Didn’t she ever call the police?
The neighbors did not know. This is all gossip and rumors, mind you. But if the police would be cooperative, perhaps we could find out. Our baker had a reason to wish her ex-boyfriend to disappear.
Or be slain by fire?
Quite. I will attempt to find the name of the new boyfriend. Perhaps he will be interested in two-for-one coupons.
Any sane person would be.
Precisely.
A scream came from my mom’s yard, and I almost dropped my phone.
Visions of the thief grabbing her and holding a knife to her throat popped into my mind. I yanked out Chopper and sprinted to check on her.
17
I burst into the yard in time to see my mother staggering back from the sauna, the door flopping shut as she lifted her hands in horror. There was no sign of the thief or any other enemy. And I sensed Zav nearby, so if there had been trouble, he would have put a halt to it.
Wait a second… I didn’t just sense Zav nearby; I sensed him in the sauna.
Oh, hell. Was he experimenting with nudity too? And here my mother had finally put on clothes…
“What’s the problem, Mom?” I trotted up to her side.
“I…” She lowered her hands and cleared her throat. “I didn’t mean to scream. I was just surprised. I’d left my coffee mug in there, you see, and when I went to get it…”
I opened the sauna door, and hot dry air washed over me, as well as a view of Zav, naked except for his Crocs, as he lay sprawled on his back on the bench.
“My mate,” he said, beckoning to me. “This heat is fabulous. Join me. We must discuss whether you will come with me for my hunt and for the meeting with the Dragon Ruling Council. As soon as my kind deal with the undead interloper on Dun Kroth, we will be able to return and finally learn the secrets of your sword. Must you remain here? Is your mother in danger?”
“Only of having her retinas scorched out by dragon nudity.” I spotted Mom’s empty coffee mug and grabbed it. It had a lopsided rim and looked like something she’d made herself on the pottery wheel—her new hobby.
“Dragon nudity? Dragons are always nude.”
“I meant this.” I waved at him. Admittedly, his nudity was attractive—scorchingly hot, one might say—and I didn’t mind it at all, but I could see where finding a naked man in one’s sauna would be alarming. “What happened to your robe?”
“The air is a comfortable temperature in here. I do not need it.” Zav sat up, draped an arm over the back of the bench, and patted the open spot beside him. “Join me. You may also remove your clothing.” His eyes glinted as he envisioned this, reminding me that it had been a while since we’d had a steamy night together. Though I supposed a sauna was steam-free.
“May I? You’re generous.”
“Yes.”
I started to step inside, but Mom cleared her throat behind me. I turned and offered her the mug. “I’ll take care of the problem.”
“No doubt. Please be aware that I just cleaned the sauna. Also, there’s a no-bodily-fluids rule.”
“Isn’t the whole point to sweat?”
“Sweat isn’t what I’m worried about.” Mom peered in over my shoulder. “He’s not even using a towel. Put towels down if you’re going to sweat or do anything else in there. There’s a stack in that box under the bench.”
Her gaze lingered on Zav, even though she was pointing at a wood crate.
“Are you checking him out?” I asked.
“Of course not.” She snatched the mug and stepped back.
“He’s pretty sexy.”
“That’s why I’m worried you won’t put enough towels down. Now if you’ll excuse me, I must return before that odd green person drinks all of my coffee.”
“I’m sure it’s too late. I’ve seen how many cups he orders at the coffee shop.” Maybe I should warn her that she should make Gondo aware of bushes in the backyard that she wasn’t attached to.
“When I left, he was munching on the beans from the bag.”
Gondo is now helping Freysha lay traps, Sindari informed me from where he’d taken a seat in a sunny spot in the yard. Well back from the sauna door and any chance of glimpsing Zav, I noted.
Did he take a bag of coffee beans with him?
That is possible.
Will you get it from him? Take Rocket. He’ll think it’s a delightful game. Pilfering back a goblin’s pilfered coffee beans.
Sindari leveled a flat stare at me. Will we engage in battle soon?
Gondo might bop you on the nose with his wrench.
Sindari’s eyes closed to slits.
If the thief shows up, you can sit on her.
Very well.
Sindari sauntered off. Whether he intended to rescue my mother’s beans, I didn’t know.
“Join me, Val,” Zav rumbled from the sauna. “I can’t stay long.”
Mom lifted her eyes toward the heavens and headed back to the house with her mug.
I slipped into the sauna with Zav, using a nearby rock to prop the door open. I had no intention of stripping down and didn’t want to swelter.
But I’d no sooner sat down beside him than a puff of magic stirred the air. The rock rolled away, and the door shut.
“It is drafty with the door open.” Zav lowered his arm from the back of the bench to my shoulders.
Even though I had no plans to have sex in my mom’s sauna, I leaned against his side, still appreciative that he’d taken on all this extra work to help me out.
Zav stroked the back of my head. “Do you wish to come hunt with me? We have not yet flown together to chase and slay fast and guileful prey. It would be enjoyable.” His eyes closed partway, and he gazed at me through his lashes. “Mates hunt together.”
It was getting hot in the sauna, and it had nothing to do with drafts. I turned my head so I wouldn’t look into Zav’s eyes and get distracted, but that left me looking at other appealing parts of him. Maybe I would focus on that crate of towels.
“Normally, I would be open to hunting with you, providing we could season and cook the prey once we caught it, but Freysha is setting up traps, and I’m going to try to capture the thief.” I glanced warily at him, expecting him to tell me to stay in the booby-trapped house for my own good.
“The thief who attempted to trap you in another world and take your sword.”
“Yeah, I’m a little irked with her.”
“You are a superior warrior and will capture and defeat her,” Zav murmured, shifting my braid aside so he could kiss the back of my neck. A trickle of magic zinged down my spine and lit every nerve in my body.
“I appreciate your confidence.” I appreciated a lot about him. My hand strayed to his bare thigh to stroke him before I thought better of it. “I also want to know what the link is between her and the creatures she sent after me in the artifacts room and the creatures that attacked us on the dwarven world. Zoltan says they’re from the same place.”
“Nagnortha is a place that is not governed and where few visit. The undead roam free there. I had thought the winged creatures were made from scratch with magic, but it is possible they were captured on Nagnortha and taken to Dun Kroth. This would not be the first time in the history of the Cosmic Realms that someone has gathered minions from there to use to further their power.”