Page 43 of Starfall

Emery met her as she piled her plate high. “Those are dragons.”

“Yes.”

“And you are a dragon.”

“Correct.”

“And they are boys?”

“Yup.”

“And you are in here because?”

“I am peckish.” Avaknell looked at her. “So, inside my car, there are documents in the glove box, leaving you all my stuff. The car will open and drive for you and only you. It also fixes itself if you get into a fender bender.”

“What?”

“Well, one way or another, I am leaving with the gruesome twosome. I am bingeing calories because space is cold, and it will take a long few seconds to get me into my other form.”

Emery cuddled up against her side, her dark light spilling over. “I don’t want you to go.”

“I know, huggy bear, but I have to. Keeping myself in has been painful over these few decades. Just having my wings out tonight feels amazing, but it burns a lot of calories.” She looked at her friend. “You will be fine, and if you need me, Orla can teach you a communication spell. I am going to have to go back into my sector, but you are not alone. If I have to drop back here again, I will.”

“But it will hurt you.”

“Those two scaly buggers flew here because I am going into heat soon. Really soon.”

“Oh. So, babies?”

A rich, dark voice said, “If we perform all the rituals correctly and frequently, that will be the result.”

She looked over him and wrinkled her nose. “Why are you here, Void?”

His unrelieved dark features moved, forming a startling white slash of a smile. “I am here because you flew so far and so fast that Null needed my help to find you.”

He reached out and took a treat off her plate. She smacked his hand with her tail, but he just turned his hand, gripped, and stroked down her tail. “You know that Blue authorized both of us, right?”

She valiantly hid her shudder. “Yes, but one of you is a little much. Two of you are obnoxious.”

Emery giggled. “You didn’t end up here by accident.”

Void shook his head. “She tore a hole in space, grabbed two star souls, and dropped through it, sealing it behind her. Weirdest accident ever.”

Avaknell shrugged. “Oops. Sorry, Emery. I dragged you two with me.”

“Why?”

Null was approaching.

Avaknell muttered, “You two were on the way here. I need a light in the space between, so I grabbed on and used you as a tow vehicle. You dropped through at midnight, and I showed up in the middle of the day. Time is funny in the space between.”

Emery laughed. “So, we brought you here.”

“Yup. Dragons are funny. We need beacons to guide us to worlds if they don’t have their own dragon population.”

Null slid his arm around her waist from behind and kissed her neck. “Hello, Ava.”

She fought the urge to slam her tail up between his thighs, mostly because Void still had a grip on her tail and was stroking it slowly.

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