Page 26 of Our Haunted Omegas (Moonscale Heirs Duet #1)

Ambry

“Can I shower, or will the guards not want me to?” Odell asked, holding out his arms as if he was afraid to touch his own naked and bloody body. All the blood belonged to someone else. By the smell of it his blood was still on the inside of his body where it belonged.

“Shower,” Indigo and Cobalt said at the same time.

“I don’t care what they say. You’re not going to stay covered in blood for their convenience. They work for us, not the other way around,” Cobalt added.

“Are you sure?” Ambry asked. “He was spying on you two. What if they think you did it and…?”

“And what?” Cobalt asked.

“The flight link,” Indigo shook his head. “Everyone across it felt Odell’s what the hell moment. Anyone paying attention would’ve felt what happened to Reve too. It’s okay. We’re okay. I’ve already called grandpa. He’s en route.”

“I’m calling Crilus,” Cobalt announced, and my mouth dropped open. Why was he calling his old booty call guy? Was Dad right about him?

“He’s the son of high magic users,” Indigo said before I could dwell on it for too long. “He has magic in his veins that we don’t completely understand. It’s probably not a bad idea to get him here. He’d probably make it here before grandpa. Crows move quicker.”

“Everyone pants! Showers if you want!” Cobalt said.

“We stay together, brother,” Indigo said, handing his phone over. “Yours is still in the forest, huh?”

Cobalt phoned Crilus as we all headed to the downstairs bathroom.

It had one of those big showers with four heads as if it was meant to be used after an orgy.

I climbed right inside under the water with Odell while Indigo tried to convince his brother to get cleaned up too.

Odell was blood spotted here and there but it covered Cobalt as if someone had exploded in front of him.

If the drying coppery stuff bothered him, he didn’t show it.

He kept batting away Indigo’s hands as he answered questions I couldn’t hear.

Everything except the water was mute. I scrubbed Odie as if I could keep him safe by cleaning him up.

“It came out of nowhere,” he muttered. “Just straight through him. It’s not a wraith. It’s—”

“Could be anything,” Teal’s voice sounded off over the water.

“Teal!” Indigo said, pulling his brother into a hug.

“Do I need to pick up Crilus?” Teal asked.

“No, he’s flying out. Just give him time,” Cobalt shook his head. The world was foggy through the big glass doors but all the links we shared filled in the gaps enough for me to discern what the heck was going on. “Did you pass any of the guards on the way here?”

“Not yet,” Teal shook his head. “No one’s out on the road. I’m going to go out and secure the area. I just wanted to make sure you all were alright.”

“You shouldn’t go alone,” Indigo said.

I opened my mouth to tell my mate not to volunteer to run off to where a murderous extremity was but I didn’t need to.

“I’m not alone. Some of the guys from the thing are with me. Armed to the teeth. Then again, we’re always armed to the teeth,” Teal laughed.

“Don’t bejewel your teeth again,” Cobalt sighed.

“It was once. When I was twelve and what’s the use of having huge dragon teeth if you can’t decorate them?” Teal laughed, walking backwards out of the bathroom.

“Alpha?” Odie said once Cobalt was off the phone.

“Yeah?” he moved to stand in the front of the shower door.

“You’re bloody.”

“That happens,” Cobalt nodded.

Indigo nodded at me and I opened the door at the same time he shoved his brother under the water.

Was he in shock from what happened? I wasn’t sure.

I wasn’t a doctor. Seeing fucked up shit had a way of messing with your head.

Hell, maybe he was fine, and his dragon was in control and unbothered by the buckets of blood clinging to his skin.

“I was going to say no,” Odell whispered. “It wasn’t a nice thing to do but he didn’t deserve to die for it.”

***

Half an hour later, we were all clean and mostly dressed on the porch, ready to meet the guards whenever they got here. How were they getting here so quickly? How had Teal arrived in what must’ve been ten or fifteen minutes?

“They flew,” Cobalt said and I blinked. I almost told him that our mating links must’ve gotten crossed somewhere, but it was the group link or maybe a new family link was forming around the five of us.

“The first guards to arrive will fly as well. Though, one of our grandparents will probably beat them here. Maybe. They’re probably still arguing over who’s coming and who has to stay home with the kids.

