Chapter 22
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Lila
S axon pops his head in to tell me that Maxsim and the warlock king and queen have returned with food for us, but I drag him into the office and ride him like a pony while I drink from his vein. When the three of us emerge, Xylene looks at us with a bemused smile.
“You’ve got a little something…” She points at my lips, and I freak out, swiping at where she pointed, thinking maybe I missed a drop of Brannock’s cum when I sucked him off while I rode Saxon—yes, it’s possible as long as he strokes himself to completion on my chest—but nope, when I look at my finger, it’s just a drop of blood. I heave out a sigh of relief.
I know everyone around us has sensitive noses and can probably smell what we’ve been doing, but they are all too polite to mention it as I dig into the sandwiches they arranged for all of us.
I’m embarrassed to admit I eat three of them before I finally change forms and get ready to unfreeze more people.
Tirrian stalks up to me and holds out a small beaker. “Put some blood in here, and we’ll see if we can help get this done a little faster.”
I change forms and hold out an arm to Maxsim. He draws a claw across my wrist, and we watch black blood drip into the small glass tube. It kind of freaked me out when we first started because basilisk blood looks very similar to Madovian blood. At least it’s not acidic like theirs is.
My wrist doesn’t take long to close up, and Tirrian moves over to the next statue in the row, using a pipette to drop a small amount of blood on the statue’s head. I’m sure everyone holds their breath as we wait to see if it works, and there’s a large exhale of relief when the statue shimmers and reanimates.
“Thank fuck, and praise baby Jesus,” I whisper to myself. “Can someone get me more jars? I don’t want to have to return here tomorrow. I have too much other shit on my list.”
Xylene gives me a hug. “Just one step at a time, Lila, and don’t forget to breathe. Also, you have people you can lean on. Stop putting everything on your own shoulders.”
I hug her back, sinking into her warmth. I love my mates, but there is nothing better than a hug from a maternal figure, and I am very lucky both Xylene and Mira love me as much as I love them.
“Thanks, Mom.”
She gives me another squeeze, but by then, Xavier has made a whole heap of beakers appear on a table off to the side.
“Okay, I’m going to go drain a vein, then I might need to suck on another neck or two. Tirrian, maybe if you change to dragon form, I can really fill up. I’m not sure how, but you seem to have much more blood in that form.”
“I will do that for you, my beautiful mate. I much prefer that over you snacking on anyone other than your mates, and half of the ones here are already tapped out.” He snickers, looking at both Saxon and Brannock, and I notice they both look well-ridden and a little pale.
“Maxsim and Xavier are still good to go,” I grumble, but he just presses a kiss to my head and shifts for me, waiting patiently while I alternate between bleeding myself and bleeding him.
His brothers snicker like prepubescent boys, but his sister just smacks them both on the backs of their heads.
“Shut up, assholes. I bet if you had a Vilaxian lover, you’d be happy giving up your vein too. Just be glad the venom doesn’t affect him in shifted form.”
They wrinkle their noses, and I giggle at the thought of his dragon having a raging boner before splattering dragon cum over his two brothers. That would be fucking hysterical.
Once the blood has been handed out, it only takes another three hours to reanimate everyone. The process is smoother, and once everyone is transported to the keep, we return, and I collapse into bed in Tirrian’s room. It’s not quite as big as his nest in the vault, but it’s not far off. It smells of his dragon, and I quickly fall asleep surrounded by my equally exhausted mates.
T he following morning, after what feels like not nearly enough sleep, we make plans to infiltrate Silac’s wedding. We left his father at the front of the warehouse in a petrified state, assuming that Silac would demand proof of life before going through with the wedding, with the rest of the warehouse covered in an illusion to make it look like all the other statues are still there.
Tallon informed us we were right, and that they collected Suzath, Cronus, and Xylene this morning. The two warlocks used a spell to take on the appearance of being petrified and frozen but have the ability to shake it off when the time is right. Everything is falling into place. We even replaced some of the staff at the function with dragons.
