“I do love Eran,” he yawned. “He’s my best friend, but we were never going to last as a couple. We make good friends, though. And before you start in on me kissing the other lions, you should know, I’ve never slept with any of them. They’re my pride and my friends.”
“I slept with Gaia once years ago before she and Sermon ever met,” I said, because if he could say he still loved Eran I could admit that.
“I know. I could tell by the way she acts around you. She moves around you like she knows you’re not a threat. She annoyed Jondi but her comfiness with you sort of was like a positive reference,” he yawned. “If I fall asleep before…”
“Sleep if you’re tired,” I said before he could finish his sentence. I was still hard and still wanted him, but rompingcould wait. My mate smelled exhausted and without some sleep, we’d never figure out this thing called life.
Chapter 14
Pras Lavender
The Night Star Village in the Other World
I clutched the book that held Ferrick and some of my remains to my chest while pondering how Clarence Moonscale was so nose-blind. Had the boulder to his head messed with his sense of smell? My original plan was to head straight to the Pit of Frost and see if they knew what to do about Ferrick, but now I had to make an unplanned stop to speak with an old friend. Someone had to help Beryl get his head on straight and I’d been too dead too long to stick around and do it. I was dead before he was even thought of. Though, the person who sired him was alive and well.
Walking into the Other World was like entering a library where information was dumped into my brain like water from a bucket. I knew exactly where my old friend Delin McCombs was and since I was dead I wasn’t bound by the same rules as the living. Though, he couldn’t have been inside the Night Star Village long or Diamond would’ve never been able to have her baby on Earthside. Still, there was plenty of time to get my questions answered.
Since the Night Star Village was a place for the living, I was still a spirit there which made it extra humorous to walk through his walls and sit down and wait for him at his kitchen table. He stumbled past me to the coffee pot and padded acrossthe kitchen, eyes only half open, several times before he startled, squeaked, and nearly hit the damn roof. It was great. Being dead in the Other World was a lot more fun than being dead and tied to a book in other places.
“Delin! Is that any way to greet an old friend?” I chided him, smirking.
Delin didn’t look much different. Well, he didn’t look anymore different than Clarence looked. Sure, he was a bit older and broader. He’d gotten taller because living dragons never stopped growing. I was the one locked forever in a youthful state of a life cut short for the better good.
“Pras?” Delin asked, rubbing his eyes and then staring me down.
“The one and bloody only, Del!” I said. “Found out that you sucked Clarence’s dick too. Not that I care, but thought I’d throw that out there, so you’d believe me about who I am. He put it in his memoir.”
“He what?” Delin asked, leaning back against the counter.
“You should really buy a copy. It’s not like he gave the blowjob a whole chapter but he mentioned it,” I nodded, leaning back in the chair, careful to keep one hand on the evil bastard’s book.
“I’m—I didn’t come back because I couldn’t. Volex took me straight to where his parents lived and I was stuck for a hundred years and by the time that was over…..” Delin’s voice trailed off. “Volex told me you died back then.”
“I did die back then. I’m just still around,” I shrugged. “Look, I’m not here to rehash what happened. No one blames you. I’m sorry about your parents. I hope they found peace.”
“They’ve moved on,” Delin nodded, turning toward the percolating coffee pot and pouring himself a mug. Then he reached into the cabinet and pulled out a second mug. They were both blue with little green clouds as if someone had hand painted them weird colors on purpose. “Do you still kill the cup with sugar and cream?”
“Yep,” I nodded and watched as he made the coffee drinkable before joining me at the table. “I’m not here to talk about all that. I’m here to say your kid needs your help.”
“Which one?” Delin asked and I fought off the urge to haul off and kick him under the table.
“What do you bloody mean which one? How many people are you making babies with?”
“Three,” he shrugged. “It’s good money, I’ll have you know.”
“Delin McCombs is a gigolo,” I slapped the table.
“I only slept with the first one. The other two were IVF,” he shrugged. “I’ve never settled down and what can I say? Lady alphas in London want draconic sperm without having to deal with other people.”
“Well, that first one, at least who I think was the first, was my granddaughter,” I said.
“Oh! Shit! Sorry, Pras! I didn’t know,” his scent turned to panic as he spoke.
“I don’t care particularly about that. Diamond Moonscale does what she wants. Always has. What else did I die for if my grandchildren aren’t having all the causal sex they want?” I wasn’t being facetious. If that was the hobby someone wanted and it was consensual, I really didn’t give a damn.
“It wasn’t causal. It was contractual,” Delin said, squaring his shoulders.
“Well, you had a kid,” I said.
