Page 5 of No Potions Needed

“Dern won’t talk unless you’re there,” Jacob rolled his eyes.

“Me?” Marsin asked, pointing to the baby blue star-shaped scale on his chest.

“No, you!” Jacob pointed at me.

“Me?” I laughed. “What? Does he want to shoot me again or just punish me for ruining his plans?”

“We don’t even know what his plans really were,” Jacob frowned at me.

“I hope you don’t frown at your mate like that,” I sighed.

“Well?” Jacob crossed his arms.

The guy was still sort of adorable when he was pissed off.

“Well? What?” I asked, mirroring his stance.

“Are you going to help or not?” he asked.

“I thought I did when I got shot. Look, I’ll meet up with Mori and his friend later but believe you me you don’t want me around that wolf. My dragon probably knows about fifty recipes to cook wolfshank and this isn’t the place I want to start a war with the wolves. That and Dern is probably stringy meat because he’s so Frost-damned ancient.”

Jacob blinked at me as if he couldn’t discern how much of what I had said was in jest. None of it was. I, personally, didn’t want to eat Dern, but then again, I wasn’t exactly the giant guy who did. We were all one and not one with our inner beasts. If he shifted and took over there wouldn’t be much that I could do to stop him.

“Yeah, let’s go have lunch. Sorry, Jacob,” Marsin flashed him an apologetic smile. “I’m sure Mori will understand.”

“I’m sure Mori will get to the bottom of the mystery before we even finish lunch,” I added on.

“Are you two always so useless?” Jacob sighed. “Don’t you want to know what the hell he was going to do, Marsin?”

“Jacob,” Marsin turned around slowly and met the doctor’s gaze. I wouldn’t let him eat Jacob over an insult but both my dragon and I were curious where this was going. “Do you think it’s a good idea for me to be there if he pops off at the mouth and says something like he was going to shoot my mate or newborn pup? Do you think I’m some docile lizard because I’m malleable to most of your plans surrounding him? I am not. I am just as much of a dragon as the others you’ve met. I believe it will be best if you deliver the news at a later date. Come along, Teddy.” When Marsin turned back to face his eyes were that of his dragon. Marsin’s dragon was one of the quieter ones on the flight link usually. He wasn’t aggressive or even that arrogant as far as dragons went, but you could only push a guy so far where the safety of his family was concerned.

We walked in silence until we were near to the bustling downtown area. Astral was already at the little sandwich shop tucked away in a corner both cuddling Baby Raylin to his chest. Marsin beamed as soon as their scents reached us.

“Don’t tell him I threatened to eat Dern,” he whispered. “He doesn’t need something else to worry about. Thanks for not eating Dern too. Astral would expect me to stop you and I’m not sure my dragon would cooperate with that idea.”

“I’m trying to be the guy my carrier would want me to be,” I shrugged.

“One thing before we join my family. Stop that. Stop trying to be the exact person you think she’d want you to be. She’d want you to be kind, sure, but remember, her true-mate was your father. She knew good and well, at least one of her kids, would inherit his ways of doing things. It’s not wrong to want to protect yourself and those you care about. Dern’s dangerous not because he’s bad but because age has done its work on his mind and body. He’s the sort of dangerous we should try to be gentle with, but all mercy and gentleness has a cost.”

“Everything okay?” Astral called out when we didn’t join him straight away.

“Everything’s great,” Marsin called out as we headed toward the booth. “Mori and his friend gave us the runaround. Must’ve gotten their wires crossed or something. They went ahead to the hospital without us. Jacob got a wedgie over it but they’re fine.”

“A wedgie? You mean he got his panties stuck in his butt?” Astral laughed, correcting the expression.

“Isn’t that the same thing?” Marsin asked, looking at the menu despite how often we all ate here.

I ordered the biscuits and white gravy with eggs and bacon. It wasn’t breakfast time but there was something about the greasy-carby food that hit every spot in my mouth in the best way possible. I ordered a triple serving but the server didn’t blink at the request. I never knew if furry shifters would know how much dragons ate or not.

“I don’t think they care as long as we give them money for it,” Marsin said. “If we give them money then they’ll give us whatever.”

Marsin was still new to the concept of money, and he still smelled uncertain anytime someone handed him a bill. The first time he found out people paid for water I thought he might stage a coup of the pack upon sight of the bill. It took some explanation but eventually he understood that’s how the pack paid for the upkeep of the system. He still wasn’t sure why anyone charged ‘themselves’ for stuff, but he let it go.

Astral’s phone vibrated in the diaper bag and Marsin growled.

“Jacob?” I arched a brow at the other dragon.

“Probably. He’s such a fucking tattletale,” he rolled his eyes.

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