Once all the basilisks are in the room, we will spring our trap. We’re hoping to get out of this without any casualties, but the dragon guards have been told to shoot to kill if they have no other option. I was originally worried about having the actual authority for any of this, but apparently the punishment for turning the king and queen of warlocks to stone is the death penalty, so if any of them survive, they can call it a win.
We haven’t had any communication with Silac, but the plan is to wait until whoever is in charge of officiating the wedding starts, and then all hell will break loose. The warlocks plan on freezing everyone, but I’m on standby to change into my basilisk form to reanimate anyone who needs it.
The raiding party is hidden by an illusion placed by Xavier, and it covers scents as well as sight, so that we are not sniffed out before go time. We watch on as Silac’s dad is placed to the side of the raised dais where Silac and a couple of unknown basilisks wait by a pretty flower arch. There is no sign of Xavier’s parents. They must not have thought they were necessary to keep Silac in line. I’m sure they’ll make themselves known when the time is right.
“One wrong move, naga, and your dad is toast. You will marry my daughter with a smile, and if you even hesitate to say yes, then my guy has the order to smash your father.” All of the basilisks are in half form, which is kind of creepy considering the rest of the guests and Silac aren’t. I wonder if the fiancée will walk or slither down the aisle.
“The Bravalana must not know that the Snakebite Logistics is in the red otherwise they wouldn’t be going to so much trouble to overthrow Silac’s family,” I murmur to Brannock who is closest to me.
“I don’t think they care as long as they can ship their own contraband throughout the galaxy,” he whispers as I feel Saxon’s hand on my back as more guests take their seats. Xavier is here, as is Tirrian, but Maxsim returned to the ship. Being away from his pregnant mate was wearing on him, and he was getting snappy. After his last close call, I didn’t want him to make a mistake because he was distracted, so I agreed it was the right thing to do. He did argue halfheartedly, but in the end, I think he was relieved.
Tallon asked me if it bothered me, and if I felt like I was less important than Echo, but I was quick to tell her that wasn’t the case at all. I have enough men that I don’t play favorites, and if I was the one who was pregnant, I’m pretty sure he would be the same way. Heck, even though he didn’t like me at the time, he was pretty damn protective when I was pregnant with Cas’s babies.
“It must be nice to be loved like that,” she murmured over our morning coffee as we waited on everyone, her eyes sliding to a group of guards who were waiting for their orders from her this morning. I learned that she was the equivalent of a general for the dragon clan much like Saxon is for the Vilaxians.
“I have no complaints,” I replied as I studied the group, noticing that two of them kept looking at her out of the corners of their eyes. They were all trying to be subtle, but it was glaringly obvious if anyone looked closely.
“Dragons are mostly monogamous, aren’t they?” I asked her, and she turned her attention back to me.
“Yes, it’s one of the things that sent a ripple through our society when they heard that Tirrian mated you and was not your only mate. Occasionally, there have been triads, but most matings only involve two people. There were a few who called for Tirrian to be replaced by one of us as Father’s heir because they claimed his focus wouldn’t be on the good of the dragon clan. Dad immediately shut that talk down, not to mention both of my brothers would run screaming if they thought they had to be responsible.”
I felt a pang of guilt but also a rush of gratitude that King Tysar was so supportive of everything. “It might not be a bad idea, but Tirrian has to be the one to make that decision, not anyone else, and I support him no matter what he chooses. And why does it have to be one of your brothers? Why can’t it be you?” I asked her, and her eyes widened in surprise.
“Nothing says it can’t, but I am the youngest, so traditionally, it would be one of them first.”
“Yet you’re a general and your brothers are comedians.” I nodded at them. They were pretending not to listen, but I knew they were. The looks on their faces at my last comment proved it, and I chuckled. They flipped me off in unison.
“I really love your family. It’s awesome,” I told them all, and I meant it.
