Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 76943 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76943 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Merritt frowned as we wandered through the town park that seemed to butt up against the forest. “Well, no one is sure how long ago it was built or who built it. So it could be some kind of early human civilization. That means plausible deniability.”
I liked that answer, so in the back of my head I started mentally arranging an argument I could use in court. “That has merit.”
He giggled in my head but kept a straight face. “Thank you.”
“Dork.” That made the giggles worse. “Every time we figure out one thing two more pop up.”
I was starting to think someone whammied us, as Wren would’ve called it. But even Merritt had said he didn’t feel anything magic being specifically directed at us.
“Let’s focus on the positive.” Forcing himself to look more cheerful, Merritt kissed my cheek. “We’ve got the basic team put together. We’ve made the commitment to go. We know they’ve still been looking for us. That’s amazing. We still mattered to them.”
That hit me a bit too hard and I had to swallow past a lump in my throat. “My great-great-grandmother died when I was little but one of the memories I do have of her was her talking about her…I think…great-grandmother and how she cried about what had happened. I might have the details wrong because I was really young when I overheard her talking to one of her cousins or someone like that.”
I should’ve written more of those memories down.
“The original stories were lost in a house fire a few generations ago, but what was passed down orally was just about how sad they were and how lonely that first generation was until they started making families here on their own.” I couldn’t imagine starting out life that way, but with Merritt, I knew I could do it.
“We’ve got stories like that.” Merritt squeezed my hand and tugged me close enough to bump his shoulder against my arm. “We have a few journals too, but they’re mostly about gossip and recipes and one that’s nothing but a man…a dragon…complaining about his mate. Just complaints and one line at the very end about how much he loved him.”
Him.
“That’s sweet.” And probably very accurate for some relationships. “I bet there are some good stories in it mixed in with all the complaints.”
And probably interesting tidbits about how the outside world handled the two men being so close.
“If you ever manage to drag me back to visit my family, I’ll show you.” Merritt chuckled when I rolled my eyes. “You heard them on the phone earlier. They’re not reasonable.”
They made decisions so badly they’d fit right in with the locals.
Which made their logical responses to the portal and those decisions sound even more insane. Merritt had said that fell under work for most of them and they took that very seriously. Insanity should not be based on work or pleasure, but they didn’t seem to see it that way.
“I still don’t see how they thought storming a dragon’s home was a good idea.” Even the slightly interesting rule book we’d cobbled together about laws said that if a dragon’s home was invaded or his hoard was threatened, he could do whatever he wanted.
Was that when that strange sparkly dragon had started talking about eating people?
Had someone broken into his home?
Realizing I might’ve misjudged him, I pushed that thought to the back of my head for later and went back to focusing on my mate. “But yes, at some point I will make the mistake of thinking I know best and will push you into something stupid like a trip to visit your family.”
I was just that annoying and we both knew it.
“So I’m apologizing in advance and you have permission to say you told me so as many times as is necessary to make up for the chaos I cause.” At the moment I knew it would be stupid, but I wouldn’t be able to help myself if he said something ridiculous like he missed them.
Merritt was doing his best not to laugh, but swallowing it back made him sound like he was coming down with something. “It’ll take a lot of them…just to let you know.”
“Thank you for warning me.” It was going to be a cascade of bad decisions, but I wasn’t sure we could keep it from happening.
Well, there weren’t good ways of keeping it from happening.
As some of the ideas rolled around in my head, Merritt cleared his throat, and from the slightly concerned look on his face, I realized I’d been projecting. “Sorry. There are a lot of new things to worry about.”
Like if he’d changed his mind about going through the portal.
It would be a once in a lifetime experience.
Everything I’d seen from him said he’d be the best to go.
“I know we talked about not going when we were first discussing all the options.” Merritt tried to sound relaxed but I could feel his anxiety through the bond. “Is that still how you feel?”