Page 48 of Dark Dragon’s Wolf

“Okay,” she said to Tristan. “If you were a dragon with an illicit man-cave, and had a whole castle to choose from, where would you put it?”

Tristan considered. “Someplace nobody goes, obviously,” he said. “The problem is, there are entire floors of this place where nobody goes.”

“I know.” Mayah chewed her bottom lip, thinking.

Man cave… Man cave… Dungeon? Good for brooding and hoards, but she wasn’t sure this could be considered to be a hoard exactly. Although maybe it was to Zakerek.

They checked the dungeons and came up empty. She turned to Tristan. “You’re from Earth. What do they have in man caves? Besides pool tables?”

Tristan laughed. “Not exactly an expert, but… TV, music, beer fridge, game tables, foosball, neon beer signs—maybe even pinball machines or arcade games, depending on Emon’s credit limit.”

Mayah rolled her eyes.

“Anything else?”

“Well, possibly he’d want access to some kind of patio or outdoor space, with a grill. Because grilling is considered to be extremely manly.”

“Noted,” Mayah said. “I’m picturing you in a chef’s hat and apron.”

“Which would look dorky.”

Mayah’s fantasy image was in complete disagreement with that. “Not if that was all you were wearing.”

Tristan contemplated, but shook his head. “Still dorky. I’d have to lose a bet to get me in an outfit like that.”

“Also noted.” But her mind was still on Zakerek. He was the leader of the other dragons, no matter how much he annoyed them. If he came, they would too.

“Okay. So, all those toys and stuff, they need electric power, right?”

“Yeah. And only a couple parts of the castle are wired for power. He has to be near one of those, and be piggybacking off the wiring.” Tristan snapped his fingers. “Which is why the generator’s been fritzing. Zakerek’s man cave.”

Mayah started to giggle. “He must have a crap-ton of stuff in there. And I know which floor he’s probably on.” There was an unused section of the castle that opened onto an enclosed terrace, partially roofed. Perfect for a grill. “Come on. Let’s go visit the man cave.”

They sneaked into the man cave by way of the terrace, surreptitiously scaling the wall rather than magicking open the locked gate, just because Mayah had binge-watched a season of SWAT recently.

The terrace did in fact have a top-of-the-line gas grill. It even had patio furniture. Zakerek had been a busy little shopper.

They made their way to the doors that opened onto the terrace. Inside, Zakerek was slouched on an oversized couch, watching a live-stream football game from Earth.

Alone.

Mayah looked around the man cave with awe. It had everything Tristan had said and more: a fully stocked bar, the pool table, bright flashing signs that must be neon, and all kinds of big boxy game thingies with more twinkling lights and music and sounds.

Tristan murmured, “Shit, there are enough flashing lights in here to give somebody a seizure. I’m surprised he hasn’t blown the generator entirely.”

Stifling a giggle, Mayah sauntered inside. “Zakerek, my friend. Thanks for inviting us to your man cave.”

Zakerek started, spilling half of his bowl of popcorn on the floor. He also had a popcorn machine—Mayah could see it in the corner.

He scrambled to his feet. “Emon got the bill, right? He’s coming for me. I’m going down in flames…”

“Relax.” Mayah perched on the arm of the sofa. “I have a proposition for you.” She got a sudden idea and added slowly, “Two propositions, actually.”

Zakerek glanced at Tristan. “They’re not sexual, I hope. Not that he’s not attractive,” he added hastily. “If you like elves. But I’m not really into threesomes, and…”

Mayah was so, so tempted not to interrupt, and just let him swing in the wind so she could see where this speech would end up, but she didn’t have the heart. And Tristan was growling.

“No sex,” she said. “Proposition number one. I convince Emon to pay for all this without flaming you, and you invite the clan to have a Sunday night barbecue on the terrace. And let them play with your toys. If you’re good, you can even be grillmeister.”