It’s comfortable, and I don’t feel like I have to be someone I’m not. I thought maybe royalty would make them aloof, but that’s not the case at all. Much like Xavier’s family, though maybe amongst their subjects, it’s different.
The mission got the green light, and we needed to move into place before we could continue that conversation. I hope she’s happy no matter what she decides to do, and I hope those two dragons grow a set of balls and take a chance on her. I’d like to see my new friend happy. I get the feeling most dragons avoid her because of her status, and she implied as much when she said that female dragons can be increasingly catty when they get to mating age.
It looks like nearly all of the guests have gathered as the venue seats are mostly filled, but a cry from the foyer has everyone turning to look. It doesn’t sound happy, and the man up front who threatened Silac waves a hand at one of the women seated in the crowd to go see what’s happening. Silac tries to follow, but the large basilisk clamps a hand down on his shoulder and growls at him not to move.
I decide to follow her and have a look myself. There is no chance of me being discovered if I stick to the walls and stay out of the way.
What I find in the foyer makes me livid. There’s a pretty dark-haired girl in a wedding dress, and she’s sobbing her eyes out. “Please don’t make me do this, please,” she begs the woman who had been dispatched to see what was wrong. She backhands the girl in the bridal dress, and her head snaps back. She gasps, clutching her cheek as she looks at the woman with shock, but it does stop her crying.
“Get yourself together. It’s a great honor for Father to choose you to do this. I wish he’d chosen me. Silac is filthy rich, not to mention handsome, so you could do much worse, and nagas have two cocks as well. Don’t be ungrateful.”
The man standing behind the bride clenches his fists and glares at the woman. I’m assuming he’s a bodyguard, since he has that kind of look to him.
“Well then why don’t you take my place? I’ll gladly swap. I’ll leave, and you will never have to see me again,” the girl pleads, the red handprint on her face doing nothing for her bridal look. Hell, if my sister slapped me like that, I would have punched her in her nose.
“I wish I could. I begged him to let me take your place, but he is insisting. He says it’s to teach you your place.” The sister looks from the bride to the bodyguard behind her, and he stiffens ever so slightly. The bride does the same thing. Oh, okay, I see how it is. Star-crossed lovers. Well hell, now not only do I want to help Silac, but I also want to help this woman too. “And you’ve always wanted children, so who cares if they are nagas or basilisks?”
“I don’t care at all, but I want them to have two parents who love each other. That is not me and Silac.”
“Shut up, Kinga. It’s a done deal. You just have to get your ass down the aisle before Dad comes out here and drags you down it by your hair. It will be so much worse if you disobey him,” the sister hisses, obviously tiring of the conversation. She whirls around and stalks back into the other room.
I feel someone behind me, and when I turn, Xavier has joined me . It’s all very dramatic, he says dryly, obviously having heard most of the conversation. He must have followed directly after me.
Isn’t it? How about we do something about it? I reply. I share with him the plan that hatched while I was watching the drama unfold, and his lips tick up with amusement.
Well, look at you being all devious. Silac’s going to be livid when we don’t stop the ceremony, and I thought you were over his hot and cold ways.
I sigh. I am, but the heart wants what the heart wants. I’m hoping if I take Kinga’s place and marry the guy, then he’s going to have to give in to whatever is between us. He wanted to set Kinga free anyway, and if he decides he doesn’t want it after it is all said and done, I can grant him a divorce. It’s not like we’re mating straight away.
Alright, you know I like a bit of mystery and intrigue, so let’s do this. Xavier waves a hand and freezes everyone inside the church, then he peels back the glamour on both of us, and the bride and her body guard startle at our sudden appearance.
“Who the fuck are you?” the burly bodyguard demands, pulling out a gun and pointing it at us.
“Whoa, calm down. I have a proposition for you.” I hold up my hands in a nonthreatening way and cross my toes that they will listen to my suggestion.