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All those people. Friends. Neighbors. Gone.
He wasn’t aware of the tears slipping down his face until Vasily reached up to touch his cheek, wiping them away. It seemed only natural to let himself get pulled into the dragon’s arms. His cool skin was a soothing balm. Not to mention it felt nice to be held again after so many years.
He finally allowed himself to cry for all the lost mages and dragons. His people lost to their private war, as well as all the mages lost to the Dragon War on the other side of the world. He listened to the other mages and dragons quietly slip out of the tent, promising to talk more and make official plans tomorrow.
That was fine with him. He’d had enough of strangers and big news for one day.
Except for mates.
He stayed in Vasily’s arms for an indeterminate amount of time. Frankly, he didn’t want to leave them. Eventually though, his nose was runny, he felt soggy, and the urge to sit up got the better of him. When he did, Vasily offered him a box with white looking handkerchiefs of some sort. They were very soft, if thin. He promptly took two and used them. Only then did he realize Luka had left at some point. That did not please him whatsoever, but he could hardly complain if Luka had something else he needed to do.
“Better?” Vasily asked him tenderly.
Amaru gave a shallow nod and even sort of meant it. He would be grieving for a while yet, but it did feel better to release some of the emotion that had built up inside of him.
Right now he wanted a break from thinking of everything he had lost. It was time to shift his focus to the present and what he could do now.
“I told you what happened to us in the past. Now I want to ask questions of you.”
“Are you sure? You don’t want to rest?” Vasily asked. He loosened his hold on Amaru so he could move back to his seat, but Amaru didn’t budge. Why would he? This dragon was a very good cuddler. The only thing that might be better would be to cuddle both dragons at the same time.
Later. They would work up to that.
“I’m done resting. I slept for five hundred years. No more of that ever again. I want to know everything. Now.”
Luka had not been able to take staying inside that tent a moment longer. Watching Amaru and Vasily together had been more than his heart could take. They were so natural together and it was clear Vasily felt protective of Amaru already. Being on the receiving end of that protective nature for centuries, there was no mistaking it.
He tried not to be jealous, tried not to second-guess the hope they both harbored. Unfortunately, he pretty much failed at both. He could feel the jealousy and uncertainty churning uneasily inside his gut, a truly sickening sensation. And there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it.
He tried once again to talk himself back into hope. Vasily had reassured him time and time again that no matter how things shook out, he would never leave Luka. Luka believed he meant it. But Vasily could not speak for Amaru’s heart or feelings on this matter. And Luka was under no illusions about who would win if a true mate put their foot down. A war that had destroyed their entire world was evidence enough of that.
He went to stand by the lake, needing a minute by himself. He stared out over the water, knowing what lay beneath the surface. Knowing he could not leave until the job here was finished. Hopefully, things would somehow work out. Right now, he just didn’t see how.
Luka heard footsteps approaching from behind him and turned to see who it was. Gunter and Nikki walked toward him hand in hand, their trajectory obvious as they approached him.
“Luka, you got a second?” Gunter gestured toward the lake. “I have some questions about what you saw down there.”
Luka could use the distraction right now. “Of course. What do you want to know?”
“Did you get a firm headcount on how many people were down there?”
“Actually, no, I didn’t. But Amaru knows exactly how many people were there.”
“Ah. I will ask him then. Evora said the technology and magic were not things she had ever seen before.”
“That’s true. It was in line with what we saw from the Sousa ruins, of course. Actually, if anything, what we saw in the ruins was nothing but a shadow compared to what I saw down there. I’m not sure if even modern technology could do what they did. It just shows we really did lose a lot of knowledge in the war.”
Nikki made a face. “You can say that again. I mean, the Sousa had always been cutting edge back in their day, but I find it amazing that even in modern times we can’t understand how they did what they did. For that matter, I’m still trying to figure out how Amaru connected to you and Vasily in your dreams.”
