
The male, Paul, shook his head mournfully. “I’m afraid I’ve been part of an exploration unit outside of the habitable zone for the last couple of years. I was just released from service. Do you think I might be able to come out and pay my respects? I would like to see where he lived. I would like to get a few mementos from his belongings and perhaps visit his grave.”
A tang of unease drifted from his Eve as Ragoru pressed closer against her, providing the small amount of comfort that he could. She relaxed a little as she seemed to recall that he was there, supporting her, and shook her head.
“Honestly, I did not keep anything of Victor’s. He didn’t have much and what little he did have was nothing I was sentimentally attached to. I donated everything to charity. As for his burial, he was laid to rest right here in town. You are free to visit him as you like. Please take no offense, Paul, but I like my privacy and there is nothing for you there, anyway.”
His lips pursed and there was a hard glint of annoyance in his eyes before it was covered by another one of the male’s fake laughs. “Well, perhaps I can just purchase the property from you? A struggling female all on her own can probably use the money a lot more than a farm and it would really mean a lot to our family to have something—even if it’s just property—to remember him by. He must have loved the place.”
Skal’s ears flattened. Although the valley was the ideal territory for his kind, he did not understand why a human male without the emotional ties his mate had to the place, would love it. It was such a strange statement to make to a mate left behind.
“No, thank you,” Eve replied, a hard note entering her voice. “I can appreciate your loss and am deeply sorry for it, but the land is mine and was left to me by my family. Victor was my husband, but the land was never his in any shape or form. It was my parents’ and my grandparents’ wish that it remain mine, and so I made sure of it. I have no interest in selling my home to you or anyone else.”
“I see,” he replied. His gaze turned toward Skal, his lips thinning. “And I suppose that you are one of those females cavorting with the monsters overrunning our world. Has he taken my cousin’s place so quickly?”
Red rushed into his mate’s face and Skal growled, at the end of his patience. The human’s aloof posturing failed him, and he scrambled back like a juvenile being taught some manners. Paul swallowed but nodded his head sharply as he took a step back, carefully avoiding the families moving past him.
“Very well. I see how it is. I admit that this is very disappointing. What a waste,” he grumbled, turning away.
Skal’s eyes followed him. He was pleased enough when the male left the market but not even the little ones swarming back to their stall could completely restore his humor. He doubted that it was the last they would see of Paul. Males who thought they were cunning never gave up that easily.
He would remain on guard. Especially once they returned to their den. The male wanted their territory for some reason. If he approached again, the attack would be made there.
ChapterTwelve
Although she loved everything about the trick or treaters who flooded the market and made more credits than she ever had before—even more than when Victor was alive and handling the sales and finances—Eve was glad to be home. The encounter with Victor’s cousin had left her uneasy for the remainder of the day and throughout their entire trip back to the farm. Even Skal’s complaints over the mule as “smelly and foul-tempered” failed to entirely alleviate her grim mood.
At least she had a distraction now that she was home. Tomorrow was Halloween so she was busily making various treats and prepping the food she wanted to have for the dumb supper. She had explained the concept to Skal as she stood chopping food at her counter. He seemed to get the concept—all except why it was called dumb supper, which she never understood either, just that it was a custom handed down through her family for generations—much easier than how to carve a jack-o-lantern. She smiled over at the Ragoru as he sat crouched on the wooden floor in front of the largest pumpkin pulled from her patch. She had known immediately that it was to the one she wanted.
Skal wore a look of complete concentration as he held it firmly between his lower hands as his upper hands carefully cut some semblance of a face as she had described to him. It had quite a few pointed teeth and two sets of eyes, but she thought it was absolutely perfect. The male’s grumbling over using a knife rather than his claws and his initial awkwardness with it had been worth the final result. It had also been funny watching him scowl at the knife every time it cut in a way he hadn’t planned.
At least she cleaned it for him. Eve bit back a grin as she imagined the terrible mess that would have ensued if she hadn’t. He would have had pumpkin guts clear up to his elbows staining all of that pale fur. She didn’t know how he always returned from hunts so spotless, but she hadn’t wanted to chance it with the pumpkin.
She began to whisk the spices and cream into the roasted and pureed pumpkin, her gaze drifting repeatedly to him as she worked. Thunder had been rolling overhead for a while, announcing the approach of a storm and she was certain that hot pumpkin pie would be just the thing to finish their evening. She would make two so that there was another for tomorrow. Her smile grew as she recalled just how fond Skal was of her pie.
Lightning cracked over her head and Eve jumped, upsetting the spoon from the bowl. The mixture splattered across the counter and her eyes glanced upward as she listened to the rain pouring down. From his place on the floor, Skal grunted and rose to his feet, hauling the pumpkin up with him. The candle she’d left out for it flickered in its wickedly grinning mouth, and smiled at it, appreciating how spooky it looked despite the brightness of the kitchen. Skal looked over at the door and back at her uncertainly.
“Are you sure you want this to go out?”
She shook her head. “Not tonight. We will put it out tomorrow night, that’s the important night. Just set it on the small table in the living room. It will look appropriately spooky in there.”
He smirked down at his work and nodded. Just as he disappeared with the pumpkin into the living room another crack of lightning struck but directly overhead. Eve jumped, her heart leaping into her throat as the power flickered and went out, plunging the house into darkness. But that wasn’t what made her shriek. It was the image of a man—the familiar silhouette of her late husband standing outside the kitchen window in the rain, back lit by the flash in the sky.
“Eve… My Eve,”he called, his voice distant and echoing in a hollow inhuman sound.
She stumbled back from the window, her heart pounding in her chest, and screamed in earnest when she collided with someone behind her. Two sets of arms immediately wrapped around her, holding her close.
“Eve, what is it?” he rumbled quietly, his muzzle tucking behind her ear.
Her lips parted. She felt numb but she lifted a hand toward the window just as the lightning flashed again, the sound cracking violently over the house. Nothing was out there. She shook her head. That was impossible.
“I… I saw him. I swear he was just right out there,” she whispered brokenly around a sob, worried that perhaps she had finally truly lost her mind. “I heard him this time, too. I’ve never heard it before but this time he spoke.”
“Who?”
She turned in Skal’s arms, looking up at his four yellow, glowing eyes beseechingly. “Victor. I’ve been seeing him for weeks before you arrived, but he was there again. A—and I swore I saw him in town as well when we were at dinner. He looked just as he always did, and I thought I was just imagining him, but I know I didn’t just imagine him speaking to me. He called my name!”
