The Consumption of Magic (Tales From Verania 3)

“Oh dear,” Leslie said, squinting at me. “I hope that’s not true. I was just beginning to enjoy him.”

“He’s human,” Pat said. “There is nothing to enjoy about him.”

“Pat,” Leslie scolded. “Bite your tongue. He’s in the middle of a revelation. You know how tiny their brains are. It’s a lot to process. And they only have one heart. All that blood and only one organ to pump it? Why, it’s no wonder he’s drooling a little.”

“Wet and sticky,” Pat muttered. “That’s all humans are. If it’s not coming out one end, it’s out the other.”

“I find I rather like their ends,” Kevin said.

Pat glared at him.

“Um,” Kevin said. “Maybe I shouldn’t have said that.”

“You are precious,” Leslie said. “Like a little puppy.”

“Thank… you?”

“Roll over, little puppy. I think your tummy needs to be rubbed.”

And wonder of all wonders, Kevin did, the ground shaking beneath our feet.

But I was still gaping at Randall.

“Are you finished?” Randall asked irritably. “I don’t know that we have time to deal with how you normally are right now.”

“But—but—”

“Sputtering,” Randall said. “That’s just great. Maybe you are broken.”

“Good puppy,” Leslie said, lifting herself out from underneath Pat. She trudged over to where Kevin lay, his tail twitching. Her wings fluttered briefly as she lifted from the ground and landed on Kevin’s stomach, where she proceeded to knead the soft and vulnerable skin of his underbelly like a cat.

“I don’t even know what’s happening right now,” I said faintly. “I feel like I’ve ingested a shit-ton of drugs and am tripping my balls off.”

“I am the happiest I’ve ever been,” Kevin purred.

“So many drugs,” I breathed.

“She’s mothering him,” Pat said, managing to sound fond and disgusted all at the same time. “She tends to do that with any creature she can find.”

“But dragons don’t have mothers,” I said without thinking.

Pat’s head snapped toward me, teeth bared. “Your point? You think that just because we aren’t born like other creatures that we are not capable of showing care and concern?”

“No,” I said hastily. “No, of course not.”

“He tends to move his mouth without the benefit of thought,” Randall said dryly.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “You so don’t get to give me shit right now. Not after finding out the Great White was your mentor. How is that even possible? He’s a dragon. You’re a human.?

?

“Are dragons not magic?” he asked, arching a massive eyebrow.

“Yes, but—”

“And are they not capable of teaching others?”

“But you can’t even talk to them! Only I can do that. How the hell did you learn anything if you couldn’t even speak to the Great White?”