Chapter 1 #2
“She used his corpse as a landing pad, and then she skated on the body until she came to a halt.” I joined him in shuddering over the memory of the video, something I regretted watching.
“The poor bastard who caught it on film gagged. I’m impressed he didn’t vomit.
I’ve seen some nasty shit as a homicide detective, and I almost threw up. ”
“I don’t know how I didn’t. A few cops did upon reviewing the evidence.
The coroner is not happy with her over the whole thing.
He had to at least attempt to figure out what killed him.
He finally wrote dismemberment on the death certificate.
You might have been able to figure out precisely how he died, but I suggested we not ask you or any of the other purples to check. Dismemberment was accurate enough.”
“Understatement,” I muttered. “We should get therapy over that. We can get therapy for our other issues at the same time. But I need therapy after watching that video. I don’t know how your mother doesn’t need therapy.”
“My mother would do it again without hesitation. If they hadn’t messed with one of her babies, she wouldn’t have had to give a demonstration of why you don’t screw around with a momma dragon. Nobody has been brave enough to tell her that you’re not technically one of her babies yet.”
Despite everything, I laughed at the insanity of it all. “It’s close enough. I already indicated I would accept whatever gaudy proposal you have in mind if your mother happens to defeat my mother in a cage fight.”
“They’re going to beat each other senseless over that. Your mother is going to destroy my mother because your mother will absolutely want to torment you and make you propose to me. She lives to embarrass you.”
“I’d just order you to get on your knees and beg like you mean it,” I confessed, shrugging. “Then you get to do your gaudy proposal anyway.”
Erik narrowed his eyes and considered me with interest. “But will you wear that leather outfit?”
“I could.”
“Please do not tell my mother this, but I want your mother to win now. That sounds like a great deal of fun, and I’ve been hoping you’ll wear that outfit again.”
My father had tried to warn me about yellow dragons, but I hadn’t listened.
I foresaw many hopeful hints I should wear the leather shirt that had done an excellent job of making Erik’s common sense dribble out of his ears.
“After we check out this lead, we can discuss that. I’m sure you can convince me to wear my leathers at our engagement party later tonight.
But for now, it’s time to focus on learning what we can.
With luck, there’ll be a few live bodies at the end of this trail. ”
“I wish I could be optimistic, but the fact a ghost pointed us in the right direction tells me there aren’t.”
I sighed, wondering how many bodies we’d uncover before learning the full truth of the mercury dragons and the attacks on those within Dragon Heights. While I feared where the road would take us, I put the SUV into drive and hoped for the best despite the multitude of worries nipping away at me.
* * *
Wednesday, May 13, 2167
The Valley of Thorns, The Fringe
Dragon Heights, Wyoming
The sign, which was covered in red roses, informed us we entered the Valley of Thorns and warned against trespassing.
The roses dropped their petals, covering the trail with puddles reminiscent of red blood, reminding me we investigated the murders of many and would be haunted by rather literal ghosts if we failed to solve the mystery of their deaths.
I got out of the SUV and investigated the gate, which had a chain someone had left unsecured.
While there was no way to avoid leaving evidence behind, I still put on a pair of gloves to mitigate the damage I did to the site before going to work hauling the damned thing open while Erik photographed the scene.
“She’s back,” my fiancé murmured, and I turned in time to spot him taking pictures of something off to my right. Sure enough, the ghost from the road stood and waited, disturbing in her stillness.
“Check on the kittens and the bird while I make sure this doesn’t close on me while we’re driving through.”
He did as told, and after looping the chain around a nearby tree, I secured it with the padlock, careful to keep from engaging the mechanism.
The ghost waited, showing no sign of impatience while I steeled my nerves and prepared for what might come. I expected bodies—and my magic would have a field day should I endure the misfortune of needing to touch any of them.
Rather than complain, I got behind the wheel, waited for Erik to buckle in, and eased the vehicle through the gate. As we passed her, the ghost disappeared.
