My mother narrowed her lavender eyes at me. “Why do you ask?”
“Just curious.” I shrugged but it felt stiff.
“Elaria Tanager, do not lie to me! I am your mother; I know every twitch of your face and right now, it's twitching deceptively.”
“You have deceptive twitches?” Gage whispered.
I grimaced at him.
“Why are you asking about the Sea Dragons?” My mother demanded.
I let out a huff of breath. “A Naga seer told me that the Blue Dragon was the only one who could save me.”
“King Verin? That dashing, brooding, blue-haired brute?”
“He's not a brute, Mom,” I protested. “He's just not as into finery as the other Dragon Kings. He's a warrior. You know; the strong and silent type. And he's had a hard life, okay? So, give him a...” I trailed off as I realized that everyone was staring at me with wide, horrified eyes.
“Oh, sweetie,” my mother whispered in sympathy.
“Elaria?” Banning growled. “Are you in love with Verin?”
“Am I...” I gaped at Banning. “No, I'm not in love with him,” I huffed. “Of course not. I barely know the guy.”
“You know him enough to sing his praises,” Torin pointed out dryly.
“And you're clearly attracted to him,” Darc murmured thoughtfully.
“Why do you say that as if it could be a good thing?” Gage snarled at Darc.
“Because, gentlemen,” Darc snarled right back, “in case you haven't noticed, we are down a man and it is not a good time for Elaria to be lacking a lover. She could die. Is our pride worth her life?”
The room went quiet. My Mom's eyes pinged back and forth between my men and myself. If you can even call looking between six people “back and forth.” My father entered the room at that very moment.
“Nigel says that this is the perfect time for you to visit; all of the Leaders are at Coven Cay, even Osamu, who has evidently been spending more time on the island. Nigel suspects it's because you made him feel guilty for traveling so often.” Dad stopped and looked around. “Why do I feel as if I've missed something important?”
“Your daughter is thinking about sleeping with a Dragon!” My mother announced.
I groaned and dropped my head into my hands.
“What?!” My father roared. “The Water God isn't enough for you?” He waved a hand at Darcraxis. “You gotta run after a Water Dragon now?”
“In case you've both forgotten, I've dated a Dragon before,” I said dryly as I climbed off Gage's lap.
“A Drachen,” my mother said as if it were infinitely better. “Not a Lóng.”
“Why does that matter?” I crossed my arms defiantly.
“Because you can't breathe water,” my father said as if it were obvious. “It's as if you deliberately seek the most difficult relationships.”
“I'm not seeking a relationship with a Dragon. I have no intention of sleeping with him,” I protested.
“Oh, you never intend that, little bird,” Torin muttered.
“Thanks for the support, Torin.” I glared at him.
“I'm sorry,” he said sincerely. “But you cannot expect us to blithely go along with this.”
“There's nothing to go along with! I'm not having sex with Verin!” I screeched.
It was such a loud, vehement shout that it echoed into silence as my earlier song had. Everyone gaped at me as if I were a madwoman.
I cleared my throat and tried again, “I'm not even contemplating it, and he is not interested in me either.”
“Oh, yes, he is,” Gage argued. “I smelled it on him. He wants you.”
Shit. I forgot about a Griffin's sense of smell.
“Okay, Verin may be attracted to me, but he doesn't want a relationship with me,” I amended.
“And how would you know that?” Declan asked in a deadly tone.
I went still. This was why I should have just told them about Verin from the start, but RS and Kyanite had talked me out of it.
You couldn't have told them, Kyanite reasoned. It would have caused them upset for no reason. Just keep calm and tell them that Verin confessed his attraction to you but then stated that he would not consider sharing a woman.
Thanks, Ky.
It's true, my love. You won't be lying.
“He”—I cleared my throat again—“confessed an interest in me. I told him, and I quote, 'A bird may love a fish but where would they live?'”
My father snorted with laughter, but my men seemed only slightly mollified.
“So, you made no declarations to him?” Banning pressed.
“No, Bann, I don't go around declaring romantic intentions to men behind your back,” I growled. “I did admit that I found him attractive as well, but I told him I wasn't going to take another lover, and Verin said that he had no desire to be with a woman whom he had to share. We agreed to be friends; that's all.”
Torin grunted—a lot like Verin—and nodded. “Very well. We can't fault King Verin for his good taste, and we shouldn't doubt you, little bird. It's just the situation that has us unsettled. If things weren't so dire, we wouldn't worry.”
“Which is why I think this may be a good thing,” Darc interjected. “You're all looking at this in the wrong way.”
The men swiveled annoyed stares back to Darc.
“If King Verin does not wish to take a lover he must share, he may be the perfect temporary lover for Elaria.”
That dropped a few jaws; mine included.
“We must face facts,” Darc said grimly. “If we cannot find a way to suppress the RS and we cannot free Slate soon, we will need at least one more man. A man who would be okay with being put aside once things are settled.”
“You mean; once we got Slate back and subdued the RS,” I clarified. “That might work if this were about lust, but it isn't, Darc. That's the problem. We have to love each other. So, what you're really proposing is that I fall in love with a man, and he with me, and then we abandon each other when it's convenient for you.”
Darc's jaw clenched
