Page 24 of These Little Heirs
“Teal, we’re still the three of us,” Cobalt sighed. “You didn’t make him blow up the cabin any more than my buying that pregnancy test caused the explosion at Moon Rocks. I’m sorry the fucker couldn’t let you have a semi-peaceful mating response period.”
I nodded and looked out at the woods.
“If Robin wasn’t a baby, I’d say we take the whole group out there,” Cobalt sighed, following my gaze into the woods. “He’s just too little. Sure, he’d probably shift into his dragon, but Ican’t imagine how much Ambry would worry about him on a camping trip.”
“If he were an egg, it would be worse, but I think you’re right about us needing to get away. I’m sorry my crazy sort of ex blew up part of the house because he’s afraid he can’t sell his bland ass food anymore,” I sighed. “I’m sorry that Odie and Ambry’s stuff was in there and that they probably lost all sense of security because of this and--- I just feel like a piece of shit, Co. It’s like I’m trying to change the world and do better for everyone, but people don’t want better.”
“People don’t believe better can exist. That’s the thing you have to keep telling everyone about this. That even the folks like Torvan deserve free food. That we’re not a charity. We’re not giving food to the needy. That we’re following in the footsteps of Frost Moonscale and feeding our pack – flight – whatever they want to call it. That the land is here to feed everyone and it’s capable of doing it. Tell them they can spend more of their money on other things they want.”
“You get it more than you let on,” I shook my head.
“I’m not that dense. Being horny doesn’t mean I don’t have a brain. You gotta have something interesting to talk about in refactory periods,” Cobalt shrugged. “This is going to happen. We all knew it would. You’re Clarence’s favorite. Don’t say you’re not. There’s nothing wrong with favorites. The rest of the world has them too. That’s why Indigo and I know it’s important for us to be loud about agreeing with you. Then even if Clarence isn’t all that convincing you still have us because we don’t have favorites. It’s always been the three of us against the world. Now there are six of us against the world. Maybe seven but I think Morvan’s flown the coop. I get that Torvan’s his brother but--- If you tried to blow up one of my friends, I’d punch you at the very least.”
“I’d deserve it,” I nodded. “So, where are we taking them? Because if we’re not taking them somewhere else, I think our best bet is to lockdown inside of the tower and wait this all out.”
“I got a plan, and I think we start with locking ourselves inside. You’re rutting after all, and Indigo has every reason to eat someone trying to come in. His baby is so little. So, fucking little. He can practically fit in the palm of my damn hand.” Cobalt grinned and as his plan seeped into my thoughts and then to Indigo’s. I knew we had a winner.
“With all that going on, they’d have to leave us alone,” I nodded. “Let’s tell the others.”
***
By the time the sun had sunk again we were barricaded inside the tower and our grandparents had given the guards orders to stand down. No one wanted to see one of them burnt alive for treading too close to a nesting dragon and wolf. Ambry and Odie were antsy but ready to get away from the chaos for a few days. They’d talked the plan in circles between themselves and figured out that most of their stuff wasn’t in the blown-up rooms. Mostly he took out the living room and study. Whether or not he meant to was up for debate, but stupidity isn’t an excuse for bad behavior.
In the end, both wolf omegas agreed hauling ass for a few days was the best plan. Having some peace and quiet was the only thing that would allow us to regulate as a group and absorb Ciro into our inner workings. It also put some space between Morvan and me before I punched his lights out for thinking his brother should get off free and clear. It put space between me and the guards that kept making kissy noises at Ciro. They were his friends and his brothers-in-arms but that didn’t mean my dragon didn’t have the urge to rearrange their organs like some morbid abstract artist. I hoped it would give Indigo some time towrap his head around what happened too. He wasn’t supposed to be involved. Hell, I didn’t want Cobalt to be hands on either. That was my job because it didn’t bother me.
After the apartment was scrubbed clean some of the warehouse guys had gone through the would-be criminal’s plans. He was offering okay-ish money for photos or locations of Baby Robin. He had plans and deserved to die. I wasn’t sure if Indigo had processed that yet.
“They’re my brothers too,”my dragon reminded me.“They’re like us. Dragons defend our young. He probably isn’t even thinking about it like you. He might be wondering how many more he’ll have to kill but that’s a whole other cantaloupe. Ooooh! We should have cantaloupe when we get there! All the cantaloupes! Skin and all!”
With our plan in place we’d need a man on the outside to help us if we were going to pull it off. So, Indigo strapped the baby to Cobalt’s chest and picked up Ambry as soon as the scratching came on the door that lifted and exposed the landing pad. I’d never been so happy to see my sire in my life. I might’ve crashed into his huge draconic leg and held on for dear life if our escape didn’t need to be quiet and stealthy. We’d come back after Ciro and I had a proper matingmoon period but for now we were gateway bound and heading home to Heartville. We’d contacted Ambry’s dad who promised to keep it hush-hush about where we were off to and to call Medwin to speak about the upcoming changes. If the guy who runs a grocery store could get behind it, anyone could.
