Page 115 of Between Two Kings

Tem sighed. There was no other way to explain it. Besides, it was the truth. “Yes.”

“That’s wild.”

She sighed again, pulling him away from the fountain. “Such is the basilisk way.”

“I can’t believe you’ve been hiding all of this from me.”

“I haven’t hidden anything. You’re here, aren’t you?”

“You could’ve told me you were drinking from a cum fountain, Tem.”

She rolled her eyes again. “You wouldn’t have believed me if I did.”

Gabriel didn’t reply for a moment. He was too busy watching as another man approached the fountain, his cock in his hand. “I want to try it,” he insisted.

“Try what? Drinking it, or…?”

“Both.”

“No. You get to try neither.”

“Tem.” Gabriel turned to her and placed his hands on her shoulders. “You won’t let me flirt with Caspen’s hot brother. You won’t let me drink from the cum fountain. And you won’t let me come in the fountain. What am I even doing here?”

Tem opened her mouth, then closed it. What was he doing here? He was supposed to be experiencing their culture; he was supposed to be healing the rift between the villagers and the basilisks. And Tem wasn’t letting him. She closed her eyes, trying to clear her mind. A hand touched her shoulder. Damon.

“Your friend is thirsty. You should let him drink.”

Tem almost laughed. “He can’t handle it.”

“Of course he can. You handled it, did you not?”

Tem rolled her eyes. “I’m a Hybreed.”

“Which means you are half-human. You should have faith in your own species.”

Tem had nothing to say to that.

“Is this not why he is here?”

Tem sighed. It was essentially what Gabriel had just said. She wanted him to experience basilisk culture—to integrate. But letting him drink the elixir was a risk. “Can he really handle it?”

Damon placed his hand over his chest. “I would not lead you astray, Temperance.”

Tem rolled her eyes.

Damon looked legitimately offended. “Have you no faith in me?”

What a question. Tem had no faith in the Drakon brothers. But this was not Apollo. This was Damon, and he had never given her any reason not to trust him.

“One drop will not hurt him,” Damon said quietly.

“Do you promise?” she whispered, her voice nearly breaking.

Damon’s expression softened. “No harm will come to him. You have my word, Temperance.”

The same thing Caspen had promised. With so many basilisks looking out for Gabriel, Tem was starting to believe it.

“Fine,” she said finally. There was clearly no stopping this train anyway. Tem wasn’t sure she even wanted to anymore. Why shouldn’t Gabriel experience all the basilisks had to offer? If the elixir would contribute positively to the evening, she wanted him to have some.