Page 26 of A Vampire in a Pear Tree
“You’d think so,” the woman named Allie said, leaning into her Dark One, who shot her a look tinged with amusement.“But sadly, we just argue in each other’s heads rather than aloud.But I admit I’m curious as to what Tatiana meant, as well.”
Tatiana nodded toward Yrian.“Well, it seems to me that of everyone who wants this blood moon thingie, the dragons have the best reasons to claim it.Aisling’s demon’s parents aside, and I assume no one wantsthemto have it back.”
“Under no circumstances,” Owain said firmly.“Desi would simply send me back to the Hour in which I’ve spent almost two thousand years confined.”
A pregnant silence fell around them.To Owain’s surprise—and pleasure—Berry took umbrage at the looks the others were passing around.
“No!”she said in a shout that had the male dragons taking a protective step toward their respective mates.“You guys can stop thinking that it wouldn’t be so bad if Owain got shoved back in that Hour.For one, he hasn’t done anything wrong, and for another, he and his brothers were cursed by Desislav and the other demon lords.He didn’t deserve to have some blood curse bound onto him, and he certainly doesn’t deserve to be punished for whackadoodle demon lords!”
“If you are making the case that all the thanes be released—” Finch started to say, but Owain stopped Berry before she could respond.
“Under no circumstances should Rhain and Rhys be released,” he told them all.“Cadell doesn’t seem to me to be a threat, so I suppose he could be out in the mortal world without issue, but not the other two.”
“Yeah, Deacon—or, rather, Cadell—isn’t quite the poster child for mental stability that you seem to think he is,” Tatiana said, glancing at her Dark One.“For one, he hired a demon to kill his aunt, which admittedly was on his mom’s order, but still.And then he was obsessed with making sacrifices to bring forth some old god.”
“Which one?”Owain asked, momentarily distracted.
“We never found out,” Finch said.“But Tatiana is correct that Cadell in the mortal world is ill-advised.I think we’d all be happier—and the world safer—if the thanes remained where they are.Now that Troy is back in charge, they won’t be able to escape.”
“OK, so both dragons and Owain have a need for the relic.My question is, why can’t you guys share it?”Berry asked, her fingers finding his again.He took much pleasure in the fact that she liked to touch him.He very much wanted to explore touching her in return, but told himself now was not the time to discuss their future.First, he had to find the blood moon.
“Share it?”The blonde Ysolde looked at her dragon, who raised his eyebrows in thought.“You mean take turns using it?”
“What an excellent suggestion,” the green dragon’s mate said, nudging her dragon in the ribs.“That would solve everyone’s problems, don’t you think?”
“Far from it,” the wyvern said, his gaze on Yrian.
“Who would hold it when it was not being used?”the light dragon asked.
“Once it was known it had been found, it would be the focus of many beings,” Yrian said, frowning at nothing.“Tenite has offered a great price for news of its location.”
“Tenite?”Owain asked, unfamiliar with the name.
“My mother,” Yrian said with a grimace.
“She has serious anger-management issues,” Becket said, her gaze dropping to her dragon’s chest.“And not someone you want to mess with unless you have a bunch of asbestos blankets.”
“Every thief taker and mercenary is out looking for the relic at Tenite’s behest,” Yrian added, his expression grim.
“Noteverythief taker,” Berry said, giving Owain a shy smile that he felt down to the tips of his toes.
“The point remains that passing the object between Dark Ones and dragons is not viable.”The green-eyed dragon looked almost as fed up as Owain felt.“While we can see that Owain does not wish to return to the Hour—and frankly, given his statement that he means no ill toward mortals or Dark Ones, I don’t see why he should be forced to do so—we cannot allow the blood moon to pass out of our protection once we regain it.”
Owain considered the people in front of him, realized that discussion was not going to provide a solution, and, tightening his hold on Berry’s hand, told her, “This is pointless.We will come to no agreement here.We will leave so that we might track down the blood moon ourselves.”
“Now, hold on,” Becket said when Owain started to leave.“We aren’t done discussing this issue with you.”
“We, on the other hand, are quite done talking in circles,” Owain said, Berry next to him, but reluctantly, casting glances back at the others as he marched her past them.
“You know,” Ysolde said to the curly-haired Aisling, “now might be a good time to let the boys get down and dirty.I suspect they could all use a little steam-letting, and I’m willing to bet that Owain would benefit from it, as well.”
“I think that’s an excellent idea, although it’s not the midnight session we planned for,” Becket said.
Berry stopped, effectively halting him, too.He gave a little tug to her hand.She fired her glittering eyes at him for a few seconds before turning back to the women and asking, “What do you mean, steam-letting?”
“We let the men beat the tar out of each other when they get testy,” Ysolde answered, smiling brightly.“It sounds horrible, but I assure you, the men all look forward to it.We limit them to fighting with fists, so no one gets terribly hurt.”
“You guys box each other?”Berry asked, both horrified and intrigued.He was a little surprised to find how intrigued she was by the idea of him fighting the dragons.
