Chapter Fourteen

Cardian

As soon as the front door closed behind Terrick, I hammered the floorboards back into place. I wasn't sure a living bear cub could fit under the house, but I wasn't taking any chances of one trying to eat my mate if it followed the scent of the dead bear cub. Once the floor was resecured, I crawled back into bed with Dakota and let out a long, slow breath. He curled into my side, resting his head on my chest. I hugged him close, trying not to think too hard about why both he and Scott heard the spirit too. Scott was easier to explain. He and Terrick had long exchanged the claiming vows, but that didn't explain how Dakota had heard it.

"Have you heard the dead before?" I asked, but my mate had already dozed off.

There would be time to talk about it in the morning. It wasn't too surprising that a bear cub had died somewhere in the woods surrounding Heartville at some point. Nature was a harsh mistress. She took the young and the old without nuance. I hoped the mother bear didn't sniff out her dead cub at our house, though.

Terrick was gone for an hour before the front door swung open. I listened for both clicks as he locked the knob and the deadbolt. Only then did I give into the exhaustion tugging at the back of my eyes. That night I dreamt of bear cubs and baby lions popping up from under the floorboards. Whenever we grabbed one up another would bust through under our feet. Laurni watched us from out the window. Whenever I glanced at him for help, he merely mouthed ‘it's okay.'

I woke with a start alone in the bed. Dakota's side of the bed was still warm from where his sleeping form had laid against me. His scent still lingered in the bedroom. He hadn't been gone long. Coffee dripped into the pot further into the house.

Tuning into my guardian training, I sniffed the air again, trying to ignore Dakota's alluring scent. Coffee. Eggs. Bacon. Some sort of fruit – probably from a bloodshake. Breakfast. It was breakfast time for the day livers. Only I was one too now. No one dead went bump in or under the house as I swung my feet out of bed and went to join the others in the kitchen.

Terrick was at the blender and Dakota tended the stove. This far into the house I could hear Scott's light snores.

"Morning," Dakota said to me over his shoulder. "Breakfast is almost done."

I glanced at Terrick as I hugged my mate from behind. Worry creased my brother's brow, but that wasn't an unusual look for him to wear. A dozen glasses sat lined up along the counter and he filled the last of them with the bloodshake after he turned off the blender.

"How's he doing?" I asked Terrick.

"Tired. Thirsty. Amused."

"About the cub?" I asked.

"Yeah. He thought it was cute."

"Better a cub than an enemy," I shrugged. "He didn't even try to eat you."

"Bears don't like to eat other predators," Terrick said.

"Tell that to all the bears mated to wolves and dragons," Dakota teased, and Terrick cracked a smile as he picked up one of the glasses full of bloodshake.

"I'm going to see if he wants breakfast," Terrick said, picking up a second bloodshake.

After he disappeared down the hall, I kissed up and down the side of Dakota's neck as he tended the stove. I wasn't usually a non-blood food guy for breakfast, but I got the appeal of waking up to someone else in the kitchen cooking. Dakota leaned back against me, bringing my dick to life. We didn't have long before Terrick returned to the kitchen, but I decided we'd cross that bridge when we came to it.

"Hey," I said as the bear cub spirit crossed my mind again.

"Yes?" Dakota asked, turning off the stove and moving the pan to a cold burner.

"Have you heard ghosts before last night?" I asked, still holding onto him.

"Once or twice. I've worked with magic a lot," Dakota said. "Never heard one I couldn't see, but there's a first time for everything. Why do you ask?"

He twisted in my arms and stole a good morning kiss before I had the chance to answer.

"I almost forgot why now," I teased him and glanced over my shoulder down the hall before stealing another longer kiss.

"Did that help you remember?" Dakota grinned when the kiss broke.

"Actually, it did. I've always heard them, and Terrick has always seen them. You hadn't mentioned anything about ghosts or spirits beforehand and---"

"You're used to being the only one who hears them without seeing them?" Dakota arched a brow, and I kissed it because I could.

"Sort of," I admitted.

"Well, you're in a village full of magical people now. Wait!" He paused for a second. "Are you telling me that in a coven full of vampyric elves there wasn't a lot of magic?"

"There was plenty of magic," I said, reaching behind him and picking up a piece of bacon. "Most of it was life magic or at least not death magic." I held out the bacon for him to take a bite.

"I could get used to this," he grinned before taking a bite.

"I hope so. You're stuck with me," I teased.

"I think they all just gaslit you guys," he shook his head.

"Because they didn't see or hear the dead?" It was my turn to be confused.

"It just seems like more of them would see them or something. Don't most spirits want to be seen?" Dakota asked. "I'm going to make your brother a plate to make sure he eats."

"I'll get his. You make one for yourself."

"Thanks," Dakota said and stole another kiss before turning away from me.

I made plates for Terrick and Scott before loading down one of the serving trays with all but one of the remaining bloodshakes and took it to their bedroom. Scott wanted to go back to sleep, but Terrick was encouraging him to drink ‘just one more sip' of the bloodshake. I left the serving tray on the nightstand and slipped out before I could disturb their bonding time.

"I don't think it's that common to see dead people," I said, rejoining Dakota for breakfast.

"I think it's more common than you think. Sure, some spirits can't make people without some sort of sight see them, but lots do."

"Believe me, if they saw some of the dead guys, I heard my brother arguing with I'm sure they wouldn't have been able to hold their silence. Someone would've said something," I shrugged.

"Okay, then maybe it's more common for shifters. I don't know," Dakota leaned back in his chair.

A crow called from outside the window and we both glanced at it.

"Want me to shut that?" I asked him.

"No, I like the fresh air," he said, and ran his toe up my leg under the table.

"Well, if we're going to do that we're definitely shutting it. I'm the only one allowed to hear you in the throes of passion."

More crows sounded off and we both glanced out the window. There wasn't a damn bird in sight.

"Makes me think they've found something dead," Dakota chuckled.

"I've gotta make a sweep," I said, pushing my chair away from the table.

"Because I made a joke?" Dakota asked, standing up too.

"No, because I should've done it before breakfast," I shook my head and stole a kiss. "You finish eating. It won't take me long."

I did my sweep and came back inside without seeing a single damn crow.