Soulblade (53 page)

“Oh my,” his mother said. “What a feisty thing.”

The ferret cooed at her until she came forward and petted it. It made contented noises and draped itself over Ridge’s shoulder, oozing sybaritic satisfaction.

Had Ridge been thinking his life normal earlier? How odd of him to have had that delusion, even for a moment.

“I’ve been meaning to give you a gift,” Kaika told Sardelle. “I went back and forth between something useful, like explosives to plant around the house in case aerial invaders come again—” Mom’s expression grew confused, and she glanced toward a window, “—and then I considered baked goods, since someone I know now has access to a very talented chef, who did, you’ll be pleased to know, survive the attack on the castle.”

“That’s good,” Sardelle murmured.

“But it seemed sad to give a gift that might simply be eaten by your frequent houseguests. I trust this will not be eaten.” Kaika frowned over at the ferret.

Have no fear of that
, Bhrava Saruth said.
Predators do not taste good. I prefer sheep and cows.

And the occasional tart?
Ridge asked.

The ferret rubbed Ridge’s jaw with his head.

Kaika apparently heard the conversation, because she smirked. Sardelle did too. Ridge hoped the dragon wasn’t talking to his parents. Mom wasn’t ready for that.

The blanket on the basket stirred slightly. Ridge had a feeling he was going to end up with as many animals roaming around his house as his mother had. That was a distressing thought.

“Anyway, here.” Kaika thrust the basket toward Sardelle. “I’m told that it comes from a long line of mousers, so it should be useful around here.”

Sardelle accepted the basket and peeled back the blanket, revealing a cute black and white spotted kitten.

“It?” Fern asked, coming forward. “You didn’t look at the sex?”

“I don’t care to snoop into an animal’s genitalia,” Kaika said.

“She reserves that for human relations,” Ridge said.

Ridge
, Sardelle admonished him silently.

Kaika only grinned.

Fern took the kitten out of the basket, eliciting a few tiny mews, and headed for the kitchen. She linked Sardelle’s arm with hers, perforce taking her along.

“Come on, dear. Let’s find Spots some milk.”

“Spots?” Sardelle asked.

Tylie trailed after them, probably looking for a new animal to carry around, since her ferret had left her.

As Ridge headed for the door, figuring he should find out what his pilots wanted, the ferret ran down his back, nails sinking in along the way, and scampered across the floor and into the kitchen. Dad watched the creature go through narrowed eyes. Mom might not be ready to believe in dragons, but Dad might put the puzzle pieces together sooner.

“Sir!” several voices greeted him when he stepped into the sunlight.

“
Finally
,” someone in the back said. “Help me get this tarp off.”

Captain Blazer was the one to amble up to him, padding over the grass that hadn’t quite grown back after Morishtomaric’s attack the month before, and stopping on the walkway. She removed her cigar and gave him a lazy salute. “I’m pleased to announce that Wolf Squadron chipped in to get you a housewarming gift.”

“That’s very thoughtful, Captain.” Ridge watched as Pimples, Beeline, and Duck wrestled a large tarp-covered item out of the back of a wagon parked across the street. He was aware of Angulus and Ort watching from the picnic table overlooking the pond beside the house. Neither appeared enlightened.

“Yes, sir,” Blazer said. “Much thought went into this. We hope you enjoy it.” She grinned wickedly.

By the time the tarp-covered object was heading up the walkway, Pimples, Beeline, and Duck cursing under the awkward weight, Ridge was fairly certain he was getting a new couch. He wondered how Sardelle would feel about it. She’d been so fond of the one that she and his mom had picked out.

“Here it is, sir,” Pimples said. The trio of lieutenants set it down in front of Ridge, their hands resting on the tarp. “Ready?” he asked his conspirators, who held other corners of the tarp.

Ridge dropped his chin to his fist and waited for the unveiling.

