The Fantastic Fluke - Sam Burns Page 0,106
eavesdroppers at the hospital room’s door, then turned back to us—“on the chance that the people that man worked for know who Gideon Marsh was, it’s for the best we don’t use that name.”
I suspected Gideon alone would be enough to get their attention, with his name and his, um, person, but it didn’t seem worth an argument. Besides, Knight fit him well enough. I reached out and squeezed his fingers. “It’s very you, my knight in shining armor.”
Gideon scoffed in disgust. “Right. Leaving you to almost get killed by that Merton woman twice. I’m a real protector.”
“You were there when I needed you.” I looked at Iris, then down at Fluke. “You all were. I think I’d be dead now without any one of you.” It was overwhelming, since just weeks earlier none of them had been a part of my life. And yet, the very thought of living without them now made my breath catch and my stomach churn.
Iris waved me off. “Them, sure, but—”
“That book you loaned me. The Spark? That was how I brought Gideon back. If he hadn’t been there, he couldn’t have saved me,” I pointed out to her.
She beamed at me, drawing her shoulders up. “I didn’t think it was possible, but I so hoped that you could manage it. Your mother always talked about the potential the magic had.”
“He’d have been the only one who would even try,” Gideon said with a chuckle. “Who else would have read a book that said ‘here’s a thing that don’t work’ and think, ‘but what if it did?’ ”
I shrugged, then winced when my whole body throbbed in pain. Fluke leapt up onto the bed next to me as though he weren’t wearing a cast on his front left leg, and lay across me. Something unwound in my chest to have him there. My life wasn’t quite right anymore if I didn’t have Fluke sprawled across me and Gideon smiling down at us in bemusement.
Iris gave us a soft smile, then turned to Gideon. “We should let them rest. In the meantime, we can discuss having a stable put up on Sage’s property. Your familiar will need a place, after all.”
I drifted off to sleep as they talked about just how much room Marron was going to need. Holy hell. Gideon had a horse. I’d thought a fox was a big responsibility.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Gideon sniffed the lid of the cardboard pizza box for the fifth or sixth time as we walked down the sidewalk toward the bookstore, and I hid my smile.
“Thought you said it didn’t look like food,” I pointed out.
He shot me an unimpressed glare. “I said it didn’t look like any food I recognized. Smells good, though.”
To be fair, he’d thought the ramen I’d made him the night before had smelled good. That was what came of being dead for hundreds of years: just the idea of food was amazing. The actual smell and taste of it were above and beyond.
“Spinach artichoke is Beez’s favorite, and since I’m about to tell her the ghost I was talking about isn’t a ghost, and he’s moving in with me . . .”
He turned to look at me, quirking an eyebrow. “Moving in?”
“Fine, already moved.”
“The other choice is I live in the stable with Marron, and I don’t think you want that.”
I definitely did not want that. I leaned against him, pressing our shoulders together. Or, well, pressing my shoulder to his arm, and laying my head against his shoulder. “We could always just drop the pizza off with Beez and go home.”
He jostled me with his arm but didn’t shove me off. “We’re having dinner with your partner. You want sex, you can have that later on.”
A woman walked by us right then and turned to stare at Gideon, wide-eyed. He didn’t react to her, but he did wince once she’d passed out of our sight. “Keep forgetting people can see and hear me now.”
“S’okay,” I dismissed. “I’m fine with the whole world knowing a gorgeous guy like you wants to fuck me into oblivion.”
So why was I worried to tell one little friend about it?
I hesitated at the door to the shop for a second, but Gideon plowed forward, holding the door for Fluke, who was dancing in excitement at the promise of pizza. It looked a little hilarious with his neon yellow cast, but he sure wasn’t going to let that get in the way of his dinner.
The bookstore was quiet—it usually was on Saturday nights—and Beez was sitting on the couch with her computer on her lap. She looked up to greet us, grinned at Fluke, and then her eyes landed on Gideon. Her eyebrows shot up in surprise and interest as she glanced back and forth between us, and she drawled, “Um, hello.”
Gideon inclined his head, and I imagined if his hands had been free, he’d have reached for his hat. “Ma’am.”
“Heya, partner,” I said, filling my voice with all the false lightness I could. It didn’t really work—mostly it just served to make me sound a little like a cartoon mouse. “So, we have a few things to talk about.” Her expression eloquently pointed out the vast understatement in that comment, so I plowed on. “This is Gideon. Yes, that Gideon. He lives with me now. And we brought you pizza.”
She looked from Gideon, to me, to the box, and then gave a deep sigh. “I smell artichokes, don’t I? That’s so not fair, Sage. How can I demand answers while my mouth is full?”
“No demands necessary,” I promised. “We’re here to answer all possible questions. Partners, remember?”
“Well then, get your not-ghost boyfriend and the pizza over here. I want to hear everything.” She scooted all the way to the end of the couch and patted the space next to her.
We’d barely settled on the couch and started passing around slices of pizza when a young woman came in. Beez motioned for us to go ahead and eat, moving to stand up to take care of a customer, when the woman’s eyes settled on me. “Sage McKinley? I’m Quaesitor Jordan Maines. I need to speak to you about David Halliwell.”
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Special thanks to my partner, Waverly, without whom nothing would be the same. Also, to Amy Pittel and Becca Waldrop, without whom this would be a lesser book.
Also by Sam Burns
The Wolves of Kismet
Wolf Lost
Wolf Found
Wolf Reborn
The Rowan Harbor Cycle
Blackbird in the Reeds
Wolf and the Holly
Fox and Birch
Hawk in the Rowan
Stag and the Ash
Adder and Willow
In Any Light
Eagle in the Hawthorn
Salmon and the Hazel
Wren and Oak
Wilde Love
Straight from the Heart
Sins of the Father
Strike up the Band
Saint and the Sinner
A Very Wilde Christmas
About the Author
Sam is an author of LGBTQIA+ fiction, mostly light-hearted fantasy romances. Most of her books include a little violence, a fair amount of swearing, and maybe a sex scene or two. Oh, and let’s not forget a fox. He’d be offended at being forgotten.
She is a full-time writer who lives in the Midwest with her husband and cat. Someday, she plans to be a full-time writer who lives near the ocean with her husband and cat.
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