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)
Irany didn’t get any further because Amaru smacked him in the center of his forehead. “Chucklefuck!”
Luka sighed. “I’m having a talk with Nikki about introducing slang to you a little slower.”
“Ow!” Irany whined, rubbing the new red spot on his forehead.
“Five hundred years! We’ve been asleep for five hundred years!” Amaru shouted into Irany’s face.
“I thought you were exaggerating! How is that possible? We should have been woken up.” Irany shoved long black hair out of his face, looking very much the part of someone who had just woken up from an unexpected power nap. There were creases in his cheeks, showing red even through the dark olive skin. He kept wrinkling his nose, too, which was almost comical since his nose was decidedly too large for his face. He was somewhere between the vibe of mad scientist and teenager in trouble.
Amaru reached out to smack Irany again, but Vasily caught his hand this time. He could understand Amaru’s frustration about the entire situation and some deeper pain he was possibly not dealing with, but it wasn’t fair to take it out on Irany.
“He doesn’t know everything,” Vasily murmured.
The mage’s shoulders slumped and he leaned into Vasily, resting his head on his chest for a second. “You’re right.” He sighed and turned his eyes back to his fellow clan member. “One of the reasons we didn’t get woken up was because the dragons and mages never returned to wake us. This—” He paused and gave a jerk of his chin toward the other four hundred-ish members of the Sousa and lightning dragons still asleep. “This is all that’s left of our people.”
Irany’s eyes skimmed over the long row of sleeping mages and dragons, his face growing pale as he took them in. Vasily’s heart went out to the man. It was a lot to take in after waking from a five-hundred-year nap.
Amaru gave him a little pop on the shoulder. “But we can’t focus on what we’ve lost. All our attention needs to be on saving every person we have left, right?”
“Y-yes, you’re right. We have to save our people.” Irany’s voice gained strength as he spoke.
“Well, right now, you have to save our people,” Amaru corrected him.
“What?” Irany squeaked.
“You fucked up. If your system wasn’t so complicated, and if it had accounted for the lightning magic of the dragons, the backup system would have kicked in and we would have woken up centuries ago. So, this is your punishment. I’m leaving you here to work on the system with…”
“Yo!” Gregori chimed in. Vasily jerked around to see the dragon holding one hand up in the air while keeping his eyes locked on his phone as he furiously tapped it with his thumb.
“There! I’m leaving you with Gregori Valerii of the Valerii Ice Dragon Clan. He’s very nice and will fill you in on everything. Also, you’ll have Sam. He’s a mage and probably knows the most about the Sousa and our devices.”
Irany made a grab for Amaru, but the wily mage darted away and cackled. “Wait! Where will you be? Why are you leaving me?”
Amaru snuggled up against Luka, then grabbed Vasily’s shirt, tugging him in close. “I’m going somewhere, anywhere, with my mates. We deserve some time alone.”
Yes. Alone time. Away from the various dragon clans and mates and all the chaos. They needed many private hours. It had been days since he’d last made Luka moan with pleasure and now he had another mate to explore and learn. Amaru probably made the very best noises. He had to figure out all the spots that made him shout, squeal, and beg.
“Mates? As in plural? As in you have more than one?”
Amaru snorted. “Of course I have more than one. You honestly think one dragon could handle me?”
“And that is why you are being sent far, far away,” Gregori said. The shorter dragon strolled over, grinning, while he shoved his phone into his waterproof bag.
“What are you talking about?” Vasily asked while cuddling his mates.
“I’m talking about the fact that no one in camp wants to hear the two of you handling that one,” Gregori answered, pointing right at Amaru’s grinning face. “Besides, those of us who are still stuck single after all these years don’t need to watch the nauseating early stage of new-mate cuteness. I don’t think my stomach can handle it.”
“Screw you,” Luka groused.
“No! You three go screw each other,” Gregori said with a cackle. “I’ve already made hotel reservations and sent the information to Vasily’s phone. Sam and I will watch over Irany for a little while. We—”
Vasily didn’t even allow him to finish. He grabbed Amaru and tossed him over his shoulder and dashed for the lake entrance. Luka’s bright laughter chased after him and Gregori was shouting something at him, but he couldn’t make it out. Didn’t matter. He had his mates and he was escaping.