Chapter 15
Chapter
Fifteen
Corbin wandered through the house and headed through Cosmo’s place and out into the dragonlands.
He carried little Isabelle on his back and had Elliot bumping along beside him, his happy rolling stone.
He’d intended to go alone, but as soon as the kids caught wind of him heading toward the door, they were there, sticking to him like burrs.
“Where go? What do?” Isabelle’s little mind was so sharp.
“I want tomatoes and cheese and honey on bread. So I’m going to see Uncle Myk, and I’m going to go see Uncle Tyr, and we’re going to make something because the babies want good dragon honey, big tomatoes, and some of that cheese they make on some of Abe’s good, good brown bread.”
“Snacks. I like snacks.”
He chuckled at Elliot. “I know.”
It was warm and summery in Lunastra, the air smelling of green grass and blossoms. The plants welcomed him, curling around his toes, and, as soon as he made it partway down the mountain, a teenager stood in front of him.
“Corbin, you’re pregnant!” Sebby grinned at him, his face so open and so cheery. This lad was universally loved, and it showed.
“I am! And I’m craving— is Uncle Myk growing tomatoes yet?”
“Yes, I’ll call ahead and let everyone know you’re coming.”
“Good, good. I would really love it if someone could get some honey from Tyr’s hives too. These babies, they have a craving.”
“Oh, babies.” Sebby’s grin got even wider.
He nodded, so proud. “Two, a boy and a girl.”
“Like the special Ks.” Sebby actually looked a little nervous then, and he cracked up.
He didn’t think anybody was going to be exactly like the special Ks. Katrina and Kynan were unique in so many ways and a little scary, to be honest.
Although he had to say that Cosmo adored them with a fiery burning passion of a thousand suns, and so Cosmo’s children did too.
My friends.
Sebby nodded to Elliot and scooped him up as if he didn’t weigh any more than any normal child and put him on one hip. “That’s right. We can go play. Do you want to go play with the Ks? Let’s go. Everybody’s home for summer, no school!”
“Play!” Elliot bounced, and Sebby did oof a little then.
“Fwy?” Isabelle asked him, eyes wide and pleading.
“You can fly, sweetie. Just stay close, hmm?” He was too off-balance to fly with her right now.
She trilled happily, pretty girl.
“I can take her.” That was Arielle’s bother, Jasper. “Do you want me to fly with you on my back, Isabelle? Or do you want to try your own wings?”
Goddess, he loved these kids. So sweet.
“On you.”
“Well, come on.” Jasper held out his arms. Such a gangly boy, but a good flyer.
“See Stella and snacks?” Elliot said, his tone like someone was grating rocks.
“As if Stella won’t come zipping here as soon as she knows you’re on this side of the guardian gate,” Sebby said with a snort.
That was so true. The little owl baby and the rock were buddies. She even tried to pick him up every so often…
It never worked.
“Ah, Corbin.” Myk met him out at the yard in the Rocky Mountain clutch’s compound. “Are you here for tomatoes?”
“Well, they are,” he said, hand on his belly.
“Congratulations, my friend! More than one, huh?”
“Yep. I need tomatoes and honey-cheese bread.”
“Well, you came to the right place.” Myk gave him a hug. “I was working in the garden, but everyone will want to hear the news. Let me just wash up.” Myk headed over to the outdoor spigot where he pumped some water and ran it over his hands and forearms.
“How is the garden going this year?” he asked as Elliot went rolling by with Stella flying overhead, screeching her happy little screeches.
“Good, I’m learning to cultivate a lot of the native plants while still keeping my own in the greenhouse.
This way, they don’t propagate here just in case.
Once we know they’re safe, I can start introducing some of them into the actual ground.
But I don’t want to cause any sort of weird predatory plants, you know? ”
“Yes, we learned that from the human world. Fragile ecosystems can be ruined by invasive varieties.”
Myk led him toward the house, chuckling.
“Exactly. Though I am finding that the magic here in Lunastra picks and chooses what it allows to grow. So I’m thinking that the human plant varieties that still grow here after all these hundreds of years of crossing back and forth were allowed by the magic. Do you know what I mean?”
“That’s fascinating.” The gardener in him thought that was the most amazing thing he’d ever heard.
“I’ll have to tell my mother. She’ll be very interested in that idea.
” He had a feeling that way more things had passed from the Land of Summer into the human realm than vice versa, although he wasn’t sure where roses had originated to begin with.
There wasn’t a lot of desert in the Land of Summer, and he knew they were a desert plant, so he had a feeling it was in the human realm.
