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“Been talking to Nikki recently, I see.”
“Uh…yes? Why?”
“Just an observation. Don’t think they used chucklefucks back in your day.” Gregori poured himself a glass. “So, you want to know some history because those two have said fuck all to you. You have come to the right place. I have never been one to either mind my own business or shut up. Well, to start with, let me ask one question. You sure they’re both your mates?”
Amaru tried not to roll his eyes in despair. Failed. Oops, well, there was always tomorrow. “Of course I’m sure. I wouldn’t be able to connect to them in dreams if I wasn’t their mate.”
“Oh. Yeah, duh, that makes sense. We all wondered why you could only connect to those two, but if you’re mates, then a bond would be there.” Gregori took another sip as he studied Amaru carefully. “Amaru, did you use the words ‘you are both my mates’ or any combination thereof?”
“I, uh, didn’t?” Amaru couldn’t see why the phrasing was important. “But surely they understood me when I said I wanted both of them?”
“No.” Gregori sighed, a gusty sigh like he’d been afraid that was the answer. “It’s clear from their actions they don’t understand what you meant. So, your boys have been together two hundred and fifty years, give or take a couple decades.”
Two…hundred… “You’re saying they got together after you guys moved to Brazil?”
“Yup. That okay?”
“Of course it’s okay.” Why was this even a question? “I’m not going to begrudge them being together while waiting on me. I’m not that petty. Okay, I’m petty, but I’m understanding in this case. Just…I didn’t expect it.”
Gregori nodded even as he poured Amaru more vodka. “Dragons don’t seek out other dragons to have sex with. Or a relationship. That’s how it used to be, so of course you wouldn’t expect it. Once the war did its damage, we sometimes did turn to each other. For comfort, for release. There wasn’t anyone else for us, after all. That’s how Vasily and Luka started. They turned to each other for a night of fun. Then a few days later, they did it again. Then again. And eventually, they moved in with each other, and they’ve been inseparable ever since.”
Two hundred and fifty years. They’d been lovers, friends, partners, husbands for two hundred and fifty years. All while waiting for him, not even sure if he was alive or…the thought caught in his throat, making it hard to swallow for a second. Amaru threw the vodka back to help him clear the lump. It helped. Only a little, though.
“I’m not upset with them. At least, not for that.” He stared morosely into his empty glass. “I am upset they won’t talk to me and Vasily keeps abandoning me for Luka. And trying to get Luka to stay near me for more than ten minutes is like pulling teeth from a snake trying to eat me.”
“That does not surprise me. Luka has been waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
This phrase did not make any sense to Amaru. “How do shoes play into this?”
“I mean he’s always been the more pessimistic of the two. What you must keep in mind is that these two have been waiting with bated breath for hundreds of years. Not only to meet you, but also to be torn apart.”
Freezing in place, he ran those words through his mind. Then did it again because something was askew there. The calculations weren’t working. “Wait. Wait, I thought they knew they were mates? It’s why they’ve been together for so long.”
Gregori’s pitying look was back. He shook his head in a firm no. “I’m afraid not. They stayed together because they love each other. They never once truly believed they were mates.”
It rather felt like someone had taken a new concept, tied it to a sturdy rod, and then smacked Amaru right in the back of the head with it. He felt dizzy with the realization and also a bit stupid for not considering it before.
“So they’ve been, what, waiting for their relationship to implode? For two hundred and fifty years?!”
Gregori gave a small nod, his smile sad. “That’s about the size of it. Honestly, we all sort of thought that. There are no records of triads in the history books. I think Gunter and Nikki even offered Luka sanctuary if he needed to leave the clan.”
Right, so he needed to kill those two later. They should not be encouraging Luka to leave.
Amaru thumped his glass closer to Gregori. “Booze me, daddy.”
“Sure thing, honeybunch.”
He accepted the vodka and knocked it back. Just how did he approach this problem? Two hundred and fifty years was a very long time to live with the fear of losing someone precious. It probably felt inevitable at this point, which was why Luka kept drawing back from him.
