“I can’t Maat. If there’s another war…”
“We take care of our own. I will properly brainwash him against dragons and...”
“You can’t know…”
“Neither can you, Ezzu. Are you listening? We don’t give a fuck about who you mate or what babies you have. We will be on your side and theirs. If they side with dragons in some conflict, I will fucking surrender to them. For you, papa. I will do anything for you. I don’t say that lightly and I don’t want you disregarding it. I’m speaking as one of The Three. Any son of yours is a brother of mine. It would be awesome if we had a snail brother, though. I suppose we’d have to keep him away from salt.”
“I get it, Maat. I’ll have to think about it.”
“Good. That Romeo and Juliet shit is impractical. You two kids should have fun. Do I call her mama or is that too much? How old is she?”
“Twenty-five.”
“Wow. You’ve still got it, huh? I’m already texting Seth and Adom.”
“Boy.”
“So sorry, papa,” Maat said, sounding contrite. He wasn’t.
“Mmhmm. Now, if dragons and basilisks are going to be in close proximity, there’s a chance some of our females may find mates among their males. I want you to withhold judgment on that for now, okay? A knee jerk negative reaction won’t do. Like you said, Romeo and Juliet are an impractical standard. I want you to think of how we could use it to our advantage if it happens, okay?”
“I don’t think it’s likely, but one never knows. My daughter mated a raven shifter, after all. I don’t like the idea of a basilisk mating a dragon, but...I guess you’re right. I just pray to Anu it isn’t one of mine.”
Wrath wouldn’t say anything to Maat about what Iris had told him about her feelings in confidence. He just wanted to broach the subject and get his sons comfortable with the idea before they found out that the Prince of Dragons had a basilisk mate.
“We’re getting ahead of ourselves,” Wrath said. “You and your brothers have yet to make a decision. I trust you to select someone to talk to Etel with me. He wants me to work with other dragons while our people provide support. With that division between basilisks and dragons in place, it’s appropriate for a basilisk to be present to ask for more specifics.”
“Fine. The ones with you now are young and haven’t seen battle. We’ll likely send someone else. Seth is in Toronto. He might be available. Will you be working with the dragons?”
“I might. He seems to think I’ve been cursed. You know how my dragon is about mates…”
Maat laughed. “I always wondered if that was something mom did to you. It sounds like her.”
“It does. He might break it for me. If that happens, I’ll owe him.”
“Not your life, papa, surely.”
“I’m old, Maat. I have a mate and if I’m going to take full advantage of it, I need the curse lifted. I was never able to love your mother the way she wanted me to, but I did love her. That’s why I put up with her tantrums.”
“She never understood you.”
“That may be true, but don’t doubt that I loved her.”
“I don’t, but the beast inside you didn’t agree. If this woman with dragon blood bit you then magic is on your side, right?”
“Right. And that’s worth fighting for. If I have to go into battle to pay Etel back, I will.”
“Okay. I understand. I’ll let the others know. We’ve got your back.”
“Thank you,” Wrath said. “Call me when Cassie has her baby.”
“I will. Take care. I mean it.”
Chapter 16
While Jess worked at the kitchen table, Wrath went down to the basement. It was larger than the footprint of the house, and far deeper than two stories. It was big enough for him to comfortably shift into his dragon form. He stripped off his clothes and summoned his dragon.
Now that he was older and his magic had matured, he could change directly into a white-hot firedrake if he desired. When he was younger, he had to start at black and then heat up to red, orange, yellow, and then finally a brilliant blinding white. It was so much less time consuming to go straight to white.
Enveloped in heat, he walked to the far corner of the basement and let loose a long thin stream of plasma that only a firedrake could manage. It went through a narrow shaft in the wall triggering a hidden door to open.
He took a breath, settled on the floor, and let himself cool. It was easy to generate more heat, reducing heat was something else entirely.
Once he turned black again, he entered the familiar passageway, just large enough to accommodate his dragon form.
Faster. We have to see that the treasure is safe.
Wrath knew it was safe, but his dragon had to see it to be sure.
Around a bend, sixty feet underground, Wrath reached his vault. He muttered a spell in Sumerian and the door opened—revealing the shimmering glory that was his treasure hoard.
It was the size of half a football
