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L achlan definitely needed more time to snuggle. He was surprised that Apollo had climbed onto the couch next to him at all.

A dangerous hope flickered through him that maybe Apollo was finally softening toward him. He tried not to let that hope bloom too much. He had thought that at midsummer too, and Apollo had shut him down completely.

Apollo is only feeling vulnerable. This will wear off, Lachlan told himself firmly. Still, it was better that he was coming to Lachlan for affection than trying to go out and find it from some stranger.

"Layla was going to dig more into the Sanguis Vitae and their cosmetics company. I doubt that building is their only one," Lachlan said, not moving his arm from where it was draped about Apollo's shoulders.

"They have a lot of money. They admitted they never went away after Catherine Medici's death," Apollo added. "I saw one of their labs and their blood vault, but there has to be more for an operation their size."

Valentine sipped his wine. "Alchemy and blood magic are both volatile practices. If you're translating and decoding old manuscripts to see what the spells do, they won't risk doing that in a crowded city like Paris."

Apollo suggested, "We could attack the building here. Maybe capture Bellerose and get her to tell us where the rest of them are hiding."

"She's the head of the order. There's no way she will spill that kind of information," Lachlan said and rubbed Apollo's arm. "If we are going to take them down, the best way will be to do it all at once so they don't have time to scatter or rally."

Apollo leaned forward and ran his hands through his tangled curls. "I was too out of it when you came to rescue me to think straight, but we will need to find a way back into that building."

"Lachlan fucked any chance of that," Valentine said, his eyes narrowing.

Lachlan ignored him and rested his hand between Apollo's shoulder blades. "Why would you even want to go back there?"

"They took lots of blood. Maybe other stuff?" Apollo said, his fingers slightly tugging on his hair. "I was knocked out for so much of it, but what if they jerked me off in my sleep or something? I wouldn't put it past them."

Lachlan's hand tightened a little on Apollo's shirt. "What would they want with your semen?"

"They want dragons, Lachie. You should have seen their faces. They won't care how they get them, even if they try to clone them or make a homunculus of them."

Valentine hummed. "Let's not forget blood and semen are good for spell work. Especially the blood magic they are interested in. They might have taken samples of your skin and saliva too. They would have treated you as a specimen."

"What the actual fuck?" Lachlan growled.

"We need to get all of those samples back, or they will be able to use them to find me, to control me, to put any kind of spell on me that they want," Apollo said, leaning his thigh against Lachlan's as if searching for support.

"If you say it's important, Apollo, I'll help you get them," he said, running his hand down Apollo's back in soothing strokes.

"The smart thing to do is give Layla time to dig into the necessary information.

We will find a way back into the building, baby brother, but we will need to be subtle about it.

" Valentine's smile widened with dark glee.

"And then we will blow the shit out of it.

I've been writing to a mage in Taran's court for months, and they are doing some fun things. "

"I think we all need to sleep before we start thinking of blowing things up, Val." Apollo rubbed at his eyes again. "At least I do. And I will need to make some elixirs before we get into any more trouble."

"Off you go to bed, then," Lachlan said, gently pushing against his back. "I'll send some messages to update Layla and the family."

"You need to sleep too, Lachie. You look like shit," Apollo said, getting up.

"Thanks, golden boy."

Apollo hugged Valentine and disappeared into the guest room, quietly shutting the door.

"I'm going to bed too. The wards are up, so you should sleep," Valentine said and stared at the guest door. "Thank you for getting him out."

"You never have to thank me for looking out for him." Lachlan expected Valentine to threaten him a little, just for fun. Instead, he gave him a small smile.

"He's fighting it, but he cares about you too, Lachie."

"I don't suppose you can tell me why he's fighting it? I would rather cut my arm off than hurt him."

Valentine drained his wine. "It's complicated being a magician and a dragon. Apollo's head is in chaos at the best of times. It can take him a little longer than others to know what to do and to see what's best for him."

Lachlan leaned back on the couch. "I've waited this long, haven't I? I'm not going anywhere until he tells me to."

"Good. As for me, I'm going to bed. Wake me up if something exciting happens," Valentine said and went upstairs.

Lachlan was still too wired to sleep, so he emailed Layla that they needed a sneaky way into the Sanguis Vitae building, then he messaged Ciara.

I got him back without a hitch, but I am staying to take them down. They won't stop.

Ciara got back to him instantly. Let me know if you need Tor and me, and we can be there in a few hours.

Lachlan smiled. His sister would always have his back, and he got Tor into the bargain.

He might need more than them, depending on the size of the Sanguis Vitae's operation.

Lachlan spent another hour getting into the building's CCTV system and finding it woefully inadequate, so he set up a few tiny cameras of his own.

He even put one in the central area of the apartment so they would know if anyone broke in to set a trap when they were out.

With the amount of money the alchemists had, anything was possible.

Lachlan was finally tired enough to try to sleep when the bedroom door opened, and Apollo came out. He was in a pair of loose pajama pants with no shirt on.

Lachlan tried not to look at him, but he was only human.

And Apollo was...beautiful. He had a dusting of rose gold hair on his chest and the sweetest treasure trail Lachlan had ever seen.

His eyes fixated on the sigil tattooed there, and his mouth watered.

Apollo's usual gray eyes were glowing gold and hot.

"I need you to come sleep with me," Apollo said in a slightly deeper voice than normal.

"Are you his dragon?" Lachlan asked.

"Yes. He won't rest if he doesn't feel safe, and you make him feel safe. He needs you."

Lachlan got off the couch and walked over to him. "Are you sure Apollo will be okay with this?" he asked.

"I am Apollo," the dragon said and took Lachlan's hand, drawing him into the dark room and closing the door. Lachlan's heart was racing as he got into the bed. Apollo climbed in beside him, grabbed Lachlan's arm, and pulled it over him like a blanket.

"I need to be the little spoon," he said, now sounding more magician than dragon.

Lachlan grinned in the dark and pulled him into the cradle of his body. "Better?"

Apollo made a happy humming sound. "So warm. Pet me."

"Go to sleep, bossy boots," Lachlan replied but still took the opportunity to lightly run his fingertips over Apollo's soft as silk skin. He was fit from training and had long, lean muscles that all the Greatdrakes boys had.

Lachlan was a head taller than Apollo, so they fit together like perfect puzzle pieces.

The adrenaline-fuelled anxiety that had been driving Lachlan for days finally relinquished its grip on him.

Apollo's breaths went slow and deep. Lachlan wriggled so he could press his face into the back of Apollo's neck and let the sound of his breathing pull him into sleep.