He smiled at Myk. “Sounds great. I would love some more tomatoes. I’ll be right back, huh?”
Myk nodded and grinned at him. “What is it with you triplets and tomatoes?”
Corbin shrugged. “They used to say they were poisonous. Maybe that’s it.”
“Maybe it’s the acid,” Myk winked. “One stroll and then come back. Otherwise, you know that your brothers are going to be right behind you.”
“Well, Cosmo, anyway. I don’t have the other two fly-babies.”
He headed outside with the boss, and it was so pretty and warm. It would have been perfect if Gavin hadn’t been looking down at him with serious eyes. “You know I know something is up, right?”
“I’m just here to have a snack. La la la, snackage.”
“Uh-huh, spill it. Not that I don’t trust you three, but I really don’t trust you three.”
“Hey! We’re relatively functional, especially in a group. I’ll have you know, boss, we managed to immolate an entire vampire together, and I was pregnant.” He glanced at Gavin. “You don’t think that’s gonna hurt the babies, do you?”
Gavin shook his head. “No, I don’t think it’s going to hurt the babies. But you need to tell me what the fuck is going on so we can help.”
Corbin shook his head, a sick feeling deep in the pit of his stomach even as they walked through the soft grass and he couldsee the kids playing and everybody was happy. “There were vampires in the Land of Summer. They tried to get Mother. They want babies to feed on. And I don’t know what to do.”
“Fuck. Fuck.” Gavin stopped and stared at him. “When did this happen?”
“A couple days ago. I haven’t been back here since. It took a little bit of recovery. Evander thinks somebody smuggled blood in, just enough to infect somebody, but not an infected person. So they would have had to have it magicked to get it in.”
“Are you trying to tell me that a fae did this on purpose?”
“I don’t know. Mother seems to think not, but surely you have connections in the courts, right?”
Gavin shook his head. “Zeke says no. She hasn’t come back to see him since the veil closed behind us. I don’t think she can.”
Corbin sighed, “My mate has his brother looking into it. But I’m worried, like really worried that they’re coming.”
Gavin nodded to him. “Tyson says the house you live in is like a beacon to them.”
“They killed dragons there. I’ve replaced the floor. I’m growing things. I laid down salt and silver. I don’t know what to do.”
“Let me look into it and see what I can figure out. You keep an eye on you and all the babies. Hopefully, Cosmo will give you a warning should something terrible happen.”
“He did right before the immolation. I don’t want something terrible to happen. I want to be a happy pregnant dragon fae person.”
“Sure you do.” Gavin grinned at him then, a razor-sharp expression. “Just like I love being mostly a dragon of leisure these days. But we can still mobilize pretty fast.”
He knew it. Austin, Dustin, and even some of the dragons who had never worked for Gavin all kept in top form just in case.
He still didn’t think it was any fair though. Not that it mattered.
He knew fairness wasn’t part of this. Not for any of the three of them, not for their mates, and probably not for their children.
Although Corbin imagined it would only be three or four of their children who actually stayed to continue their work when they were grown.
Still, he looked at Devon and Ollie and the rest of them and envied their peace and happiness. He couldn’t even find peace at home, much less in the wider world.
“Are you done?”
Corbin flipped Gavin off. “I didn’t ask for your opinion.”
“No, but I’m still going to give it. You just have to relax. You’re the best at what you do. And that’s why all of you were there—as weird and as flighty as you seem to be, the three of you, you’re deadly, and I trust you with protecting this world, the entire thing, from the vampires and from anything else that might threaten us.”
