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Mazie
We stopped at Kuunik and Zara’s house first.
“He’s done such an amazing job,” Gravor said, peering around when we went inside. “I remember coming here with him years ago, him saying he’d one day live here. It was a wreck back then but now it’s . . . well, it’s a gorgeous castle.”
“Castle!” Asher cried, hopping around the foyer. “Where’s the princess?”
“That’s Livy,” I said with a laugh.
He scrunched his face. “Not Livy. She’s a queen.”
“Well, she’s that too.” I looked Gravor’s way. He was studying the dragon paintings hanging in the foyer.
“I won’t be long,” he finally said, shooting me a sheepish look. “Did you know I painted this one? I just remembered. I took a bunch of art classes way back when, at first for electives, but I liked it. This one’s . . . okay. I did all right.”
My eyes wide, I crossed the room to study the painting more closely. A gorgeous dragon with teal scales soared above calm ocean waves. Its wings were spread wide, reflecting gold and blue against the sky above. He’d captured every scale and detail flawlessly. It felt like the dragon could leap from the canvas at any second.
“It’s beautiful,” I said. “You’re incredibly talented.”
“Aw, it’s just something I did for fun.” With a wink, he strolled into the library, and we followed. Asher dashed across the room and hopped up onto the couch, pointing the remote at the TV mounted above the enormous fireplace. He’d been here so many times, he felt right at home.
While a puppet vampire started counting down from twenty on the TV, Gravor walked over to the big desk and sat in the chair behind it. He ran his fingertips along the polished wooden surface. “This was my great-grandfather’s,” he said reverently. “Kuunik said he had it restored, and they did a wonderful job. To think, many generations of . . . Well, you know. Many of us sat here.” His gaze shot to Asher.
I’d had the same thought. “How is the gene passed down?”
“Not everyone gets it, though most do. We know when that certain person turns eighteen. If it’s there, sleeping, it’ll be triggered inside him. I’ll tell him all about it before then, naturally. Wouldn’t want to scare him.”
I couldn’t imagine my son shifting into a dragon, but how wonderful would that be? He and his dad could fly together. His uncle could join in too. Maybe Livy.
Zara and I had fallen for some amazing guys.
Ah. Love, huh?
I realized right then that I did love him. I half fell for him five years ago and even though I’d cursed him a few times after—in particular while I was in labor with just my mom there to support me—the feelings he’d ignited inside me hadn’t faded.
We were meant to be together, and I was going to do all I could not just to help him through this, but to be with him after.
“What are you thinking? You’re not scared that he could have the gene, are you?”
“Not in the least. It’s not that.”
Rising from the desk, he rounded it and came over to stand in front of me. He lifted my hair and stroked it with his fingers. Sniffed it. Gave me a smile that made everything inside me burst into flames. “What are you thinking about, then?”
“You,” I whispered. “Us. How much I want . . .”
“Want what?” He said it carefully, as if he was afraid of what I might say. Did he think I’d reject him?
“I want you, Gravor,” I whispered. “You.”
“Mazie,” he breathed. He shot Asher a glance, but if I knew our son, he was absorbed in the show on TV. “We’re going to talk tonight. And . . .”
“And?”
“And I’m going to show you how much you mean to me.”
It was past time I claimed the guy I’d love forever.
He gave me a quick kiss and a smile that held a promise before returning to the desk and opening the drawer. I followed, standing nearby.