Clarence will show up, though, because at the end of the day Medwin’s dragon won’t leave the little ones. ”

He stood behind Odell, with his arms wrapped around him. The shorter man’s eyes were shut, and his thoughts were dark. I wasn’t sure if he had closed himself off from the world or if against the odds he’d fallen back to sleep on his feet.

“If it wasn’t a wraith, what was it?” Indigo asked, repeating the question that had been passed around since the four of us were reunited.

“Not a wraith,” Odie said without opening his eyes.

“Are the woods haunted?” I asked, slipping my leg over Indigo’s.

We sat on a porch swing that was as long as our sofa back home.

He pulled both of my legs onto his lap and rubbed my calves.

I let my eyes drift shut too. Had something followed us or from the city or had we woken something up out here?

A man was dead from a shadowy thing cut through him.

The image replayed through Cobalt’s thoughts again and again.

I watched along with him, wincing every time as I tried to discern what the hell happened.

I watched until Indigo pulled my mind away from it by closing off our mating link around me.

It was a dirty pull, but he was probably tired of watching Reve die again and again.

If Cobalt knew the lizard in the forest, so did my Indigo.

A bird came into view and let out a long-winded caw-caw, caw-caw.

It landed on the porch banister that wrapped around most of the cabin and a second later was a messy-haired elf perching there in a long t-shirt with a crow’s head printed on the front and shorts so short they were only visible because he had the shirt pulled up to reveal them.

“No shoes?” I asked and Odell opened his eyes to shoot me a dirty look.

Sure, I wasn’t a fan of shoes either but I wouldn’t go barefoot to a murder investigation.

“Mate,” Indigo said over our mating link. “I never did anything with Crilus. Sure, Cobalt and I have shared a lover here and there but he wasn’t one of them. Stop that.”

“That’s not---” I started but stopped. I wasn’t sure what annoyed me about the elf. Sure, he’d been with Cobalt and Teal, but it wasn’t like he was trying to collect all three of the triplets as notches in his bedpost like some trading card game.

“Anti-elf?” Crilus arched a brow.

“Anti getting your foot stuck in the blood,” I said.

Crilus rubbed his long-toed feet together like he might turn into a cricket rather than a bird or a wolf.

“Foot fetish,” Crilus nodded. “Yep.”

“Why do I feel like I’m missing something over here?” Cobalt asked, tightening his grip on Odie.

“I am too, brother,” Indigo sighed.

I opened my mouth and shut it again. Crilus was pretty but I wasn’t jealous of him. Not for the reasons a normal wolf might be. I envied the fact he knew Indigo and Cobalt before we did. I envied the time they had together that should’ve been ours.

“True-mate magic,” Indigo sighed a moment later. “Don’t mind him, please, Crilus. He’ll calm down soon, I think.”

I scrunched up my face and almost told Crilus he should mind me very much because my great grandfather had bird hunting trophies before London exploded. Only, I didn’t actually want to see their friend dead. One dead man was more than enough for any night. It was one too many, in fact.

“He’s on edge,” Crilus said, rubbing his cricket feet together again.

“It’s nothing to do with me. His wolf would like to eat me because at least then he’s doing something.

He does think I’m showing too much skin but…

” Crilus let out a long, drawn-out sigh and met my gaze.

“Yeah. He thinks I’m too much of a pretty boy to solve a murder. ”

“What? Are you a mind reader too now?” I huffed and Indigo squeezed my big toe.

“No, but I can read auras sometimes. Energy. Whatever it is. I read the vibes, dude,” he laughed. “Anyway. Who wants to show me the blood bath?”

Everyone looked at Cobalt and Odie. I swallowed hard, wishing I knew exactly where Reve was. I’d take Crilus out there without having to drag him through that again.

“No splitting up,” Indigo tapped the soles of my feet when Cobalt and Odie made their way down the steps.

I yawned, hating to give up my comfy spot but Indigo was right.

This wasn’t the time to split up. If we let Odie and Cobalt out of our sight we might never see them again.

Cobalt led the way, holding onto Odie’s hand.

Odie held onto me and I grabbed Indigo’s hand as he brought up the rear.

“Seems you found two omegas who fit right into your strange co-dependent cult,” Crilus laughed.

A growl escaped my throat and the elf laughed.

“Don’t mind him,” Cobalt said. “He’s just mad because he missed his chance to ---”

He stopped short of finishing that sentence when Odie squeezed his hand.

“He did miss his chance,” Odie said but his eyes were straight ahead, focused on getting back to the scene of the crime.