Olivia got up and began to pace the room. I watched her curiously as she spoke. "Others were willing to hire me. With my ass and my legs? Yeah, sure, I could've found work anywhere that needed a stripper. But I didn't want to work like that. Mom did, when I was little. I wanted something more..."
"Safe?" I suggested. There were hazards in her work, surely, but few that involved drunken men following her to her car after work hours.
She paused and looked back at me. "Oh, fuck."
"Indeed."
"But I'm a human."
I shrugged. "You certainly seem to believe you are. I would assume it. You did hatch an egg, which requires your humanity be intact. Simply wanting to be safe doesn't make you an omega, though the more I get to know you the more I see omega tendencies in you. The way you move, the lack of a desire for something flashy-"
"I'm not the most motherly person I know," Olivia said, wrapping an arm around herself.
"Not all omegas become parents," I said, which drew a shocked expression from her. The arm dropped and I continued. "The vast majority do. They enjoy life, a new becoming, those sorts of feelings. Yet, not all are parents. And in truth, draconic culture is a great deal different from the parenting you have been near. We teach the whelps, but they take care of themselves most of the time."
She sighed and looked back at the door. "Speaking of which, shouldn't the kid be waking up soon?"
"Iyadre threw a blanket over his crate. Much like birds, if we cannot see the sun when we are young, we often do not wake until we are roused to do so. Besides that, he has had a very exhausting hatching," I said. I paused, then added, "I wish I could ask your mother where she got the egg from. It would likely be an incredible story, one that invites intrigue. Nesting dragons are difficult to steal from."
"I just know she bought it years ago and absolutely believed it was a dragon's egg," Olivia shrugged.
I stood and walked to her, breathing the essence of magic that swarmed around her body. Nothing less than burying my head against her and drinking in that pure energy would do, yet I restrained myself. She wasn't interested in me. I didn't wish to push my luck, when I had already asked so much from my little witch. "Stranger yet, then. Most who steal an egg wish to keep it for themselves, not sell it to the highest bidder."
"She can't have bid much. We had nothing," she said.
The strangest consequence. I shook my head and opened the door for her. "Let us go and see the whelp. Then you should sleep."
"Then I'm getting to work," she said, grabbing the door to hold it for herself. "Because I have a job to do, whether you like it or not."
I watched her go, my fingers still curled against the wood. Slowly, a smile pulled at my lips.
What may I say? Dragons do love fire.
Chapter 13
Vadriq
"I can't believe she left," I sighed, watching the microwave tick the seconds by until my single-serve cake finished cooking itself.
Iyadre shrugged. "And Nariti and Eskal with her. No doubt they'll be home before terribly long. I don't think she has enough in her to last the day. Besides, we'll have to go get them. And then we'll have to save the truck from impoundment. Nice of them to take the Hummer back to the Fontaines, though."
"Nice of Hudson to give us a car after how vicious Eskal is being about things," I muttered.
My wingmate shook his head. "It's because of the girl. I think she's gorgeous, too. I like her. But he's practically ready to go hunting for her. Actually, does that bug you at all?"
I looked off across the room to the windows. Outside, a kid biked past the house. Summer break would be over soon and all the smaller humans would be locked in their schools for the duration of the year. I considered Iyadre's words and tried to think through the best way to answer them.
Was I irritated that my lover had found another mate? Of course I was. Anyone would feel pushed to the side, ignored, maybe even replaced.
But was I angry that he was happy? Was I happy? Olivia was a cool, but gentle creature who had risked her entire life to help us save the nest. She was kind to me when we spoke, but I didn't know if I cared for her. Finally, I shook my head. "The witch will leave us eventually. She only signed up for this because she needs the money. When she does, I'll comfort him as I always do when something doesn't go his way. Let him have his fantasies. It's nothing to me."
"So, you're absolutely livid and you want her thrown out so you get all of his attention."
I snorted at him. "You're putting words in my mouth. I have no interest in who she is or what she does."
It was so convenient to lie to myself where no one else could hear me. Though Iyadre knew me better than that. I wasn't surprised that it was him calling me out on the current situation. I hoped I would be able to control myself. Eskal wasn't mine, exactly. What we did was fun more than serious. He had never considered serious, as far as I knew.
But I had, time and again, allowed myself to dream if he did one day look at me as a mate rather than a friend and lover. I was no omega, but I could try to be one for him.
"It's supposed to rain tomorrow. She won't be able to run off to work again. You should get to know her better. Let her see what it'd be like to stick around," Iyadre said.
I eyed him. "Are you having visions again?"
With a smile, he got up and left the table. Though his visions had been less frequent of late, he had never stopped having the irritating things throughout the whole of our lives together. I ignored him as he ignored me, leaving him to wonder. If he knew me as he thought he did, he knew I would be stung.
Yet who was I to question Eskal? I could never hatch a nest for him, never help him find one. I was just another beta dragon, amusing the alphas until I was useless.
