“I’d like to kiss more of you.”
Tiri stepped out of their embrace and tossed his tunic to the floor. “Feel free to kiss wherever you want.”
Zane’s reply was to give him a lusty grin, then pick him up. He lowered him to the bed and climbed over him. Tiri stroked his hands down Zane’s back, welcoming his passion. It was magic each time they came together, and even though Zane had ticked him off, he would never be willing to let it fester between them. Luxuriating in the feel of Zane holding him close, Tiri gave himself over to their lovemaking.
Chapter 25
Ninety days after Ellery drank that fouled cup of coffee, King Aleksander D’Vairedraconis dropped into a chair. The men and woman who made up Sorcery D’Vaire were grabbing seats around him. Their boardroom was a mess of books, papers, and uninteresting decor. Aleksander made a mental note to recreate this space into one fitting of these remarkable sorcerers when this whole debacle was over. If they were going to continue to break down magical barriers, then they deserved to do it somewhere worthy of them.
Vampyr Lord Grigori was wearing a smile on his handsome face, and nothing could have pleased Aleksander more. He hoped to hell that meant Grigori had some good news to share. Aleksander was sick and tired of these hardworking people only getting to offer their emperors bad news. They had set aside their private lives and though several of them were Council leaders, they still managed to pour countless hours into researching.
“Hey Bigfoot, you going to call this meeting to order, or what?” Dra’Kaedan asked.
Aleksander lifted a dark brow. “I wasn’t aware it was my duty, Squirt.”
“We nominated you to be in charge,” Renny informed him.
“I’m not sure that’s fair. Your group is calledSorceryD’Vaire and I’m not even magickind. Last time I checked, all I could do was shift into a dragon.”
Dra’Kaedan rolled his navy eyes. “Look, we decided on it, so you just deal with it.”
“Aleksander, you were the obvious choice. You’re used to taking charge, and we can use a leader who isn’t a sorcerer. That way no school of magic is slighted,” Saura said.
While Aleksander wasn’t sure if he should continue to argue, if this group of strong-willed people had already decided, there was no point in beating his head against a wall of pigheadedness. He would just have to do his best to offer them a person who could preside over meetings but would not otherwise wade into their affairs. “I want my objection to go on record, because I think anyone in here is capable—perhaps more capable—than I am to oversee Sorcery D’Vaire.”
“At the end of the day, it’s your house and you’re a king. It’s only logical you would oversee a group like us. We bear your name, which was assigned to us by the dragon emperor when he coined us Sorcery D’Vaire in Council session,” Vadimas stated.
Aleksander raised his hands in a stop motion. “Okay, I’ll do it.”
“That’s not the most gracious way to accept our nomination of President of Sorcery D’Vaire,” Renny argued.
“See, we even gave you a title,” Dra’Kaedan’s cousin, Scheredin, threw in.
“I think at this point, we’re going to just move on to more important matters,” Aleksander said, not willing to keep talking in circles.
“Of course, Mister President. What’s the first item on our agenda?” Duke Macardle D’Vairedraconis asked. He had his mate’s familiar perched on his shoulder and a shit-eating grin on his face.
“You might be fired.”
Mac leaned back in his chair, still wearing his irritating smile. “Too bad you can’t kick me out of your big house. I’m not leaving Idris.”
“Tell me something I don’t know,” Aleksander muttered. The two adored each other, and it was one of the many things about Aleksander’s family that made him happy. Fate had done an excellent job pairing them up. “And I don’t have an agenda. I just found out I was in charge of this thing two minutes ago.”
“I told you we should’ve told him last week when you voted for it,” Alaric stated; then his green gaze became amused. “That way I could have lent him Evergreen to type up his agenda. He speaks very highly of you, Mister President.”
The Sentinel Brotherhood’s office manager, Evergreen, had visited D’Vaire on a couple of occasions and each time, he’d attached himself to Aleksander’s side. The necromancer-druid hybrid was friendly and lots of fun, but he flirted outrageously, which embarrassed the hell out of Aleksander as his family wasn’t content to simply let him take it in stride. “You guys can keep calling me Aleksander, you know. And while I appreciate the services of your considerably competent office manager, I can handle my own duties. Of course, I didn’t even know I had them regarding Sorcery D’Vaire, so if I’m unprepared for this meeting, that’s on you guys.”
“That’s perfectly all right, I’m sure you’ll be better organized for our next one,” Saura assured him.
Aleksander didn’t know why he was surprised by the way these people managed to constantly flummox him. In his mind, he was still a simple dragon considered cursed by his own kind and hiding away from the world. The years since Dra’Kaedan had knocked on his front door were almost too good to be true, and there was no telling how long it would take his heart and brain to catch up. “Okay, well, it’s not like we have more than one thing to discuss anyway. Our entire focus is on curing Elf. Grigori, would you like to start by telling us the latest results of his bloodwork?”
When Grigori’s bright smile reappeared, Aleksander breathed out a sigh of relief. “I have the most fantastic news. The last potion we gave Elf has stopped the cell conversion. I didn’t believe the results, so I duplicated the test two more times, and it came back the same way. We can continue to give him this potion, and it should prevent his dragon from absorbing any more of his elven side.”
“About damn time,” Dra’Kaedan remarked, his expression pleased. “It took forever, but at least we can assure our emperors that his dragon didn’t win this fight. There’s still an elf in there.”
“I know you guys have been working with your simulators to try and determine what permanent damage has been done to his elven side. Any data from that you can share?”
“It’s impossible,” Delaney answered. “We’ve tried different tactics to get an idea, but the results have varied wildly. There’s no way we can determine how he’s been changed. The only thing I can tell you for sure is that hecanshift back if we can get this potion reversed. There’s still plenty of elf left.”
