“First of all, there was already a whole dispenser of jelly cups on the table, with like, three different flavors in them, but no,he had to have orange marmalade, after insisting on having the crusts cut off the toast and cheese melted on top of the eggs, and ketchup and hot sauce for the eggs, and tea, and ice water, and how many damn things did one person need to put on their fucking food!”
I was growling by the time I finished, remains of my sausage squished in my fist, which didn’t stop me from eating it.
“Yeah, customer service was never going to be your strong suit,” Upalo said. “Why would you ever take a job like that?”
“They were hiring,” I admitted.
“Okay, fair, but you used to hate when Foley asked you to get him anything,” Upalo reminded me.
“Because he never asked, he demanded. Always treating me like I was there to be his fucking servant when he was perfectly capable of doing it himself.”
“It’s no wonder you were such a menace to the customers,” Odem said. “Even if you didn’t remember him and what you’d endured at his hands, your dragon wasn’t able to mask the resentment you felt, so it leaked out whenever anyone asked you for something.”
Now that he’d said it, I knew he was right. The job had never felt like a good fit for me, but Mable and her crew had always felt safe, which was the real reason I’d never looked for another place of employment.
“Do you remember our real father?” I asked Upalo.
“Not clearly,” he said. “Sometimes, when I look in the mirror, I get these hazy images of him, but nothing clear. You were barely a hatchling when we were taken to live with Foley. Most of my early memories are of helping our mother tend to your egg. She fussed over you and always tried to smile, but I remember how sad she was. Our father had a heavy silver bracelet he wore around his wrist, with an emblem in it. I’ve only ever seen it in one other place. It was during our travels on the big islandof Hawaii. We made contact with people there who told us the legend of dragons who were born from the volcanos, but that’s all they were to them. Legends. The whole time we were there, we never sensed the presence of another of our kind.”
“Do you have a picture or drawing of the symbol?” Odem asked.
“Yes.”
“Emerson may be able to shed some light on it then,” Odem offered. “If it’s in the archives, he’ll be able to locate it.”
“I’d appreciate any help he can give.”
“I’ll point you his way when I leave for patrol,” Odem said.
“No, it’s okay, I’ll walk him over,” I offered. “We can all go. I’m sure Mattias will want to see Kes the moment he gets back. Until then, we can play with Cade and see what we can learn from Emerson.”
“I’m glad you’ll no longer be alone when I leave on patrol,” Odem said.
“You’ve never left me alone,” I reminded him, pointing to the side of my head. “Especially when you’re bored. All those innuendos and promises you can make good on. Like syrup on your…”
“Dessert will be later, mate,” Odem said, cutting me off.
Winking, I dug into the rest of my meal, loving the way his face had flushed, ever so slightly, when I’d been about to announce his promise to the rest of the room. As long as he knew I wasn’t going to let him forget about the treat he’d promised, I’d let it drop.
For now.
Chapter Nineteen
Odem
Your eggs should be coming any day now,Caro said as we hovered just above the top of a nearby peak.Everything ready?
Nearly there. I woke up covered in the freshly washed nesting blankets today.Memories of my mate’s sweet gesture, insisting the nest smell of sunshine, warmed me to depths that were hard to fathom.
Ha-ha, mates are funny that way. It’s interesting how we’re drawn to their scents, making it our happy place.
True dat!
Hey, did you just see that?
Yes, you go left and I’ll go right.
Use the cloaking spell.
