Page 10 of Singing the Dragon’s Heart

Chapter

Ten

R eno watched Kami with all the kids, which was kind of hilarious. He thought maybe his mate looked a lot like Mowgli when he sees the human girl in that Disney Jungle Book movie.

A little entranced, Reno loved all of his besties’ kids. He really did. And gods knew, Boone and Lake had so damn many. Durango and Eyv had a couple, and Triton and Cerran and Elowyn had three.

Felicity, who was Jack and Dex’s oldest, adored Reno. But it was Durango’s little Serenity who attached herself to Kami and wouldn’t let go.

She clung to his leg and to his every word, her hero worship very clear. It was amazing, because she absolutely was the opposite to her name, and usually she would have a meltdown in minutes if someone ignored her or left her to her own devices for too long.

But Kami fascinated her.

And he thought Serenity totally befuddled his hailee.

Reno. Help me. What do I do with this little one? She won’t leave me alone. Kami was trying to pry Serenity off his leg.

Oh, you’re doing fine. He examined the drawing little Daniel was showing him. “Oh, very nice, kiddo.”

Reno!

What? It’s good for you.

Why? I’m not going to have any. So it doesn’t matter if I know how to deal with them.

But there are a billion kids around here, and you can’t escape them.

Ugh.

He laughed, and then he picked up Gertie, who was Felicity’s little sister. He swung her in a circle, then tossed her in the air.

She giggled madly before kissing his cheek with a big smack.

“Kam! Uppies.” Serenity tugged and pulled and started climbing Kami like a tree.

Oh my Gods. Help me!

My hands are full.

“Um. Eyv? Would you like your daughter?” Kami asked.

“Oh no. I have them all the time. Can you hold her for a bit?” Butter wouldn’t melt in Eyv’s mouth.

“I—I guess?” He caught Serenity when she would have fallen, then stared her in the face as he lifted her, holding her out at arm’s length.

Reno had to work hard not to just burst out laughing.

“He looks terrified,” Talon said, his grin huge as a couple of the kids crawled over him. They were at the palatial apartment Jack and Dex had, and while they were maybe more high-class than Reno and his team, they were nice folks who loved to entertain.

And they always invited everyone’s children.

“Gertie, get down. I want Reno to look at my book with me.”

Jack’s eyes flashed gold. “Felicity, do not be rude.”

“Sorry, soffar. I didn’t mean to.” She gave Reno big, sad eyes. Patently false. “I just miss Reno. I haven’t seen him in soooo long.”

“I’ll sit with you and read after I love on Gertie, hon,” Reno promised her.

“Okay.” Felicity sat down, waiting. Right at his feet.

He grinned at Kami, who was now being held around his neck and was being jabbered with complete confidence and utter incomprehensibility.

Reno loved it.

I am going to wrap you up in a bedsheet and beat you to death tonight , Kami told him.

You can try. Reno waggled his eyebrows at his hailee. This was better than color TV.

“So, when are you two joining the ranks of us desperate-to-sleep parents?” Dex asked Kami, smiling as he offered a tray of cheese.

Kami did send him a panicked stare now.

“We’re not in any hurry,” Reno put in, not wanting to put Kami on the spot. “Kami has been working a lot and feels a little more like an alpha than an omega.”

That had Kami rolling his eyes, but his shoulders relaxed. He gave Reno a grateful smile.

Dex glanced back and forth between them, but he seemed to catch on, smiling. “Well, we can always use more help with rescuing people and training teams.”

“See, that’s what I thought,” Kami murmured. “I can help in all kinds of ways.”

Jack gave him a look glinting with sympathy. He was a damn quick study.

Serenity patted Kami’s cheeks, and then she crawled down to go play with Boone’s toddlers who were obviously building something insane with gigantic blocks.

Kami relaxed as she walked away, and then Talon handed him one of Elowyn’s twins and a bottle. “Here. Make yourself useful as well as ornamental.”

Kami stared at Talon. “You’re their uncle.”

“You’re family now, congratulations. Welcome to the clan. Apparently making babies is a thing. You might as well get used to helping, stone singer.”

I’m going to kill him. When they find him dead in the morning, skinned and hanging for the entire keep to see, it was me, I did it.

Good to know. I’ll be your alibi.

Kami beamed at him. Thank you, mate.

“So you’re really a stone singer?” Eyv asked. “I’ve never met one that I know of. It’s an incredible talent you have.”

“Thanks, I didn’t know I was one, but apparently it’s a thing.”

Eyv nodded. “Usually when singer babies are found, they’re taken to these amazing underground cities and trained to talk to the stones. They’re adored, and they’re considered incredibly blessed.”

Durango shook his head. “It’s a little creepy if you ask me.”

“Well, you know.” Kami’s drawl was deceptively soft. “I’m really not the blessed kind.”

“Goddess, no,” Talon said. “He’s more of the blasted kind. Yeah. I have seen him cause a couple of landslides.”

“That’s fun.” Triton grinned, hands filled with children.

“Thanks, Tal. You’re the best of friends.” Kami rolled his eyes and shrugged. “Look, I don’t know what the rumor is or the tradition, but I didn’t grow up with dragons. I grew up in the human world, and we didn’t really deal with anything. I left when I was a teenager to go find a dragon keep, and what I found, I didn’t like. But I’m not interested in going and being in some magical underground city. That’s not my deal.”

“You might not have a choice.” Jack’s voice was deadly serious. “From what I understand, this gift is rare enough that politically, it’s a problem.”

Kami’s eyes flashed. “Then I’ll leave.”

“He goes, I go too.” That was easy. Reno wasn’t going to be without his mate.

“No one’s going to have to go anywhere.” That was Boone. “I’ll just tell Cain no. Isn’t that part of this whole deal of us being at this keep? That we don’t have to follow all these stupid rules?”

Lake nodded his head. “Exactly. That’s why we came here, because the rules were hidebound and old-fashioned and not functional, and we didn’t want to be constrained by tradition. They’re killing omegas. They were going to kill babies!”

Eyv touched Lake’s arm. “Easy. Children, little ears.”

“Sorry.”

“I’m not sorry. What the heck is going on, man?” Reno noticed that Kami was managing to have an argument and feed a baby at the same time, which was an improvement.

“What’s going on is the world is changing.” Tempest smiled at him. She was his dearest friend here, as far as the children were concerned. He’d worked hard to become friends with her. And the little seer made him happy deep down. “Everything is changing, and it’s hard, but you’re not going anywhere. You’re staying here. It’s not going to be easy, but you’ll stay.”

“Well, that’s that then.” Durango nodded, looking utterly satisfied. “I believe in my kaiinaa.”

“I love you too, soffar.”

Durango beamed at her, and their bond as parent and child was so obvious now.

“I’ll talk to Cain,” Reno finally said. “No one is taking away my hailee. And I think, stone singer or not, Kami is going to do what he wants to do. Right, baby?” I got your back.

I trust you. “ I am. I’m a rescue guy. I can’t just stop that.”

Jack finally nodded. “Okay. That’s fair.”

Hell, for all that he’d left his keep to become a talent agent, Jack could be the most hidebound of guys sometimes. Old-fashioned when it came to hailees and braaken. So if he was on board, it would be a real help.

They were all in this together. As a keep.