Page 69 of The Accidental Dragon Baby

“No, it means I’m not willing to risk you.” Ace bared his teeth. “You have to at least think about Mary.”

Ivo sighed heavily. “I can stay somewhere safe. Nearby. We’re talking about the poachers, right? I just have to be there. I owe it to the victims. I abandoned them once; I can’t do it again.”

Ivo looked him in the eye, and Ace saw the years of guilt in his shadowed gaze.

“You didn’t abandon them,” Ace said gently. “You tried to go back.”

“I still feel responsible.”

“You’ve done plenty just by telling me about them. I’m going to finish up what you began. And when they get out of there, they’ll need help getting back to their families. They might need help with their babies, too. That’s something you can help with.”

Ivo came closer, leaning into Ace’s side. “I’m worried about you, too. I want to have your back.”

“Raptor will do that. We team up pretty well. We fought in the Eggplant War together.”

“Eggplant War?” Ivo scrunched up his eyebrows.

“Three hundred years ago, when we were sixty-nine, a great deluge destroyed the eggplant crops in several countries. These countries tried to invade each other to steal the eggplant seeds left in storage. During the war, the soldiers brought along several flags with giant eggplants painted on them. They painted eggplants on their faces, too.”

Ivo stared at him in disbelief. “Didyoupaint eggplants on your face?”

Ace nodded solemnly. “Rap and I painted eggplants on each other’s cheeks. We even had to wear eggplant-shaped helmets. It was ridiculous. But we won, and the queen paid us handsomely in eggplants the next year.”

Ivo scrunched up his face adorably. “Who likes eggplants, anyway? They’re horribly squishy.”

Ace raised an eyebrow. “They’re a delicacy in some cultures. If you don’t like eggplants, what’s with all the eggplant emojis I see in your chats?”

Ivoblushed.“That’s... a different kind of eggplant.”

“I remember you telling your friends that you love eggplant,” Ace said dryly. “You said you’d do anything for mine.”

“The other kind of eggplant!” Ivo moaned into his hands. “You know, the one that means your cock.”

Ace smirked. Yeah, he knew.

Ivo squirmed. Then he dropped his hands and pinned Ace with alook.“Wait. You’re trying to distract me from the rescue!”

“I just want you to be safe, sweetheart.”

Ivo was quiet for a long moment. Then he linked their fingers together, his hand so small against Ace’s. “I haven’t told you about my eye.”

Ace’s stomach turned. The scar on Ivo’s eye was nothing like those on the rest of his body. Instead of deliberate cuts used to separate his fur from his flesh, the scar on his eye was jagged, like it had been torn into.

He wrapped himself around Ivo and said, “Tell me.”

Ivo drew a shuddering breath. “They made us fight sometimes, when they were bored. They’d throw two creatures into the larger cages and pit us against each other. Sometimes they’d shock us with electricity and make us fight until we bled. A wildcat took out my eye when I was trying to fight back. Thenmy eye got infected, and somehow they decided to treat my wound instead of letting me die. But I couldn’t see out of that eye anymore.”

Fury rose in Ace’s chest; it made him eager to kill.

Ivo squeezed his hand. “Now you know why I want to be there. Can... Can I watch from your shoulder? If I wear some kind of protective charm?”

Ace blinked. “How would that work?”

“Maybe Uriel knows. I heard that he had a ton of barriers around his previous home. Maybe he can make me one?”

Ace gave it some thought—because Ivo’s safety was his main concern. If Ivo could be safe, if he wouldn’t be a distraction, then Ace could bring him along. Gods knew his mate needed some closure.

He sent Uriel a quick message.

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