Dead-Tective Box Set

by Mac Flynn

  "Why did you have to die? Why?" I cried to the growing darkness around me.

  Then, in my darkest hour, a bright light intruded on my mourning. I paused and lifted my head as a flickering light in the sky caught my eye. The sun was too recently set for stars to be out, and this light came from below the hill, from the city below me. I stood and watched the blue light zip to and fro, but always on track towards the hill. The light reached the edge of the grass and flew over the blades, leaving in its wake a ripple of wind.

  The light looked so familiar as it reached me and spun around me in a heightening flurry. It was like a lost shooting star looking for a friend, and found me atop this lonely hill. The light was a burning ball of blue as it flitted in front of my face and zipped over to a pile of debris close at hand. It disappeared into the nearly-invisible cracks, but I could still see a faint glow from its body. I crept over to the debris and tried to lift the top. Some of it pulled away, enough to let me see there was a cavity into the basement. I leaned down and peeked inside.

  A pair of red eyes stared back at me. I shrieked and fell back on my butt and scrambled backward. The debris in front of me rose like a dome and the top pieces slid off the bottom until the final sheet of stone and wood was tossed aside. Vince stood before me a mess of tattered and bloody clothes and flesh. Never had he looked so good to me.

  "Vince!" I squealed as I dove for him and latched onto his shoulders. He still stood in his hole so that I could only see his upper half.

  He wrapped his arms around me and chuckled. "It seems I was missed," he teased.

  I pulled away from him and tried to slap his cheek, but he caught my hand. He didn't catch the other hand before it connected with his other cheek. "That's for scaring me half the death into believing you were dead!" I scolded him.

  "Destroyed," he corrected me.

  "Not coming back ever," I rephrased. I leaned back and looked him over. His chest was covered in blood and his clothes were in tatters. Deep gashes covered his arms and his face, and his hair was partially singed. "Just to stay on topic, how did you make it through that wreck?"

  "Luck, and some assistance from Ruthven," he told me.

  I raised an eyebrow. "Ruthven helped you?"

  Vince chuckled. "Not willingly. He shoved me downward into the basement, and I flung him out of my hole before the ceiling collapsed atop me." Vince paused and looked around. "Has he been found?"

  "Yeah, the Parasquad found what was left of him. He's not going to be bothering us anymore," I assured him.

  "And are we alone?" he wondered as he looked around.

  "Yeah, everybody else left and I-" I frowned and glanced down into his hole. "Where'd that little light go?" I asked him.

  "Light?" he repeated.

  "Yeah, the little blue light. I saw it fly in there. That's how I knew you were down there, or that something was down there," I explained.

  Vince shook his head. "I saw nothing before I awoke. However, we-" He moved forward, but he froze and clutched at his chest.

  "Vince? Vince, what's wrong?" I asked him.

  "I have solved your mystery," he told me. He held out his hand and the same blue light as before erupted from his hand. The light was similar to when he used the powers of the ring and his own powers, but it gave off a warm, comforting glow.

  My eyes widened at the sight of the beautiful flickering flame. "What's that?" I whispered.

  "Do you not recognize the soul from the vial?" he returned.

  "Soul in the—your soul?" I yelped.

  "The same," he replied.

  "But how? Why? When?" I asked him.

  "It seems my soul thought it time to return to me whether I wished for it or not. Perhaps-" He trailed off in thought.

  "Perhaps what?" I persisted.

  His eyes flickered up to mine. "Perhaps it was what truly awakened me, and I was in true death, or close to it."

  I smiled and grasped his warm hand between both of mine. "Then I say you owe your soul an apology for neglecting it for so long, and it's about time you took it out of that vial and let it live with you."

  Vince reached up with his free hand and cupped my cheek. "Only if you will live with me, also," he insisted.

  I leaned into his touch. "I guess I can live with that," I teased.

  "Perhaps in undeath?" he suggested.

  I pulled away from his hand and snorted. "Baby-steps, Vince. First we have to get you some new clothes, have you finally take a bath, and-" Vince leaned forward and pressed his lips against mine. He pulled me against him and the feel of him pressed against me made me moan into our kiss. I broke away for some air. "Or maybe we can skip the new clothes."

  "And the bath?" he wondered.

  "Not the bath. You need one pretty bad."

  Vince chuckled and swept me into his arms. "As you wish."

  I snuggled against his chest and smiled into his red eyes. "You know I love you, right?"

  "Perhaps."

  "Good, so let's get out of here and start living our lives. That retirement isn't going to enjoy itself," I quipped.

  Vince cradled me against him and swept us down the hill on our way to a new and better life. I couldn't wait to see what fate had in store for us.

  For all books by Mac Flynn visit her author's page or visit Mac Flynn's website.

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