Chapter Twenty-One
Leo
The alarm for the front door chirped over his phone, and he rose, Hallr leaning over him as he dislodged a few pups to stare at the notification—Frikka. Frikka carrying something over his shoulder.
“What the…” Leo squinted at his phone and roused himself, throwing a robe on from a valet as Hallr followed, carefully trying not to wake the few pups that had snuck their way in.
They could get clingy in the spring after blanks passed, something instinctive about nesting or competition for resources—Leo didn’t understand all of it, but he loved his babies.
Hallr pushed ahead, waving a hand for Leo to hang back, but it was just Frikka, wasn’t it?
Through the estate they wandered, to the back of the house and out into the backyard where they found Frikka sitting, legs splayed and hunched over, holding a shovel over his shoulder. “Sorry for the waking.”
Frikka, wearing fluffy flannel pajama pants and a loose hooded sweatshirt, gave them a nod. “Go back to bed. Maybe accidentally unplug the security system?”
“Fuck that. Frikka, what’s going on?” Leo pushed Hallr aside and rested hands on his hips as he sniffed the air for an intruder. “Volur stuff?”
“I said go back to bed.” Frikka leaned forward, the tip of the shovel digging into the concrete, creating a little divot with a coarse noise that made Leo’s ears itch.
“Not happening. Volur stuff includes my baby.” Leo crossed his arms and tapped his foot, staring daggers at the chaotic Dette.
“That is no baby. That is monster. I should know. Takes one to know one.” Frikka picked at his teeth and sniffed. “For the time, I’ll get my hands dirty so his don’t get any bloodier.”
“Bloodier? As in there’s already blood on my kid’s hands?” Hallr’s voice rose in pitch to an unmanly timbre.
Frikka flinched as the creak of a window rattled out, drawing their collective attention.
A wire with a sensor and anchor taped together dangled from the sill as Cinder, in dragon form, stared out of the window and squeezed himself out, getting too big to do it.
He flitted down from the window and hit the ground with a squish, the ground still damp from a spring rain.
Frikka coughed loudly, making the Dette flinch. “You’re noisy. Fail.”
Cinder shifted into his human form and stomped over, naked as a jaybird, as he glared up at everyone. “Aww, man.”
“You’re messy.” Frikka sat up and swore under his breath.
“Gotta be quieter next time.” Cinder sighed as Frikka rummaged in his pocket and pulled out a child-size pair of shorts and shook them at him.
“Put that thing away unless you’re pissing on a corpse of the enemy.” Frikka muttered something about a tisspik hanging out in the wind and cold stunting its growth, and Leo was lost. But not without ideas.
“Fine!” Cinder huffed and kicked at the ground, face twisted into a pout.
“Now, how bad is it?” Frikka stared the boy down.
Cinder shrugged.
Frikka whipped his head skyward, eyes scanning the horizon a second before the sound of flapping wings tickled Leo’s ears. Each second they grew closer, a rumble and growl low in the wind as an enormous dragon’s belly rippled the nighttime light in a streak.
“Fuuuuuck. It’s Ashwin.” Hallr bristled, scales readying up his arms until Frikka swung the shovel handle to whap him across the chest lightly.
The dragon landed in Hallr’s backyard, claws tearing up the sod needlessly as he scratched around, sniffing, eyes focused on the interspersed patches of nestblossom Hallr kept for the aesthetics.
The true crops were hidden. Fields of them in two countries, a dozen greenhouses, and a dedicated laboratory.
That wasn’t counting Hallr’s private study.
Ashwin took a great claw and swiped through the lawn, gathering a patch of flowers into a mutilated pile.
Cheezus, man, we just had that landscaped! Leo resisted all urge to shift and run out to stop the male, but his dragon screeched in alarm, forcing the shift as he registered that his child had strolled away from them, staring at the angry Drake tearing up their lawn.
Cinder reached into the dirt, grabbed a rock, and Leo flinched when Frikka hit Leo with the shovel, full force, the metal ringing off his scales. “No! This is his fight.”
Ow! Leo buried a snarl.
Hallr forced his own shift as well as Frikka, dwarfing Leo, but Frikka’s energy was so much fiercer than Hallr’s, deadly like a snake. Do not interfere.
The shift of dragons and the sudden fling of a stone from Cinder, drew Ashwin’s attention with a flicker of flame and a snarl.
“Hey, Ass-wind! Leave my papa’s flowers alone!” Cinder stood firm, and Ashwin stared as if debating on eating the boy.
They’re mine! My lifeblossoms! My flowers. Mine! Ashwin snarled and stepped forward, staring Cinder down.
“You sound like a pup that wants someone else’s toy.” Cinder bent down and picked up another rock and lobbed it, bouncing the thing off his neck.
Insolent little fool! I will have you and your Dette siblings in my harem.
Come time, you will all be my property. Ashwin spit fire that Cinder took with ease, the stream splitting around him with a wave of immature magic, far more advanced than any of his siblings for one reason alone, volur magic.
