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“We know, and so does he,” he assured, patting my cheek then let go.
“Hey, guys!” Charlotte called, approaching the garden with Aaron, Quinn and Edward.
“Oh, hi, sweetie.” I smiled at her and Quinn, then nodded to the guys. “Hey, dude.”
“We are sorry to intrude,” Aaron muttered, fully intimidated by Asher and the other Elevated Warriors behind us. “Um, we were wondering if you might, um, perhaps—”
“We were wondering if you are almost done?” Quinn asked, glaring at Aaron. When she cleared her throat, slightly fidgeting, I realized she was as intimidated by the royal guard as Aaron was, she just hid it better.
“Yep.” Asher slapped my back, resting an arm over my shoulder. “He did great today, so he’s all yours.” His attention shifted to Charlotte. “Where are you guys headed?”
“To the other side of the mountain. Thecerasusseeds are dried already, so we need Brax to tell us what is next.”
Excitement filtered through me. For the past several days, we had worked together to harvest as many coffee cherries as we could from the grove Evie allocated to us. A few people from the kitchen and the market volunteered to help us too, intrigued by the process and what we were going to do with them. Now that the beans were sorted, soaked, and dried, we were almost there.
“Cool. Now we just have to roast them, then we can finally brew. Where is everyone, at the grove?”
“Yeah. All waiting,” Edward added.
“Do you mind if we join you?” Asher asked, glancing at me.
“Wait, you guys want to come with us?” Aaron asked, shocked, and Harper chuckled, pulling Elijah with her on her way towards us.
“I mean, we arethe leadersof the Skyborne Legion, but sure, we could donate some time to the recruits. Why, not?” she teased.
“Stop being mean,” Elijah chided, humor sparkling in his eyes, and bumped her shoulder with his.
“I’m just teasing.” Harper gave him an evil grin. Letting go of her boyfriend, she hooked her arm with Aaron’s. “Come on. Show me the way.”
Aaron’s eyes bulged, and he kind of stopped breathing.
Shaking his head, Elijah stopped beside me. “What am I going to do with her?” A defeated sigh left him. “She’s not going to be happy until she gives the poor boy a heart attack.”
“Yeah, he’s crushing on her, hard,” I agreed. “It means he likes her,” I added when Elijah glanced at me like I had grown a second head.
His lips twitched. “You say the oddest things.”
My gaze shifted ahead when Vyper landed, the earth shaking a bit beneath our boots from his weight. A grin stretched my lips and I lifted my arms, calling him to me while the others continued to walk.
“Hey there,” I greeted, scratching his chin and jaw just the way he liked it.
Vyper’s eyes closed, thoroughly enjoying my attention, and he lowered his head even more so I could reach the horn on his forehead. It was his weak spot. I swore that at one point he almost purred. Smirking, I stroked the base of his horn, seeing the beginning of a smile spread across his mouth. It wasn’t often that he smiled without suggesting he might have you for dinner, or that he was planning to throw you from three hundred feet above the ground, so I appreciated the sweet moment while it lasted.
…And then it was gone. His brow crinkled, a rumbling growl igniting in his throat.
My gaze flew up to notice a stow away rushing down his forehead to get to me, and I chuckled just as the bronze Dragon baby jumped off Vyper, landing in my open arms.
“Hey, my friend. Did you catch a ride with Vyper? Yes, you did…” I asked in a coddling voice, scratching his neck and chest when he turned in my hold, giving me his belly. Sometimes I swore Dragons were like very scary, huge versions of puppies. Except for the babies of course. Those were always cute.
Snorting, Vyper lifted his chin, looking away from me like I had insulted him. It was hard not to laugh, but I did my best. He was very protective of me, even jealous, and having to “share me” with Tharion as well as the baby hadn’t helped things much. He was still having a hard time accepting the changes that had occurred in the past several days, but we were managing.
“Oh, come on. Don’t be mad at me. You know you are my first, and because of that, I love you the most.” Cuddling the baby against my chest, I lifted a hand towards Vyper.
His yellow eye opened, throwing a side-glance at me, but he still lowered his head so I would caress him again.
Grinning, I patted his cheek. “Come on, time for us to go make coffee.” Stepping onto his wing, I jumped twice until I landed on his neck, and we began to fly out of the mountain. “I’ll meet you guys over there!” I yelled towards the others below us, seeing them nod while they got onto their Dragons and horses. Aaron, Charlotte, Edward, and the others rode with them.
When we landed on the outside of the mountain at the north end, I found our helpers all stood along the entrance to the grove, chatting excitedly about what they were working on for so long, and patiently waiting.
