I snagged a couple pillows from the spare bedroom and brought them with me.
“Really?” he asked eyeing the pillows.
“Really.” I stacked them at the end of the couch, where I’d already gathered several other pillows.
“I want to know you’re comfortable. I’ll only be gone for a couple hours.”
“A scratch,” he repeated, raising his arm and wiggling his fingers. “Human fingernail scratches.”
“Demon possessed.”
“Demon possessed fingernails?”
“The whole body. You know what I mean. They have poison. Bathin said so.”
“Bathin said the bodies hadn’t been possessed long enough to generate poison.”
“I heard him. But we’re going to be careful because Dr. Myrrhis said so.”
“I’m fine,” he grumbled.
“You are now. But you were the demon’s target. You, not me. I don’t like that, not anywhere, but sure as hell not in my town in my sister’s backyard. I’m going to reinforce our wards, I’m going to get all the information I can out of our local demons, and I’m going to find out where those dead bodies came from.”
“I can—”
“No. Stay with a dragon-pig that can tell when there are demons around, and a dog that’s been missing you.”
The sigh was long, but not loud. He stared out the window, his jaw set.
“Please,” I said softly. “I might be…I could be overreacting. But let me have a couple hours to make sure things are as safe as they can be. Then, if you’re feeling okay, I won’t get in your way of doing whatever you want to do.”
“It’s already two o’clock,” he noted.
“Yeah, I know this is going to eat up most of your day.”
“I’ll get caught up on some calls for the wedding,” he said. “Try to settle the cheese problem.” He was letting me off the hook, even though I knew he was still annoyed.
“Yes. Good. Yes. Thank you. I’ll see you soon. If anything happens, call.”
“If anything happens while I’m sitting on my couch in my house, guarded by a dragon.”
“And a dog,” I said.
He gave me a look of utter exasperation. I decided silence was a virtue, and it was time to leave before either of us changed our minds.
“Four bodies were dugup from graves in Astoria a week ago, and they just now noticed?” I looked away from the manila folder Jean had given me.
The station was quiet this afternoon, which should have made me more comfortable. Instead, it made me jump at every creak and bluster of wind. I half expected Patrick or his fans to come rushing in and catch all of us talking about possessed dead guys.
Jean shrugged and took a drink of her soda. “It’s not monitored closely because it’s mostly family plots from eighty-plus years ago. These guys were newly buried, and according to records, don’t have anyone in the area who would visit the graves.”
“Who looks after the graveyard? The city? The state? A private agency?”
“The state, but they don’t put any resources into it. It’s just been there forever. Every once in a while, someone gets out a weed whacker and cleans up around the graves.”
“We can return them for burial,” Myra said. “We have a couple people in Astoria who will smooth over the grave robbing and make sure Ordinary isn’t involved.”
“Okay,” I said, shutting the file. “Are we transporting?”
