Ciara dodged a puddle on the footpath. "You might not be a shifter, but you're special to Apollo, so maybe take that into consideration."
Lachlan snorted. "Yeah, I'm special to himnow. Don't get me wrong. I'm going to enjoy it as much as I can while I have his attention."
"Oh, little brother has them big feelings happening," Ciara sighed. She looped her arm around his. "Tell your big sister all about it while there're no snooping supernaturals around."
"I love him, Ciara."
Ciara almost tripped. "Lachie..."
"I know. I know. I shouldn't because he has some perfect mate out there for him, but until they show up, I'm not going to let him go," Lachlan said stubbornly. It was a knife to his guts every time he thought about it. "I can't help how I feel."
"And he knows?"
Lachlan nodded. "Yeah, he knows. I've told him, and he's...told me."
"That he loves you? Then what the hell are you pouting for?" Ciara demanded.
"I'm not pouting. I'm pensive. You haven't seen how crazy these alchemists are. They want him and aren't going to stop with a stern warning. We have to go nuclear on them. It's not just Apollo in danger. It's our whole family and supernaturalcreatures everywhere. We are kind of responsible for them. No one else is up to the task." Lachlan laughed just thinking about it. "Who would have thought the Ironwoods would become protectors of the supernatural."
Ciara laughed with him. "I know. I can understand why Kenna is still struggling to stop smoking some days. Could you imagine this was our future when we were kids?"
"You a wolf and mated to one, and me in love with a dragon? Never in a million years. Bron mated to the Night Prince. How is this our life?" Lachlan said. He steered Ciara into a cafe where they got some takeaway coffee. They would have to start looping back toward the hotel soon, but they had time.
"I'm not seeing anyone suspicious or supernatural anywhere," Ciara commented, blowing on her coffee to cool it. Her eyes were scanning the streets, always alert.
"Your wolf senses aren't picking up anything extra?" Lachlan asked.
Ciara screwed up her nose. "Only that Apollo has scent-marked the hell out of you. It's kind of cute that he's so possessive. Maybe you should have kidnapped him months ago."
"Ha! That's what I said. I can't stop him from coming with us to take down this facility tomorrow night. It's stressing me out."
Ciara sighed. "Bro, he's adragon. He might not have shifted yet, but he is still one. I'm more worried about what he's cooking up right now than anything these blood alchemists can throw at us. That's not even mentioning what's going through Valentine's head."
"And Killian's. Okay, I see your point. We just need to get this done so I can get Apollo back home into his lab and out of harm's way."
"He doesn't need to be coddled, Lachie. He's a Greatdrakes and knows how to fight and protect himself. His dragon side will make him stronger than both of us put together," Ciara replied,drinking more of her coffee. "You have to trust him to do his part like he's trusting you not to get hurt. We have to save anyone and anything they have locked up in cages. That's what you should be focusing on. Killian will be able to handle most of them, but we need to be calm and ready to help stressed-out, hurt, and traumatized creatures. And that's after we kill all these Sanguis Vitae fuckers."
"You're right. All my big feelings bullshit has to wait until this job is done." Lachlan looked at his coffee. "Fuck, I really should have made this a double."
29
Apollo's whole center realigned with the first spark of a Bunsen burner. He was glad the suite had such a large bathroom with a marble countertop and two sinks because he was slowly covering every inch of it.
This is what grounded him and what he had been missing. It was where he could brew, blend, crush, and mix, and all the messiness in his head would sort itself out. It was the closest thing he could ever get to meditation, and gods, did he need it.
As Apollo measured and concocted, he thought through all of his tangle of emotions and got them to realign. He might hate everything that had happened to him in the past week, but he also got Lachlan in his arms, and that counted for something. He had to make sure that his enemies would never be able to get to Lachlan.
Want pretty mate, the dragon grumbled.
"Shut up. I know, okay? " Apollo murmured.
"Know what?" Killian asked behind him, making him jump.
"Don't sneak up on me when I'm making explosives!" Apollo hissed, and Killian raised his hands in surrender.
"I put warding spells on the room, so if anything is going to blow up, it will be you," Valentine chimed in, coming around the other side of Killian.
Apollo rubbed at his nose. "Really helpful. Thanks, Val. What do you two want?"
