When he said my name, it was like the air left the room but just for me. That was a type of power that I would never have. Only beings with more magic than they knew what to do with could pull something like that out of nowhere. I glared at him, but he ignored me.
"Yeah, Olivia. She's been with us for a while now. You held off on him, huh?" Nicole asked.
I snorted, the only thing I could do after such a magical sucker-punch. Eskal sighed. "Unfortunately. I do thank you ladies for your time. Iyadre, if you would?"
Eskal rose and the pair of men moved to leave the office as one. My boss watched them go but for a moment, then rounded on us with a million questions that I didn't listen to. Instead, I watched as Eskal and Iyadre walked toward that ridiculous sports car for the second time in two days.
Just before he got there, Eskal turned to look at the windows of the office. He slid the sunglasses down his nose and winked a wide, slit pupil amber eye at me. Then he turned, walked to the driver's side door, opened it, and slid in.
Oh.
Oh, God.
Dragons.
Chapter 5
Eskal
The world slid past the car as Iyadre drove. I watched him for a moment, remembering.
Dragon nests are communal property. With so few omegas, we require the guardianship of multiple flights to guard the eggs. I called the omega who had hatched me my mother, but who knew if we shared genetic relations?
She had raised me, as she had raised Iyadre, Nariti, and Vadriq. Hatchmates often fell in love, confided in one another, and took to each other as family. It had been no different with the four of us.
There was little enough chance that I would ever find an omega of my own. Instead, I took pleasure in the presence of my hatchmates and they me.
"Do you think the girl will help us?" he asked.
I snorted and gave him no answer. I was sour enough over the potential loss of the eggs; I didn't need to explain it to him, too. We pulled up in front of my home. Another vehicle was already present, Nariti's battered old Nissan truck. Beyond it, a motorcycle lay tipped precariously against the front porch.
Vadriq.
The too-tight slacks entrapped me further at the thought of him. Why were they too tight? I ignored the potential reason, but a blonde with a scowl on her face danced in the back of my mind. It was the attraction to power, I told myself. Nothing more than that.
Iyadre parked but I was already out of the car and headed inside, intent on the scent of motor oil and fury.
My lover was solid in human shape, slabs of muscle laying over a body that was too lean. The sharpness of his cheekbones, the dark circles under his eyes, they waited for me in the dining room.
Vadriq was still in his leathers, though I thought them more amusement than anything else. What reason need a dragon of additional scales, much less in cow hide? But it was human law and he made an attempt to fit in with the ridiculousness of it all. I prowled toward him, pleased that he was in my lair, and yanked the jacket from his shoulders.
In turn, Vadriq leaned into me, lifted his chin, and kissed me. I growled and pulled my head away from him. He had the gall to smile up at me. "Got ya."
"I kiss first, not you," I reminded him. "You rank beneath me. You should act like it."
He rolled his eyes and turned his back on me, pulling out of the jacket and leaving it on a dining room chair. "Did you get the eggs or not?"
"Not, though we made a good effort," Iyadre answered. Was everyone intent on undermining me?
Vadriq shrugged. "You can only do so much. Nariti's barbequing. I'm heading out to help him. Either of you two hungry yet?"
The idea of food sent a bolt through me. I couldn't remember when I'd last had a meal; the coffee certainly hadn't been enough for me. Without a moment's pause, I brushed past Vadriq and headed back to the pit, wondering why I hadn't smelled cooking meat on the way in.
Nariti lay in dragon form, blue as the ocean, upon the ground. He was curled around the cooking pit, an entire lamb roasting on a spit. Every so often, he blew a spout of aquamarine flames upon the fire that lay burning already, stoking it without having to move.
I looked around at the walls that surrounded my yard. It was a long thing, but still incredibly urban. No one lived to my left, yet there was still the possibility of a squatter or someone with a drone. I glared at him. "Have you lost your mind?"
"I tire of hiding myself," he answered, his reptilian mouth more than capable of forming human words. "It is far easier to cook like this and I risk no burns."
"You risk getting caught," I told him as I sat in one of the many patio chairs before him. "And I would hate to try one of my own flight brothers at the Meet."
He lifted his head toward me and I rested a hand on his brow. Grey spotted throughout his scales, making him the color of a stormy sky up close. I stroked his forehead and snout until Vadriq and Iyadre joined us. The night darkened overhead, threatening a shower or two when the clouds got closer. For a little while, all I heard was the crackle of fat dripping from the lamb and the pop of the burning wood beneath it.
I withdrew from Nariti and sighed. "I
