Chapter 28

J ust over twenty-four hours later, Gregori tipped his head toward puffy clouds and roared as he glided over deep blue waters, wide strips of white sand beaches, and deep green palm trees. He was home, and he had his mate on his back.

They'd survived a chaotic day of Sora looking him over and treating him while at the same time giving Salem lessons on what mages could do with their magic. Meanwhile, Dimitri had been on the phone with Rodrigo, making his report about Gregori's sad state. His king didn't even ask to talk to him. No, he'd said only one thing.

I'm sending Thiago.

Fuck. The appearance of the king's right-hand man was almost as bad as Rodrigo showing up on his doorstep. He was in so much trouble. He'd lied to Ha Na, which was just as bad as lying to Rodrigo, and he'd put his life in danger when he should have reached out for help.

Thiago had shown up at Salem's apartment less than a half day later with two saddles, magic supplies for Sora, and a scowl.

After some quick packing, some additional dragon-pile snuggles, and a lengthy lecture about Gregori's complete lack of common sense, they finally took to the air, flying toward home.

The first half of the trip had been taken slowly, with them making three different stops before they even made it out of the United States. None of his companions would allow him to push too hard, despite how much better he was feeling. And he was.

Flanked by two dragons and mages with his own mate on his back, how could he not feel better? His strength was improving. It was easier to shift back and forth between his human and dragon forms. His ability to use magic was almost back to normal as well.

But when they flew over the Valerii compound on their first circle as they headed lower for a landing, he couldn't deny that a core piece of what he'd been missing slipped into place. Magic sparked and tingled thick in the air. Below, several humans shifted into dragons and trumpeted their own welcome. They spread their wings and launched themselves into the air to meet him.

Home. Home. Home.

He was home.

No dragon should ever have to spend so much time away from their clan. A single dragon was an incredible force of strength and magic, but it was nothing compared to the strength of an entire clan. Joy blossomed in his chest and formed a knot in his throat.

A squeal and shout from Salem snapped Gregori out of his reverie to realize he'd been sharply diving toward the Valerii private beach. Salem had been a real trooper, learning to put up with long hours in the saddle, but he was still too new to dragon riding to attempt anything fancy like a nosedive or barrel rolls. They'd work up to it.

Gregori flared his wings and slowed his descent into a lazy spiral. The entire time, Thiago's silvery-white dragon was on his left with Sora on his back, while Dimitri and Sam were on his right as a protective escort.

As soon as he touched down, Gregori purred and flexed his toes in the hot sand. A soft breeze swept in from the ocean and the waves kissed the shore. The click of the latch on Salem's harness reached his ears and he crouched down to allow his mate to easily slide to the sand.

"Go greet your clan," Salem said with a couple pats on his side.

No need to tell him twice. He bounded off to join his clanmates, but he didn't get far before he was sliding to a sharp halt, spraying sand in every direction.

Rodrigo was there.

The king's dragon was the biggest of all of them, his soft grey scales shimmering in the sunlight. Horns rose from his head like a crown and pale blue eyes narrowed on Gregori.

With his own head hung to the point his chin almost dragged in the sand, he crawled over to Rodrigo.

His king huffed loudly, like he was simply exasperated with one of his children. He butted his head against Gregori's, nuzzling him. "Idiot," he growled, but there was a wealth of affection in that single word. Rodrigo had endured more than one of his dragons doing stupid things in the name of wooing their mates. According to Ha Na, Rodrigo had even had a few not-so-bright moments during their courtship. Gregori wasn't any worse than the rest of them.

As if he could sense exactly where Gregori's mind had wandered, Rodrigo grumped and pushed Gregori to the ground and half flopped on top of him. The weight felt like the best homecoming in the world. It hearkened back to a time when Gregori had been small and alone after his parents died in the war, a time when grief had just about consumed him. Sometimes, the only thing that grounded Gregori was Rodrigo's weight curled around him like this. It felt like a balm on his battered heart. All the loneliness he'd endured, all the heartache that had torn at him, finally stopped aching. He let out a sound from the heart, one of utter relief, of pure happiness. Finally, finally, he was home.

Rodrigo's move must have been the signal.

Several dragons roared, shattering the somewhat peaceful air, and came crashing down on top of Gregori in a great dragon-pile of scales, wings, and talons. Sand flew in every direction, but when it came back down, it was accompanied by delicate snowflakes, defying the heat of a Brazilian summer to land all about them.

There would be more talks and lectures later. Even more medical exams. And inevitably, a punishment for lying to the king's mate and risking his life. Right now, none of it mattered. He was home and lying under a pile of his dragon brothers and sisters. The hot sand warmed his belly and relaxed every muscle in his body. Magic tickled his nose as the dragons' excitement called up a steady snow flurry on the beach that piled more than a few centimeters of snow upon the once burning sand.

He lifted his head as best he could and looked around until he finally located Salem. His mate stood off to the side with Sam, Sora, and a few other mages. He'd shed all of his winter clothes, dropping them into a pile at his feet, and now wore a T-shirt. His sweaty hair stood up in every direction, as if he'd just run his fingers through it. Concern filled his expression, but when he caught Gregori looking, Salem smiled and gave him a thumbs-up with both hands.

Sam would look after his twin for now.

Not that Gregori could have moved even if he'd wanted to. He was under several tons of dragon, and they seemed quite adamant about not letting him up.

A squeal cut through the air and Salem's head jerked to the left. His expression lit up with such wonder that Gregori's heart skipped. He didn't need to even look to know who had finally wiped the worry from Salem's expression. It just had to be Ravi and Sora's twins.

Gregori smiled as he shifted his gaze just in time to see the two toddlers racing across the sand and shifting before they reached the pile of full-grown dragons. Their flying was getting better. They could go a little straighter and for longer distances before their little wings inevitably grew tired and they dropped, almost like scaly blue stones.

With adorable growls, like energetic golden retrievers, the baby dragons bounced through the snow, burrowing in it only to pop up again in a spray of snow and sand. Eventually they turned their attention to the living, breathing jungle gym right in front of them. They clambered up one dragon and slid down the back of another, a mix of human and dragon-y giggles filling the air.

At one point, one of the twins clamped down on Gregori's tail. Without thinking, he yelped and flicked it up, trying to pull it out of the tiny mouth. But the baby dragon didn't let go, so he ended up flicking the baby across the pile. Thankfully, the baby released his tail and extended their wings, soaring across the dragon pile to land safely in the snow.

A new game had been invented.

Now the babies rushed to clamp onto one tail after another so they could be flicked into the air over and over again. Their cries of joy squeezed his heart.

Yes, Dimitri and Sam needed to have a baby.

Maybe even Rodrigo and Ha Na.

Luka, Vasily, and Amaru would also make great fathers.

Yes, the Valerii Clan was poised to grow at long last with new life, and maybe now that Salem was here, he would understand how desperately they needed him. All those new babies would need a trained pediatrician to look after them.

If he was lucky, Salem would also realize he belonged here because this was his home and his family, the same way Gregori had always been destined to be his mate.

Could he also hope maybe Salem would want a dragon baby with him too?

But only one at a time.

Ravi and Sora were crazy for having twins. If they'd thought Sora's calm nature would temper Ravi's innate insanity, well, they'd been totally wrong on that count. The twins were pure Ravi.

No, one baby would be perfect. A baby with his scales and Salem's crooked smile. That would be perfect.