Homicide at Holly Manor: A charmingly fun holiday cozy mystery (Oxford Key Mysteries Book 7) by Lynn Morrison

Author:Lynn Morrison [Morrison, Lynn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Marketing Chair Press
Published: 2022-11-17T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Our steps are slow as neither of us is in a rush to eat lunch. My stomach is so tight with nerves, there is no room for food, anyway. For once, Bartie won’t be the only one pushing their meal around their plate.

“What we need is a shortcut,” I grumble. Wishful thinking. I know from experience that when it comes to murder investigations, no such thing exists.

“There’s one ‘ere!” H squawks from behind me, his voice coming from nowhere.

Edward and I spin around to see what our scaly friend is up to now. However, instead of spotting a fire-breathing wyvern swooping through the air, we see the medieval coat of armour we passed swing onto our path.

I’ve spent enough time with H and the other Eternals to roll with strange happenings, but not so for Edward. He throws his arm in front of me and all but shoves me behind him to safety.

“Wait!” I gasp, but it is an effort in vain. Edward squares his shoulders to face down whoever, or whatever, is hiding behind the metal visor, and charges forward.

At that moment, talons appear on the shoulder of the armoured warrior, denting the polished metal suit. They’re followed by a black snout, a wisp of smoke, and a pair of bright yellow eyes.

H’s eyes widen and his mouth drops when his head peeks out from behind the suit and he spies Edward speeding his way. His head tilts back and one of his infamous nervous sneezes rips from his head, spraying the suit of armour, a woven wall hanging, and the sconce on the opposite wall with a jet of flames.

Only my own quick reaction saves Edward from getting caught in the fire. I leap forward and grab the collar of Edward’s shirt, with the intention of stopping him in his tracks. His forward momentum unfortunately has other plans. When you add in the slick marble floors, we have a recipe for disaster.

Edward’s feet slip sideways, dragging me with him. His arms pinwheel, but it’s no use. He stumbles forward until he sprawls across the floor, with me landing on top of him. His breath comes out with a whoosh, followed quickly by a groan of pain.

“Oops! Sorry!” H screeches as he jumps from his perch and glides to a stop beside us. His shoulders hunch upwards as he grimaces. “Are you two okay?”

It takes me a second to untangle myself from Edward. Having come out on top, I’m no worse for the wear. It’s Edward I’m worried about. Amazingly, the only thing damaged is his shirt. A button hangs askew and his collar is ripped. Magic repaired the damage H made to the suit, wall hanging, and sconce, but Edward’s torn clothing is on its own.

Edward dusts himself off and gives H a chastising glare. “You shouldn’t play tricks on people, especially with something as dangerous as a suit of armour. We’re lucky you didn’t knock it over.”

“I wasn’t playin’,” H replies, shuffling his clawed feet. He waves a claw at the object in question.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.