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I gathered the tiles and asked if any still lived before resetting the board.
Once again, the spirit answered with ‘yes.’
I sighed. “I’ll do what I can to find them.”
Then, not wanting to test my luck, I gathered the Scrabble board, put the tiles away, and left. If a spirit haunted me, I’d find out after the fact, but some prices were worth paying. I’d have to confess my sins to Erik, however. If I had gotten my dumb ass haunted trying to uncover the truth, I’d need him to bail me out—or cooperate with the spirit to help recover those missing and still alive.
Fortunately, I was able to catch a cab at the hospital, and I headed home, spending the ride wondering what was truly happening in Death Mile. The driver stayed quiet the entire time, and I tipped him for dealing with me in the dead of night before heading down the street to my apartment.
Inside, Erik and Citrine still slept.
I would not be able to sleep with the awareness there were victims of the mercury dragons still alive. But how could I find them? Had they been at the manor, the investigators would have located them. Could there still be more secrets lurking in the lab? I assumed so.
Investigations sometimes took months to uncover every secret to be learned, and more often than not, we never found some pieces of the puzzle. One thing was clear to me, however. I needed to do more research into the situation, and I knew the perfect person to ask: Dr. Anstino.
Satisfied I had a starting point, I stretched out beside Erik, cuddled close without disturbing his kitten, and waited for dawn.
* * *
Friday, May 1, 2167
The Gray Ward
Dragon Heights, Wyoming
“Let’s say I did something remarkably stupid,” I announced after delivering our breakfast of bacon and eggs to the table. As we had no idea what Citrine liked, I’d taken a page out of my future mother-in-law’s book and made the kittens a variety of breakfast foods along with a helping of mashed potatoes.
We might end up being the cause of a potato shortage in the entire city, as Citrine discovered she enjoyed hers mashed, too. While I had no idea what their chirps, mews, and other sounds meant, the kittens held a long discourse over their breakfast offerings.
I could only assume mashed potatoes were the one true food for them. The rest of their breakfast disappeared, too, although with less enthusiasm.
“Having met you, I wouldn’t be too concerned. While you have a history of doing remarkably stupid things, you have this knack for landing on your feet. I suspect you’re part cat in addition to being a dragon. I might be concerned you’ve used up a few of your nine lives, though.”
While he had a point, I wondered if he’d be so relaxed upon learning I’d gone to Death Mile in the middle of the night. There was only one way to find out. “I might have gone to Death Mile to talk to dead people.”
He raised a brow. “Did they answer?”
“Surprisingly, yes.”
He blinked and stared at me, as did my hummingbird and our kittens. “Could you repeat that?”
I smiled, aware he struggled to accept the level of stupidity I’d indulged in. “I went to Death Mile to talk to dead people, and they answered me.”
“Okay. Before I get upset, I’m going to ask a few questions. After which, I’m probably going to get upset, but I’m easily swayed if you put our sweet kittens into their palace beds while you take off your shirt and distract me.”
It was my turn to raise a brow. While the kittens would go to sleep on the big cat tree, he’d taken to calling the thing their palace and thrones, something insane yet somehow endearing. “Would you like some positive feminine attention?”
“I’m okay with some spice sprinkling any positive feminine attention I might receive.”
Ah. He expected to have some form of argument when he became upset, something I understood readily enough. However, I didn’t need to read between any lines to understand that Erik wanted to romp around in the bedroom before he strutted through the rest of his day. He was scheduled to go to work in an hour and a half, which gave us plenty of time to indulge. I would be keeping an eye on the sky to pick up bounties before working on the problem of the mercury dragons and their hidden hostages. “I took Cecilia’s Scrabble board, set it up in the park in Death Mile, and placed mercury dragons as my words on the board. Then I asked if they were responsible before clearing the tiles. I put the tiles for yes and no on the board. I asked two questions, and both were answered with yes—and I reset the tiles both times.”
Erik’s eyes narrowed. “You’re saying you might be haunted.”
“I’m saying I don’t know. I was particularly dumb going to Death Mile in the middle of the night by myself, but I only wanted three beings possibly haunted, and I’m including Garnet and Tourmaline in the count.”
“I’ve never heard of an instance of animals being haunted. Spirits tend to want vessels capable of speaking English and carrying out their last wishes.”
“They might have left me alone. I told them I’d be looking into it. I mean, if I got my dumb ass haunted, I deserve it.”