Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 75457 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75457 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
So I took a chance and moved to sit next to him at the long table across from where the buffet was set up. “May I join you?”
Klynn seemed like he wanted to smile but he was being a good local and keeping a blank expression for the most part.
The three men who’d been talking went very still before a shorter man with shockingly blond hair practiced nodding. “Yes. We would enjoy that.”
Someone had been working on their Earthling moves.
“Thank you.” I wasn’t sure if I should draw attention to that or not, but luckily for me, I didn’t have to figure it out.
“How are you doing that so naturally?” A younger man who seemed to be the baby of the group jerked his head but he looked a bit like he was at a heavy metal concert. “I think I may be injuring myself. This is dangerous.”
He was going to drive some Dom to distraction but I did my best to keep that expression off my face as Klynn settled down on the other side of me. “Good morning. The motion is slower and more like the movement of the—”
Oh, I missed that word completely and I couldn’t even begin to sound it out. It seemed to be in reference to some kind of animal based on the context but I knew I was going to have to ask Klynn to clarify it later.
Maybe with a picture book?
Little Klynn would like that and they had to have some kids’ books.
Right?
“Gentleman, this is Klynn who is helping me get used to things on this side of the gate.” That seemed true enough not to be lying and even got a faint nod from Klynn. “I’m sorry. If you could introduce yourselves one more time?”
I was good with names but not that fast or all at once.
As they went around and introduced themselves in more detail, chairs around us started inching closer until it got to the point where I was glad I wasn’t claustrophobic…and that Lorne wasn’t around to explain that humans were crunchy.
Klynn didn’t react negatively either, so I just continued to steal bites of my breakfast as we started to talk. “For the first trip here, I know the people we brought seem random but I promise there was logic to it.”
I couldn’t tell what he did but something about the way Klynn moved seemed to be funny to everyone else.
He and I were going to have a talk about that later.
“Mated pairs together or single adults only. Not knowing how long the gate will stay open made a lot of people uncomfortable.” It seemed like they hadn’t thought about how dangerous it would feel to the people of Earth. “Many people were curious and wanted to come but had responsibilities on Earth.”
Like regular jobs and kids.
“Dragons and mages on Earth also seem to be drawn to creative careers or own a small business. There aren’t many who’ve gone into more specialized fields like studying space or ancient history.” I knew because I’d spent days desperately looking for good options.
There hadn’t been any.
There were weird options or mages who seemed to be nearly a thousand with a startlingly young wife or mate, but none that would be good fits to take through the portal.
“I wonder if that is from an environmental factor or something in the family bloodlines?” Varrick, the guy who’d perfected the nod, did his best to look thoughtful for me. “We’ve seen how much environment can affect us.”
Was he talking about the separation or other parts of their history?
“It may be a combination of both.” How had I been the one to get invited to the history of mages and dragons lecture?
Was I really the person they thought could answer their questions most clearly?
“Wren of Earth said you may have additional information as an outsider who understands their culture.” Varrick paused, then went to the trouble of trying to smile to get what he wanted.
Information.
For fuck’s sake.
That brat had thrown me under the bus…probably because he hadn’t wanted to do the meeting.
Not that I blamed him.
“What are your opinions on my bringing a human who understands about mages and dragons or someone else from Earth who isn’t human who can answer questions in more detail?” It’d been the only option we’d been able to come up with at work.
I had a couple of Earth magic users that would probably work and even a Bigfoot that was into ancient history. His file said he was probably too nice to survive dealing with the dragons and mages on a regular basis, though.
Finding smart people who were tough enough to survive the chaos of toilet and kink questions wasn’t as easy as the government had hoped.
“Another human?”
“Someone from Earth that isn’t human?”
“Those really exist?”
“That wasn’t just a problem with the language transfer.”