Page 9 of Singing the Dragon’s Heart

Chapter

Nine

K ami decided he was going to explore his new home a few days after the great spaghetti-in-bed incident.

He grabbed a towel and his swim trunks, which Reno had ordered in for him, and he headed out to look for the pool. Reno said it was super cool, and even Talon had mentioned that it was really nice.

For Talon, that was huge, ringing endorsement.

He wandered, taking every left-hand hall for a while. Then he went outside. Because the sky was super blue and?—

He glanced up in the sky, seeing two dragons flying. Sparring, really, swooping around each other, their huge wings creating wind that shook the treetops nearby.

That was awesome. Especially since one of the dragons was Talon. He would know that silver and black form anywhere, the long scar on the dragon’s underbelly so clear to him.

The other dragon was the color of earth and fire, and he was fast. So fast.

Reno.

Oh. His mate was gorgeous. He’d never even thought Reno could be this beautiful.

He wanted to fly. Now.

Love? Can I join you?

Reno circled around to glide over him. He knew the moment Talon spotted him too. Come on, babe. Come fly with us.

So he dropped his towel and shifted, springing from the ground and zipping up toward them. He knew how fast he was. And while he couldn’t breathe fire or make the earth move, he could move through the sky like a rocket.

Talon swooped down, their wings brushing together in a clear greeting, and he had to grin, because he’d seen Talon happy before, of course he had.

But this was Talon satisfied.

No, it wasn’t even satisfied.

Playing. This was Talon playing.

Kami dove down toward Reno, pulling up just so that their scales barely touched, so close that they made tinkling noises as they slipped together.

You’re beautiful. He loved the awe in Reno’s voice. It made him feel as if he was the most amazing dragon in the history of dragons. Like no one had ever seen him like Reno did.

Which was weird and wonderful all at the same time.

Kami decided right then and there that weird and wonderful was totally going to be a part of his life from now on.

He showed off a little bit, doing curlicues in the air, twining around Reno and then shooting up, coming back to do a drive-by on Talon’s tail.

Tag, you’re it.

I’m coming for you, Talon roared, the sound of ringing through the valley.

Yes.

An answering roar came from closer to the keep, and a silver dragon shot up to join them, this one the spitting image of Kami’s best friend, but without the huge scar. Triton had some of course.

Both Talon and Triton were warriors. Triton had just won many more battles. While Talon knew what it meant to lose something more precious than anything else.

He shook that thought off and then set to having fun.

They flew for what had to be an hour, playing this makeshift game of tag with different dragons coming up and joining their game and then heading back down to watch.

He felt…at home for the first time since he’d come, and he dove down to skim his claws along the cold lake. Then he back winged into the big outdoor courtyard at the compound, because he was tiring some. He needed to get back to working out, dammit.

Reno floated down to land near him, and for a moment, they twined necks and tails, both of them rumbling.

Reno’s chuckle sounded in his head. Hot tub?

Ooooh. Is it big enough for us and the huge guys? Kami asked as Talon and Triton touched down simultaneously.

It is. I’ll show you where.

The pool could wait. Bubbling sore muscles was worth shifting back to his smaller human form. But he found he didn’t have to. The dragon-sized hot tub was more like a huge spring.

The tub was absolutely perfect, and he sank in, tail twining with Reno’s. Oh, this is wondrous.

Isn’t it? I could spend my life in here.

He ended up, basically in Reno’s lap. Ostensibly, it was to let the big guys have enough room, but really it was just because that’s where he wanted to be.

Brother. This is my friend. Kami.

Triton nodded his huge head toward Kami. It is my pleasure.

I’m glad that he found you.

Our family owes you. So much.

He shook his head. No. Nobody owed him a damn thing. He’d done what he’d done because it was the right thing to do, and because he loved Talon. He hadn’t done it because he was owed anything, because he wanted anything. He just wanted Talon to live and be happy. We’re even. I don’t keep score.

Suddenly there was this wild giggle, and a little girl came squealing, splashing into the hot tub, and jumping right on Triton. “DA!”

“Sorry, sorry, guys, she got away from me.” There was a harried-looking dragon carrying a set of twins who were struggling to get down. And then there was an empty stroller with the straps burned off of it. “Cerran’s getting food for the girls. They were hungry, and then our little beast saw you flying. It was all over, as soon as you came down close enough for her to know where you were going to land. I tried.”

The little one rolled her eyes, the giggles absolutely merry. “Da.”

Someone was not worried about interrupting her father in the least. In fact, Kami would say that this child had absolutely no doubt of her place in the world. It was amazing to see.

The big guy just nuzzled her gently, his huge snout seeming to dwarf her, but the love was clear.

She bounced and bobbed in the bubbles, and Triton allowed it for long moments before scooping her out, where her omega dad wrapped a towel around her “Come on, baby girl. Let’s go get that food.”

She frowned. “Da?”

Go on. Triton handed her over. I’ll bring Uncle Talon in a minute.

“Tal!”

That’s right, Tal.

Talon was beaming like this, light just coming from him like the giant dork that he was. Oh, someone liked being Uncle Tal.

She’s so cute. She’s fierce.

They rescued her, Talon said. Like they blew up an entire keep, our whole keep — they blew it up to rescue her. They were going to kill her.

Then why did they rescue her?

No, Talon explained. They—Triton and Cerran—rescued her because they—my old keep, also known as the bad guys—were going to kill her.

Oh. Pronouns are important. Also why would they want to kill her? She’s just a baby. I mean she’s kind of demanding but ? —

She had bonded with a rare stone. Triton’s expression was very serious. And they decided that the stone was more important than she was.

Kami’s mouth literally fell open, his jaw hit his chest and his lungs emptied in a rush, leaving him a little dizzy. You’re not serious. No stone is worth a dragon.

Yes, losing his stone had been agonizing, but that pain had been tempered with this intense satisfaction of knowing that Talon would be all right. Not only that, but he had done it willingly, of his own volition.

Triton nodded. Exactly. You understand. I had to save her. We had to save her. They killed her omega parent. They killed her alpha. They were going to kill her. They wanted me to kill her.

No, I’ll never understand. Why are people so mean?

Reno snorted. When someone has power, they want to keep it. The more power they have, the more they’ll do to control it and to keep it and make it grow. Once you possess it, the power eats at you, I think. His mate shrugged. I don’t have any power. Don’t need it either. I have a home. I have food for my mate. I have family and friends. I love them, and they love me.

Kami nodded. He got that. The omegas that he’d helped, they just wanted out. They wanted out of a shit situation, whether it be a job that they didn’t love, or a home they didn’t love. A caste that they didn’t love.

Hell, half of them just wanted freedom. And while the keeps didn’t want to let them go because omegas were ‘Important’ for making babies, so there were more dragons to do the work to create the power. Why can’t people just go where they need to go, and do what makes them happy?

Because that’s taking the power from the ones who have it. Once you put it in the hands of the people, that’s scary. Triton shook his head and stood, the water pouring off his scales and wings as he stretched up tall. Let’s go have lunch.

That seemed like the best possible way to end a good flight and a soak with friends.

And Kami really did feel like he had some friends now.

It was kind of amazing.