The garage called me a few times, but I didn't bother to answer. I was lucky enough to have a day off, but they usually called me in. Not today. Not after the failure of the hatching last night and not when my wingmate was so enraptured by some human witch.
I threw myself down in a pile and played video games, instead. Though Eskal wasn't particularly fond of them, he had the newest systems for my personal addiction. The thought of Eskal had me murdering my team mates a little more often than I usually did. The more I dwelled on the situation, the more frustrated I got. So, I tried even harder to play the game, instead.
Then the power shut off. It wasn't as if Eskal was late paying a bill; he wasn't the type and I'd set up the auto-draw for the electric company myself. I frowned up at the ceiling, waiting for it to blitz back on, but nothing happened. From the bedroom, the whelp shrieked. I dragged myself up and went to check on him.
Inside the crate, he thrashed and hissed. I opened the door; he'd been napping last I'd checked, and offered my hand to him. "Come here. What's wrong? Your mother isn't here right now, but if you're hungry-"
He zoomed up my arm, past my shoulder, and raged squeaks and trills directly into my ear. I pulled him away, wishing the whelp would speak draconic like one his age usually did. As of yet, all I'd gotten from him was a number of noises.
"Easy," I told him, letting his tail wrap around my hand. I switched to draconic for his benefit. "Tell me what it is. Tell me, like this, and I'll understand you."
It took him a moment or two to fully understand me. Then, in the tiniest voice I'd ever heard, he panted one word. "Mother."
Was everyone in my life obsessed with the witch? I sat down in the floor with him and ran a finger over the top of his head. Unlike the others, he didn't whip around and try to bite me. Maybe he was a beta, too. "She's working. She's outside of the den for now, but she'll return later this evening. When the sky is darkening, she will come back to you."
"Mother."
"I know what you said. I understand. But she has other things to do right now, d'you get it?"
The whelp looked toward the door and I turned my head to check over my shoulder. Had they gotten home early? Was something wrong?
But there was no sign
of Eskal or Nariti. No sign of Olivia, either. Maybe there was something wrong with the whelp. Or maybe he wanted something his mother could give him.
Maybe he was just hungry.
We went back into the kitchen and I sat him down on the table. The second I left him, he chirped and squeaked as if no one would ever give him a drop of attention again. I searched the refrigerator for a moment before I found what I was looking for. I plopped down the bologna and peeled off a slice, ripping it up and putting it in a little pile in front of him.
The whelp sat and looked at me, as if he were trying to decide whether or not I was trustworthy enough to accept food from. I shrugged at him. "Eat or don't, it's no scales off my back. But if you decide not to, I'm not the bad guy."
Just to emphasize it, I stole a piece from the top and popped it into my mouth. He reared into the air, immature wings flapping, and shrieked at me. I hid a smile. At least he was interested in the food, even if he wasn't eating it.
I sat down at the table and peeled another slice of questionable meat off the loaf, rolling it up, and shoving it in my mouth. The whelp watched, hissed, and snatched a bit of meat from his own set. His little tail rattled like a snake's against the tabletop and I barely managed to keep from laughing at him.
For his benefit, I averted my gaze and looked out the window. He had the pile of meat gone in a breath and I shredded another slice for him. As I worked, he snapped up the bits that fell through my fingers. The tail rattled harder against the table.
"Yes, you're very threatening," I told him. "I'm tearing up your food right now, as fast as I can, oh master dragon."
Three slices later and the whelp curled up and blew smoke at me. That was the thanks I got for taking care of him, a rather polite gesture from such a youngster. Most would have bitten me for taking too long to rip apart each slice, but he'd been pretty patient.
My phone rang again. Eskal's ringtone. I reached for it, then paused. If he needed something, couldn't he ask his new favorite? I wasn't certain that I could keep the bitterness from my voice, now that I was stuck with the whelp, too. And where was Iyadre? Shouldn't he have been dealing with the kid?
A tiny, warm body pressed against my arm. I frowned down at the whelp and lifted him into my arms. Then just gently slid him into the pocket on my shirt. It was the perfect size for him, when he coiled up, and he went straight to sleep.
The phone rang again. Well. Rang may not have been the best term. A wolf's howl echoed from the speakers.
"What the fuck do the Fontaines want?" I muttered, answering it. "Vadriq Vervain."
"Vad, it's Xav."
"Xav, Vad," I said, trying to keep the smile from my face. Feelings were rough between us and the wolves, but Xavion was a decent mutt if I'd ever met one. I liked him.
"Yeah. Listen, there's a bunch of cops here swarming the site. Your girl just got taken off in cuffs and Eskal punched an officer. They're trying to drag him off, but Nariti's making all kinds of lawyer noises at them and threatening their badges. You guys might want to get down here and take over when the cops shove all three of them into a car."