Ciro was the first to climb onto our sire’s back. Then I lifted Odie up to him before Indigo climbed up, carrying Ambry. We all worked together ensuring they’d be comfortable for the short trip through the Other World. When the omegas were all settled, Cobalt climbed up with Baby Robin and slid in behind Odie. Guardie climbed up next and for a second, I wondered if hisshadowy ass would just blow away. The murder dog didn’t seem concerned about it, so, I climbed up after shutting the landing pad door tightly. Since we had warned everyone away from the tower it was unlikely we’d be spotted. We’d get a vacation back home to unwind, and everyone would think we were still locked up tight inside the nesting tower. More than ever, I was looking forward to crashing out in our house back in Heartville.
“You better hope Liam and Bobby didn’t give it away while we were gone,” Indigo teased but we all knew they’d do no such thing. Heartville would be our home whenever we needed a safe place to tuck our heads underneath our wings and wait out whatever shitstorm was after us.
Chapter Thirteen
Odell
I held onto Guardie who had taken up whatever room was left in my lap once my pregnant belly was situated and Cobalt held onto me with one arm. Indigo’s eyes were still shifted into his dragon’s and he hadn’t left Ambry’s side since returning to the nesting tower. We all knew what he had done to protect us all, but no one was talking about it. I wasn’t sure if that’s because threats were an everyday occurrence for their family or if they just ignored what they had to do. Either way, we were blessed to have no-nonsense alphas when it came to our babies. Guardie rested his head on my belly, and I squeezed my eyes shut as we waited for Cade to take to the sky.
Growing up in Moonscale London, I’d seen lots of shifted dragons. After all, my stepdad was a dragon. I hadn’t flown on a dragon’s back since I was a kid, though. With all the trauma taking up so much space inside my head, it was like I’d forgotten how big they were. Cade was bigger than most, I thought, but none of them were exactly small. I leaned back against Cobalt’s side and his big, warm hand rested protectively over my belly. His other hand rested on Baby Robin’s back. Indigo had both arms wrapped around Ambry. My friend looked and smelled cozy. In all the preparations, it was decided that Cobalt would take the baby because he was the strongest flier when it came to carrying extra weight as he’d often impressed would be lovers by strapping them to him and flying around to show off.
“You should fly me around like that sometime,”I mused over our mating link.
“When you’re not pregnant. If he couldn’t walk through most of the Other World part of this trip, I’d never havesuggested it. You’re healthy. Our pup should be fine, but I don’t like taking chances. Tomorrow morning you’ll see one of the doctors there. I know that Teal’s been keeping an eye on you alongside Dolores but I think – no I really hope – Teal will be too busy to. I can’t take much more of his cock of the walk attitude. So, he needs to get laid or castrated. The latter is frowned upon in Heartville under these less extreme circumstances.”
Laughter bubbled out of me before I could stop myself. Everyone looked at me, but I just shrugged. Cade’s big wings came out, saving me from having to tell them what was so funny. I kept my eyes closed as the wings flapped and we became airborne. Focusing on my breath, I relaxed against Cobalt who seemed at home in the sky on his sire’s back.
Teal and Ciro whispered back and forth, and I wondered if they were talking about revenge, gardens, or mating. I hoped it was the last one for everyone’s sake. I let out a long, slow breath. Being up so high wasn’t that bad. Feeling weightless after a little over two months of carrying around so much weight was sort of nice. Okay, actually, it was really nice. I stroked Guardie’s soft, shadowy back and didn’t open my eyes again until I woke up in a strange bed being spooned by Cobalt.
“Huh?” I blinked, trying to make out shapes in the dark room. “What happened?”
The bed was huge. Even bigger than the bed we slept in at Moonglow before we built the nest. There were two closet doors, a cracked opened bathroom door that spilled out the smallest ray of soft white light, and a door that was locked twice over that I guessed led to the rest of wherever we were. A desk sat in the far corner of the room and across from the bed was a table and the biggest tv I’d ever seen not mounted on a wall. It was surrounded by little boxes, and it took me a few moments to figure out they were video game consoles.
“Books?” I blinked.
“Are in the second closet,” Cobalt answered sleepily. “I had a one-night stand steal a first edition of a Juda biography and I nearly beat his eyes out. Don’t worry. He was an alpha. Also, you can have the books if you want them. Same as at Moonglow. What’s mine is yours. Just don’t sell them on the black market, huh?”
