Twenty-Six
Cobalt
Lazuli blinkedat the aquarium with electric-blue eyes. Their sky-blue scales seemed to glow beside the dappled light of the tank. In the weeks since they’d hatched from their egg, their rambunctious, loud personality shone through every second. I couldn’t remember what I was like as a young dragonet, but I wasn’t as boisterous as Lazuli.
Yet whenever we plopped Lazuli in front of my hoard, their demeanor changed. They went silent as a mouse, content to stare at the dancing kelp, darting fish, and slow-moving river snails.
“Isn’t it weird?” Muzo asked. “I mean, no offense to you or your hoard, obviously—but for a kid, you’d think it’d be boring to watch.” He nodded at Lazuli sitting comfortably on a pillow, their snout inches from the glass. “But our kid’s obsessed.”
“I’m not offended,” I assured him. “I’m aware that it’s boring to most people.”
“Except me,” Muzo pointed out.
“Except you.”
Muzo kneeled down and patted our dragonet’s head. “And Lazuli. Maybe they’re gonna grow up to hoard snails too, eh, Cobalt?”
I chuckled at the idea. “I highly doubt that. Dragon hoard affinities aren’t genetic, as you can tell from my brothers.”
“How was your little tour, by the way?” Muzo asked, tilting his head.
“It was nice,” I said, glancing up at the tank. I watched the resident pair of snails share a fresh cucumber slice. “They asked me questions. A lot of them. It was like... they really cared. I didn’t expect that.” I smiled at my mate. “You were right after all.”
Muzo’s grin lit up his face. “See? I told you! Man, I wish I could’ve seen it. I wanted to eavesdrop, but as soon as you guys left the bedroom, Viol showed up to chat.”
My brows rose. “He did?”
Muzo sat next to Lazuli on the pillow. “Yup. He was super interested in Lazuli’s egg.”
I recalled all the times Viol offered to babysit Ruby, Heather, and now Lazuli, too. His keen affection for his young charges was only matched by his hostility toward us. But he wasn’t nasty to Taylor, Matteo, or Muzo. In fact, the three omegas had a completely different relationship with him than we dragons did. I wondered if he cleaned up his attitude for them since they were newcomers to our family, or if he just had a soft spot for omegas and children.
But then I remembered our confrontation before the Dragonfate Games began. Viol’s aggressive concern for my safety stopped me from leaving the island to chase Muzo down. It wasn’t jealousy, or that he wanted to keep us apart. Violwantedme to find my fated mate, but deep down, he was fueled by fear.
I found that odd. Viol was harsh, rough, and cold. Why should a man like him be afraid of anything?
My protective instincts had evolved since falling in love with Muzo, and Lazuli’s hatching. They were stronger than ever, and they extended to my entire family. Whatever was paining my brother, I wanted to know.
“I’m going to talk to Viol,” I said, scooping up my dragonet.
“And you’re bringing Lazuli as a bribe?”
“Exactly.”
Muzo chuckled. “Have fun. I’ll stay here and keep feeding the snails.”
“Not too many treats, remember?”
“I know, I know.” He reached into the food bucket and pulled out an apple slice. “I’ll keep it to one. Or three. Or seven.”
I huffed in amusement at his antics. I’d never win this battle, but that was fine. An extra apple slice or two or seven never hurt anybody. Besides, the shrimp and fish did an excellent job polishing off the extraneous treats Muzo snuck into the tank when he thought I wasn’t looking.
On my way out of the bedroom, I noticed something off. I squinted at the bed.
Blueberry was gone again.
I sighed. This was a regular occurrence lately. Blueberry would go missing, then conveniently show up, then disappear once more. It was like the thing had a mind of its own. Either that, or there was a plushie-kidnapping crusader in our midst.
I thanked Holy Drake that Lazuli didn’t give a damn about the plush toy, otherwise I’d put more effort into getting him back. But unlike his baby, Muzodidcare about Blueberry. He went frantic every time the plushie went missing. I considered commissioning Taylor for an identical one so Blueberry Version 1.0 could live his life in peace, wherever he was.
