“Yes, yes, and I do appreciate your thoughtfulness, but not with an audience.” I squirmed off his lap and grabbed my shirt and jacket, turning a circle before finding my bra dangling over the heater.
“My sister is indifferent to our sexual activities.”
“Oh, I’m positive.”
“Val!” Mom called from outside. “There’s a dragon on my sauna.”
By that, I trusted Zondia hadn’t shifted into her human form yet.
“We’ll spend a whole weekend together once everything is resolved,” I promised Zav, patting his knee as I tugged on my clothes.
Zav’s eyes glinted with displeasure at this delay, and I worried he would use his magic to seal the door, but all he said was, “Then I will ensure it is resolved extremely quickly.”
“Good. I look forward to it.”
“Yes. You will.”
His smoldering gaze had returned, almost making me rush back over to kiss him again, but then Mom added, “It’s a huge purple dragon!” and the spell was broken.
I stepped outside, the cold air battering me unpleasantly after the warmth of the sauna. Mom and Gondo stood on the covered porch, gaping at the roof of the sauna.
“I believe she’s a lilac dragon,” I said.
Zondia’s head came into view, lowering on her long neck. She looked at me, but only briefly before turning that serpentine neck to peer into the sauna.
Your mate is less foolish than you, Zondia spoke telepathically to Zav but included me. It was an unexpected compliment, though it was doubtless meant as more of an insult to Zav. She knows the importance of maintaining order in the Realms and not allowing races that we rule to be harmed, nor delaying for the disgusting carnal pleasures of this species.
I expected Zav to tell her to sod off, but he sighed and walked out, draping an arm over my shoulders. Yes, she is a good mate.
I patted his naked abdomen. “Is your robe ever going to reappear?”
“Yes. It is most chilly and damp out here.” He released me and poofed the robe into existence, neat and tidy and unwrinkled as always. Even more impressive, it arrived on his body.
“Dragon magic is truly amazing,” I said.
His eyes glinted. “I am amazing.”
Zondia made a hawking noise deep in her throat, like a giant owl about to regurgitate a wad of mouse bones.
“That’ll kill the moment,” I muttered.
Fortunately, she didn’t spew anything out. Maybe that had been the equivalent of a teenager saying gag me.
Freysha strolled out of the forest and must have spoken telepathically to Zav, for he nodded and opened a portal.
“I’ve built several traps in places I think a spy would perch,” Freysha informed me, then shared images of certain trees in my mind. “I believe they are quite crafty, and the magic is well hidden—I have learned a few things about mechanics and physics from goblins and my engineering class—but they are not sophisticated enough to be selective about whom they ensnare, so do not walk near those particular trees.”
“I’ll stay out of the woods. And tell Mom to keep Rocket inside.” An image of a golden retriever hoisted into a tree by one ankle came to mind. Mom wouldn’t forgive me if that happened.
“Good. You may also want to remove your sword from your person, so its aura is more noticeable. It tends to camouflage itself when it’s on your back.”
“Most of the time,” I said.
Freysha hadn’t been involved in the fae adventure, but she’d seen my sword when it was tainted, so she nodded, knowing what I meant.
“Thank you, Lord Zavryd.” She bow-curtseyed to him. “Val, I will speak with my parents and make sure no further elves pester your mother or come question any more of your family.”
I hadn’t even imagined them going to see Amber. Ugh.
“Thank you.”
Freysha sprang through the portal. Mom and Gondo, coffee mugs in hand, watched this without comment. Apparently, seeing someone go through a portal wasn’t as alarming as opening the door on a nude dragon.
“We will also go,” Zav told me as the portal to Veleshna Var faded, and Zondia created another one, presumably to the hot, sauna-like dragon world. “I believe you can best this thief, should you get your wish and the opportunity to face her, but if she is like you, you must be careful and not underestimate her.”
Even though I’d been thinking of the woman as similar to me, because we were half-human, being compared to a thief still made me twitch. I knew Zav didn’t refer to our professions, but I couldn’t help but think of Chopper and how he expected me to do the right thing if the rightful owner was found.
“I won’t,” was all I said.
“Good. I look forward to finishing planning our wedding festival and mating with you when I return.” Zav kissed me, keeping it much more chaste than our earlier kisses. Maybe he didn’t want to inspire more gagging noises from his sister.
Zondia flew through the portal, and after patting my butt, Zav turned into his dragon form and leaped through after her. I looked toward the porch to see if Mom reacted to dragons shapeshifting in front of her, but she’d gone inside. Gondo had opened the back door to the Jeep and was pulling out Dimitri’s yard-art guardians to set up.
I headed over to help him. It would give me something to do while waiting for my thief to show up.
Before we got started, Mom reappeared, this time with a stack of towels and a big bottle of some cleanser. She gave me an unreadable look and headed into the sauna.
18
Mom and I sat out on her covered porch, her in a rocking chair and me in an Adirondack chair made from recycled skis. We wore jackets and wool caps since twilight had come, and a mist had started falling. Fezzik rested in my thigh holster, an extra magazine in my belt in case I got in a gun-slinging match with the thief. I also wore the armored vest Nin had crafted for me.
Chopper was in its harness in the front seat of the Jeep. From here, I could keep an eye on the sword, but it wasn’t so close that I could easily grab it. With luck, our thief would think she had a shot at getting to it first. In other words, it was bait.
Mom’s chair creaked softly as she rocked in it, her feet up on the split log railing. She’d deigned to put on slippers, the air chilly even for someone with lots of callouses from walking barefoot. The fuzzy footwear was somewhat at odds with the Glock I’d seen her stick in her jacket pocket. I’d told her I would handle any trouble that came, and had deliberately placed my sword outside, so the thief shouldn’t go into her cabin, but I couldn’t blame her for being prepared.
Rocket sat alertly at the side of her chair, ears perked as we listened to nocturnal critters scuttling around in the brush under the porch while he gazed toward the property across the street. A porch light was visible beyond the trees at the front of the property. I had dismissed Sindari earlier in the day so I could summon him tonight if I needed him. And because he’d been scent-marking trees that Rocket seemed to believe were his.
“You don’t have to stay out here with me,” I said, looking up from my phone.
I’d been texting people and pretending not to be bored sitting out there, but it wasn’t working that well. Everyone else seemed to be busy tonight. I was hoping for an update on the decoy boyfriend, but Amber hadn’t responded to my hints for information. Only my therapist Mary had responded, replying to my query about whether it was normal to be worried about the guests that your fiancé was inviting to your wedding. She suggested I increase the days I attempted my meditation practice and sent some mantras on positive thinking that I could repeat when needed.