Tomorrow was a new day.
Several Weeks Later
“The viper has arrived,” I said, unamused. “And she’s already making me want to cut off my own balls.”
“Charming imagery,” Adrik drawled back over the line. “Please take photos.”
“Fuck you.” I took another drink directly from my bottle of scotch. “At this point, I’m going to be an alcoholic by the wedding.”
“An impressive feat, considering the rate with which your kind digests alcohol,” Adrik returned.
“Are you purposely trying to be unhelpful today?” I wondered out loud. “Or did I catch you at a bad time?”
His wife had just given birth to a little spawn a few months ago. A girl named Adriatica. Beautiful little thing with a pair of lungs on her that literally shattered glass when she cried.
“Still not sleeping?” I asked him, taking another swig. “Because that would explain your bastard of a mood.”
“You’re funny,” he replied, sounding the opposite of amused.
Good. I wasn’t very entertained either.
“She arrived with a fucking entourage, Adrik. Fifty damn sea demons. Do you have any idea what that’s going to do to the water bill?” I shook my head, the joke falling flat to my ears. Hard to make light of a bunch of water demons crashing my palace. “She didn’t even call ahead to inform us of her intentions yet expected all the arrangements to already be in place. She’s a fucking bitch.”
“Bet Lux loved that.”
“Oh, she very much enjoyed telling me to handle it.” I tilted the bottle back and scowled at the empty contents. “Worthless.” I tossed it at the wall and grimaced as it shattered. “Not the brightest decision.”
“Seriously, are you okay?” Adrik asked, sounding worried for the first time.
“No, I’m not fucking okay. My damn palace has been taken over by sea dragons, Adrik. Sea dragons.” They we
ren’t even pretty to look at, but at least they didn’t have snakes for hair. Only Napia was blessed with that horrific trait. No, the others were just painted in a variety of colorful scales. A few even had tails.
I shuddered.
At least we had enough rooms to accommodate them without adding any of them to my wing. I could only imagine how Zay would take it if she suddenly had a water demon for a neighbor.
“When do you and Valora arrive?” I asked Adrik. “I need backup. Stat.”
“Can we bring fifty guests?” he questioned, humor in his tone.
“Sure. They can share with the sea creatures.” I paused, considering. “Actually, do you even know fifty people?” Valora had killed, like, half the damn kingdom when they ascended.
Maybe that was my solution—genocide.
Alas, my people didn’t deserve that.
Valora’s had.
“So we’ll arrive the day of the wedding, then?” Adrik countered.
“Okay, okay, point taken. You have at least fifty demons left in Nova.”
“Try five thousand.”
“Semantics.”
“Seriously, you’re really making me want to come for a visit, G,” Adrik drawled. “Loving the mood.”