“Do you think this counts as a haunting?” I kept an eye on the mirrors to see if the woman returned, but all remained still and quiet.
“I wouldn’t call it one in the traditional sense. You slept properly, and I haven’t seen any signs of psychic haunting. However, I feel that they might have done something to you while you were on your little adventure without me.”
Erik would rib me for months to come over having gone to Death Mile alone, and I would tolerate it with a smile.
The next time he engaged in some foolishness, I would turn the tables, giving him a taste of his own medicine.
And like me, he would tolerate it with a smile.
“A mark of some sort to make me easier for them to find?” I suggested, as it was the least harmful of the possibilities I’d conjured thus far.
“I think so. There are records of such a thing happening, usually when a ghost isn’t able to break through the person’s defenses.
Rather than infiltrate their subconscious, they follow the victim around until their final wishes are granted.
” Erik held up his phone and gave it a wave.
“I’ve been doing a lot of reading about ghosts in my spare time. ”
I’d caught him more than a few times rotting his eyes using his device, and I sighed. “We should get proper ereaders if we’re going to be reading a lot.”
“Says the woman who is attached at the hip to her tablet,” he replied, and he laughed at me. “We can go get ereaders for book materials and similar after we investigate here. It can be our reward for surviving this.”
“Are we setting the bar that low today? As long as everyone currently living gets out of here alive, we get to go shopping?”
“Absolutely, and I’m going to foot the entire bill in the hopes you throw off all your clothes tonight in a display of gratitude for my generosity.
” Erik referred to his phone. “We’re on the edge of cellular service for the area.
I had no idea that this was here. There are public records for the property, however. ”
“Owned by a mercury dragon by any chance?”
“That was, at one point, the case. However, the owner passed away before either one of us was born, which explains why nobody has paid it any attention.”
“Nobody owns it right now?”
“Correct. The deed was cleared of ownership a decade ago, and the property can be purchased for its assessment value from the city.” Erik narrowed his eyes.
“That’s only two hundred thousand, and the place has six hundred acres.
Apparently, it’s an unacceptable distance from the city proper, the house was collapsing when it was appraised, and it has no basic luxuries dragons like, including running water. ”
Interesting. My savings account, which I had discovered my parents had meddled with, had sufficient funds to make the purchase.
“Let’s say crimes were committed on the property and we bought it, what would the situation be?
I did not pay sufficient attention to land ownership details when working homicide cases unless the owner happened to be the one committing the crime. ”
“It would be the same for any owner with a crime committed on their property. As long as we cooperate with authorities, it won’t be a problem.”
“How long would it take to make the purchase?”
“About three hours, assuming we have the funds.”
“My asshole parents kept depositing money in my savings account when I wasn’t around to chaperone them,” I informed him. “I have the money available.”
“It has six hundred acres, and the kittens would love to explore every acre of it. Tourmaline will adore investigating every flower. There are probably some gem deposits in the waterways here, too. It’d make a good getaway property.
It’s close to home, it has a lot of space, and there is access to cellular.
We can coerce our parents into helping with the electricity and running water issues.
” Erik frowned, and he tapped at his screen.
“I also have a suspicious amount of money available in one of my accounts, as it seems I also have meddling parents. I could process the purchase online. It’s available for online acquisition, and I have all the info needed to do it with me. ”
“You do?”
My fiancé waved his phone at me. “I take pictures of everything important and keep it on here.”
“I thought you didn’t have sufficient funds to repair our house in the Tower Ward,” I stated, wondering when his parents had started pulling their tricks.
“I’ve been pretty frugal lately,” he admitted.
“And I wanted those assholes to repair our house after destroying it. It’s easy to tell myself no.
It’s not easy to tell my parents no. But according to the account, my father deposited an excessive amount of money recently without telling me.
I don’t usually check these accounts because they’re for large purchases. ”