“Right? I love that idea. Makes me feel way less guilty for bringing things like tomatoes over. Although I found that they do have a variety of tomatoes here. There are about three times the size of what we’re used to, and they’re purple.”
“Oh wow. I’ve never seen those. I take it they don’t grow this far up in the mountain.”
“I don’t think they grow right in this region, even all the way down to the sea. I think it was Tyr’s brother Tor who told me about them, and he learned about them in the city.”
“Ah, well-met, Corbin.” Myk’s mate, Tyson, came wandering out of the house just as they were heading in the door. “I was coming to look for you, my love. We all want a snack, and I didn’t want you to miss out.”
“That’s perfect timing then, because Corbin is here for a snack. He wants tomatoes and honey-cheese bread.”
Ty raised a dark eyebrow, with a beautiful red just the same color as his hair. “Has someone sent for more honey? We’re going to have to resupply if Corbin is going to take some with him.”
Corbin’s cheek heated. “Oh, if there’s not enough, please, I just—”
Myk snorted. “Don’t be silly. Of course there’s enough, all right? Those babies are craving honey, and they are at least part dragon. They need their dragon honey.”
Corbin hooked arms with Myk and Ty. “Hawk insists that they’ll come out more dragon just because he’s their uncle.”
“So tell me about their father.” Myk led him inside. The children, playing happily outside, were kept in the circle of the courtyard by the watchful eyes of a handful of older children.
“Evander is amazing. He is a Lord of the Hunt. Very fertile, obviously.” He patted his belly. “Very strong. He survived the vampire attack. He fought the disease off; he won.”
“How fascinating is that? And kind of terrifying.” Myk glanced at him, squeezed his arm, and Corbin thought he felt the dragon’s hand shake. “You’re sure he fought it off?”
Poor Myk. He’d lost two brothers and their mates. He’d found them beheaded in the house that Corbin lived in now, and then the vampires had taken him—him, a child, two brand-new infants. And tortured them. Thank the Goddess Tyson had come for them.
“I am a hundred percent sure. He’s had no signs in over a year; he’s been in sunshine. His teeth are fine; he eats normal food like a regular fae person. Well, he’s the Lord of the Hunt, so he’s not a vegetarian, you understand.”
Tyson snorted. “Myk has been known to eat an entire pound of bacon at a sitting. Just because he grows plants doesn’t mean that he doesn’t eat meat.”
“Corbin knows that,” Myk teased. “He and his brothers are the ones who procure us the right kind of bacon, aren’t they? I wonder if they ever ponder why you order so much food.”
“If they do, they never question. Money’s funny that way, isn’t it? I imagine they think we’re donating it to charity or supplying a restaurant or something.” It didn’t really matter to him.
“Maybe they think you run a weird cult compound. Not unusual in Southern Colorado or Northern New Mexico.” Tyson winked when Corbin pinched his ribs.
“Maybe. Hell, maybe I do, and I just think I’m a dragon.”
Myk hooted. “I’ve seen you fly.”
Corbin put on a stage whisper. “But that could just be the peyote causing a shared delusion.”
“Oh. Right. Shared delusion.” Myk shook his head. “You’re in a really good mood for somebody who’s pregnant.”
“Hey, what can I say, not all of us believe in being pregnant like you.” Corbin knew Myk had had a few tough pregnancies, but he still teased. Tyson didn’t seem to be upset, so he figured it was safe.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Myk led him into the kitchens where there was always such amazing smells.
The Rocky Mountain clutch had several houses, but Tyson and his two brothers, Brand and Drake, shared this big one with their mates. And this was where all the garden stuff came to be processed.
It also had the most amazing library. Devon and Ollie, who were Brand and Eagan’s mates respectively, loved books, and, in the human realm, had had a giant bookstore.
The simple fact was, Corbin loved all of his dragon friends in all their wondrous variations, and he was sad that Evander was only going to get to meet them through a window into this world, literally.
“Uh-oh, what is that face for?” Devon, who was Brand’s very human, until he wasn’t, mate, came over to him smiling, putting a hand on his arm.
“I was just sad that my mate is never going to get to come here. I think he would really be interested in everything going on, and he would love it here.”
“Yeah, that sucks.” Devon winked at them. “I guess it’s not fair that Orion gets to do that, huh?”
See? Devon got it. “Oh, he has his challenges. So it’s working out, but I would love for Ev to be able to run with you guys when you fly. It’s amazing. Really something to see.”
“Well, think of how Evander can’t watch you fly while he runs. I mean, we all make sacrifices, right? At least we have each other.” Devon did make a lot of sense, and what if Corbin was creating drama where there didn’t need to be any?