Page 44 of The Dragon's Stone Hearted Mate
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I woke sometime just after sunrise to the now familiar sound of bacon sizzling in a cast iron frying pan. Sometime during my sleep, my dragon washed me clean and managed to change the sheets without waking me up. Then again, I slept like a rock most of the time. I snuggled deep into the clean sheets thatalready smelled like us. Things were looking up. Life and death hadn’t changed but Morvan’s thoughts weren’t all focused on circling the drain anymore. Now, they bounced from cooking, to last night, and how soon we’d need to set up our nursery. That dragon never waited long to think about babies. If he had his way, we’d have a houseful before the decade ever ran out.
“Are we staying here then?”I asked my dragon over our mating link.
“We could. Clarence is trying to smooth things over between me and Teal. I don’t know how that will go.”
“Mate. Dragon of mine. I love you. I’ve loved you for more years than I know numbers for but if not for Teal, you’d have died that day. I know Torvan is gone, and nothing will change that fact, but I think you owe it to yourself to try. Don’t let him take your best friend too.”
“I’ve been thinking about it. Him. Patrica. The warehouse. If we stay in London, we could go back to my place. Mori offered to give it a good energy cleanse if we decide to go back. I might take him up on it. Once we’re settled, what do you think about offering Cutter a room? I know he’s eccentric and fights dead people but I’m not so sure he should be on his own.”
I bit my lip. Was it my place to tell him Cutter’s secret. It was Cutter’s business but not telling him what I knew felt like a lie by omission.
“It’s okay if you’re not comfortable with that,”Morvan said a second later when I didn’t respond over our mating link.“Having ghosts randomly attack a roommate might be a bit much if we have a baby in the house too. I just thought if we gave him a chance to get his feet under him we could figure out why the ghosts won’t stop pestering him.”
“Maybe he’d like to be our roommate,”I said, choosing my words carefully.“Maybe you should go see him today. Like yousaid, he doesn’t have a lot of friends. He’d probably like to see you again. You could ask him while you’re there.”
“But first breakfast and dessert.”
“Question, dragon of mine.”
“Yes, mate?”
“Am I dessert?”
“You know me too well.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Morvan
Camp Air hadn’t changed at all except for one thing. The spot where Rho had stood since the camp’s inception was bare. I invited him to come with me, but he thought it would be good for Cutter and me to have some time to hang out alone. Crilus and Mori were going to take him to the house that had once been my home. As peaceful as Moonglow Cabin was we didn’t technically need it. My childhood home stood untouched by all the bullshit that kept chasing me around since Torvan’s tantrum.
“Morvan!” Cutter waved to me from a spot by the bonfire. It was night and he was roasting the biggest marshmallow I’d ever laid eyes on. I took up a spot on the log beside him, wondering how I’d invite him to live with Rho and I without sounding like a creep. Single omegas were still hit on and made unsavory offers on the daily and I didn’t want any part in that.
“Rho told you, huh?” he asked without looking away from the fire.
“Told me what?” I asked.
“Oh, he didn’t. I thought he would. True-mates and all that. The claiming vows didn’t show you either when you bit him? That’s a bit strange. Though, I guess he had plenty of his own stuff to show off.”
“Cutter, what are you talking about?” I asked, furrowing my brow. “Did something happen?”
“A long time ago,” he nodded. “I almost told you while we were in line but you were so determined that life was pointless that I didn’t want to make you feel like it really was.”
“Are you sick or something?” I asked.
“No,” Cutter shook his head. “Morvan,” he glanced around trying to find a place to rest his marshmallow and settled for chowing down on it before speaking. The gears behind his eyes turned as he chewed his treat, savoring the burnt sugar melting on his tongue. “Morvan, did you not figure it out?”
“Figure what out?” I shot the question back. “Dude, you’re starting to freak me out.”
“A lot of people are afraid of me. Morvan, I’m dead. I’ve been dead for a long time. I’m just stuck. I didn’t lie about anything. I did leave my home world after my alpha killed himself. Only, I left out the part that he did that because the war-caused famine killed me. It would’ve taken him too. He should’ve left the world alive but he wouldn’t leave me there. He didn’t know I lingered. He couldn’t bring himself to leave the memories of me behind. So, now, he’s wherever and I can’t move on. My therapist – yes, that’s real too, thought coming here might help me grieve whatever to move on. The ghosts attack me because I killed them in a battle and I’m a ghost too. I’m just a different sort of ghost and no one knows why. Mori’s been back to speak with me, but he sort of scares me. And thank you for wanting to help carry my pack,” he said, reaching over his shoulder to pat it, “but truth be told it doesn’t come off me for very long. I’m not even positive about what’s in it most of the time. It changes and stuff. I wouldn’t have told you at all, but Rho is in a weird spot because he knows. Only he knows because the rocks told him and rocks know everything,” Cutter sighed.
I nodded and let his words sink into my skull.
“It’s okay if you don’t want to be my friend anymore. I understand that death gives you a lot of anxiety,” Cutter said, pulling another marshmallow out of the bag by his feet.
“I was going to invite you to come stay with us. Now inviting you seems cruel since you’re stuck.”
