“Maybe he’s making sure that we’re still here,”my bear cut into my thoughts.
Maybe the furry guy was right or maybe he thought Pami might break into the kitchen and kill us all.
“Yeah. Pami’s on a list,” Dern nodded when Mori finally shut up. “She’s been on a watch list for a while. It’s not the first life she’s done something like this.”
“So what do we do?” Mori asked.
“Uh….There is a reason I told you to keep Teddy with you,” Dern laughed.
“He’s at your house with his family.”
“You could be there too,” Dern said.
“Dude? Did we come all this way for a dead man to tell us something I already knew?” I snapped and the phoenix man appeared in the kitchen doorway again.
“No,” Dern said, waving to his mate to come refill his teacup. “Mori brought you here because he figured I’d know how to get him there in the flesh. He brought you as proof this was actually happening. He also thought I’d like to know that Sharon Claudis was over there. Well, maybe, according to him.”
“I saw her go that way,” I said.
“And I believe you but she’s a sneaky snoot,” Dern said before thanking his mate for refilling his teacup. “This one really is simple, Mori. You don’t even need to understand the magic she used. Kill her and the magic dies too. If you can’t find her… Then that’s another story. You might have to get the coffin out of the ground and find its weak point.”
“It can’t be that easy,” Mori sighed.
“I never said it was going to be easy. I said you have to kill someone – maybe more than someone if she has minions- to save him. If you’re thinking that’s simple or easy, maybe I chosethe wrong guy to teach,” Dern said and the scent of his wolf turned irritated.
I scooted my chair away from him and the phoenix man walked back into the kitchen and stood behind his mate’s chair.
“I meant it seems like something like this would…. I don’t know… Take more things,” Mori said.
“Oh, it will for everyone else involved. They’ll have a society to fix if she has minions. Saving Vallis is easy more or less.”
“Mori, you should get going,” the phoenix man said. “I’ll walk you to the appropriate gateway. Then I’ll drop off a card to your mate,” he turned his attention to me. “That way he knows you made it that far at least.”
“Appreciated,” I nodded my thanks.
“Watch out for bears and dragons. Not everything is as simple as it seems,” the phoenix man shrugged, tucked in his brown wings close to his back, and motioned for us to follow him.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Lero
Nightshade Bear Territory
When I heard the footfalls on the doorstep I thought it was my other parents. After our walk around the village, I came home and took a nap while Dad cooked. I offered to stay up and help him but he insisted he enjoyed the quiet solitude of cooking. I padded to the front door, bracing for either the squishing hug or the growling about how dare I keep them out of the loop but no one was there. I glanced down to find a postcard on the green doormat. I picked it up.
“Your mate is back on his own world. Your uncle is annoying. Passed some of your parents coming through the gateway. Congratulations. When the world freaks out just shout ‘The egg is at Grandpa’s!” Don’t ask. I’m not telling. Anyway. Try not to die anytime soon, okay? We have enough problems without Mori trying to beat up Dern because you’re dead.”
I read the words aloud as my sire and carrier’s scent came into nose reach. The breeze carried them to me and I shut the front door and settled into one of the rocking chairs and waited for the screaming to start or at least the howling. Instead, my carrier looked like he might pop any day now and my heart sank into my stomach. I was a horrible son to make him come this far.
“I’m not that damn pregnant!” my carrier growled. “I have two more weeks.”
He batted away my sire’s hand as he tried to help him up the few steps onto the porch. Once he made it up them he sat down in the chair next to me and took my hand.
“You must’ve been so scared if you didn’t even tell us” he said. “I’m sorry this is happening to you.”
My mouth dropped open. Was this the same guy who freaked out about me participating in Mated for the Holidays?
“You’re not required to tell us everything. I understand wanting a matingmoon with your guy even if the circumstances are unusual. I understand that you didn’t want us to worry or go to battle. It’s never easy being the one to decide how much bad news to give away.”
