Rian stood up with a sigh, slipped off his shorts, and climbed into the tub. He sighed again as he sat back in the water, then waved at me. “Why don't you join me, love?”
“Rian!” I stood up and glared down at him.
“Galin, I know him.” Rian sat forward, leaning his forearms on his bent knees. “There is no way Geris would ever jeopardize the enclave just to get my attention. He's far too responsible and too fucking uptight, to tell the truth. It would never even occur to him.”
“How many years has it been since you've spent time with him?” I countered.
Rian scowled.
“Rian, how many?”
“Over a century.”
I made an exasperated sound and waved at him. “You don't know him at all.”
“No. You don't know Dragons, my jewel,” he said patiently. “We don't change that much. Not in a century. To make the kind of transformation Geris would have to make to become a man like that would take several centuries. We are firm in our natures, our immortality locking a lot of qualities into ourselves.”
“I understand that.” I waved his protest away. “I'm immortal too, Rian. I know how it is.”
“I don't think you do. Dragons are . . .” Rian shrugged, then leaned back and spread his arms over the platform that surrounded the tub. “We're steady. It takes a lot to shake us out of our personalities.”
“Like the man you love possibly finding his mate?” I lifted a brow at him.
“Geris didn't know about you until he arrived in Vagasof.”
“Are you sure? Maybe he heard rumors.”
“Galin, stop. Geris is not the enemy. Sebastian said the infestation is odd but not unheard of. Sometimes misfortune is simply by chance.”
I stared at him. Seeing his relaxed pose, I knew he'd already made his mind up about Geris. Their past wouldn't let him see the present clearly. I'm not one to waste my time on arguing, so I simply nodded and left the room.
“Galin?”
“I'm going back to work,” I said.
I had to focus on what I could do, not the impossible, like changing the mind of a stubborn Dragon.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
“Enough,” Rian said several days later as he strode into my makeshift office. “You need to get out of this room.”
I looked up from my organized mess. My sketches were scattered around me along with Sebastian's open books. The rasalt beetles in the vial had long since died and were now tiny skeletons rattling in their glass coffin every time I moved them. I should have felt bad about that, but I didn't. I mean, I was trying to find a way to kill them all. Why would I feel bad about suffocating two of them?
“I've never tried to invent something under stress,” I said. “It's always been a joy for me. An adventure. I don't like this.”
“I can see that.” Rian took my hand and pulled me to my feet. “So stop thinking of it as a task. Let it go for today. The solution will come to you.”
“And what if it doesn't?”
“Then I will find a solution. I'm the King. This is on my shoulders, not yours.”
I grimaced at him. “It's right here.” I waved at the books. “The solution is here somewhere. I just have to put it together.”
“Later,” he said firmly. “I want to show you Riscavik.”
“Is that even allowed?”
“I'm the fucking Dragon King, Galin.” Rian grinned, though it was more a baring of teeth. “Nothing in my kingdom is denied me.”
