Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 101379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 507(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 507(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
“Dear god, how are you keeping up with both of them now that they can shift?” Vasily asked, cradling a squirming Asuka.
“Practice,” Sora replied. At that second, Haruto launched himself off Sora’s shoulder, heading straight for Vasily’s head. Sora snagged the baby dragon by the tail and held him in place while his little wings frantically flapped. The dragon’s mouth opened and closed like he wanted to bite Vasily’s nose. “No. No biting.”
With surprising ease, Sora pulled Haruto into his arms and reached into his pocket. He pulled out two plastic rings filled with water. “Would you mind freezing these?” Sora asked as he extended them to Vasily.
He shifted Asuka, trying not to watch as Haruto continued to crawl over his father like he was a jungle gym. Vasily snagged the rings and froze them both with just a tiny burst of energy.
Sora took one back and held it up so Haruto could see it. At the same time, he jerked his chin toward Asuka. “Give the other one to her. They both started teething last week.”
Vasily looked back down and nearly jumped. The baby dragon was gone and he found himself holding a rosy cheeked, drooling baby with messy black hair. He hadn’t even felt her shift. Asuka instantly accepted the teething ring, biting down on it and cooing as it numbed her sore gums.
“Teething baby dragons that can shift must be fun.”
Sora let out a tired chuckle. “Fun is not the word I would’ve chosen, no. Fortunately we have a lot of help, otherwise what sanity I had left may have already retreated to a different continent.”
“I wouldn’t blame it.” At the same time, Vasily was rather envious of exactly this problem. He would love to have two baby dragons to juggle even while they drove him insane. At the moment though, he more than had his hands full with his mates. Babies were definitely a conversation for a much more future date. Assuming he could get their relationship straightened out.
“I’m glad I ran into you. I wanted to talk to you about Amaru,” Sora said. He turned around and started walking deeper into the camp. Vasily automatically followed, marveling at how the man was now holding a little boy who was also enjoying his icy ring. How in the world did Sora have the brain power to keep up with these two and still think about Amaru?
It could be worse.
Sora and Ravi were the fathers of two wind dragons. They could now shift, but they hadn’t discovered their ability to manipulate and conjure wind yet.
According to news Ravi brought from Germany, King Alric and Cameron’s child had discovered fire.
Anyway, not the point right now. He had a feeling Sora did not have good news to impart. “Amaru? What’s wrong?”
“Have you seen him sleep recently?” Sora asked as Haruto tried to launch himself out of Sora’s arms without shifting. The dad shifted his son to his other hip while keeping his eyes locked on Vasily.
Shit. He had not. In fact, he had seen signs Amaru was not sleeping much but he had been so focused on Luka that he had not properly followed up. He mentally kicked himself even as frustration welled up inside of his chest like hot lava. He could not be in both places at once, he knew that rationally, but both of his mates were apparently in their own brand of trouble right now. He had to figure out how to balance their needs.
“I haven’t. Have you?”
Sora shook his head grimly. “He’s not sleeping. The light is always on in his tent, and I’ve caught him wandering around at night. I don’t think he’s had a solid night of sleep since we pulled him out of the cave. That mage is seriously sleep deprived, Vasily, and it’s becoming dangerous for his health.”
Vasily nodded. That was the answer he had expected. “I’ll talk to him.”
“You need to do more than talk to him. Make. Him. Sleep. Because if you don’t, I can mix up some mean sleep spells to knock his ass out.”
There was a good chance Amaru wasn’t the only one sleep deprived right now, but he was not about to cross this mage.
“I will. I promise. He’ll get some sleep tonight.”
“Good.” Sora nodded and stretched out his empty arm to Asuka. The little girl shifted into a dragon and dutifully flew to her father with her teething ring still in her mouth. She curled up, head on his shoulder and tail wrapped around his wrist. “I don’t want to use magic or drugs on him. It’s better if he falls asleep naturally, but we’re to the point that any sleep he can get is good for him.”
“We’ll figure this out. I think you could do with some sleep too.”
Sora flashed him a crooked smile. “Don’t worry about me. We’re off to locate Dada. He promised to lie down with us for our afternoon nap.”