Page 49 of No Potions Needed

“Go now! Go say whatever you need to say and make it quick! That door will take you and there’s nothing left here for you to come back to. I know you don’t believe me now, love, but please try to. Once you go through everything over here will mean so little. You’ll worry about the boys but they’re over there, technically. I’ve seen it happen to other people. The story you didn’t tell isn’t your unfinished business. It won’t be important once you go through that door,” Ormund said, pulling me up onto my feet.

“Will he even be able to see me?” I asked, as he shoved me through the outside wall of the building.

“He’s a Cromwell and a Moonscale, mate! Make him see you! I’ll stay here and try to keep the people behind the door quiet!”

“Will Kaladar be there?” I asked, remembering our old friend that healer, but Ormund was already pushing me again.

A breeze caught me and as soon as I wondered how I’d navigate my way to the B&B I stood at the foot of Teddy and Othoni’s bed. They were all tucked in under blankets that smelled freshly laundered and both of them had wet hair as if they showered recently.

“Teddy,” I whispered but the oaf didn’t stir a bit. “Teddy Moonscale!”

“Huh?” Othoni grunted and sprang up on his feet ready to fight me.

“You can’t punch me now, kitten,” I chuckled, trying to break the news gently because the jaguar shifter seemed like the sort of man who would take the news of anyone’s death pretty damn hard.

“Oh, I am so sorry,” Othoni frowned.

“Don’t be,” I waved him off. “Finally woke up without sounding like someone’s trying to break me apart like a chicken wing. I don’t think I have a lot of time, though. I’m still here. I’m still focused but…”

“Teddy,” Othoni said, dropping back onto the bed and shaking his mate awake.

“Again?” Teddy grinned and stole a kiss before he caught me lurking in his peripheral vision.

“Shit!” Teddy leapt up.

“I don’t have a gun and you’re naked!” I said, pointing at his crotch.

“Like that matters,” Teddy said.

“Teddy, his door is here. Calm down. Please, calm down. Here,” Othoni swung his legs out of bed. “Let me turn on the light. That’ll make everything make more sense. This isn’t the time for us to lose our heads. We can do that later if we need to.”

“Want me to give you two a minute to get dressed?” I asked him.

“We’re fine,” Othoni shook his head. “Unless you want us to get dressed.” He tied a sheet around his waist and a second later the light came on over our heads. I let out a long, slow sigh. We could all see in the dark and it seemed strange to bother with such ‘civilized’ protocols now that I left my body lying like a scooped-out shell back in the hospital.

“The quicker is probably better,” I admitted. “I finally get to go be with Ormund again – for real this time. On the same plane of existence and not just in the overlap. Shit! There are things to tell Mori too!”

“He’s just down the hall. I can get him,” Othoni offered.

“Not yet or… Actually, go warn him and I’ll come to you two in a moment, okay, kitten?”

“Okay,” he nodded and shot his mate a look that said, ‘be nice.’ I wasn’t worried if Theodore Moonscale was nice to me or not. I had what he wanted. I didn’t have to tell him anything. In the grand scheme of things, our promise was kept. I could already see his future changing and shifting around. He’d been saved from his fate of being a cranky old bastard who never met his mate and all it took was shooting him a couple of times. One day he’d appreciate that. Hell, I’d take a bullet to the arm every day if that’s what I had to do to meet Ormund. Though, I underwent a bit more than that to when fate tickled our balls.

None of us spoke as Othoni pulled on one of Teddy’s shirts. The jaguar shifter wasn’t short by any stretch of the word, but he wasn’t dragon sized. Teddy’s shirt hung just over the tops of his knees as he slipped out of the room. Teddy arched a brow in my direction.

“Astral is gonna be pissed off,” were the first words out of his mouth.

“That’s pretty normal for him, honestly. He’s a Warden after all,” I chuckled. “Don’t worry. I’ll say goodbye to him before I go. It’s a shame I didn’t get to the full details on everything. I knew everyone always thinks they have more time than they do but I thought I did. You will too one day. One far away day.”

“How did you know my carrier? Don’t tell me it was part of their open relationship phase,” Teddy said, leaning back against the padded headboard with the sheet pulled up to his navel like I hadn’t seen a million dicks in my life.

“No,” I shook my head. “I’m gay as the night is dark, Teddy and not for your sire either. Ormund would’ve never put up with another alpha in the bed. Hell, I wouldn’t have put up with another omega in the bed. Poly people can do whatever they want but we’re not poly people. I met your mother because I sought her out. Grady Moore’s breeding farms were horrible and they harmed a lot more people than folks realize today. I could talk forever on how we came to the point that we met her but let’s just say Grady Moore was a sly S.O.B. because plenty of people were hunting him down.

There aren’t a lot of phoenixes on Earthside. There are even less here on the stateside part of things. But he managed to nab one. No, not my kid before you say that. Hell, he wasn’t even related to us but he descended from the healer who ensured I lived. He was saved that night that Lotus convinced Lee Knight to turn himself into the Hemlocks. She freed him and we were able to ensure he healed up as much as anyone ever can from something like that. His grandkid is the bird who runs the B&B you’re staying at. We’d been hunting him a while because we’re part of a special group. Don’t ask about the group right now. That’s something I need to tell Mori but anyway, we were hunting Grady Moore partially to save the world, partially to save Kaladar’s decedent because he died in one of the many wars with the wolves we had back home. So, Kaladar wasn’t around to do it himself.

Eventually, Ormund sought out your carrier because she was the one who saved him. He felt indebted to her and she refused to take any reward. We both know how rich her family was and with your sire around by that time, she wanted for nothing. So, when Ormund insisted, she said that if some day in the future her family needed help he could pay it forward.

It’s because of Mori that I knew you needed help at all. Mori has a big fate and that’s a pain in the ass. Believe me, I know it’s a pain in the ass because Ormund and I had big fates. You and Othoni do too, if you choose to take that path with Mori. But I started reading anything I could for the people around Mori. I needed to know who his allies were and who would plant their fat asses in his way. Your mate was there, and I had the realization of who he belonged with. Only you were an angry, grieving asshole on the fast track to spending a lot of time alone and asleep. It’s selfish, though. I helped you because I’m selfish. I mentioned his dad around you because I knew you’d reach out to anyone who might help you understand death. I did it because Ormund wasn’t ready to move on for good until all his debts were repaid and because Mori will need muscle. You have a lot of emotions that are bigger than your draconic ass but you’re also protective of those you care about. He’s going to do a lot of good but he needs someone who will help him fight or at least make others afraid to try to fight him.”

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