Page 67 of Taloned Heart

She gasped at the sight of it, her hands clutching at her chest. “Abraxas. You knew this was here?”

“I had guessed.” And hoped, really.

He settled her on top of the moss and watched as she soaked up all that power and her skin turned glittery with it. She looked like she was dusted in diamonds, and his heart stuttered in his chest.

“A gift?” she asked, opening those stunning eyes and staring right through him. “Where would you have gotten a gift? It’s not a grimdag, is it? The Matriarch would kill me if I stole another one of those from her.”

“No, it’s not a grimdag.” He rolled his eyes. “It’s not anything to do with war, you bloodthirsty elf.”

He dropped down beside her on the moss and handed her the bag he’d won from the deepmonger. His winnings were well worth the risk, although he had no idea where the young man had even gotten the contents.

Frowning at him, Lore peered into the bag and then flinched back. A startled laugh burst forth before she looked in again and then back at him.

“Elfweed?” she asked, her voice thin and perhaps a little too high pitched. “You got me elfweed?”

“I remember you saying how much you liked it,” he replied. His tone was almost defensive, and that was foolish. Because he knew she would enjoy it, and she wasn’t too old to do it again! They just hadn’t had the opportunity, and if she was angry at him, then that was stupid.

His thoughts stuttered to a halt as she tilted her head back and laughed. Her joy was so abundant that she even kicked her legs a bit before she stared at him again, her jaw slightly open and her eyes so wide he could see the whites around them. “Do you know how hard it is to find good elfweed? You didn’t just find this, did you?”

“Not quite.” His shoulders squared a bit with pride. “I won it after a game of Zephyr’s. I think the deepmonger was quite certain that his own prince would win the chess game.”

She leaned forward, grabbed the back of his neck, and kissed him so hard he tasted blood. “You brilliant, wonderful, ridiculous man. I cannot believe you found me elfweed.”

He watched her gleefully pull out a bundle of weed and a small stack of papers. With quick, efficient hands, she’d rolled them both enough to smoke and then handed him one.

“Would you like to do the honors?” she asked, clearly expecting him to provide the flame.

He’d happily do so. Abraxas leaned forward and sparked his fingers together, just enough to light the end of hers and then lit his own. Together, they inhaled deeply of smoke that tasted sweet and savory at the same time.

Blowing out a few smoke rings, he grinned when she made a sound of surprise.

“You know how to smoke!” she said, pointing at the rings that floated up in the moonlight.

“I’m a dragon, Lore. What makes you think I haven’t spent years of my life learning smoke tricks?” He raised a brow. “I can make smoke in my lungs without having to inhale it. I spent years learning tricks from my mother and cousins and dragons I cannot even remember.”

Not to mention he had the memories of other crimson dragons who had entertained their young in the same way. With a rueful grin, he puffed a few more rings, so they moved through each other.

Shaking her head, Lore added a ring of her own. And for a while, they entertained each other with the tricks they could both do. He hadn’t felt this relaxed in a long time.

But then he realized they were completely surrounded by a cloud of smoke and that was just hilarious. He didn’t know why or how it had gotten so funny. He saw it billowing around them like a massive skirt and he couldn’t stop chuckling.

“What’s so funny?” Lore asked, her eyes narrowing on him.

“It’s like a dress,” he said, barely getting the words out as he gestured at all the smoke surrounding them.

Though she hardly reacted to his words, her lips twitched. A good sign that she saw the same image he did and soon she would also be on the floor laughing.

“Abraxas.” The word sounded a little slow. Why was she speaking to him like he wouldn’t be able to hear her? “Have you ever smoked elfweed before?”

He tried to control the sounds coming out of his mouth that sounded an awful lot like giggles. “Nope. I have not.”

Then she giggled with him, and the sound set him off all over again and he couldn’t stop it. No matter how hard he tried to stop laughing, it was just... laughter. Bubbling out of him and coughing more smoke into the air. Was he still smoking? He didn’t think he was, but then he found the elfweed back against his lips.

“You’re high,” she said with another laugh.

“I am not. You’re not even close to high and I’m twice your weight.”

She shook her head at him. “You’re very high, dragon.”

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