Page 37 of Spectacle

Xavier quickly steps between me and Silac with a pained look on his face. Both Cronus and Xylene look uncomfortable, and this time I do groan out loud in embarrassment.

“Can you all feel that?” I hiss at my warlock mate, who gives me a subtle head nod.

“Fuck my life,” I mutter, and Cronus chuckles before Xylene smacks his arm and hisses at him to shut up. I really like my warlock in-laws.

I go through the process again and slither back so Silac’s father doesn’t catch sight of me straight away. It takes him a little longer to recover than the two warlocks, but soon, he and Silac are embracing, and he’s apologizing profusely for getting him into this mess.

“It’s okay, Dad, we have a plan. King Tysar and my friends, as well as the king and queen of warlocks, are going to make sure the Bravalanas can’t cause any more trouble permanently.”

Silac’s dad pulls back and frowns at him. “But what about your marriage to Kinga? We can’t derail that.”

“Dad, you know neither of us want that marriage,” Silac argues, and his dad gets a stubborn look on his face.

“No, son, you have to go through with the marriage. It’s our only chance at continuing the naga line, you know this. Without it, there will be no more chances of nagas,” he blusters and waves his arms around, his hood flaring up and down with his emotions.

“Actually, that’s not true, is it?” Tirrian steps into the conversation, and I brace for Tirrian to tell him about me, but what comes out of Tirrian’s mouth kind of floors me, and I feel my mouth drop open. “A shifter can bite a non-shifter mate, changing them into a shifter. Silac or any of your children don’t need to mate within the same species to be able to continue the naga line. Even if they do mate a shifter, there is a fifty-fifty chance their children will be nagas as well.”

Oh snap. How did any of us forget about this? I have my dragon from Tirrian’s bite, not because I mimicked his form, and it’s the same with my kraken. I was a kraken before I knew I was a mimic.

Silac narrows his eyes and takes a step back from his father. “You told me that it doesn’t work like that for nagas.”

Silac’s father glares at Tirrian. “It doesn’t,” he insists vehemently.

Tirrian shakes his head. “He lies.”

Silac moves back slightly from his father, his face wary now.

“Caspian tried to tell me the same thing, but I argued with him. How could you lie to all of us like that?” Silac looks at his dad with devastation. “Why would you make your children think they didn’t have any chance at finding a compatible mate? You insisted nagas weren’t capable of changing their mates.”

“Don’t be an idiot, Silac. The dragon doesn’t know what he’s talking about. If you bite your potential mate, there’s a chance our venom could kill them. It doesn’t work the same way for venomous shifters.” His dad is insistent.

Tirrian scoffs. “There’s an antivenom for naga venom. You just dose the partner up before you bite. He’d have to do the same thing for his fiancée since she’s a basilisk. What are you hiding? Come on, Suzuth, tell us the real reason you tried to marry your son into that family.”

Tirrian’s right, it is all becoming very suspicious. Suzuth squirms with our attention on him, but he keeps his mouth closed. I guess Cronus gets tired of waiting and goes digging in his mind, because soon enough, he’s scoffing.

“Kinga comes with a huge dowry. It seems like maybe your father has a bit of a gambling problem, and the shipping business isn’t doing so well.”

Silac gapes at his father. “How can it not be doing well? It’s one of the biggest shipping companies in the galaxy. Its net worth is astronomical.”

“Apparently your father has made a few bad investments and has been shipping products for certain families for nothing. You’ve been in bed with the Bravalanas for a long time, and it finally caught up to you, didn’t it?” Cronus has nothing but disdain for the naga father.

“You sold me? How could you do that to our family? Does Mother know?” Silac asks, and I hurt for him despite our own rocky relationship.

“You won’t tell her a thing. Once your marriage to Kinga is finalized and the basilisks have been dealt with, it should be no problem to regain our former glory,” Suzuth hisses at his son.

Silac shakes his head. “No. I will not be marrying Kinga, and you will be stepping down as the head of Snakebite Logistics.”

“And what then? Do you really think you are capable of running it? You ran off to the circus instead of taking up your responsibilities. You will do no better than I did,” the naga sneers aggressively at his son, who just looks hurt but shakes his head.

“No, Dad, I will not be running the company. My life path is different. Siskar, however, has the brains and know how, and with Simu and Slorun to back him, hopefully they can recover our family company. I think it would be a very good idea if you took an early retirement.”

His father splutters and hisses aggressively, and I have the feeling he doesn’t like that idea at all.

“If you don’t, I will tell Mother all about your gambling habit.”

“He likes whores too,” Xylene says dryly, and my eyes widen. Holy fuck, they are not holding back.

“You cheated on Mom?” Silac’s hood flares, and he rises up above his father, who cowers in the face of his son’s aggression.

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