Cinder stuck his tongue out and ran off.
Maybe he could catch Niko.
Boyfriend!Cinder called out. Niko screamed, and it was going to be another great day.
Chapter Nineteen
Viraj
Ashwin refused to leave.
Not that they’d asked him to. Of course they hadn’t, as guests stayed as long as they felt like, but he lounged around their estate and spent his days harassing Hallr about the fucking nestblossoms and bitching endlessly about Ryan changing his name and flaunting his Drakes about as if he had no shame.
He’d practically taken over their solar, set up his tea service and spent the day lounging on their wicker couch.
“Father, for a dragon with such a prodigious appetite, you sure have a problem with passing that trait on to your children.” Viraj, unable to keep his mouth shut, flinched the second he said it and earned his father’s sharp glare. But calculation simmered behind those fiery eyes before being stowed away, not forgotten but saved up for later.
He was plotting.
Someone was in danger, but Viraj, for the life of him, couldn’t say who.
Ashwin decidedly ignored the snip, even as Karam and Mahava flinched. Ashwin had never been a stranger to backhanding mouthy progeny. Striking a pregnant Dette would have earned him a swift death.
But after he had his eggs?
Was that what he was waiting for?
“When Hallr turns over the nestblossoms to me, we won’t have any of this rampant nonsense anymore.” He gestured ambiently, which could have meant anything, but he kept talking. “Dette councils, Dette hoards, Drake harems.”
“How would you getting nestblossoms stop that?” Gatlin, sitting on the other side of the room on his phone, keeping a close eye on Viraj, spoke up, narrowing his gaze toward Ashwin.
“Nestblossom alone? No. There’re concoctions left behind by my physician that would drive Dettes mad with lust, keep them complacent, to learn their place.”
Viraj’s skin went cold.Drugged.
He’d all but admitted to it.
“And you kept these recipes?” Gatlin kept his tone even, but Viraj couldfeelthe tension in his chest.
“Of course. My physician, unfortunately, passed long ago, but I’ll have to have another trained. What with the nestblossoms returned, I may send one of my servants to be trained. Or, perhaps Mahava or Karam could be trained. Which of you has more life left?”
The two looked at one another. Karam spoke up, indicating he did.
“There, train the boy. When your pups are manageable, send him back.” Ashwin snapped his fingers impatiently.
“I’d be interested in seeing the tomes.” Gatlin kept his tone neutral. “Though, I suppose you only have those tomes in one place, locked away safe in your homeland.”
Ashwin snorted. “I go nowhere without it. The secrets those tomes hold are not to be trusted elsewhere. But I’ll show no one.”
“I’m sure you could negotiate with Hallr or Gaspard when you wish for Karam to be trained. Someone will have to see it besides Karam.” Gatlin pretended to pay attention to his phone.
“True.” Ashwin sighed heavily. “The bloody Nielsen needs to make up his mind on my offer.”
Gatlin
Gatlin shrugged and glanced up, hating himself a little as heasked, “Viraj, would you be a dear and bring my laptop?”
Viraj glanced up from his phone and nodded once before sliding onto his feet precariously. His belly, quite impressive, preceded him as he wordlessly shuffled away.
