We found a free picnic bench on a lawn designated for dining. Zoe gave her order and Marcus and Daria agreed to go get her food as we talked. Jalisa and I sat across from her. She looked bored as she occupied herself, swiping on her phone.
I rested my forearms on the table and leaned in. “Is there a dragon tribe anywhere? I’ve searched on the internet but couldn’t find anything.”
Zoe’s eyes remained on her phone. “Getting right to it, aren’t we? You don’t know anything about dragons in the human realm, huh? We don’t normally advertise ourselves, what with humans hunting us and trying to kill us in the past.”
“You seem to be advertising yourself and surviving,” Jalisa stated, crossing her arms over her chest. Her face was tight, and I was pretty sure she didn’t like her. Not that I blamed her.
Zoe shrugged and put her phone back in her jeans pocket. “A girl’s gotta make a living.”
“You could come back to the fae realm.”
She giggled. “I’ve heard about how dragons are treated there. Hard pass.”
There was no point in lying to her. “
“It’s getting better. Slowly,” I retorted.
“We’re the most powerful beings in all the worlds and yet, no matter where we go, we’re treated like work horses.”
“It’s because we’d rather be left to ourselves than dominate. Well, most of us. So how do dragons stay connected in this world?”
“Email. There’s a list serv.”
I scratched my head. It was as if she was speaking another language. Did I need a magic interpretation spell to understand her? “I don’t know any of those words.”
She smiled, balancing an elbow on the table and resting her chin on her open palm. “It basically means we can message each other through the internet. We’re invited in the group via word of mouth. If you had an email, I’d add you.”
“I got one for us,” Jalisa replied, pulling out the phone we purchased to share. “I can email you.”
They exchanged information, and I felt a tiny bit of hope that we were making some headway in at least one thing. Even when we went back to our realm, it was nice to know a network of dragons beyond our own.
I went on to tell Zoe about my family and uncle. When I was done, she pulled out her phone and began to type again. “Don’t know anyone like that, but I’ll send word out through the network and email you both back.” When she was done, shelooked up at us both. “So, are you looking for a third in your relationship?”
I patted Jalisa on the thigh. “Nope. You’d never be satisfied. I only have eyes for this beauty.”
Jalisa wasn’t even worried about anyone else, dragon or not, and she never had to be. No one else had a chance as long as she was alive, and even after, I couldn’t fathom I’d remotely love like this again. And I’d fight the world to keep my memories of her for as long as I lived.
Chapter Eighteen
Jalisa
Whatever a list serv was, it was awesome, because a few days later, we got an email from Zoe, saying she’d gotten word about Ivan’s uncle. He was a high school teacher in Jacksonville, Florida, and he seemed more than excited to meet Ivan when he was able to contact us directly. He insisted we meet in person and offered to come up to see us.
Pierce Coldpath showed up at our door the very evening we’d talked to him on the phone, having gotten a friend to use teleportation magic to get him here quickly. If I didn’t know he was Ivan’s uncle, I still would have guessed it. They looked like brothers. They had the same green eyes, and any differences didn’t detract from their similar appearance. Pierce had a few forehead wrinkles and smile lines; he was slightly thicker aroundthe middle and his blond hair was greying around the temples and long enough that he kept it in a low bun.
However, other than the physical similarities, he was not what I expected. He wore a brown T-shirt that saidI’d Rather Be Sleeping, tan colored pants with lots of pockets, and comfortable backless shoes which Billie had calledCrocs. Had he jumped out of bed and come straight here? As an educator, I expected him to look more scholarly with an air of wisdom laced with arrogance. There was none of that. He looked more like one of my bar patrons.
He reached out and embraced Ivan in a tight hug and then looked at me with a wide, genuine smile. “And who might you be?”
Ivan took a step back, waving his hand in my direction. “I thought I said.”
Pierce shrugged. “Remind me.”
“This is,” he began before pausing.
His face scrunched in a frown and my heart instantly dropped. No, this couldn’t happen yet. He was playing a joke. He hadn’t forgotten me. I wasn’t sure I would ever be, but I wasn’t prepared for it now. However, I knew it was no joke. He didn’t have that glint of mischief in his eyes that he could never contain when he was being playful.
Pierce raised a brow, a quizzical look on his still smiling face. “Must be the memory wiping spell doing its thing that you told me about. Nice to meet you, Jalisa.”
