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“And from killing Irany,” Luka tossed in.
“True.”
“I was beginning to think this stretch of the forest felt familiar to you,” Luka said.
Amaru jerked around to face Luka so fast he lost his balance. Vasily wrapped an arm around Amaru’s waist, pulling him in close so he was supporting most of his body weight as he stared at Luka.
“What do you mean?”
“We came this way with Sam when he was searching for your village. We couldn’t be more than a three- or four-day hike from it now.”
The mage’s entire body stiffened while he stared off through the dense trees as if trying to glimpse the place he’d once called home.
“Would you like to see it after we collect the ingredients?” Vasily asked softly, his arms tightening around Amaru’s waist. “Since we know the exact location now, it would take nothing to fly there. King Alric and his consort, Cameron, arrived a few days ago and have been heading up the preparations for the return of your clan.”
“No. I—” Amaru seemed to cut himself off and then jerkily shook his head. “No, you said it’s just ruins now, right? Not much to see. I’ll wait until I can visit with the rest of my clan.” He sucked in a deep breath and turned in Vasily’s arms, flashing him a bright smile that Vasily wasn’t entirely sure he believed. “We need to get the ingredients and hurry back to the camp. My people need to be woken up and Sam needs to be healed.”
With a little push, Amaru stepped free of Vasily’s hold and hopped down from the log. Vasily shared a look with Luka to prove he wasn’t the only one who saw that little pause. There was a good chance Amaru hadn’t emotionally dealt with the loss of so many of his clan mates, but there was no rushing these things. For now, they would watch over him and be there to catch him when he stumbled.
“So…since we’re close to the river and the iara’s hunting grounds, we need to figure out who’s going to be the bait,” Luka announced, redirecting their conversation to their purpose in being in the forest in the first place.
“Obviously, the bait has to be the cutest person if you want to be sure to lure the iara close enough to start singing,” Amaru pointed out. “That’s got to be…”
“Vasily.”
“Amaru.”
“Luka.”
They all answered at the same time, but each of them gave a different name, resulting in a wild cackle rising out of Amaru.
Vasily settled on a smirk. He wanted to be serious and not smile at all, but Amaru’s amusement was too contagious. “Well, that didn’t work out how I expected at all.”
“Really?” Amaru cocked his head to the side and narrowed his eyes on Vasily. “You don’t think Luka is the cutest, most adorable dragon who ever existed?”
A choking noise escaped Luka, but Vasily ignored it and narrowed his own gaze at the mischievous mage. “You have an evil streak in you I did not expect. Luka is most definitely the cutest dragon to ever exist, but that wasn’t the question. You said person, and I think that’s you. Don’t you think I’m cute? Do you think you’re stuck with an uncute dragon as a mate?”
Amaru raced across the short distance that separated them and threw his arms around his waist. “No! You’re adorable. And sexy. Very sexy! Too sexy! I don’t think of you as cute because you’re sexy.”
“Hey! Am I not sexy?” Luka chimed in, his voice artfully cracking at just the right spot.
“No! You’re sexy too!” Amaru was forced to release Vasily so he could leap into Luka’s waiting arms. His wicked dragon mate smirked over Amaru’s head at Vasily.
“So, I’m sexy, but Luka is cute and sexy,” Vasily teased, just barely keeping the laughter out of his voice.
The mage released Luka and huffed loudly. “And you called me evil. I think you’re both far more evil than I am. You two aren’t allowed to team up against me like that.”
Luka placed a hand on Amaru’s hip and dragged him in close, pressing a tender kiss to his temple. “We can be as evil as you.”
“Plus, it’s nice to have someone new to tease.”
“And when the teasing gets too much, I’ve found the make-up sex is all the sweeter later,” Luka whispered in Amaru’s ear.
“Hm. Okay. I think I need to try out this make-up sex tonight. That teasing was very mean.” As if to prove how much he’d suffered, Amaru jutted out his bottom lip in a pathetic pout.
“Good idea, but first we need to get the iara’s song,” Vasily reminded them.
“I thought I would act as bait,” Amaru suggested with a small shrug of his shoulder. “I can capture the song as she tries to lure me in.”
“No,” Vasily and Luka said in unison.
