The Accidental Dragon Baby (Babies For Broken Dads #1)

17. Rescue And A Betting Pool

17

RESCUE AND A BETTING POOL

“You found them,” Ivo said the next day.

At the stove, Ace stiffened. Words warred on his tongue. Did he want to admit the truth? It figured that his mate was clever, on top of everything else. “What if I said yes?”

“I want to go.”

Ace’s stomach clenched. He shut off the burner and whirled around, his eyes burning, his shift threatening to overcome him. “No.”

Ivo folded his arms. “I can help.”

“You’re pregnant. ”

“That doesn’t mean I can’t do anything!”

“No, it means I’m not willing to risk you.” Ace bared his teeth. “You have to at least think about Mary.”

Ivo sighed heavily. “I can stay somewhere safe. Nearby. We’re talking about the poachers, right? I just have to be there. I owe it to the victims. I abandoned them once; I can’t do it again.”

Ivo looked him in the eye, and Ace saw the years of guilt in his shadowed gaze.

“You didn’t abandon them,” Ace said gently. “You tried to go back.”

“I still feel responsible.”

“You’ve done plenty just by telling me about them. I’m going to finish up what you began. And when they get out of there, they’ll need help getting back to their families. They might need help with their babies, too. That’s something you can help with.”

Ivo came closer, leaning into Ace’s side. “I’m worried about you, too. I want to have your back.”

“Raptor will do that. We team up pretty well. We fought in the Eggplant War together.”

“Eggplant War?” Ivo scrunched up his eyebrows.

“Three hundred years ago, when we were sixty-nine, a great deluge destroyed the eggplant crops in several countries. These countries tried to invade each other to steal the eggplant seeds left in storage. During the war, the soldiers brought along several flags with giant eggplants painted on them. They painted eggplants on their faces, too.”

Ivo stared at him in disbelief. “Did you paint eggplants on your face?”

Ace nodded solemnly. “Rap and I painted eggplants on each other’s cheeks. We even had to wear eggplant-shaped helmets. It was ridiculous. But we won, and the queen paid us handsomely in eggplants the next year.”

Ivo scrunched up his face adorably. “Who likes eggplants, anyway? They’re horribly squishy.”

Ace raised an eyebrow. “They’re a delicacy in some cultures. If you don’t like eggplants, what’s with all the eggplant emojis I see in your chats?”

Ivo blushed. “That’s... a different kind of eggplant.”

“I remember you telling your friends that you love eggplant,” Ace said dryly. “You said you’d do anything for mine.”

“The other kind of eggplant!” Ivo moaned into his hands. “You know, the one that means your cock.”

Ace smirked. Yeah, he knew.

Ivo squirmed. Then he dropped his hands and pinned Ace with a look. “Wait. You’re trying to distract me from the rescue!”

“I just want you to be safe, sweetheart.”

Ivo was quiet for a long moment. Then he linked their fingers together, his hand so small against Ace’s. “I haven’t told you about my eye.”

Ace’s stomach turned. The scar on Ivo’s eye was nothing like those on the rest of his body. Instead of deliberate cuts used to separate his fur from his flesh, the scar on his eye was jagged, like it had been torn into.

He wrapped himself around Ivo and said, “Tell me.”

Ivo drew a shuddering breath. “They made us fight sometimes, when they were bored. They’d throw two creatures into the larger cages and pit us against each other. Sometimes they’d shock us with electricity and make us fight until we bled. A wildcat took out my eye when I was trying to fight back. Then my eye got infected, and somehow they decided to treat my wound instead of letting me die. But I couldn’t see out of that eye anymore.”

Fury rose in Ace’s chest; it made him eager to kill.

Ivo squeezed his hand. “Now you know why I want to be there. Can... Can I watch from your shoulder? If I wear some kind of protective charm?”

Ace blinked. “How would that work?”

“Maybe Uriel knows. I heard that he had a ton of barriers around his previous home. Maybe he can make me one?”

Ace gave it some thought—because Ivo’s safety was his main concern. If Ivo could be safe, if he wouldn’t be a distraction, then Ace could bring him along. Gods knew his mate needed some closure.

He sent Uriel a quick message.

Ivo peeked at Ace’s screen. “Thanks.”

“Least I could do, sweetheart.”

“Who’s going with you, anyway?”

“The team who rescued you, plus Uriel and Bruiser.”

Ivo looked up. “Uriel’s going?”

“Yes, why?”

“He’s—” Ivo moved his mouth as though he was going to say something, but changed his mind at the last moment. “He has a baby. Isn’t he worried?”

