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Rodrigo got that enigmatic expression he sometimes wore when he refused to give out the answer but wanted you to figure it out yourself. “Why don’t you ask your dragon?”
Luka winced. “My dragon has been silent this whole time.”
“That is not possible. Your dragon is part of you. It would not be silent. I don’t think it has refused to speak to you. I think your fear has suppressed its voice.” Rodrigo picked up Luka’s hand and put it firmly over his heart, holding it there. “Why don’t you try asking? Without assumptions, without fear: ask.”
Frankly, the idea terrified Luka. On the other hand, he could not see how the situation could get any worse. And wouldn’t it be better to know for sure?
So, even though he felt an inner quake in his core, he chose to follow the advice and leaned into the support Rodrigo offered. Luka closed his eyes, turning his attention inward, facing his dragon as he had not done before. Then he sucked in a breath for courage before mentally asking his dragon, Amaru?
The response was both immediate and in the loudest, most frustrated roar Luka had ever heard.
MAAAAAAAAATE!
The response was so strong it startled Luka, and he nearly fell off the roof entirely. Rodrigo latched on to him, steadying him, and Luka held on to his king even as he demanded more of his dragon.
Are you sure?
The dragon huffed at him like he could not believe Luka was being this stupid.
B-b-b-but Vasily…
Also mate.
That was not what Luka had been asking, but at the same time it answered every possible question he could ask. Amaru was his mate. Vasily was his mate. And perhaps for the first time in recorded history, there was a triad with two dragons and a mage.
Tears burned in his eyes as a sob of pure relief tore out of his throat, and then more kept coming, purging all the pain of the last few days. Luka was so overwhelmed, he didn’t know what he felt. Grateful that he did not have to lose anyone. Overjoyed. Relieved. Desperate to get back to the other two and straighten everything out before it became even more of a tangled mess.
But mostly, he was so full of love that he felt it might very well start shining out of his pores.
Rodrigo held him tightly until his sobs quieted before offering him a handkerchief. “You see? Don’t listen to fear. It doesn’t know anything anyway.”
Luka wiped his eyes and blew his nose, his smile so big it threatened to split his face. “Fear is a dirty, lying bitch. You’re right, hope is so much better. Thank you.”
Rodrigo let go of him to stand before offering him a hand up. “I did not want to see you needlessly suffer any longer. Besides, as I said, if I had not come after you, my lovely wife would have. And she was talking about borrowing Cheryl from Cassie. She kept saying something about this being a clue bat situation.”
Privately, Luka felt like the clue bat may not have been amiss. That said… “I’d rather not be beaten up.”
“I thought that might be the case.” Rodrigo gave him a pointed look. “I don’t need to tell you what to do next, right?”
“No, Velichestvo. I will get my ass right back to my mates.”
“Good. Fly to it.”
For the first time in Vasily’s entire life, he wanted to strangle Luka.
To be fair, Luka needed strangling just then. The urge was justified.
He kept flying around the area, making larger and larger loops as he did, his eyes scanning both land and sky in search of his elusive mate. No sign of him yet, but Vasily was not giving up until he found Luka.
He understood Luka was struggling right now, and that his dragon not speaking to him had made him assume the worst. Hell, for that matter, Vasily shared the concerns. But that did not mean Luka could run away from this conversation, run away from him, avoid coming home at night. The fact this was the second time in twenty-four hours that Luka had run from Vasily hurt more than words could describe and only fed his anger.
Vasily suspected Amaru was figuring things out, too, and if they did not talk to him soon, there was literally no telling what Amaru would do. Or think. Vasily would rather nip that situation in the bud before it turned into a large, poisonous, explosive flower.
But of course, to do that, he had to find Luka first.
The longer he flew, the more agitated he became. In fact, he was getting so mad that he might lose control of himself in a second. At this rate, he would end up on the local news after he made snow fall in Venezuela—wait. Wait, was that Luka? Over there, on the rooftop of the building next to the beach. He wasn’t alone either. Huh, that was Rodrigo.
