Chapter 9
After the chaos of visiting Millie, Emmeline was happy to return home to her routine and work, though things were slightly thrown into disarray with the addition of one fat baby dragon.
She was babysitting Motu for the next few weeks, which Torch was happy about, but Emmeline had her hands full with the curious baby dragon, especially at the roasting plant. While he was mostly trained, he wasn’t nearly as disciplined as Torch had been at that age.
Which meant that Emmeline was currently chasing Motu around instead of getting any work done.
“Motu!” she cried, running down the stairs. The baby dragon had managed to slip out when her manager had opened her office door to ask her something.
By the time Emmeline reached the baby dragon, he was watching Char roast a batch of coffee beans, his purple eyes alight. Torch and Midnight were on the side. Midnight was lying down, eyes closed, while Torch was sitting watching Char.
Motu hopped and flew over and tried to join Char, puffing out a little fireball.
“Uff, Motu, no!” Emmeline scolded, reaching to pull him from the air.
She didn’t want the baby so close to Charr’s fire, and Char didn’t seem too happy about it, either. Without pausing his flames, Char batted a wing out, pushing Motu away, though the baby dragon was hardly deterred.
Motu went around Char, trying to join him on the other side, and Emmeline let out a groan. “Motu, stop it.”
Seeing Emmeline was upset, Torch scowled at Motu, hissing. That had the desired effect.
Chagrined, Motu drooped down to the floor. Dragging his feet, he waddled over to the side, head hanging low before he hid his face behind his wings. Emmeline’s heart broke.
“Okay, I’m sorry!” she said, going over to him.
Even though he was heavy, she scooped him up into her arms, and he moved his wings to the side so she could cuddle with him. He pressed his little paws against her chest, then nuzzled against her, no longer upset at all.
Emmeline narrowed her eyes. Had she just been played by a baby dragon?
“You have to behave, okay?” she told him, voice warning. Motu jumped from her arms, bouncing on the ground as if he hadn’t heard her. “Motu! I mean it.” She pointed a finger at him and he kept jumping happily. Midnight lifted her head, unamused.
The older dragon roared at Motu, and he jolted, settling down. While Torch thought Motu’s shenanigans were cute, Midnight was too old and easily irritated to be won over by the baby dragon.
Luckily, Motu was afraid of the old girl and obediently sat in place.
“Thanks, Midnight,” Emmeline said, as Midnight set her head back down to rest.
Emmeline was just about to go back to her office when her phone rang; she picked up.
“Hiya, Dad,” she said.
“Hello,” Charles replied. “How are you? Are you coming for dinner tonight?”
“No, but there should be leftovers from yesterday for you guys to eat,” she replied quickly, wanting to get back to work.
“Oh, I wasn’t asking because of dinner,” he said. “You know we can manage on our own.”
They really couldn’t. “Yes, Dad, I know you can.”
“It’s just nice to see you, that’s all.”
Emmeline pinched the bridge of her nose, thumb brushing against her nose-ring. Her father was just as bad as a baby dragon with his need for attention. Going to the side, Emmeline slowed down. “How has your day been?” she asked. “What are you up to?”
Her father was a retired engineer and usually spent his time golfing, but in the winter, he truly didn’t know what to do with himself. Even more so with Samreen down at Millie’s.
Emmeline would suggest he go down to Millie’s as well, but she knew the man would only drive everyone there absolutely insane. Charles was fastidious—that was where Emmeline got it from—a quality not needed in a home with two toddlers and a newborn.
“Oh, not much,” Charles replied. “I was just doing today’s crossword puzzle. Can you guess what I got stumped on?”
No matter how old or busy Emmeline got, her parents always assumed that if they were free, she would be also. Never mind that it was the middle of the weekday, a time universally reserved for work.
Still, Emmeline indulged her father, and after chatting with him for a bit, she grabbed Motu and finally went back to her office, where she went over her ideas for the coffee shop. But she needed to spend more time at the bookshop before she could really get down to the details.
Luckily, Anh had already told her to come by the bookshop today so she could show her the office with all the files and relevant information. Emmeline was heading over straight after work. She was on a tight schedule and spread thin, but she had planned things out meticulously so it would be fine.
After work, Emmeline mounted Torch, who scooped Motu up in her claws, and they took off, flying to the bookshop.
Motu couldn’t fly long distances yet since he was only a year old, and she didn’t trust the little menace on his own.