“Why would I want some secondhand copper rank cardboard box of a nest?” Cinder grabbed another rock and Leo stood in place, waiting for an opening to surge past Frikka to guard his son.
Do not insult your child. He’s strong enough. Ashwin is dead, he just doesn’t realize it yet. Frikka snarled lowly against Leo as they watched in horror.
I am gold! I am—
“Gold-plated, more like. Say it to my face. Big scawy draggin can’t hold his own against a frickin’ pup!
” Cinder lobbed the third rock, aiming for a specific spot on Ashwin’s neck that made him shake his head and roar.
“Any Drake that has to say he’s a gold is only there by the skin of his teeth! My da is gold and ten pearl, brokey.”
Ashwin snarled and shook his head madly and swiped out with a claw at the ground before roaring so loud, the windows shook.
Cries from multiple pups came from inside the home as Ashwin finally gave in to Cinder’s taunts and shifted.
“I’ll teach you respect with my bare hands, you disrespectful little—” Ashwin’s eyes twitched and his head shook. His footsteps staggered and it appeared as if his arms didn’t want to cooperate.
“Least I’m not a pervert.” Cinder huffed and stalked off, turning away from Ashwin as he stumbled in place, rage wrenching his face until half of it went slack.
Cinder stomped up to the adults, muttering under his breath as he reached inside the sliding door and picked up a loose shoe.
The three shifted dragons watched with unease as Cinder stomped back over and lobbed a sneaker at Ashwin, smacking him in the face as it lit up with a little flurry of LED lights.
“You little sh—” Ashwin never got to finish the sentence.
He fell onto one knee and collapsed to his side, no comedic timber, no final words or parting wiles. An unfinished swear at a child and the imprint of a size-four sneaker and half a logo on his forehead.
Cinder strode over, took his shoe, and poked at the male’s neck before walking back toward the house, a little nail pinched in his fingers.
The cold, empty look on Cinder’s face was not one that belonged on a child. Let alone Leo’s.
Leo pushed past Frikka, his dragon circling and snatching Cinder into his arms, forcing the pup to shift and cuddle with him.
Frikka and Hallr returned to their skin, and the familiar scrape of the shovel passed them.
“We burying a body?” Hallr sighed.
“No. You’re calling the council. Ashwin is old, and he had a stroke while trying to hype himself up on nestblossom to achieve an unimpressive boner and make a shit attempt at seducing a Dette in the sanctuary.
” Frikka huffed. “I will be putting the nestblossoms back to right while Leo and Cinder go over to the Stoor estate and provide emotional support for Viraj. As Ashwin had initially come here to give us the news that Viraj was about to lay, it was an unfortunate bout of greed and excitement when an unmated Drake was exposed to too much nestblossom. Tisk tisk.”
Leo nodded at Frikka and nuzzled Cinder before shifting. “Come on, kid. Let’s go see Uncle Viraj and welcome the new eggs.”
“Can we ride Phyllis?” Cinder shifted and picked up his little silver nail off the ground before taking Leo’s hand.
“Yeah. I think she’d like that.” They walked off and into the house, hand in hand, two creatures of the same cloth. “You’re still grounded, though.”
“Awww…” Cinder pouted. “Wait, for killing Ass-wind?”
“For sneaking out. I don’t even know how to address that last part. But for both our sake’s…. He just had a stroke, okay?” Leo and Cinder went in search of pants and keys.
“Okay.” He yawned and followed Leo wordlessly. Maybe he would sleep in the car? Maybe not. Either way, Leo needed to really make sure that Cinder got some more individual attention and love.
“You know I love you, right?” Leo glanced down at the sleepy pup.
“I love you too, Papa. Can we get ice cream?” Cinder squeezed Leo’s fingers.
“Only the Stop’N’Go is open this late. Settle for a slushy?” Leo glanced down, offering his little one a smile.
“Okay!” Cinder grinned wide. “Can I get the big one?”
“Only if you don’t unalive anymore bad guys in the backyard.” Leo sighed heavily and earned a smirk.
“I didn’t do nothing. If he wasn’t shifting and getting all angry and snapping at me, maybe that nail wouldn’t have done all that.” Cinder shrugged.
Leo ruffled his hair. “Right.”
“I’m gonna get Uncle Teige to make this into a bracelet. I like bracelets.” Cinder held up the nail.
“The hell you are. Gimme that, morbid little shit.” Leo reached for it, and Cinder held it away.
“No! It’s mine! Karam and Mahava said I could have it!” Cinder pouted, and Leo shook his head. “It’s either that or turn it into piercings so I can be really neat looking when I become a teenager. Put it in my nose and eyebrows and stuff.”
“Fine!” Leo swung by their rooms to grab some clothes, keys, and wallet. Maybe he wasn’t going to turn out so bad after all.
“Or a wiener piercing…” Cinder’s idle musing expression made Leo blanch.
Nevermind.