Page 51 of No Potions Needed

It was Marsin and I that dug his grave right there in his backyard. While going through his personal effects we found his last will and testament letting us know that much and naming Mori his heir. In a lot of ways, Dern considered Mori his replacement with the postcard men. He said as much in his will. That’s why he left Mori everything he had in hopes of making it easier for him.

Soon we’d all have to discuss whether going back to the Nightshade Territory to be under Xenos’s watchful eye or staying here was better for Mori. If someone did astrally kidnap him for some mystical meeting his family’s traditions said someone needed to watch out for him. Usually, a family member or mate watched over the ‘empty’ body while such journeys were undertaken. I figured that would either be his parents, his twin, or us. Hell, maybe we’d all take turns.

Digging a grave took a lot longer than I thought it would’ve. It wasn’t just digging a big hole six feet deep. You have to ensure the dimensions are right and that it’s going to keep its shape when the coffin is lowered in. So you had to do it shovel by shovel and that’s exactly what Marsin and I took turns doing. The irony escaped neither of us. He’d driven Marsin crazy the whole time Astral was pregnant and then he shot me. Now, we were putting in the sweat to ensure his final wishes were fulfilled. Maybe we both owed him for bringing us together with our mates. Maybe no one ever taught him how to do things the easy way. Sometimes trauma does that to people, especially the ones who were hardheaded to begin with and I couldn’t imagine Dern’s personality any other way than that.

“If you’re still mad at him, do it for the guys,” Marsin said, from above the whole. “It’s for those three anyway and for those around here who loved him. Besides, if you two stay here with Mori, you’ll be able to come out here and yell at him whenever you like.”

“I’m not that crazy yet, uncle,” I laughed.

He blinked at me. I didn’t often call him that but by marriage he was my uncle. With the rest of my family on Starscale 1 he and Othoni were the only family I had here. Unless you counted my sire’s parents and until they counted Duke as family and shaped the fuck up, I didn’t count them.

“Astral hasn’t said it but he wishes he could go on the adventures with you all,” Marsin said.

“Come along then.”

“What about the baby?” he asked.

“Bring her. Look, Othoni and I are trying for our own baby. I figure we’ll help Mori because that’s what friends do but we’ll still do it even if we have a baby. Only we don’t know how long the postcard men will take to get a move on. So, the way I see it, is we all live until then. We just don’t leave Mori alone while we’re living.”

“Maybe,” Marsin said, tilting his head in consideration.

“You have a good intuition. You realized Dern was dangerous before he ever admitted it,” I pointed out.

“Maybe we’ll go on some with you all,” Marsin grinned.

“You’re right. It’s not all or nothing. I think we’re going to need all the help we can get. When an organization doesn’t even have a name, you know they’re shady as fuck. I’m just hoping they give us five months or so.”

“Why that amount of time?” Marsin asked.

“It takes about three and half months for a jaguar to be born,” I shrugged.

“And you think he’s already pregnant?” Marsin laughed. “What did you take a trip to the Star Room without telling me?”

“Didn’t need to. I dreamt about my carrier last night. She told me we’re pregnant. We’re going to have a little girl named Zinnia as blonde as she was.”

“Teddy,” Marsin sighed. “I hate to bring it up like this, but you know she’s not over in the Other World anymore, right? That she can’t be there and be Nelum.”

“Probably not,” I shrugged. “We don’t know that for sure. Even if it’s my own subconscious putting things together and using my memories of her to communicate with me, I’ll take it. At least she’s living on somewhere, then, right?”

Marsin nodded but didn’t say anything else. He didn’t believe me that Othoni was pregnant or that we’d have a little girl but he’d see sooner or later.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Othoni

We didn’t want to take our grief back to the Nightshade Bear Territory. Xenos and Barry were happily preparing for their next kid and didn’t need to know how much had changed for Mori. I also didn’t want them to feel pressured to host a mating feast for me and Teddy. If we were there with them, he would. So, we packed our suitcases and moved into Dern’s house. He had left it to Mori after all.

We settled into the guest rooms and slowly made it our home but even after a week of living there it still felt as if Dern would come home at any moment and tell us off for plundering through his stuff and using his good pans. Only, he wasn’t going to do that. Dern loved babies. So, if he wasn’t going to come back from the dead it would’ve been the first Sunday morning we were there. That was when we discovered that there was definitely an unseen baby living in his house.

I swallowed hard still half asleep.

Uck! Uck!

What was in my throat? I hadn’t groomed nearly enough for a fur ball but there I was with an itchy throat and my stomach making that urk-urk sound my jaguar made whenever he was about to uck up any fur that wouldn’t stay down. I scrambled over Teddy, shifting as I fell to the floor and made my way toward the nearest exit: A window.

“Mate?” Teddy’s sleepy voice called out. “Mate?”

No time to talk.

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