The tarp was torn back, revealing what appeared to be, at first glance, the remains of a crashed flier. On second glance, it looked much the same, though Ridge also recognized the outline of a large couch. The frame was made from uneven pieces of bronze metal, flier scrap parts to be specific, that were riddled with bullet holes. The upholstery, if one could give it such a lofty label, was thick, shaggy, and had a unique greenish coloring that reminded him of squished caterpillars.

“That’s, ah, quite fine,” Ridge said, glancing back to make sure Sardelle was not witness to this. Would she move out if the couch came to be the focal point of their living room? It couldn’t be any worse than dragons, cats, and turtles lounging around the house, right?

I
might move out
, Jaxi commented.
Don’t even think of laying my scabbard on those cushions.

“Shall we bring it in, sir?” Pimples asked.

“Ah, certainly. Just watch out for...”

“Alarmed screams from women?” Angulus suggested from his table.

General Ort had his face in his hand and was shaking his head. Ridge recalled that he had approved of the sedate suede couch that had been incinerated, even if he had never seen it in person.

Pimples, Duck, and Beeline hefted the couch—it certainly was big—and turned it on its side to stuff it through the doorway.

“Interesting how you boys don’t show such enthusiasm for physicality when it’s time for P.T.,” Ridge observed as they passed.

“Our muscles have been bolstered by beer,” Duck said before they disappeared inside.

Ahn wandered over from the side of the house, carrying a leather brisk-ball at her side. “You up for a game, sir?”

Tolemek and her father stood back, watching with smiles on their faces. Ridge promptly had the sense that he was being set up for something. Ahn’s father
never
smiled. A part of him was pleased that the man had actually come to the gathering, for Ahn’s sake, of course, but more of him regarded this approach with wariness.

“That depends, Ahn. Are we on the same side or opposing sides?” Ridge had assumed everyone would want to eat and drink before hurling balls at each other. The game was more entertaining after a few beers.

“Opposing, sir. Apparently, my father wants to see you pummeled.”

“How shocking.”

Judging by Tolemek’s grin, he wouldn’t mind seeing that either. He walked over and draped an arm around Ahn’s shoulders. “Can I join in? I’m not that familiar with this game, but I believe I could be useful. On Cas’s team.”

“You don’t have knockout grenades in your pockets, do you?” Ridge asked.

“I don’t think those will be necessary.”

“I’ll join in,” came an unexpected voice from the side. Angulus left the table and walked over, rolling up his sleeves as he came.

“On my side, Sire?”

Angulus’s eyes glinted. “No.”

“Er.” Ridge tried not to feel too bleak that so many people wanted to see him pummeled, though it was hard not to let an expression of distress creep onto his face. “Doesn’t anyone want to join my team?” he asked, afraid the words sounded more pitiful than intended.

“Against Raptor?” Pimples asked. “No.”

“Is it even
allowed
to throw a ball at the king?” Beeline whispered to Blazer.

She shrugged back at him.

“I’ll join you,” someone said from behind him. A young man with mussy golden hair that hung in his eyes ambled out the door and winked at Ridge. “I saw a version of this game played in my youth.”

Ridge recognized Bhrava Saruth in human form from Sardelle’s descriptions, but most of his guests frowned curiously at him. Angulus’s eyes narrowed to slits. Maybe he’d seen the dragon as a human before. Or he could guess more quickly than the others who this was. Ahn and Tolemek also wore shrewd, suspicious looks.

“Well, that should make things a little more fair,” Ridge said, smiling slightly.

As he’d always believed, rubbing a dragon charm could bring good luck. Apparently, rubbing a dragon could bring good luck too.

THE END

Afterword

Thank you for following along with the Dragon Blood series. If you enjoyed
Soulblade
, please consider leaving a review online. If you would like to see more stories set in this world, I would love to hear about it. As always, you can find me on
Facebook
or
Twitter
and at
http://www.lindsayburoker.com
. If you haven't signed up for my newsletter yet, you can do that at
http://www.lindsayburoker.com/book-news
/ and be the first to hear about new releases, contests, and other writing-related updates.