Page 5 of Surprise Me

He did catch her once by leaving out a bowl of ice cream with sprinkles on top when he knew she was hiding nearby. She couldn't resist rainbow sprinkles. He heard her talking on the phone and ask Ciara, the Green Wyvern's mate for help planning, before she caught on to his ploy.

Okay. So, she had brought in a professional party planner for help and he was still stuck with his Warrior yahoos. Great. He wasn't yet ready for his last resort. But he needed to ask for help. Shit. He hated asking for help.

He'd rather call in a favor.

He knew just the dragon to call. Jett had Cage on speed-dial these days.

"What do you want, Jett?" Cage was a grumpy bastard since he became the AllWyvern. Jett couldn't blame him. Just being the leader of one Dragon Wyr was tough enough. It had to be about a billion times worse having the responsibility of all Dragonkind on his shoulders. Not to mention the added stress of Ereshkigal and the Black Dragon being after his kids.

Jett shivered. He was nowhere near ready to even think about having children. What the fuck did he know about being a dad. No, no. That was going to have to wait a long, long time. Millenia.

Always best to get straight to the point with Cage. "I'm calling in a favor."

Cage snorted. "Pretty sure I'm all paid up."

That was true. Jett had called in every favor he'd built up over years garnering when he'd found Yvaine and they'd broken Ereshkigal's curse over his brethren. "Not if I send you the Demon Dragon Warriors you've been begging me for to help you find Geshtianna."

Cage didn't need to know Jett had already sent Neo and some of his best warriors to take out their common enemy. Jett's Demon Dragon Warriors weren't ready to battle the demon wyrms or the Black Dragon. They needed time to recover and create their own lives. But he could spare a few of the stronger Warriors to go hunt out Geshtianna. She would pay for her sins, and the Demon Dragons would be happy to help with that.

Cage harrumphed. "I want those Warriors. What are your terms?"

This was like taking pinata candy from a baby. "Nothing to complicated. I simply need some information and possibly some resources."

"Like what?" Cage's tone was wary.

Time to go in for the kill. "I want to throw Yvaine a birthday party, but I don't know shit about birthdays or parties. Give me some tips and your resources and we'll call it even."

Cage laughed for a full minute. Either he thought Jett was ridiculous or the Gold Wyvern knew that this task was impossible. "You're in deep, man. A birthday party for your mate. Wish I would have thought of that. Kids sure, but not the love of my life."

Okay. So, neither ridiculous nor undoable. Good. "If I can figure out how to get this shit done, all the Wyverns and their mates will be invited."

"Great, so Azy can beat my ass for not throwing her a party." Cage's voice went from AllWyvern and guarded to relaxed. "Why don't you call Ciara? She spent an eternity and half my fortune throwing the twins' party yesterday."

Like he hadn't already thought of that. "Can't. Yvaine's got her on speed dial."

"Watch your bank account." Cage laughed. "If I didn't know better, I'd think that woman was a Gold Dragon with how much she likes to spend money."

Good to know. "I don't even know where to start planning a birthday party. Cake. That's all I've got. I know we have to have a cake."

He wasn't going to mention the volcano.

"I wasn't in on most of it, but Ciara and Azy did send me over to a party supply store in America about a half dozen times. The women who run the shop are cute and very helpful."

Hmm. If it wasn't like the TV show his warriors had been watching maybe he could enlist these shopkeepers for help. "Great. Send me the name and address."

A link to Poof the Party Store, in Rogue, New York popped up on his screen. Jett checked the time. It was still late in the States, so he'd have to wait a few hours before he grabbed the party crew and took them on this scouting mission to the shop. Fine. That gave him some time to research and make sure he wasn't walking into a real-life episode of Birthdays Gone Wild.

The shop had a website and Jett surfed around for unicorn birthday items. There were several glittery items that Yvaine would definitely approve of and zero volcanos. He added several things to his cart for pick up when they arrived. Early afternoon he went and woke up the Super Sweet crew to take with him. They had to be good for something. At least they could carry the supplies and hide them in the gasthaus when they returned.

America was a long way to travel through the shadow and there could be perils along the way. Demon wyrms hadn't spent much time plaguing the Americas until recently. The more the Black Dragon sought mates, the more his demon spawn spread across the Earth hunting them. "Be prepared for battle, Warriors."

The six of them nodded and stepped into the shadow one by one headed toward their destination across the ocean. It took several stops in various parts of Hell to get to the States. They didn't run into a single demon, wyrm or otherwise, along the way. That had to mean an ambush.

They emerged out of the shadows in a forested area controlled by the local wolf pack, in their dragon forms, ready for battle. Unless they cooing birds in the trees were demons in disguise, there wasn't going to be a battle today. Jett shifted into his human form and examined the darkness of the woods. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end, but he couldn't sense anything from hell near or far.

He would be much less worried if they had come across an entire horde of the cursed demons formerly known as their brothers in arms. The forces of hell's numbers had been decimated when he and Yvaine broke the curse on Jett's brethren, but even with a tenth of their numbers gone, there should still be plenty around to stalk them through hell and attack.

Where the fuck were all the stinking little bastards?

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