Orion’s muffled snort of laughter was contagious. Ashure rubbed a hand across his mouth to hide his grin when Drago muttered under his breath again about never doing a business deal with dragons. The fact that Drago was dealing with his own daughter made all of his grousing even more hilarious.
“Three, four, five,” Drago counted, dropping the coins into the bag Roo was holding out.
“One more,” Roo said.
Drago frowned. “But—I gave you five gold coins,” he retorted with a frown.
Roo tapped her foot and shook her head. “Yes, but six would be even better. I’ll give you a kiss to go with the rune stones that Mommy bought me. A kiss from me is worth two gold coins, but I’ll give you a discount if you pay up in the next minute,” she bargained.
“Your mommy had no idea what these were when she bought them for you,” he muttered.
Drago grumbled, but pulled another coin out of the bag at his waist and pressed it into Roo’s outstretched hand. She leaned in and gave him an enormous hug and a big, messy kiss on the cheek. Ashure was surprised at the sudden wave of yearning that struck him.
“You have that look in your eye,” Orion murmured near his ear.
“I do? What look?” he asked.
Orion chuckled and shook his head. “You’ll find out about nine months from the time you get back to Tonya,” he predicted.
Ashure winced when Orion slapped his shoulder. He shook his head and studied Drago and Roo. Kids? Him? Who would have ever imagined him as a dad?
“Thank you, Roo. Make sure you stay close to your mother until I return,” Drago instructed.
“I will, Daddy. I love you,” Roo replied, giving Drago another hug and kiss before she clutched her bag of coins to her chest. “That kiss was free.”
“Thank you,” he dryly laughed, with a shake of his head. “And don’t tell your brothers about the gold,” he called after her as she skipped out of the room.
Drago rose to his feet, holding his purchase from his daughter in his hands. Ashure and Orion both grinned at him when he looked down and scowled at the colorful assortment of magical stones.
“You know, Drago, Roo wouldn’t make a bad pirate,” he ribbed.
“Don’t you even think of putting that idea into her head, Ashure. Six gold coins…,” Drago groaned.
“Well, you got an extra free kiss out of it,” Orion pointed out.
Drago looked up and grinned. “I did, didn’t I?” he reflected.
Ashure and Orion both laughed out loud. The twinkle of pride in Drago’s eyes at Roo’s determined negotiations was easy to see, and so was his love for the dainty little girl. Ashure sighed, thankful for this carefree moment.
“Do you know how to use these?” he asked, nodding at the stones.
Drago snorted. “These are child’s play,” he retorted.
“Child’s play—as long as you say the spell correctly so we don’t end up in the middle of the ocean,” Ashure pointed out.
Drago waved away Ashure’s concern. “Between Orion and myself, we’ll get the spell right,” he said confidently.
Ashure stared at Drago. “Between you and Orion… You don’t remember the spell, do you?” he demanded.
Drago shrugged. “Not all of it, but we’ll figure it out,” he replied.
“You could always ask Roo,” Orion suggested with an amused grin.
“Are you crazy? She’ll probably demand twice as much gold for the spell as she did for the stones. Besides, you don’t think that carpetbagger of a crook at the market would give a child the actual spell to a magic portal, do you?” Drago argued.
“I don’t know. I wouldn’t have thought a vendor would sell the stones in the first place, so who knows,” Orion countered.
Ashure opened his mouth to make his own caustic remark when the sound of running footsteps drew their attention. A pink-cheeked Roo stared at them for a moment before she ran over to Drago and held out a message. Drago took the paper she was holding.
“I forgot you’ll need the spell that goes with the pretty rocks. DJ heard Aunty Marina telling the words and how they work to Mommy after I showed her my rocks, and he wrote them down, but I can’t read all of them yet so I haven’t tried the stones, but I know they work because DJ and Stone use them sometimes at night to visit with Dolph and Juno. I’m not supposed to tell you about that because it is a secret—but I’m telling you because they refused to pay me the gold coin they promised they would if I was quiet! So I really don’t need to keep their secret ‘cause they didn’t pay me,” she breathlessly added before giving Drago a huge smile. “Love you, Daddy. Have fun on your trip!”
Drago stared after his daughter with his mouth hanging open. For once, Ashure felt sorry for Drago. It was obvious the man was going to have his hands full with Roo when she got older.
Older? Hell, she’s running circles around him now! he wryly thought.
“Perhaps we’d better get going before she returns,” he suggested in a light tone.
Drago absently nodded, handing Ashure the piece of paper with the spell. “Maybe you should do this, since you know where we are supposed to go,” he offered.
“That might be wise,” he chuckled.
Orion took half the stones from Drago. “If the boys can do this, so can we,” he stated.
Chapter 23
Isle of the Monsters
Asahi stood on a flat edge at the top of the mountain and took in the panorama of the long lake. He didn’t understand how the magic worked, but he could see through the clouds as if it were a two-way mirror. Far below, he observed Nali returning with their meager supplies.
He absently rubbed his aching shoulder as a shiver ran through him. For a moment, he worried that he might be getting sick. His concern intensified when a wave of dizziness sent him stumbling back from the edge. Shaken by the combination of symptoms,
