“Hello, everyone.” Sophea smiled at them all, then said with a little nod toward Rowan’s gun belt, “I decided that if you were going to have a gun, then I got one, too. And a knife, and a bow and arrows.” She pulled a gun from the holster strapped to her thigh. He had a hard time taking his eyes from the form-fitting black sleeveless shirt she wore, until he noticed the equally tight black shorts.
“Hmm?” he said, wondering if people would think it was rude if he picked her up and carried her downstairs.
“Gun. One. We both have. And now I’m evidently doing a Yoda impression. Oh, you look nice, May. Is that a flapper outfit?”
May smiled and did a little twirl. “It is. Isn’t the beaded dress exquisite?”
“It’s really very pretty. I’m amazed at the quality of these costumes, to be honest.”
“And you’re Lara Croft?” May guessed.
“Yup. Game version, not Angelina movie version. Game version has lots more weapons.” Sophea did a twirl of her own, one that Rowan much appreciated since it allowed him to admire her ass in the tight shorts without having to stand behind her and blatantly ogle. “I feel armed to the teeth. Doesn’t Rowan look dashing?”
“Very Indiana,” May agreed. “Rowan says you had a hard time with the challenge?”
“Oh, it was awful!” Sophea took a deep breath, then launched into a retelling of what they had gone through, finishing up with, “I can’t tell you how thankful I am that Rowan was there, because if it had been up to me to finish the challenge, I’d still be standing on that little plot of land.”
“I’ve never heard of fire we could not harness,” Gabriel said with a frown. “It burned your flesh? Actually burned it?”
“Definitely,” Rowan answered, rubbing his arm again. “But the healing technique you mentioned helped ease it.”
“Hmm.” Gabriel looked thoughtful. “I must mention this to the others. I don’t like to know there’s something out there that is unique to the dragonkin over which we have no power.”
“I think there’s probably a lot of that,” Sophea said. “We still have this third challenge tomorrow, and that’s not going to be open to persuasion by dragons. I’m still a little unclear as to what’s going to happen.”
“As I understand it,” May said, “we present ourselves to a goddess named Maat, and she decides if we’ve lived a good life or not. If not, we have to stay here. If we have, we get to leave.”
“That’s simplifying it greatly,” Gabriel said, nodding. “But that’s the basics of it.”
Everyone looked at Rowan. “I have lived a good life!” he protested, reading the unspoken comment in May and Gabriel’s eyes. At least Sophea wasn’t looking upon him with suspicion—she had nothing but warmth and admiration in her expression, a fact that made him feel several feet taller.
“I’m sure you have,” May said soothingly, then obviously changed the subject. “Gabriel refuses to put his costume on.”
“It’s not a matter of putting it on. It’s what has to come off,” he said, giving Rowan a look that pled for sympathy.
Rowan was having none of it, not because he was being harsh, but because it suddenly occurred to him that if he could admire Sophea’s delightful ass in her Lara Croft shorts, then so could other men. He wondered whether if he tied his shirt around her waist, she’d protest much.
“What is the costume?” Sophea asked.
With a martyred sigh, Gabriel pulled an object from his pocket. It was a black shirt collar with attached tie.
“Magic Mike,” May said with a little giggle. “But he refuses to take off his shirt.”
“I have no need to do so,” Gabriel protested, and snapped the collar around his neck. “There. I’m wearing the costume. Are you happy?”
“Very,” May said, leaning into him and giving him a look that didn’t need any explanation. Rowan eyed Sophea, who was watching the other two dragons with a tolerant smile. That is, she was until she noticed him staring at her.
“What?” she asked.
He nodded toward May and Gabriel, who were now speaking together at a volume meant only for their ears. “Why don’t you look at me the way May looks at Gabriel?”
Startled, she shot May a quick glance before turning back to him. A slow smile took hold of her lips. “You wouldn’t by any chance be jealous, would you?”
“Intensely so,” he said, much to his amazement. Quickly he attempted to make the admission more reasonable. “It’s the dragon emotions.”
“Uh huh.” Her smile grew until she leaned into him and, nipping the end of his nose, gave him a fleeting kiss. “I promise to look at you exactly the same way later tonight, all right?”
“Very well, but I will hold you to that.” He caught a movement from the corner of his eye, and asked her softly, “What is Mrs. P doing?”
Sophea glanced over to where Mrs. P was dancing with the captain. “I believe what we’re seeing there is an example of the hoochie-coo done while wearing a tutu. Kind of boggles the brain, huh?”
“It does indeed. I suspect it’s also illegal in many countries, Egypt probably being one of them.”
“Hopefully not so in the Underworld part of it.”