Page 8 of D'Vaire or Nothing
Conley was an undead fallen knight, but he’d been born a dragon and still loved meat. He decided to have the best of both worlds by ordering a meal with both lobster and steak.
“I’m thinking surf and turf,” Drystan remarked, making Conley grin. He’d often admired couples ordering different entrees and sharing, but that almost never happened at his own table. From the time they were young, Drystan and Conley had shared the same taste in food and almost always craved identical stuff.
“Me too,” Conley said.
“Did you know that the teeth of a lobster are found in their stomach?” Aeron asked.
“No, and thanks for putting that horrifying image in my brain,” Drystan told his father.
Their server arrived, and they ordered their drinks and meals.
“Drystan, I thought you were going to invite the kids and their sentinels tonight,” Helen said.
The “kids” were Drystan’s biological son, Trystan D’Vaire, and his mate, Blodwen. Both had necromancer blood and had once had their souls tied to a sentinel. Thanks to the efforts of Lich Sentinel Alaric Daray and Chander, the man who’d resurrected Conley, the sentinels no longer answered to anyone but the Council and their souls belonged to themselves alone.
But the sentinels formerly tied to Blodwen and Trystan were considered immediate family to Helen and Aeron. It wasmuch the same way they’d adopted Conley the minute they’d learned Fate had paired him with Drystan. They had so much love in their hearts that they shared it with anyone willing to accept it. It was one of the many things Conley loved about his parents, and it was a stark contrast to the distant indifferent people who’d raised him.
“I asked them to come with us, but they refused,” Drystan replied. “But they suggested the eight of us eat together tomorrow night. I told them I’d check with you two to see if that was doable.”
“Of course, that’s a wonderful idea,” Aeron said. “Text them and let them know we’d love to join them.”
“I’ll text them after dinner,” Drystan promised.
“Do you know what their plans were for tonight?” Helen asked.
“They wouldn’t tell us,” Conley replied. “But I ran into Gavrael yesterday, and he told me Blodwen has been making him and Gedeon watch videos on gambling. Many, many hours of videos. I’m pretty sure I caught Gavrael’s eye twitching. So, I’m assuming they’re using that knowledge tonight in the casino.”
Aeron chuckled. “Of course they wouldn’t go blindly into gambling and would need to do their research. The pair are far too logical to throw caution to the wind. Thank goodness they have Gavrael and Gedeon with them. Our Skeleton Lords won’t allow the kids to spend too much money.”
The two Skeleton Lords were tasked with aiding Alaric in ruling the sentinels and, like every man in their race, were incredibly pragmatic and responsible. Conley never worried about Trystan or Blodwen when they were with Gedeon and Gavrael, which was remarkable given that the Reverent Knight dealt with the worst of the Council daily.
“Let’s hope we don’t get a call from the resort telling us that our children were kicked out because they learned some illegal tactics from online videos about gambling,” Drystan grumbled.
“We’ll blame you for not raising your son better and corrupting poor Blodwen,” Aeron teased.
Conley chuckled and winked at Drystan as their server arrived with their drinks and salads.
“If two Skeleton Lords can’t keep them from breaking laws, no one can,” Drystan pointed out.
Picking up his fork to stab a chunk of lettuce smothered in dressing, Conley rested his palm on Drystan’s muscled thigh.
“We should’ve broken more laws when we were alive,” Conley remarked.
“If I’d known we were going to die and would be resurrected into fallen knights with no ability to break rules, I would’ve definitely suggested a crime spree,” Drystan said.
“Are you serious?” Helen asked.
Drystan’s black brows drew together. “Of course not. Con’s the one at this table willing to sidestep laws.”
“And now my mate will complain for the next fifteen minutes about what he considers my poor driving,” Conley said with a knowing glance for Drystan.
“Dear, I love you. You know I do, but your driving gets scary sometimes,” Helen commented.
“It’s nothing bad; you drive the way you do everything, son,” Aeron added. “You’re gutsy and never hold back.”
“That has to be the nicest way anyone has ever told Con his driving sucks,” Drystan guffawed.
“Maybe I’m a terrific driver and everyone else is terrible,” Conley suggested, unperturbed by their words. If he were inclined to change anything about himself, his desire to dive into every situation with his full energy wasn’t what he’d choose.
