Jayce leaned back, open-mouthed. “No! It’s not them.”
“You found another family?” Drake’s eyes rounded.
“Yes. A mother and daughter.”
Drake smiled. “So which is the lucky girl, the mother or the daughter?”
“The daughter. But without getting into any more details about the family, I was wondering what you can tell me about dragons.”
“What do you want to know?”
“For starters, why are there so few of you? I thought you were very hard to kill.” Jayce hoped the info he’d been given about a dragon only being able to have children with another dragon was false.
Drake looked at him sideways. “Do not ask me how to kill a dragon. Or I’ll tell you to shower us with cake and ice cream.”
Jayce laughed. “Why would I ask you that? I love this girl. I was just wondering why there are so few of you. Is reproduction difficult?”
“Oh.” Drake clasped his hands and leaned forward. “Our women don’t get pregnant very often.”
That doesn’t sound like it can’t happen…Huh. It made Jayce wonder about his brother Ryan and Chloe. When Chloe had been welcomed into the Fierro fold, it had been established that she and Ryan wouldn’t be able to have children. But if both he and Ryan couldn’t have kids, Mama Fierro wouldn’t like it.She wanted grandchildren and lots of them, like yesterday.
Drake scrubbed a hand over his face. “Mother freaking Nature…” he muttered. “She thought it would be a good idea to make our females fertile only once every five years. If you miss the window, the siblings will be ten years apart—or fifteen. And then there’s the little fact that a dragon can only reproduce with another dragon.”
Oh no.It was true. Gabriella would freak.
Drake seemed to be watching his expression closely.
“Okay. That makes sense. I remember Chloe telling the family she couldn’t have children, but I didn’t know why.”
Drake tilted his head. “Does that affect things for you?”
“It doesn’t affect the way I feel about Kristine.” Jayce suddenly realized something. “Wait. Your wife must be a dragon, because you have a son!”
He groaned. “No, but it’s a long story.”
Jayce was just about to ask him to explain when he saw the captain coming toward them. “It looks like we won’t be alone much longer. I guess we’ll have to save the rest of this conversation for another day.”
They both rose and shook hands.
Then Drake surprised him by pulling him into a man hug and slapping him on the back a few times. “Hang in there, buddy.”
Drake left the recreation room as Captain Madigan entered.
He stared at Jayce. “I’d ask if it was something I said, but I haven’t had a chance to say anything.”
“Don’t take it personally. We were just done with our conversation. Hey, do you feel like playing pool? I could use a little cash after spending it all on vacation.”
“Hell no. The last time we got a call in the middle of our tournament, someone took the cash.”
“Shit. Did you lose a lot?”
“Doesn’t matter the amount. It’s the principle. It’s hard to believe anyone would take advantage of firefighters when we’re on a job. It’ll be a while before the sting wears off.”
“I know what you mean. That must’ve happened while I was on vacation. I don’t remember hearing about it.”
“Yeah, a few things happened while you were on vacation.”
Jayce bet what had happened to him while he was in New York was a hell of a lot more interesting than what had happened back here at the station—no matter how many car crashes, multiple-alarm fires, or public assists they’d been involved in. He was pretty sure his weird rescue mission had them beat.
