Page 12 of Definitely Dead

“So, how does all this work?” Sunne asked.

Tyr sighed. He hated the question, and honestly, he had expected more originality from his mate. Still, he couldn’t fault him, and he found that, coming from Sunne, the inquiry didn’t annoy him as much as it usually did.

“Typically, souls arrive and take the ferry across the river. There, they’ll be judged and—”

“No, I get that,” Sunne interrupted. “I mean,thisplace.” He waved a hand toward the row of buildings. “There are probably thousands of souls here, right? So, where is everyone?”

A slow smile stretched his lips, and he had the insane urge to laugh. Sunne wasn’t like the others, and he never should have doubted him. Instead of the same boring, canned questions, his mate wanted to know the secrets behind the curtains. Tyr liked that.

“Most of them have already turned in for the night, but there are a few still out and about.” As an example, he pointed to the wide window of the tavern. “See?”

“It’s nighttime?” Tilting his head back, Sunne stared up at the obsidian sky. “How can you tell? And where the hell is the light coming from?”

This time, Tyr couldn’t help himself. He did laugh. Quiet, rusty from disuse, but a laugh all the same.

“You get used to it after a while, and as for the light?” Despite no obvious source, a pale, ethereal glow illuminated everything from the town to the river, blanketing the village in endless twilight. “No one knows. It justis. You’ll find a lot of things are like that here.”

“So, you’re saying this place provides what people need? When they need it?”

Tyr paused and stared down at his mate. “It would seem so.”

He had been floundering, sinking in his own futility. Then magic, fate, the Underworld, or something infinitely more mysterious—he didn’t know, and he didn’t care—had given him exactly what he needed.

Even if the delivery had been somewhat unconventional.

Sunne stared back, eyes round and unblinking. “Why do I get the feeling you’re not talking about bags of rice and paper napkins?”

“Because you’re perceptive.” Tightening his arm around Sunne’s shoulders, he started walking again, ushering him down the street. “We’re almost there.”

They continued in agreeable silence, but as they approached the diner, Sunne stiffened and slowed his pace.

“What’s wrong?”

“Umm, that guy is staring at us.”

Leaning against the corner of the hut, arms folded across his chest, Aster tracked them through narrowed eyes as he raked a calculating gaze over Sunne. It couldn’t have been more than fifteen minutes since Tyr had left him at the back booth, yet there he was. Apparently, Orrin hadn’t been as successful as he’d hoped.

“Do you know him?” Sunne asked.

Tyr sighed. “He’s new here. Arrived just before you did.”

“Oh, that sucks.” He still held himself rigidly, and he pressed more heavily against Tyr’s side. “Why is he glaring at me like I stole his lunch?”

“Maybe he thinks you’re someone else,” he lied. Whatever Aster’s problem, he had no desire to make it his own.

“Picked up another stray?” Aster called, pushing away from the building.

“I’m Sunne.” Standing straighter, he pushed his hand out in offering. “I’m new here, too.”

“Hey, sunshine. I’m Aster.” He took the proffered hand, a smile curving his lips that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “You must be something special.”

“I don’t know what you mean.” Pulling his arm back, Sunne pressed against Tyr’s side again. “There’s nothing special about me. I’m not even an Otherling.”

Aster’s gaze flashed to Tyr, then back. “Yeah, well, you got a warmer welcome than I did.”

Sunne might not be an Otherling, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t special. Even if the human hadn’t been his mate, Tyr still would have preferred him to Aster. That wasn’t Sunne’s fault, though, and if the asshole had an issue with it, he could take it up with him.

Before he could open his mouth to tell the mage exactly where he could stick his opinions, Sunne spoke again.

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