Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 101379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 507(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 507(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
“Would you like to try it?” Vasily inquired.
“Yes, please!” Amaru was already launching to his feet. He joined the line of dragons and mages, waiting to receive his cup of ice from Luka. “Thank you so much for making ice for us tonight.”
Luka blinked at him in surprise and then looked away, but not before a hint of red touched the tips of his ears. “It’s not a big deal. Just a little ice.”
“Luka makes the best ice for shaved ice and slushies,” Vasily said.
“Stop it. It’s just a little ice,” Luka mumbled as he handed over a cup of ice to Vasily. Amaru bit his bottom lip as he caught sight of Vasily’s fingers lingering on Luka’s for a long second before they separated. There! That! Something was clearly between them. Why wasn’t it happening for all three of them?
His brain was still tugging at those questions when Vasily ushered him along to a table covered in bottles with colorful liquids. The dragon distracted him by showing him how to cover his cone of ice in a rainbow of colors and flavors. Curse his sweet tooth!
But it was made better by the fact that Luka sat down near them when he was done serving the clan, his own cherry red cone of shaved ice in front of him.
“Amaru, how was your visit to the grotto this morning?” Rodrigo asked as he accepted a bite of ice from his mate’s spoon.
“Not good. The condition of the devices keeping my clan members is deteriorating faster than I’d expected. If the break from the lightning storms continues, we could inch along for a few more weeks, but another big storm could cause a serious cascade of problems and failures,” Amaru replied.
“To make matters worse, I heard from the mages back at the clan house,” Vasily chimed in. “We don’t have several of the spell ingredients Amaru has requested. We’re going to need to go hunting. Preferably sooner rather than later.”
“Get me that list of what you don’t have. I’ll see if I can think up some alternatives or possibly some locations of where we used to find those ingredients.” He scooped a bite of ice into his mouth and groaned. It was like biting into a super sweet, icy peach. “Oh gods, this is amazing. I think I need this all the time!”
Luka peeked around Vasily and smiled at him. “Anytime you want this, just tell me. I’m happy to prepare one for you.”
“The next one, I’m putting a sleeping draft into your ice,” Sora called out across the fire. The mean healer hadn’t even looked up from where he was helping to feed his daughter her bright blue ice while Ravi fed Haruto. “I can tell you’re not sleeping.”
Amaru gasped and waved his spoon at Sora. “That’s not nice, Healer Man!”
“No drugging Amaru yet.” Vasily slid an arm around Amaru’s shoulders and gathered him in as close as he could while they remained in separate chairs. “I think I’ve still got a few more tricks up my sleeve to get Amaru to sleep.”
A little snort left him as Amaru continued to eat his ice and rest his head on Vasily’s arm. He’d sleep when he was dead, not before. Amaru had spent the last five hundred years in an enforced nap, and more sleep was an absolute fucking no.
Yes, fine, the human body needed sleep. Amaru would likely crash eventually. Just…not now. Even if he wanted to, the idea was repugnant. A shudder went through him at the idea of closing his eyes again.
No. Just…no.
“Vasily!”
His head popped up and his gaze locked on Sora. The mage’s long dark hair was pulled up in a messy bun and he wore a weary smile. But then, there was a good chance he was tired thanks to the perpetual motion machines currently in his arms. Haruto and Asuka were clearly eager to be into everything they set their dark brown eyes on.
The twins had been an instant favorite of every mage and dragon within the clan. It had been centuries since the last dragon baby was born to the Valerii. There was something in Vasily’s chest that clenched at the sight of them. Was there any better proof that all dragon kind had a good shot at escaping extinction than those chubby, smiling faces? Would he be able to one day hold his own child?
Haruto squealed and reached out, making grabby hands at Vasily. Asuka didn’t want to wait for Vasily to approach. She shoved against her father’s chest. At the same time, she shifted into a tiny two-foot-long dragon with shiny lapis blue scales. She frantically flapped her wings to keep from hitting the ground.
Vasily lunged forward, catching her with both hands even as she appeared to get enough lift to remain in the air. As he straightened, he found that Haruto had also shifted into his dragon form. He was sitting on his father’s shoulder, his claws tangled in the remains of his father’s bun while his arctic blue tail was wrapped around his bicep.