“He won’t be on the frontlines. But he’ll be nearby in case we need support.”

Ivo frowned thoughtfully. “Okay.”

Ace wasn’t a hundred percent on board with Ivo joining them. But it was all up to Uriel at this point.

Somehow, he had envisioned the rescue going a lot more smoothly.

“I don’t think you should be here,” Bruiser said to Uriel the moment they were in the same room. He was a dragon, one of Ace’s friends who had moved to Cartfalls in the last decade.

Uriel stiffened, his eyes flashing. “What?”

Bruiser glanced at the damp spots on Uriel’s shirt where his nipples were. “You should stay home.”

Fuck, even Ace knew not to say that to another alpha.

Uriel stalked up to Bruiser, tension in his shoulders. He didn’t stop until their shoes were touching; he was a head shorter than Bruiser. But his anger made him feel a lot bigger; his scars seemed to glow. “You know nothing about me. Fuck off.”

Bruiser glanced at the rest of them like he wanted support.

Raptor raised an eyebrow. “Wow.”

Crush snickered. “Sorry, pal. You should’ve known better.”

Duke shook his head. “We’re on this rescue together. The last thing we need is a fight among ourselves.”

Telos and Mav smirked at each other—obviously they would. They were the alphas who had gotten together during Ivo’s rescue.

“Sounds familiar,” Telos drawled.

Mav coughed. “No comment.”

Ace’s phone buzzed a few times. When he opened it, he found that Raptor had already created a new chat group.

Raptor

Holy smoking hell y’all

Betting pool open: Bruiser and Uriel

Don’t you DARE add them to this chat or I will rip your tongue out

Ace

I’m in

Telos

Finally, a betting pool that’s NOT about Mavvie-chicken and me

Yaeger

What’s up? What’s going on?

Mav

Bruiser pissed Uriel off. They’re gonna fight

Onyx

In the middle of a mission?

Griff

Do they need a getting-together song??

Duke

Can’t you save this for after the rescue?

Raptor

Just mute the chat, Duke. Let the rest of us have some fun

Telos

You didn’t complain when it was Mav and me screwing during the mission

Crush

I’m betting the meat from five stags. It’s gonna be explosive and they’ll kiss up against a tree

Ace

A chest of gold. They’ll fuck for the first time in an elevator.

Raptor

Hassel will record all your entries

Blade

Hold a party when you get back. Invite them both. I want to see this with my own eyes.

Raptor

Hell yeah!

“Why are you all suddenly on your phones?” Bruiser asked suspiciously.

Uriel frowned and checked his phone. “I didn’t get a message.”

Ace stuffed his phone into his pocket, swallowing a laugh. Ivo giggled against his neck. In his mink form, Ivo’s laugh sounded more like chattering. Uriel had charmed a long, closed leather basket with eye holes, that Ace had secured around his neck. Ivo fitted inside as a mink, and Uriel had promised that no harm would come to him if he stayed in the basket throughout the rescue.

Raptor flipped his phone in the air. Crush and Duke put theirs away.

“We’re not doing anything,” Telos said, casually tucking his phone into Mav’s pocket.

“Are we all clear on the mission details?” Duke asked, looking around.

All of them nodded; even Ivo in his basket, although no one noticed him but Ace.

“Good. Let’s move out,” Duke said.

Uriel scowled at Bruiser and stepped away. Bruiser scowled back, his face pinched as though he was holding back on some choice words.

Raptor elbowed Duke as they left the hotel suite. “Sometime soon, Duke, you need to get laid.”

“I don’t have time to get laid,” Duke muttered.

“Make time for it.”

“Yeah, you try holding four jobs at the same time.”

Crush shook his head. “You don’t need the money, Dukes.”

“Everyone needs my help. I can’t let them down.”

If Ace remembered right, Duke was a CEO, a firefighter, a foster parent, and an animal shelter volunteer, all at the same time. No one knew how he managed it without falling flat on his face.

“What you need, is a life assistant,” Raptor said with an eyebrow waggle. “Someone you can unload onto. Or into. Possibly both.”

“And violate every HR law in existence?” Duke retorted, sliding into the driver’s seat of a rental car.

“As long as you’re not fucking your assistant while firefighting, honestly, I don’t think we care.” Ace said and paused. “Actually, I would like to see that in action.”

“Can two people fit into the same firefighting suit?” Raptor asked.

“If they’re small enough,” Bruiser said. He worked full-time as a firefighter.

