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Erik’s father went ahead of us to open the door. “I’d even guessed which son of mine had gotten into trouble that time. It was on a report, and upon reading said report, I reached out to his captain and suggested an extra week be added to the punishment. Honestly, being in my family means harsher punishments as a general rule. I hold my children to higher standards.”
A sparse but comfortable entry offered a place to take off shoes, grab a pair of house slippers, and store coats, hats, and other outdoor apparel. As cuffs made removing my shoes difficult, I sat on the bench and did my best, tossing my boots off to the side. Chester tossed me a pair of fuzzy purple slippers, which I crammed onto my feet. “How long has Erik been in Dragon Heights?”
“He’s been here about a year. The funny part is, we’ve heard about you on the grapevine, but none of us had pieced together that the Gray Ward’s Kinsley is my son’s rather elusive Kinsley. Since you only used Kinsley with family and close friends, it hadn’t occurred to him you’d just go by your middle name.”
I smiled at the commissioner’s commentary, which had been precisely what I’d wanted when deciding to go by Kinsley. “Kirani is too uncommon, and Ramons isn’t exactly common, either.”
“Oh, it’s common enough if you’re a navy dragon living in Dragon Heights. You could have even gotten away with Kirani Ramons, at least with everyone except our family, as nobody outside of us is even aware your parents had a child. We head to Miami often now, as the wife loves her play dates with your mother, so we just wing over whenever we have off.”
Well, that explained that. “I was under the impression you lived in Miami.”
“We have a second home in Miami, so technically, we do live there on weekends and during vacations.” Erik’s father checked down a nearby hallway and chuckled. “That’s why Erik was in Miami in the first place. He wanted to be a cop outside of Dragon Heights for a while; he didn’t want my position to influence his ability to earn his rank. Before you two moved in together, he lived in our Miami home.”
“I have a strange desire to go into the kitchen and yell at him,” I admitted, heaving a sigh.
“Are you upset that I happen to be the commissioner?”
I lifted both hands because of the cuffs and held my finger and thumb the tiniest bit apart. “He put up with a lot of bullshit in Miami, and he could have just stayed in Dragon Heights and gotten to work as a cop?”
“Ah. You’re offended because of the bullshit. I’ve been told about your inherent dislike for unnecessary bullshit.” Erik’s father laughed. “Chester, do you want to tell your brother you have apprehended his woman? Or should we let her storm into the kitchen and pitch a fit over his refusal to take the easy road?”
“I feel like we should tell her that it’s actually harder to get hired into the force when you’re related to the commissioner. We have to make the top five percentile before we can graduate from the academy. After that, we have an extra year of experience required for every step of the process. Erik won’t be eligible to be made a captain here for another three years; that year counts for every rank prior to captain. He’s been already given approval to be promoted once he’s done his time as his rank in Miami does carry over. Dad was nice and eliminated detective rankings from his calculations, and he didn’t include his stint as a cadet.”
“I thought about making him wait six years, but the chiefs asked me nicely to reconsider. They like him in the Diamond Ward. If there is a need for another captain in his ward, he’ll promote early, but I’ll give him a hard time about it.”
I considered my cuffs, realized I could get Erik in one hell of a good headlock while wearing them, and considered if I could get away with assault in the commissioner’s kitchen. “I haven’t been keeping up with my self-defense. Has Erik?”
Erik’s father regarded my handcuffs with a raised brow. “Not against an opponent wearing handcuffs, but yes, we practice often.”
Damn it. “That’d be unsafe for both of us, then. I’m too out of practice.”
“Someone in this family has common sense,” Chester muttered. “It’s a miracle.”
“Erik has plenty of common sense,” Erik’s father said, and he winked at me. “He actually stopped to think about Kinsley’s actions, stayed in her corner, and waited without resenting her for her decision.”
When phrased that way, Erik had more sense than most. “I resent myself for my decision enough for the both of us.”
“If sacrifice was easy and enjoyable, they’d change the name to something more pleasant,” Erik’s father informed me. His attention focused on my kitten. “You could just use your kitten against him. He has seen pictures of Garnet, and he desperately wants to pet her, cuddle her, and charm her into liking him almost as much as she likes you.”
“I told my mother he needed to charm his own carbunclo.” I bowed my head and sighed. “That was before I really realized how rare carbunclo are. And Garnet has to approve of the kitten. I’m an idiot.”
“We have heard about the carbunclo challenge. Getting a kitten is going to be just that: a challenge. Garnet, do try to have some mercy on us; there aren’t many other litters of carbunclo around. I think we can get one from Paraguay, as there was a litter born recently. Honestly, that you have Garnet is helping his cause, because he’s presenting the acquisition of the kitten to keep her company.”
Garnet lifted her head, her ears pricked forward, and she chirped.
My heart broke for her, as I recognized her sound as one of interest. “Garnet’s pretty social, and she likes having company.”
I hadn’t had her long, but when she wasn’t playing or admiring her rocks, she wanted to be close, and she listened to when I spoke to her. I’d work harder at talking to her more to make sure she had the companionship she craved.
“Some carbunclo are social and want to be a close part of the family. I think that’s part of the reason she didn’t do well with the titaniums. The titaniums play at being standoffish and unwilling to form close bonds with the animals they work with. They do their duty to their animals, but they’re more inclined to let them live in as natural a habitat as possible. Garnet needs more involvement than that.” Erik’s father reached over and scratched behind my kitten’s ear. “We’ll work at getting Erik a little friend who needs the companionship of another carbunclo as much as you do.”
The kitten mewed and nuzzled his hand.
“You’re already looking into a kitten?”
“Upon learning he was chasing after you, rather than continue to hide, you decided to stand your ground. Your challenge is, frankly spoken, a thing a dragon would do. Have you upgraded yourself from being a dragon-kin to being a dragon without telling anybody? Because that is the behavior of a confident young dragon lady hunting for an appropriate gentleman to keep. I have more than a few daughters, and the married ones were all the same way when it came time to settle down.”
“I have not sprouted scales. Had I sprouted scales, I’m sure my mother and father would be preening about it and showing me off to their friends.”