Daria raised her hand, adjusting in her seat. “One more question-”
Marcus put her hand down. “How about we stop talking about giant dragon dick and just watch this death trap of a show that I paid for?”
I gave a curt nod, thankful he was finally being of use. “Thank you, mate, for calling it giant.”
“Never again,” Marcus muttered, shaking his head in disgust.
Daria remained quiet for all of two seconds. “But how do you know the gender if you can’t see the goods?”
If I had a drink, I’d have spit it out. The goods? This human was hilarious. I decided that she would be added to my extremely tiny list of humans I would not devour if given the chance. “I can scent it.”
She gave me a toothy smile and two thumbs up before returning to watching the show. Jalisa rubbed my back affectionately, saying nothing. She didn’t have to. I understood that she appreciated me trying to be nice and making the effort. Despite her grumpy nature, I never questioned how much she loved me.
I returned my attention to the show just in time to see the dragon jump in the air and expand her wings above the head of the audience. She then took flight in the air, soaring around the large space, higher and higher until she flew through the opening in the ceiling. Seconds later, she flew back down, drawing excited cries from the crowd. She paused before landing, those large eyes locking on mine. She’d sensed me. We weren’t the same kind of dragon. Would my presence anger her as intruding on her territory, or would she welcome seeing someone remotely of her kind?
She did a few more tricks and then the show was over with the announcer telling people to line up if they wanted a photo with the dragon for an extra cost. I grabbed Jalisa by the hand and pushed through the crowd to try to quickly get to the dragon. Ignoring the angry cries of the humans I made my way through,I managed to get to the start of the line behind only a few other people. Marcus and Daria eventually joined us, and several minutes later, I was face to face with another dragon. Only I couldn’t talk to her in his form.
I looked up at the dragon and raised a hand. “Can you shift?” I shouted.
A man in black knight armor and a camera walked over to me. “She can, but we’re kind of busy right now. Do you want a picture?”
I began to shake my head, but Daria pushed past me. “Yes, I do.”
Jalisa laid a hand on my shoulder. “I think we’re going to have to wait until she goes on break.”
I looked over to the dragon who eyed me as Daria posed beside her, Marcus standing very close with hands flexed, ready for action. The dragon bowed her head in greeting, and I took that as a sign that she wasn’t upset by my presence.
“When’s your break?” I shouted to the knight.
He tilted his head back to the waiting attendees. “When we finish with this line.”
“I need to talk to her, so I’ll wait.”
He shrugged and waved the next person over. “You’ll have to wait outside in front.”
An irritating long amount of time later, they finally went on break. A tall woman, close to 6ft, with pale skin and ash blonde hair hanging to her waist walked in our direction. There was no mistaking who she was with those topaz dragon eyes. She stopped in front of us, but her eyes were only on me.
She offered me a hand, and I took it in greeting. “I’m Zoe.”
“Ivan. I’m a-”
She yanked me toward her, tapping our foreheads together gently in the more familiar dragon greeting. “Ice dragon.”
I cleared my throat and took a giant step back, not wanting the others, especially my love, to get the wrong idea. “Yes. And this is my wife, Jalisa. And our friends, Daria and Marcus.”
Zoe barely acknowledged them. “Rarely see other dragons nowadays, especially ice dragons. What brings you here? You aren’t from the realm.”
I didn’t question how she knew. I was certain my scent gave it away. “I’m looking for someone. Another dragon.”
She placed her hands on her hips, eyeing me in a way that felt mildly flirtatious. This wasn’t going to be easy. “I know dragons. Buy me some food and a drink, and I’ll tell you all I know.”
I looked at the others.
“Just us two,” she added.
Jalisa rolled her eyes, smiling, although I knew she was anything but happy. “Now why would you want it to be just the two of you? I’m sure you heard him say I was his wife. Talk to us both,I’llbuy you food and drink.”
Zoe narrowed her eyes at Jalisa, the first time she’d acknowledged her in our brief exchange. “You’re mates, I can smell it. The fae sure do like to spread themselves. Fine. Let’s go.”