Duke rolled his eyes.

Ace rode shotgun in the passenger seat. Uriel had stayed behind at the hotel, leaving Bruiser to ride with Raptor and Crush.

“I would sing the date night song again,” Raptor said. “But I’m not on a date.”

“We are,” Telos and Mav said from a third rental car. Telos began to sing, “Date night, date night!”

“Sure, rub it in our faces,” Crush grumbled.

“I guess we’re kind of on a date, too,” Ace whispered to Ivo, nudging a finger into Ivo’s basket to stroke his fur. Ivo clasped Ace’s fingertip with his little paws. “I’ll keep you safe.”

Ivo nipped his finger, careful to do it without breaking skin.

The poaching ring HQ was tucked away in a Wyoming pine forest, accessible only by a dirt road leading off from the highway. Telos had scouted it earlier that week with Mav; it was Mav who led the way into the forest now, signaling for them to park three miles away from the hideout.

“Final comms check,” Duke said.

They confirmed that their wires were on the same channel. Then the shifters stripped and shifted; Ivo’s leather basket stretched to fit snugly around Ace’s dragon neck.

To no one’s surprise, Telos shifted into a large pterodactyl. Duke remained in his clothes since he was a demon, hitching a ride on Telos’ leg. Crush stripped but stayed in his human shape to ride on Mav’s dragon leg. Ace, Raptor, and Bruiser took off into the air.

“Thanks for the ride,” Duke said to Telos.

Telos preened. “See, pterodactyls are awesome.”

“Pterodactyls suck!” Raptor said.

“I can confirm that pterodactyls suck,” Mav said dryly.

“We didn’t need to know that,” Bruiser said.

“Ew,” Raptor said.

“Aww, Mavvie-chicken,” Telos crooned.

“I regret everything,” Mav said.

“I think I liked it better when they were butting heads,” Ace said, but he was lying. Everyone was happy that Telos and Mav had finally gotten together.

“Have you fucked like this, though?” Crush asked. “As a dragon and a pterodactyl.”

Mav and Telos exchanged a look. “Not yet.”

“Keep it in your pants while the mission is in progress,” Duke growled.

“You’re the only one wearing pants right now.” Telos cackled.

Duke gave a long-suffering sigh.

“You’re just jealous that you don’t have anyone to knot,” Raptor said.

“Can it. We’re getting close,” Duke ordered.

At once, all of them fell silent. The forest loomed below them in the growing dark. Dragons had no enhanced night vision, so they were relying on Crush to scan for threats.

“Approaching,” Crush murmured. “We’re two hundred yards out.”

“Split up,” Duke said.

They broke into groups of two to circle the hideout. Ivo was shivering; Ace patted his basket with his too-short paws, unable to comfort him much right now.

Below, guards patrolled the electric fence. The team had to stay high in the air so the flapping of their wings wouldn’t be heard.

Then an alarm screeched.

“Fuck,” Ace hissed. Had a shape shifter or wolf heard them? Telos hadn’t seen any on his scouting mission.

“Plan B,” Duke said tersely.

A series of “Roger”s filled the comms channel. The others fell back.

Ace made his descent to the bare ground in front of the holding shacks. He whispered to Ivo, “We’ve got this.”

He stayed in his dragon shape, tracking the sounds around them. Most of the noises came from people in the buildings, but there were also several guards running over.

Ivo chattered worriedly, his snout pushing through the holes in his basket.

Noise burst from the largest building. The front door slammed open. Guards poured out with their guns blazing, bullets bouncing off Ace’s hide.

Ace kept his wings tucked in to minimize the damage. He unleashed a stream of fire at the poachers, until they screamed and their clothes caught fire. The men tried to put out the flames; more of them ran over.

It sent a thrill through Ace to see them fall. The people who had hurt Ivo were getting what they deserved.

Someone yelled angrily in the holding shacks.

Raptor dropped to the ground next to Ace, spitting a fireball at a guard rounding a corner. “Guards have been cleared.”

“Proceed,” Duke said through the wire.

Ace and Raptor moved like two parts of a whole. Ace poked his head through the door of the holding shack, only for a bullet to whizz by his ear. He yanked his head back; Raptor tore open a different door, taking out the gunman with a well-placed fireball.

The prisoners had heard the commotion. They were making anxious sounds, but that only made it harder for Ace to pick out the important noises.

He nodded at Raptor; they made their way deeper into the building in search of the larger threat.

Except iron shutters rattled and slammed over the exits, locking them in.