Page 87 of Smoke and Flame

Like the lust Kai saw reflected on Aodh when he looked at her, she was fascinated by the blue tint on Ninki as she talked about gold.“Why didn’t Tana sense it when she had the jacket.”

“It doesn’t attract me.Pearls do.”Tana confessed reverently.The older woman’s scale-like markings went cyan up her arm.“At one time, they were harder to come by.But when the seas parted, many were found along the gorges of The Great Heaths.”

Kai looked around, seeing the staid, functional décor like every place she’d been inside.

“Where do you keep them?Besides, on your broadswords?”Kai gestured to the wall.She remembered the arena the day before and how she had seen the different stones decorating the swords.

“Every dragon has a cache room where they stockpile theiraulfsteinn.”

“You mean heart stone?”Kai tried to clarify as she worked through the words Aodh taught her.

“Hearthstone,” Tana corrected with a small smile.

“You know the language of the dragon.”Ninki nodded, her flames leaping into a canary hue.“I’m impressed.”

Kai let out a short laugh.“I can’t speak it worth a damn, and I don’t know a lot yet.”

“Still.”Ninki took another gulp of her tea and then set her mug down.

“So, where is your cache room?”

“I don’t want to have all the fun.I’ll leave that for Aodh,” Ninki’s lips pulled back in a cunning smile.

“Can you tell me what’s his hearthstone?”Kai asked.

“Oh, you’re too clever, Kai.I’m sure you’ll look at his sword when you return to his suites.”

Kai smiled at seeing how the woman began to understand her.She rose.“Well, we have taken up enough of your time, and I know you have to get to work.”

“Yes.”Ninki got to her feet at the same time as Tana.

Instead of putting the rings in the jacket pocket, Kai placed her mother’s ring on her pinkie and her father's large one on her thumb.

Ninki groaned.

“You’re not going to attack me for them every time you are within striking distance, are you, Ninki?”

Shaking her head, Ninki stared in the direction of her cold fireplace.“No.We are friends now.I’ll respect the boundary.”

“Thank—” Kai stopped.“What about Aodh?You going to let your dragon torch me to get him back?”

Ninki gave her a wicked smile and then winked.“No.As you know, Aodh is one hell of an amazing fuck.But it was only sex.He is not my mate.”

Even though Kai didn’t like to hear what Ninki thought of having sex with Aodh, she was glad the woman felt the same as Aodh about their past.Even though it was in the past, Kai may have only considered strangling the woman over the rings, but she’d drive a sword through Ninki’s heart if she went for Aodh again.“Good to know.”

The trio headed toward the door.Ninki opened it and said, “It’s always nice to see you, Tana.Kai, please come back and have a midday meal with me soon.I’d love a chance to get to know you more.”

“I’d like that.”Kai meant it.Unlike her sister, she didn’t have a friend here and looked forward to getting to know Ninki.

“That went well,” Tana said as they approached the Mckenna building at the same brisk pace they came.

“With Ninki, yes.With Aodh, when he gets home...the man has a lot of explaining to do.”

Tana let out a laugh.

~YH~

“I think this is what I love about your territory the most.”Morlie stood in the middle of the forest.She allowed herself to take in everything around her.Until she came here, outside of images, she’d never seen trees so gigantic that they seemed to touch the sky.

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