It was typical auntie behavior of her, but she couldn’t help but compare Motu with Ginny’s Fang, who was so well-trained.
They arrived at the Tales & Tails Bookshop soon, at the exact same time Luke arrived on his chimera. Chimeras and dragons didn’t get along very well, and Emmeline didn’t help matters by immediately tensing at the sight of Luke. Torch growled, baring her teeth, and Luke’s chimera replied in kind.
“Easy, Sharptooth,” Luke said, petting his chimera before dismounting. Emmeline dismounted as well, and Torch released Motu, who had also begun growling, blindly following Torch’s behavior.
Luke glanced from the dragons to Emmeline, as if waiting for her to chide them. Emmeline didn’t bother, and Luke raised a brow, gaze going to Motu.
“New baby?” he asked.
“My brother’s,” she replied.
“Haris’s or Naveed’s?” he asked, and she narrowed her eyes at him. Why did he remember her brothers’ names?
More importantly, what was he even doing here? Then she realized Anh must have invited him, too, for the same reason. Ugh.
“Haris’s,” she replied, voice curt as she headed for the door. He took a large step forward, getting there first, where he placed his hand over hers on the door frame. She retracted her hand and he held the door open.
“After you,” he said with a smile. He was making a show of being gentlemanly, probably to annoy and/or distract her.
Emmeline glanced back at Torch, who had a protective wing around Motu and was looking sternly at Sharptooth.
“Torch,” Emmeline said, voice steady. “Relax.”
Her dragon settled, and Emmeline called Motu, who came flying over, landing in her arms. Emmeline nodded at Torch to go on. Torch flew off, but Emmeline swore she saw the dragon give Luke a dirty look.
Sharptooth looked unhappy but Luke nodded at her, and the chimera took off as well, heading in the opposite direction. Still holding the door open for Emmeline, Luke gave her an easy smile.
With Motu in her arms, Emmeline strode inside, Luke following behind her.
The bookshop was toasty warm, filled with patrons and light.
She spotted a newborn opala dragon wrapped in blankets, sound asleep in its basket.
A year-old red-scaled garneta crept close, trying to take a look at the tiny newborn.
Emmeline set Motu down, and he held onto one of her legs with his paw, looking around the bookshop. He grew excited when he saw the other baby dragons, looking up at her with wide eyes.
She petted his head, and he turned his attention to Luke, who was watching her and the baby dragon. Motu gave him a curious glance, and Luke smiled.
“Hello, angel,” he said, voice smooth. Her stomach twisted at his sweet tone, and she watched as he crouched down to pet the baby dragon with his ringed fingers. She expected Motu to bite him—would welcome it, even—but instead, Motu made a purring sound, leaning into Luke’s touch.
Luke smiled, pleased.
Emmeline glared at the little traitor.
“Motu,” she hissed, and the baby dragon looked up at her with big purple eyes. Guilt pricked at her. She gathered Motu up into her arms and kissed his face.
Luke rose up, watching her with an amused expression.
“Motu?” he asked, arching a brow.
“It means little fatso,” she told him.
“I know.” His lips twitched. “A bit rude, don’t you think?”
“Not at all,” she replied. “We mean it affectionately. Motu knows that—don’t you?” She smushed the baby dragon’s face, and Motu swatted at her hand with his paw, not enjoying her playful aggression.
“Cute,” Luke replied, but when she glanced up, she saw that he wasn’t looking at the baby dragon—he was looking at her. There was fondness in his warm brown eyes that made her feel immediately flustered.
She swallowed, looking away. As she did, she spotted Anh.
“Anh!” Emmeline called, going over to meet the old lady, who was dressed in a classy matching tweed skirt and blazer. Anh was chatting with Minh but paused to greet her and Luke.
“Hello, dears. And who is this little darling?” Anh asked, petting Motu.
“My brother’s baby,” Emmeline replied. “On babysitting duties . . . Not to worry, though. He won’t cause any trouble.”
“A little trouble never killed anybody,” Minh said from his reading chair, cracking open his book again.
Anh affectionately rolled her eyes at her little brother. “A little trouble most surely has killed somebody, but never mind you.” She turned to Emmeline and Luke. “Right this way.”
They followed her to the back of the bookshop, past a group of teenage girls squealing over a new romance, a couple exchanging book recommendations, and a bookseller pulling out a six-book fantasy series for a middle-aged man.
Emmeline smiled to herself as she saw some familiar faces—friends of friends, or family members of clients, or old classmates.