Page 15 of Meet Me in the Stars

“I would if they lied about it. You didn’t come here and tell me you found Lotus. Theoretically, anything’s possible.”

I refused to believe Lotus was with the Starscales. It was possible. Things like shifter type, ethnicity, Alpha/omega gene, and gender didn’t remain stable throughout everyone’s multiple reincarnations. That much we knew. Souls were more fluid than that.

“What do they want from me?” I asked.

“Confirmation that you’ll be on the ship.”

“Sounds like a trap,” Teddy said. “Do we even know it’s really from the Starscales?”

“No,” Clarence admitted. “It would be a very elaborate trap. Keep in mind, hatchling,” he teased Teddy, “just because we get the flight path doesn’t mean we have to take it. We just have to gather the information before we make any decisions.”

“I’ll bite,” I shrugged. “Tell them I’m up for it.”

“How are you going to do that?” Teddy asked.

“All the scrolls have yes or no check boxes. I tried to check the yes box myself just to see what they’d say, but apparently their magic knew it wasn’t you.”

“Weird,” Teddy said, but I shrugged it off.

“Yes or no boxes. Sounds like something Zoey and Lotus would come up with together.”

“We haven’t told Zoey about this. We haven’t told anyone outside of our military leaders and Starscale Search higher ups about this. Were not sure what we’re dealing with,” Clarence sighed.

“Never mind,” I shook my head. “I forgot I was talking to Clarence the leader of the Moonscale Flight and not Clarence doing keg stands at a party.”

“You know there is something in between those two things, right?” Clarence sighed again. “Keeping it quiet also protects you. We don’t know who these people are or what they’re up to. I think they are Starscales, because we had a common written draconic language around the time they flew off into space. That’s what they wrote in. Not in English or any humanoid tongue. Not in modern draconic, but in perfect draconic from that time period. If someone is playing a joke they spent years studying a dead language. We had to get Jake from Hemlock Academy to translate and ensure it was one hundred percent accurate. He teaches Shifter Cultural Studies there. I couldn’t write a sentence in that language without looking at the cipher if someone threatened to cut off my dick if I didn’t, Fred. I think this is real, but I don’t know what they’re up to.”

“Let’s find out,” I shrugged. “Do you have one of the scrolls with you?”

“I do,” he nodded and reached into the breast pocket of his suit.

“Hand it over and give me a pen,” I reached out for it.

A second later, I glanced over the script. It was genuine. I didn’t know it all by heart but researched it enough to get Lotus’s name tattooed on the back of my neck in it years ago. It was the real deal. All the L shapes were perfect, and they were a bitch to find a tattoo artist who could draw them out perfectly.

“What do you think?” Teddy asked, moving to the sofa arm to look at the unfurled scroll.

“I don’t think your mom wrote this. If she did, her handwriting has changed. Which I guess is possible, but the script looks perfect to me.”

“That’s what Jake said,” Clarence nodded, handing me a pen. “I don’t know what will happen when you check yes.”

“We’ll kick ass if we have to. I work out with Adrian and Nem every morning in addition to sky rugby,” Teddy said, and I bit back a smile.

At least he found something to put all his big emotions into.

“Sniff it,” my dragon chimed into my thoughts opening one of his massive eyes for the first time in decades.

Following the tenants of Frost I took his advice. The paper mostly smelled like the cigars secreted away in Clarence’s pocket. I almost asked for one, but decided against it since I didn’t want to set a bad example for Teddy. Sure, he was a dragon too, but no one wanted to see their kid become a chain smoker.

Beyond the rich, smooth scent of those secret cigars was someone or something metallic. A dragon who left behind no real trace of their personal scent.

“Don’t make out with it,” Clarence huffed. “All of them were tested for DNA and scent molecules. Either they used pheromone blocker spray on them or the material the scroll is made from just didn’t pick anything up. We’re not imbeciles you know.”

“You’re really nervous about this, aren’t you?” I asked him.

“Yes, I am. London is finally fully restored. All of the territory is restored, and our people are happy. The last thing we need is another damn war.”

“You think they want to fight us?” I laughed.

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