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“I was hanging out with Mike atDrink of Mewhen one of the other waitresses passed by, and for some reason, I just thought ‘hey, I think I’ll see what my favorite human is up to this morning.’ I then went by Goya’s enclave to grab Sorin, and now here I am. Ready to serve.”
Ben crossed his arms, still staring.
Ere blinked innocently back at him.
It always amazed Ben that this strange eternalchildwas his biological sire.
“So…” Ere drew out the word, pausing dramatically, “you’re pretty damn serious about this quest, huh.”
“Yup.”
Ere polished off the apple and tossed the emaciated core into the trash bin, wiping off his hands.
“Well, it’s a good thing Sorin and I are coming with.”
“Eh?” Ben queried, arching a dubious brow, the same time as Sorin, Ere’s Mate, arched his own.
Clearly, this was a split-second decision by the Black Dragon. But his Mate didn’t seem inclined to gainsay him.
“If you’re determined to dive headlong into danger, I won’t hold you back. But I’m certainly not going to let you go alone,” Ere said stoutly, folding his own arms in a pugnacious stance.
Or as pugnacious a stance as a tall, lean, long-haired, too-pretty man could strike.
“I’m twenty-eight, Ere,” Ben reminded him, “mastered in all kinds of deadly martial arts and weaponry. I’ve fought and defeated giant werewolves and zombies, shadow demons and more. I can take care of myself.”
Ere sniffed.
“But you’re stillhuman.”
Ben was relatively certain he didn’t mean for “human” to sound like something scraped off the bottom of a god’s golden soles, but there it was. The emphasis was definitely not complimentary.
“As such, you’re prone to injury anddeath.” Ere shuddered dramatically.
“I know,” Ben said.
“When lost, human body parts don’t tend to grow back,” Ere went on. “A mere virus could put entire populations out of commission.”
“Iknow,” Ben said.
“But if the mightiest of all dragons were to come with you, along with the mightiest of all raptors, real and mythical—why, you would be so well protected you’d practically be invincible.”
Ben rolled his eyes skyward. So much for his time alone, away from home.
It was pointless to argue with Ere when he got going. Even though Ben was just about the only person in the universe who could out-argue the Black Dragon, this was clearly not a battle Ere intended to lose.
Accordingly, Ben threw in the metaphorical towel this round.
“I don’t suppose you can easily get last minute flights to Cairo?” he muttered, grasping at desperate straws.
Ere tsked in admonishment.
“Don’t be silly, dear boy. Who needs plane tickets when one possesses wings? I hope you got fully refundable tickets.”
“Yeah.” Ben sighed with defeat.
“Then, hop aboard the Dragon or Phoenix Express, Benjamin Button! To Cairo we will go!”
Chapter Three
