Page 65 of Surge of Ice

“And we’ve had other kids?”

His answer takes me by surprise. “Two throughout your many lifetimes. They are both Awakened Dragons and male. We did not, however, have one our last lifetime.”

“We have kids!” Sam says, placing her hands on her belly.

“I will tell you when they awaken this lifetime,” Zane tells us reassuringly. “But you will know them by their scent.”

We’re going to have to ask Zane more about that later, because that’s too much to handle right now. Us. Parents.Waytoo much to handle.

“Well, okay then… so you said it’ll be different when I’m pregnant?” Sam asks.

“Yes, when you are pregnant, your scent will change, being weaved with all of ours. No other dragons will want you. We will become… more eager for you, but other dragons will detest the scent of you. Even after the baby is born, no other male will come after you again until the next lifetime. Unfortunately, you are not always blessed with a child each lifetime, so you tend to need our protection until the end of your life those times.”

Sam rubs her hands over her face. “So, my path to freedom is pregnancy. Very nice. So liberating. It’s not like I can just tell a bunch of jackass males to keep their dicks to themselves and have my words be respected. Nope, I’ve got to smell like all your semen just to get a break.”

Evander stretches and grins. “I’m notopposedto the idea that after I get you pregnant I won’t have to worry about other men.”

“It’s not theworstthing,” I admit.

She glares at both of us.

Granger looks very serious though. “Hey, with all the data we’ve received and current technology, we may be able to replicate that ‘bad’ smell with the other dragons so they leave you alone.”

Dr. Duncan starts taking notes, seeming excited by the idea.

Sam glares. “I don’t like it. Any of it. I want these dragons to leave me alone because I don’t want them, not because my scent changes with pregnancy. That can’t be the only way to get them off my back.”

Zane stands and kisses her head. “It is the way of dragons, but do not worry, my Samantha, pregnancy is rare and extraordinary. No new dragons have been born in the past two lifetimes, so we just need to find the storm dragon to keep you safe.”

“Yay,” Sam says weakly.

Silence falls between all of us, other than the sound of Dr. Duncan’s pencil scribbling on the paper. Just a short time ago, we weren’t even sure we could believe what Zane said, but now we’re taking his word as gospel and trying to figure out what to do with the information. It’s a strange change, but I can’t say it feels wrong.

“So, we need to do two things: we need to figure out a way to identify dragons, so we can figure out who our storm dragon is, and we need to stop the dragons from waking this Malikay,” Evander says, steepling his fingers together. “I think the scientists need to be the ones working on the first problem, and we need to be working on the second.”

I like the way his mind is working. “So, right now there’s Balor, Than, and Kek. Three dragons versus our three dragons,” I say, then look at Zane.

“You mean four versus three,” Sam clarifies angrily.

Everyone ignores her. Not because she isn’t a dragon, but because we’re never going to willingly lead her into battle with dragons who want to take her and are willing to hurt her to do it. As long as we cover her in our scent and leave her in the base, she should be safe. This is where she needs to be when she’s not with us.

“Do you think we can handle them?” I ask.

Zane shakes his head. “You are still more human than dragon. You need dragon instincts, and that is difficult to teach, but I can try.”

“Damn it,” I mutter.

“Uh, hello,” Sam says. “There arefourof us and only three of them. We can handle them.”

Zane gives her a strange look. “Females only fight when they absolutely have to, when they’re forced into it. They are just too precious and too rare to place in danger.”

“So, I’m just expected to sit on my ass, twiddling my fingers, while you guys fight for me?” Sam asks angrily.

“You do not have to twiddle your fingers,” Zane tells her with a sincere smile.

Her eyes get a little twitch, the one that frightens me. “Let me clarify: I will not be sitting around doing nothing while you fight.”

Evander turns to her, his face a calm mask. “It would be more dangerous to have you there with us, distracting us. Instead of fighting with them, we’d be trying to keep you safe.”

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