Xenos
After placing our order for two samplers we made our way to a table in the corner. Elves sat here and there enjoying their treats and having hushed conversations with their dining companions. If any of our fellow diners thought Barry and me out of place no one said anything. In fact, they hardly glanced at us as we made our way to the table in back with Dead Martha following on our heels.
Ever the true gentleman, Barry pulled my chair out for me.
“Thanks, alpha,” I grinned and kissed him on the cheek before sitting down.
Though he couldn’t see Dead Martha when he wasn’t touching me, he pulled out another chair for her anyway because that’s just the sort of wolf he was. She nodded her thank you and sat down between us as Barry took his seat. I reached across the table and took his hand in mine. Sure, everyone else might think I was a bit off my rocker talking to someone they couldn’t see but at least I could show my mate the world through my eyes.
“You must find him,” she said and nodded in my direction.
“Your granddaughter’s mate?” I asked. “I’m not really good at finding people unless you can give me a place to start. I’ll be happy to send emails or make calls, but I won’t be able to travel much soon.”
I put my free hand on my stomach out of habit. Sometimes I caught myself doing it even when I wasn’t carrying. I was only a few weeks along. My pregnancy hadn’t even entered the second trimester but still I was protective over the baby. Especially with the dream I had back at SLEEP.
“He will come when the tourists return,” Dead Martha shook her head. “No, you must find where he was before.”
“The baby,” Barry said before I put the pieces together.
“The baby,” she nodded and her eyes lit up. “He was my baby before. Saun’s brother. He died in the war and we never found him. He has moved on.” She pointed at my hand covering my baby bump. “But I cannot. They have laid my mate and other sons to rest but not him. They have not lain Jarl to rest properly. He is not far. Not far for you. Not even through a portal.”
“My mate is pregnant, ma’am,” Barry reminded her and I fought off the urge to kick him under the table. Over the years, ma’am had become his sarcastic pet name for any fem person who he thought was a little too entitled for me.
“I understand that. He is pregnant with my Jarl,” Dead Martha nodded. “I will help. It is not far. He is in the woods. Bones now. All bones. Bring him back and Saun will bury him here in the family cemetery. He has our ring with him. The family crest of a thorny cup. Lay him to rest. Help wrap up his loose ends before he begins a new life.”
“I can go alone and do it. She can draw me a map,” Barry said, meeting my gaze.
“You can’t go alone. If other spirits are out there, you’ll need someone who can communicate with them,” I said.
“No,” he shook his head.
“This isn’t your choice to make alone, Barry,” I said, his full name on the tip of my tongue and threatening to roll off of it. “We both know you wouldn’t let me go alone. We stick together. If Jarl is our baby, and my dream would say he is our baby, we go together.”
“Do you know how morbid this is?” he asked me. “How disturbing it is to find bones? Human bones?”
“I do. I work with the dead every day,” I squared my shoulders.
Martha, the living one, made her way over to our table with two huge platters of samples.
“Enjoy,” she grinned and bowed her head before leaving.
Her scent was pure joy. Knowing you’ll soon meet your true-mate has that effect on you. Doubly so once you know their name.
“Is this the last thing you need to move on?” Barry asked, fighting off the urge to rub the bridge of his nose.
“Yes!” Dead Martha nodded fast and hard. “My last baby will be taken care of. Then I will go rest.”
“No more requests after this,” he said. “Not one. Not a little one. Not half a favor or anything else.”
“Alpha!” I scolded him. “Stop it. She’s a parent. What if I were in her spot? What if this was our kid’s bones laying out there in the woods all alone for all this time? Wouldn’t you want someone to bring him back home?”
I teared up and hated it. Barry couldn’t say no when I cried and when my hormones got the best of me it always felt like I was cheating. I wasn’t crying on purpose but the tears meant I won the argument. He reached across the table with one of the cloth napkins that came with our samplers and dried a tear away that rolled down my cheek.
“Of course, we’ll go. I just don’t want this to turn into one of those things where her list grows. I don’t want you to work our entire vacation. I don’t want us to get stuck away from home because this takes too long. I want to feed you cake and take you for massages. Maybe give you a few so I can practice them.”
I blushed redder than the carpet in my dream.
“I didn’t mean to---”
“Cry?” Barry finished my sentence for me. “No, if it’s bad enough to make you cry we need to fix it. Just know, that if I go before you and my body is in some dangerous spot, don’t think I want you to get me back. I won’t be in it. Let the elements take it as they’ve taken my wild brethren since time began. Don’t endanger yourself for me. Don’t send anyone else into the line of fire either.”
“You’re not allowed to die,” I said and fought to keep my bottom lip from quivering.
Dead Martha had disappeared while Barry and I discussed whether or not we’d help her. So, I circled around the table and slid into Barry’s lap. A few heads turned to glance in our direction, but no one said anything. One woman silently slipped one of those fancy foil packages with morning sickness gummies onto the table and nodded her silent understanding before slipping away again.
“See, you’re one of us,” Barry whispered and kissed my temple. “Now, are you in the mood to eat all of this still?”
“I’m always hungry,” I said, and wiped away another tear.