Chapter Fourteen
Max looked up as Blake came strolling into the room and then paused to sniff the air. He said, in a slightly accusing tone, “You slept with the human.”
There was no way to deny it, and really, he didn’t want to anyway. “Yes. I know you’re probably mad at me. Given that you wanted her for yourself.”
Blake shrugged, “It’s fine. She’s made it pretty clear she wants nothing to do with me.”
Blake gave him a wary look. “I know you well enough to know that doesn’t mean you intend to stop pursuing her.”
Blake drew closer to the sofa that Max sat upon. “It’s not like there’s not another one of them. I’m just interested in knowing how you got her to agree. I tried everything with Christy, and she threatened to cut my balls off if I spoke to her again yesterday. I really don’t know what I’m doing wrong, Max.”
Max could hazard a few guesses, but he decided to start with the obvious. “What did you say to her?”
Blake slapped a hand down on his neck. “Well, I offered to give her weight in gold if she’d have my baby.”
Max stared at him. He asked, cautiously, “How did that work out?”
Blake’s shoulders slumped. “Not so hot. I told you she threatened to cut my balls off. Weren’t you listening to me at all?”
Max said, “I can see how that would not be the ideal way for it to work out.”
Blake said, “How did you do it?”
Max said, “Do what?”
Blake said, “Convince the human to sleep with you.”
Max said, “The same way I convinced any female to sleep with me. By not acting like a raging sex organ.”
Blake said, “No offense, but I am a raging sex organ right now. I’m in my prime, which means that I’m guaranteed to impregnate anyone I sleep with. That means nobody on this world will sleep with me.”
Max’s lips twitched upward. “I can see how that could be uncomfortable.”
Blake rolled his eyes, “You have no idea.”
Max muttered, “I don’t really want to either, thanks.”
Blake said, “Well, I have some news that will probably take my mind off my plight. I’m not sure how you’re going to take it though.”
Max’s eyebrows rose. “What is it?”
Blake said, “I got so tired of arguing with her this morning over breakfast that I took off for a long flight. I had to work off some steam, if you understand what I’m saying. I went a little further than usual, all the way toward the west lands.”
Max’s shoulders went rigid with tension. “You know that’s Orc territory, and that’s a really stupid thing to do. We’ve managed to keep them past our borders for a very long time, but if they see you flying over there, they may just decide that we declared war on them.”
Blake’s next words were a bombshell. “It seems that there are about to declare open war on us, cousin.”
Acid rolled up into Max’s stomach. “What do you mean?”
“They are gathering war machines. I saw catapults, fire throwers, and a few other things. Not only that: all the Orcs from that side of the known lands have gathered with the ones that reside there and are closer to us. Not only that, but yesterday, after you left us, I saw a small band of them. They were at the base of the mountain on the other side from our lands, but they were there.”
Max shot to his feet. Anger boiled through his system. “And you didn’t think to tell me this?”
Blake said, “I know I’m wrong for that. I got so distracted by everything that happened that I just set it aside, meaning to tell you in private. I never got a chance to speak with you last night. I came looking for you to talk to you but you were gone. I didn’t want to mention it in the council room, not when we had two humans in there. Two humans who saw the Orcs, by the way.”
Dammit! Heather had asked him about Orcs, and he had not even wondered how she had known of them., and had also not thought to ask her that question either.
It just figured. He had taken off with Heather and the results of that had been that he had missed hearing something as serious as Orcs gathering weapons and themselves together, and very near the dragon lands. “I was just in the village last evening. Nobody there mentioned it. So, if the Orcs are scouting out our people, they are doing it cautiously and quietly. We must move at once to ensure their safety.”
