by
- Benedict and Bear
- Benedict and Bear: What's Done is Done
Necromancer Benedict Dule’s morning was completely upended when a spirit of a young woman appeared in his bookshop. Emma was particularly insistent that he find a way to get a note to her brother, claiming the man who killed her was her brother’s lover. Unable to resist Emma’s persistence, Benedict finds a way to get a note to the man concerned and notches that up as his good deed for the day. Little did he know how much that simple note would change life as he knew it.
Bear shifter, Dixon Cottle was having a crap-fest of a day, starting with a phone call from a stranger letting him know his sister had been in an accident. Surrounded by humans, on a busy city street, Dixon had no way of tracking the killer or doing anything at all to help his dead sister, except let the police handle the case in their own way. Until one of the officers handed him a note, and suddenly Dixon had clues… he just wasn’t sure what to do with them.
Sometimes it doesn’t pay to get out of bed in the morning, as Benedict and Dixon soon learn. Despite help from unlikely quarters, a monster evolves before their eyes. When the dead start rattling their bones under the streets of San Francisco, the intrepid pair might find they have bitten off more than they can chew.
While this story is a Fated Mates book, it is also a slow burn for obvious reasons. Benedict and Bear is part one in a three book trilogy and while the plot lines in this part are resolved, the book does end with a lead into book 2.
This story was originally written as a serial for my Patreon members. Thank you my lovely friends.
- 1 Read list
Cover Artists:
Genres:
Pairings: M-M
Heat Level: 4
Romantic Content: 5
Ending: Click here to reveal
Character Identities: Gay
Protagonist 1 Age: Ageless/Immortal
Protagonist 2 Age: Ageless/Immortal
Tropes: Fated Mates / Soul Mates
Word Count: 100, 000
Series Type: Continuous / Same Characters
The woman folded her arms across her chest. “You’re not very good at this, are you? I thought people who talked to the dead were all, what’s your name, and who killed you, and did you see your killer?”
Glancing outside where the street was slowly getting busier as businesses opened, like his one should be, Benedict looked back at the young woman. “I didn’t summon you. I’m a Necromancer, not a medium. It’s not like the movies, I’m afraid. If you’re the victim of foul play, I’m sure the police will find your body and launch an investigation. I don’t work with them or have anything to do with them.”
Leaning over the counter, he put his hand up to the side of his mouth. “Even if they’ve heard of necromancy, you can bet they don’t believe in it.” Benedict straightened up again. “Now, you need to go, young lady. You have places you’re meant to be, and it’s not here.”
READ MORE“I can’t go yet.” The woman slammed her hands on the counter, and she and Benedict both winced as they went right through it. “My name’s Emma Cottle. I need you to tell my brother, Dixon, that it was Paul who did it. My brother’s business partner. His lover. He did this. Paul was waiting for me when I left my apartment this morning. He said Dixon wanted him to give me a lift. I got in his car, and the next thing I knew, we were going in the totally wrong direction. And when I tried to get out at the traffic lights, he stabbed me, wrecked my dress, then pushed me out of the car as he was driving off. Three cars hit me before someone stopped!”
“Oh, shit, Emma, I really am so sorry…” And Benedict was. No one deserved to die like that, especially someone just going about their day. But that didn’t mean he could do anything. “Your brother is going to be grieving – he won’t want to hear from me.”
“Dixon is going to be pissed off with a capital P and O,” Emma said firmly. “He doesn’t like anything messing with his day, and what happened to me is truly fucked up.”
Emma had a point, but Benedict knew anything he tried to say would never be heard or believed. “Again, I’m truly sorry, but you have to believe me. I have experience in these things. Yours was an unnatural death. That makes it a police matter. Someone is going to come forward and give a description of the car that you were pushed out of, and they will catch this Paul you mention, I’m sure.”
“But what if they don’t? What if Paul kills my brother next? He could be trying to take over Dixon’s company or anything. We don’t know.”
Then maybe your brother should be more careful about who fills his bed, Benedict thought. “I…”
“Please! It’s just three blocks over. Can you please go and look? See if my brother is there. Just give him a note… Something… Anything… Please… He deserves to know the man he loves is a snake… He… He… Pleeeeeease.”
COLLAPSE
