Page 24 of The Dragon's Stone Hearted Mate
“Not a ghost,” Cutter said, crossing his arms and looking down at the dead guy.
As he spoke a bright crimson door appeared a few yards off. The elves grabbed the doorknob and held tight, not giving the dead man a chance to pass through it. I opened my mouth to ask the spirit who he was but Cutter spoke first.
“What business do you have in this domain?” he asked, his voice dropping low into the roaring octaves only dragons and lions could reach.
The spirit froze in place and turned on his heeled boots to face us. I didn’t recognize the guy. He was a tall, lanky blonde dude with a long nose and ears that stuck out a little too far to be considered attractive. He was clad in black from head to toe with a bow and quiver slung over his shoulders.
“Work,” he shrugged in response to Cutter’s question.
“What was your assignment?” Cutter asked.
The elves looked from one to the other as if none of them knew how the lion omega had taken over the situation.
“I was here to kill Morvan. He’s been marked for a while. Just business,” he shrugged.
“Business?” Rho asked, his voice vibrating the stones of the camp’s kitchen.
“His brother owed money. His debt doesn’t go away just because Torvan died before we could collect the life insurance money to pay it off. If we can’t have the money to cover his gambling debt a dead brother is just as good,” the dead man shrugged and Rho started to take a step forward. Cutter stepped in between him and the dead man to ask who sent him but the ghost shrugged.
“Useless fucking cur!” Cutter drew his fist back and punched the guy in the nose. His fist made contact and translucent blood sprayed across the room before dissolving as soon as it touched solid surfaces. “Who sent you?”
The guy went to swing on Cutter but the elves dogpiled him before dragging him to his door. Elven guards occasionally questioned the dead but as soon as the spirit in question turned violent, they sent them on their way. I knew that much from Crilus.
“Apologies,” a blue-haired elf bowed his head. “They don’t normally slip past us. I would be cautious for the remainder of your trip.”
“Looks like I’m not the only one with enemies,” Cutter said.
“Call Teal,” Rho said as if the matter was settled before the discussion even began. “If these assassins are coming from Earthside call your friend there. How are you meant to visit your dead brother if this is going on?”
“I’m going to do recon at the gateway,” Cutter said, readjusting his pack before taking off. “You might want to clean that up before Sherry sees it. She has a weak stomach.”
“Text Teal,”my dragon chimed into my thoughts.“You don’t have to be his friend, but Rho is right. If you don’t text him, I’m going to start screaming for Medwin like a hatchling until he hears me. We might survive an arrow but what if it hit Rho? Or Cutter? Or anyone else?”
Groaning, I pulled my phone out and sent Teal a text. I gave the briefest run down of what had happened what the dead man had said about Torvan’s gambling debt. Then I sat down on the far side of the room while Rho began to mop up the man he squashed. I offered to help but Rho just shook his head.
“I don’t want you to have any reason to ignore your phone.”
A second later my phone vibrated in my pocket. I wasn’t sure what time it was on Earthside but that was a quicker response than I expected after not talking to him for so long.
TEAL:Called the warehouse. Called Granddad. Do you need me to come?
ME:I’m in the Other World. Met someone. The someone. Torvan haunting a freezer.
TEAL:I know. Congrats. I heard. Want me to banish him?
ME:Think I need to talk to him.
TEAL:It’s midnight. You always need me at midnight.
ME:You don’t have to come.
TEAL:Meet me in London at Granddad’s gateway.
ME:Haven’t finished claiming vows.
TEAL:Put your dick in your pants and meet me. Let’s get this over with. Still early in the morning over there. We find them before they know their dude is dead.
ME:Mate can’t come.
