Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 93267 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 466(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93267 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 466(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
“Is it Ravi or Ravi’s twins?” Rodrigo inquired, his voice a weary tone that made Gregori think this was a common occurrence since Ravi and his family had come to Brazil.
“Both.”
“I wish we could keep Sora for a bit longer but ship Ravi and his twins back to Alric.” He clicked his tongue and waved a hand. “But I’m sure no father would be willingly separated from his children, and no dragon can tolerate being away from their mate. Ravi and Sora are a package deal.”
“It would explain the regular gift baskets you’ve been receiving from King Alric recently with the thank-you notes.”
Gregori jumped to his feet and bowed to Rodrigo. “I will take my leave so you can attend to this…incident. Thank you for your counsel.”
He beat a hasty retreat out of the room before it occurred to Rodrigo or Thiago to pull him into whatever mess Ravi and his kids had created now.
While he’d been dreading facing Rodrigo, he had to admit he felt significantly lighter now they’d spoken. Not just because his king had been so understanding, but because he’d actually given him some words of hope when it came to Salem. They were making progress. Slow and steady progress.
After weeks of vowing to never go to Brazil, Salem was now here.
Grinning to himself, Gregori stepped inside of his apartment and crossed through the rooms until he finally located Salem half hidden behind a pile of old books, files, and even a few delicate-looking scrolls. When he’d left to meet up with Rodrigo, Salem had mentioned something about Sora sending over some “light” reading.
“Sora and I have very different ideas of what ‘light’ reading looks like,” Gregori said as he entered the room.
Salem’s head popped up and he gave a wide grin, making Gregori’s heart skip. That look made it all worthwhile. Even if he wasn’t the cause of Salem’s smile, he was just overjoyed to see his mate so very happy.
“All of this is so amazing! I just…I just never expected to discover so much healing magic preserved following the Great Dragon War. I thought it was all lost. When Sora and some dragons dropped this off, I couldn’t help but jump in. How was your meeting with the king? He wasn’t too angry with you, was he? Do you think I should go talk to him?”
Gregori held up his hand to stop Salem. If the mage kept talking, he was going to scoop him up from his chair and carry him off to bed. He was being too precious and adorable. It was odd. Since getting Salem away from the hospital and his tiny apartment, some of his hard edges had softened and he seemed more willing to laugh. Maybe he was able to finally relax away from the stress of his job, or the fact he wasn’t constantly being reminded by his meager living conditions that he was drowning in debt. Either way, Gregori was happy to have his mate smiling.
“No, the king wasn’t angry. Just worried about me. We talked and I reassured him I wasn’t going to be a dumbass any longer. No more taking stupid risks with my life.”
Salem released a heavy breath of relief and slumped deep in his chair, only the top of his head visible over the stack of books. “So even he has beat it into your head to never do it again? But in a nice way.”
“Heh. Well, it’s hard to say no when he did precisely that.”
“I like him more every day.” Salem gave him a sharp, speaking look. “You have learned your lesson, I hope, and I don’t have to keep an eye on you?”
“I promise you I have. No more pushing myself to almost dying.”
“Glad to hear it.”
“How goes the reading?”
“It’s astounding!” Salem jerked upright, his face alight with enthusiasm. “Did you know things like the flu and even the common cold can be cured with a potion? A simple potion! And treating pneumonia is nothing more than a spell and an hour of rest. It’s insane. I’ve seen children stuck in the hospital for days, even weeks, as we tried to clear up their lungs. The list goes on and on. So many things that threaten the lives of children in the human world are regarded as barely more than a scraped knee when you can tackle it with magic.” Salem flipped through some pages and hummed to himself for a second. “However, there are some neurological illnesses these old texts make assumptions about that I want to discuss with Sora and his parents. It might be one of the few areas where modern medicine has an edge.”
“That’s wonderful.” Gregori paused and licked his lips. “I heard on my way back here that the room they prepared for you is ready.”
Salem’s gaze jerked up to his face. “Ready to get rid of me at last?”