There was a noise on the other end of the phone. I recognized Eskal's roar in the background, though thankfully not the draconic version of it. God, what had we been thinking? Breaking into a museum in the middle of the night, escaping on dragonback; it was the most reckless we'd been in at least a century. "What's going on now?"
"Pretty sure a cop just got into a fight with your man and they put his ass on the ground. I mean, not like he's doing anything smart by trying to tussle with them out here, you know? Anyway, you want us to take care of it? Hudson will throw a fit but he can go fuck himself. Or you wanna come down here?"
If I were being fair, I would ask Iyadre to come and speak with me. If life were being fair, the witch would have never stuck her nose into my life.
"We'll meet them at the station. It's not the first time he's had a brush with the law and I doubt it will be the last. How can you blame him? The human laws are ridiculous," I said, absently stroking the sleeping whelp in my pocket.
Xavion answered with a grunt and hung up on me. Typical. I put my phone down and looked at the ceiling, considering my next move. If we left Eskal, Nariti, and Olivia at the local jail, only two of them would make it out. I assumed Eskal would be barred from bailing a potential accomplice; and it had to be related to the egg break, or lack thereof, last night. What else would they have had on us?
That kept the human out of my life, until Eskal got home and called in a favor with someone else; most likely one of the unicorn studs that kept stomping around. They were all soft, gentle sorts who leapt at the chance to help out anyone in need. Ruthless in business, though. Crossing a unicorn was suicide; they'd haunt you to the ends of the earth and probably follow you into the spectral world if given the chance.
But abandoning my wingmate to a cage, even a very temporary one, bothered me. It set a precedent I wasn't comfortable with and it let the humans see him behind bars. The news probably wouldn't cover it very hard; the business was successful but it wasn't as if he threw himself before the public eye like the Fontaines did or the corvids.
"Iyadre?" I called.
There was a crash in the garage, a muttered curse, and then footsteps headed my way. His hair was mused, a pair of safety goggles pushed up his forehead. I blinked at him. He frowned at me. "Did you need something?"
"What the hell are you doing out there?"
He sighed and put his hands in his pockets. "Mead. The last stuff was such lousy quality I had to flush it down the sink. The fish in the sewers are probably drunk as fuck, though. What's up?"
"Eskal may have gotten himself into trouble."
After all, I didn't have confirmation that he'd been dragged off to jail but it was enough to assume he probably had. Most humans couldn't get away with decking a cop and not getting in trouble for it. There's only so much that money can buy you out of until you have to go through the same process as everyone else.
"Eskal may have gotten himself into trouble?" he asked.
I looked anywhere but his face. "Probably."
"Only probably."
"He punched a cop, I think. Xavion called and gave me the bad news. Him and Nariti are probably getting dragged into a paddy wagon as we speak."
Iyadre pulled his goggles off and tossed them on the table. "How long does it usually take for humans to process them into the jail, and how long does it take for us to be able to go get them?"
"And you're asking me this, why?" I scowled.
He snorted. "Because you're the one who hangs out with the bottom feeders around town. You're the one who watches people get into trouble at your garage all the time. We run real estate. Come on. How long?"
"You grease the right people and maybe it's a few hours. Without that, it's probably a day or two. Eskal will probably lose his mind in a cell if he's in there for dinner." I slapped the table as I stood. "You have enough in your account to bail them out?"
Iyadre looked like I'd slapped him. "Why would it come from my coffers? He's your wingmate as much as he is mine."
"I'm not paying for him. The old drake's loaded. He can pay for himself. You have access to his account, don't you?"
He nodded, rubbing his chin. "He won't like this. A donation is one thing. Paying for the uncaging of an innocent dragon is another. He'll be ready to take out half the city. Especially once Olivia finds out about this. She must be terrified she's next."
I bit my tongue. Iyadre peered at me. "Is she involved, too?"
"She was at the museum. One would assume-"
"Did Xavion mention her or not?"
I glared at him and Iyadre snorted. "Xavion called me first, idiot. I just wanted to see if you could check your ego long enough to do what's right. Obviously, you can't. You get babysitting duty again. You aren't coming with me."
"The kid's asleep," I snapped. "You stay with him. I'll go get Eskal."
And only Eskal. Nariti cou
ld keep Olivia company while I worked myself into Eskal's good graces once again. I didn't know what I'd done for his eye to stray so far, but I must have done something to displease him. What better to fix it than by saving him from human capture?
"Is he in your pocket?" Iyadre asked.
I cupped the tiny bulge in my pocket as if he were going to reach over and snatch him away from me. Then I lowered my hands. It wouldn't do for him to think I cared about the whelp, which I didn't. But he'd eaten for me and that was something special. Most whelps wouldn't eat for anyone other than their parents; did he consider me... a friend, at least? I'd only talked him to sleep last night while the others had been gone and offered him a little fruit. Though we were primarily carnivorous, we still enjoyed a little forage now and then.
On Wings: A Reverse Harem Dragon Shifter Romance (Her Secret Menagerie Book 2) Page 12