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“You okay?” he asked.
I nodded. “I’m okay. Yes. I’m trying out a piece of advice that Rian gave me when he visited me. I’m trying to return to the land of the living.”
“It can take time,” Faron said. “I told you that it took me a couple years, but I managed it. But I never drive that road in the winter—ever. I can’t, especially since the area where she died is so clear in my mind.”
“Just like I’ll never walk the streets of Port Townsend again, not at night. I have to admit, I’m nervous. I don’t usually go out at night.”
“You’re with me, I won’t let anything happen to you,” Faron said.
I gave him a long look. “Rian thought he was immune to danger, too.” I didn’t want to see Faron as trouble. He was too nice—nicer than I ever thought possible. And he was cute. There was something about him that made me want to lean in close, to stare into his eyes.No…it was more than that.There was something about him that made me want to get toknowhim.
“I think I’d better be getting home,” I said as we reached the car.
He was silent for a moment, then opened my door and I slid in and fastened my seat belt, too aware of the energy between us. The tension was thick as we drove back to my house, but the minute we reached the driveway, I thanked him and opened the door.
“You don’t have to get out—but I’d appreciate it if you’d keep watch to make sure I get inside,” I said.
He nodded. “I won’t stay, but I’m walking you to the door and waiting for the all-clear once you get inside.” And that was what he did. He didn’t try for a kiss, he didn’t take my hand, but at the door he refused to leave until I went inside, peeked through the house, and made certain everything was in order.
“Everything’s fine,” I said, returning to the door. I felt like a heel, but I was so overwhelmed by the evening that I didn’t trust myself not to jump into something I wasn’t ready for yet. “Thank you again. I enjoyed the evening.” Everything coming out of my mouth sounded so cool and aloof that I was desperate to shut the door and decompress.
“Then, I’ll see you later. I had a wonderful time as well. Thank you for your help,” he added. “I wish that Elroy was in the clear.”
“I do too,” I said, shutting the door and locking it. And I realized that I meant it.
* * *
Next morning,Fancypants woke me up by flapping his wings in my face. Murky images filled my dreams, and I felt vaguely uneasy. I attributed it to the dinner with Faron, and as I fed the dragonette, I tried to put the evening behind me. It wasn’t my problem that the cops suspected Elroy. Faronhadbeen the one to ask me if I could contact the ghosts of the victims. That Jimithy had told me a wolf shifter killed him wasn’t my fault. It had been a calculated risk that Faron took and it had played out the wrong way.
I looked at Fancypants as he was inhaling his breakfast. “I know you’re only a few days old, but how did you learn to speak English from a few hours of bonding?”
He paused, looking up from the plate of sausage and eggs on the counter. “Well, it’s like sleep learning, in a sense. The brain is far more complex than most people realize. Dragons can learn at an incredible rate, and in our sleep, our cognition processes are even faster. So once the bond was first made, and that was when I was in the egg, I absorbed the knowledge from you. I don’t have yourmemories,but ratherthe actual knowledge of how to communicate. And we’re graced with a species memory that we’re born with.”
“Well, that’s handy,” I said, toying with my own breakfast, which was the same thing Fancypants was eating. I sighed.
“What’s wrong?” Fancypants asked.
“I feel bad about abruptly ending my date last night. I went from hot to cold, and I don’t know if Faron understood why I suddenly pulled back. I also feel like the two things I did this week to try to help people out, I failed at. All I did was stir up things with—” I paused as my phone rang. A glance at the screen told me it was Daisy. “Hello?”
“Hey, Elphyra, I wanted to tell you that the coroner couldn’t find a cause of death on the skeletons. While it’s unlikely they died of natural causes, we can’t be sure. We do know they didn’t put themselves in that basement. Anyway, we’re releasing the objects from the trunk to Darla today, and the remains are going to be buried in Hatfield Cemetery this afternoon.”
I thought for a moment. “Can I attend the burial and salt the bones before they go in the ground? Would that be considered desecrating the bodies?”
Daisy paused, then said, “I think I can look the other way. Will that work?”
“If Darla lets me at those items that were in the trunk, and I can salt the bones as well, it should end the haunting and that should also help bring her husband back to his senses.” My spirits lifted—at least there was hope.
“Meet me at the cemetery at twop.m. I’ll be there in case the gravediggers decide to protest. By the way, we checked back through all the records and can’t figure out who they were. Dental records led nowhere. It looks like they were old when they died, and we’ve talked to everybody we can find who was associated with that house and nobody claims any knowledge of them. But there are a few families we can’t trace, who either rented or owned the house during the past fifty years.”
I felt vaguely disappointed—I really wanted to know who the old women were—but at least Darla would have her house back. “I’ll meet you at two. Oh, did you make any headway on the murders?”
“We brought in Elroy for questioning. He’s passed a lie detector test, but that doesn’t fully prove his innocence. I did a spot on the news last night, warning people to be cautious. Now let’s hope that we catch this freak before he murders anybody else.”
She said goodbye and I set my phone back on the table.
“Good news?” Fancypants asked. “You look relieved.”
“Well, on one front, yes. I guess sometimes we have to accept the wins the way they come to us and let go of the losses.” I finished my breakfast as a text from Bree came through.
