Chapter 14
Diamond Moonscale
Canton Valley Farm
Whenever whatever weather tech the GGB used to call their weather alerts let us know it was safe to venture out, Bree and I were the first up the ladder.
I led the way, not wanting my pregnant and slightly dehydrated water dragon octopus mate to have to heave on the trapdoor.
She’d been away from a constant source of water for too long.
She claimed she was fine but until her sexy ass and tits were submerged in a tub, I wouldn’t believe her.
And I wasn’t about to let her settle for some halfassed bath where she had to choose to submerge knees or boobs. Not on my watch.
She always got pale when the humidity was off or she didn’t have enough water around and she practically glowed in the dark right now.
“WHAT THE FUCK!?” The words escaped my mouth before I could stop them.
Only, what laid out in a heart-shape in front of us couldn’t stop me either.
Three corpses, arranged into a macabre symbol of love, would just have to be taken care of by someone else.
None of this would be going down right now if everyone had their shit together years before I was even an egg.
“Alpha?” Bree said, her voice pitching high as it had done whenever she was startled since we conceived our egg.
Nope. Not on my watch.
“Philip, you guys have a problem up here,” I said.
“Close your eyes,” I told Bree and stepped out and reached for her hand.
I was careful not to step on parts of anyone as I lifted her out of the trapdoor.
Bree couldn’t even watch horror movies these days without getting sick to her stomach.
The smell was already iron-infused putridness but there was nothing I could do about that at the moment.
So, carrying her, I hauled ass and didn’t stop until I reached Bernard and Nashen’s porch.
I sat Bree down on the porch swing and grabbed the extra key from under the mat.
I hadn’t seen any other bodies on the way over.
“Did someone not reach the shelter in time?” Bree asked. “They said everyone was accounted for.”
“Love, I don’t know who killed those people, but it most certainly was not the storm. They were --- arranged,” I said, choosing my words carefully.
“She got out again, didn’t she?” Bree asked. “Pami?”
“Probably. I mean, it could be one of the other ghosts or perhaps some other batshit crazy person like Sharon Claudis. Maybe the GGB is entering its serial killer phase. Most new societies or empires go through them.”
“Sheesh. They couldn’t wait until after we left?” she asked.
“Come on,” I said opening the door. “Let’s go see if the tub in the guest room is big enough for you.”
“They built it for an owl and a lynx. I seriously doubt it,” Bree smirked as I scooped her up.
“Yes, but I think they prepared for the possibility of Nashen laying a dragon egg one day,” I said.
Thankfully, the guestroom bathtub did allow her to sink into the water fully.
I added in some sea salt and perched on the edge of the tub while she soaked.
Neither of us brought up the dead people again because what were we supposed to do this far from home when bodies were showing up in the shape of love?
If Pami materialized in front of me, I’d deal with her, but until then, life had to go on.
If I stopped living every time shit hit the fan, I’d never get my feet off the ground.
You learn to spin with the air currents.
“This feels really nice,” Bree said and I held back on saying ‘I told you so’ because that’s the last thing a stressed out pregnant person wanted to hear.