Page 110 of No Ordinary Drakeling
“I guess I don’t know,” Zane replied, delighted with the man next to him. That was nothing new; since Tiri came into his life, he found it difficult not to grin like an idiot during the day. At night he had much more interesting things to do with the inquisitive sprite at his side, which put an altogether different kind of smile on his face.
“Oh, look who finally decided to return to the bosom of his family,” Damian drawled once they were in earshot. “We were about to get a rope so Zane could drag you back to land.”
“I like the sea, it’s like being in a giant bathtub. Ellery, did you swim?”
“That would require him to stop fondling my butt,” Chrysander retorted with a narrow-eyed glance at Ellery.
The hybrid shrugged nonchalantly. “I like your shorts.”
Costas chuckled. “Are we ready for lunch?”
It was a quick walk to the restaurant where Damian arranged for them to dine. There were already a dozen dukes either inside or outside the venue, and the hostess swooped down on them the minute they went through the door. Seconds later, they were seated in a private dining room with an entire wall of windows and handed menus. They’d barely glanced at them, when their waitress materialized.
“Can you tell me where your restroom is?” Ellery asked once everyone gave her their drink orders.
“Oh good, I have to go too,” Tiri remarked as he hopped to his feet at Zane’s side.
“Let’s move out, gentlemen,” Costas said once the waitress directed them to the appropriate location.
Once the three men were out of earshot, the waitress’s expression turned to a concerned frown. “Your Majesty, I hope you don’t mind me saying that I never believed Fate could be cruel until I heard about your mate. All of us here at the restaurant are incredibly saddened by the short time you’ll have with His Majesty. I’m so sorry,” she commented, then scurried off before anyone could respond.
Chrysander’s jaw clenched. “At least she didn’t say anything in front of Ell.”
“Tiri’s annoyed that we aren’t as optimistic as he is,” Zane stated.
“No offense to Tiri, but he’s never been to a dragon-shifting ceremony,” Chrysander replied. Zane nodded; he happened to agree with Chrysander. He appreciated Tiri’s belief in Ellery, but Chrysander was right. “The reality is, I have about six days left until I lose him.”
“I think you should talk to Chander,” Damian said.
“He’s already handling our duties until my vacation ends. I’m going to need to return to work—otherwise I’m going to lose my mind,” Chrysander told his twin.
“No, I mean…have you ever considered resurrecting Ellery? Sorcery D’Vaire has done some epic shit. Why can’t they bring him back? They could figure out how to keep his elven appearance, and they know how to give magic if he wants it.”
“It has crossed my mind, but I don’t know how Ell will react to that.”
“Only one way to find out, Chrys. He’s determined to do this on Saturday. You need to talk to him now, so they can start working on the spell. That way you don’t have to be apart for very long. Saura and T’Eirick have their memories intact. No reason they can’t do the same for Ellery,” Zane responded.
“You’re right. I’ll talk to him, but I have a feeling it’s not going to go well.”
“You think he’s adverse to necromancy?” Damian asked.
“No, he just doesn’t think he’s going to die. The only other choice I have is to wait until Fate brings his soul back to me. I don’t know how long that’ll take. I’ve already waited a thousand years for him.”
“Explain it to him. Tell him its an option if he dies since he has confidence he won’t. A contingency plan, so to speak,” Zane suggested.
“I’ll speak with him. I just hope I can make him understand how much I need him in my life. I fucked up a lot getting to this point, and I’m not sure he has any clue about my feelings for him.”
“Here’s a clue—tell him,” Damian retorted.
“Believe it or not, I figured that out.”
Their conversation ended when the other three men in their family returned, even if Chrysander did eyeball Damian with annoyance for a minute or so. Unrepentant, Damian grinned like a loon and grabbed his menu to decide what to eat. Zane got a sweet kiss from a friendly sprite and was fully prepared to enjoy their meal with his man at his side.
* * *
Zane was growing frustrated at both his inability to find his prey and by the sheer number of stupid, useless rooms in their condo. It was three floors of nonsense, and he wondered why any of them put up with it. At his last ounce of patience and knowing there was no way his target had left the premises, he ventured back to his bedroom where his investigation started. He frowned when he found a short man with a stunning mix of white and teal hair humming near their bed while he folded a pair of pants.
“Where have you been?” Zane demanded as he closed the door behind him.
