Page 46 of Delinquent Dette
Frikka gave a half grin as Jasper kissed the eggs and nuzzled them. “Papa will be right back and we’ll go home to nest. Okay?”
Frikka was certain eggs didn’t understand speech, but they understood heart.Soon.The eggs knew whatsoonmeant.
In a way, it made Frikka feel better. It wasn’t that he didn’t want the pups or was unwilling. But having five eggs in his nest made his dragon unbearably sad.
Frikka sighed as Jasper and Suyin left, eagerly chatting about giving him some hand-me-down nesting supplies.
It was better with just the two eggs. Frikka threw some names out, two that sounded right. Traditional names were a thing of the past. “Smoke and Ashes.”
And two little happy minds accepted them with glee.
Sten’s going to hate this.Frikka laughed.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Sten
Sten woke at the ass crack of dawn, his phone ringing for the fifth time. Whoever it was didn’t respect the sanctity of being a nocturnal dragon.
He checked the caller ID and immediately changed his tune. “Hello?”
A frantic Jasper chattered on the other end. Only a few words broke through,Hatching!
“On our way.” Sten leaned over and woke Frikka with a long kiss, their tongues twining for a moment. “Did you hear, lover?”
“Lover? And no, I did not hear.” Frikka yawned and rolled over before sitting up, his blanket sliding down his bare body, still so thin after his egg-laying. He’d need the winter to bulk up again.
“Jasper’s eggs.” Sten halted. “Two words I never thought I’d hear.”
“Hallr’s eggs were less likely than Jasper. I always figured he’d pilfer someone’s nest or get stuck in a multi-Dette den and end up being an egg thief.” Frikka stretched his body and scrounged for his clothes. Not finding any, he made his way to the closet and bathroom to give himself a courtesy wipe down. Nearly a night didn’t go by where Frikka didn’t demand Sten’s attention.
Sten followed suit as Frikka left the restroom to pack their babies up, talking as he did so. “Sten. You realize what will happen when I bring the eggs?”
Eggs always started hatching when eggs near them hatched. Their babies were overdue for hatching, but since they’d been laid early, nobody was worried. They were happy, healthy, and full of yolk last Marc checked. Sten grinned. “I think I do.”
“And this means they will be in our old nest. Where…” Frikka cut himself off.
Sten stepped out of the bathroom, toothbrush hanging from his mouth. “We—I can stay back with the eggs if you like.”
“No. I think they should hatch together. It’ll be a healing memory.” Frikka clenched his jaw and released a long breath. He’d have a lot of hurt to overcome, but he was strong enough to weather the storm. He always had been, but he was ready for it.
They gathered their eggs in a basket, made their way to the Range Rover, hopped in, and rode the twenty or so minutes down the road. Frikka called Jasper on their way as he frantically said one had cracked and a foot was sticking out. “Well then, shift and help them, pup!”
Frikka hung up and shook his head. “Jasper is a mess. Peter will let us in.”
They arrived and forged their way up the front stairs. Kletter followed behind them through the long hallways. The house was far larger than the two of them needed, more like a compound or a resort than an estate. Officially, it was a bed-and-breakfast waiting for licensure.
Sten led Frikka to the entrance. He’d guarded that thing for years and had been so pleased when Jasper had made it his own.
When they got to the bottom of the stairs, Jasper snarled as he looked up from his little clutch. As he’d said, one egg had hatched almost entirely, two legs and a fat little tail hung out of the shell. Frikka passed the basket to Sten and ran the rest of the way to the nest. “Gently pull the loose bits off. Stop if it’s stuck.”
Jasper momentarily forgot his urgency to be petulant and used one of his massive claws to pick and pull at loose fragments until a little green Slang pup flopped flat from a small puddle of albumin. Jasper licked and nuzzled at the pup until it squeaked and scrambled, running to his belly for warmth and protection.
The little…Dette?Frikka eyed the pup’s lack of spines and laughed. Perhaps it wasn’t happy Dettes that made more Dettes. Perhaps it was happy eggs… A moment later, one of the other eggs made a gentle cracking sound as wet bubbles frothed from the opening. A little head forced its way through the stiff shell with a snarl and chirp before coughing.
“Another Dette.” Sten laughed. The Slangs had so few Dettes, and for good reason. They had mostly Drakes in clutches and had a high mortality rate for laying Dettes due to lack of appropriate medical care. Frikka placed his two eggs next to the hatching ones and waited as Jasper licked the second pup clean while the third egg wiggled.
Shockingly, a talon ripped its way from one of Frikka’s eggs, black as night followed by a sleek arm, then a head as it fought free with a snarl and scrabble—fierce as anything.
