“Nothing,” he agrees.
She pats his arm. “So it is. Be well until I see you again, Murtades.” She walks away a short distance, then does the strange hunch that Murr always does just before he launches himself into the air. A moment later her brick-red body shadows us, her wings beating hard to propel herself away. She trumpets as she goes, and I’m no judge of dragons, but itsoundsfriendly enough. Even the cats don’t panic. One lifts a paw and begins to daintily clean itself right next to Murr’s feet.
He watches the sky as she leaves, but he stays in his human form, and it makes me wonder what he’s thinking. Is he sad? Regretting his choice to stay with us? Glad she’s gone?
Rabbit nudges me with her elbow. I glance over at her, startled, and she widens her eyes at me. What does she want?
Dottie gets to her feet, her chair creaking. “I’m going to check on Stella and her puppies. You should come with me, Aggie. You too, Rabbit. Maybe we should see if the cats were scared by all the company we’ve had. I’m sure they could use petting if nothing else.”
“That’s a great idea,” Rabbit says. She shoots me another meaningful look and then goes to Aggie’s side, holding a hand out to help her up. “Come on, Aggie.”
“Oh, fine.” She gives me an obvious wink before heading off with the other two. They go inside the bookstore.
Then it’s just me sitting by the fire, and Murr gazing thoughtfully at the sky. A cat rubs against my legs and chirps for attention, and I rub its ears, giving myself a silent pep talk. Is it easier to say nothing and not pry? Yes. Is it better? No. Am I scared as hell that I’m going to get hurt if Murr turns me down and decides to go after Thess? Yes.
Should I talk to him anyhow? Also yes.
With a deep breath, I get my courage up and stand.
“You want to go for a walk, Murr?” I say.
CHAPTER 59
DAKOTA
“Where walk?”Murr asks me. “Where go?”
“No place in particular,” I say. I move to his side and take his hand in mine. “Just to walk around and talk and think.”
Murr nods slowly. “Think…good.”
“Thinkingisgood,” I correct. Thess spoke so well that I wonder if I’m doing a disservice to Murr as his teacher to not constantly correct his English. It’s just…I understand what he’s conveying when he speaks, so I don’t feel the need to push him to speak properly. I don’t want the other drakoni thinking he’s less intelligent because his language is a bit more broken. If anything, the blame falls on me. “I’ll try to be better at teaching you our words.”
He smiles at me, but it’s a vague sort of smile, and I realize he’s a million miles away. That’s all right, too. A lot just changed for all of us with Thess’s visit, but I imagine seeing her again made his world tilt on its end. He’s going to need to work through it all. So I stroll around the parking lot with him, not speaking. I want to give him the space he needs and just be at his side in case he wants to talk to me.
We circle around the parking lot maybe three times in a row, a few of the cats trotting at our sides as we head in for another lap. Murr lifts our joined hands and studies them, then looks at me. “Dakota cold?”
“No, I’m fine. Are you cold? You’re not wearing much.” He never does.
He just lifts our joined hands again and pats my fingers. Oh, they’re cold. “That’s just me. I guess I have cold hands. You don’t have to keep holding it.”
I try to pull my hand from his, and he shakes his head, continuing to hold onto my hand and petting it like it’s a kitten. “Murr like Dakota hand.” He pauses. “Murtades. Not Murr.”
“How does it feel to have your full name back?” I ask. I wonder how he could forget it, but I also don’t know what he’s gone through. Thess said the Rift made the dragons crazy through their psychic links. Maybe now that it’s closed it took a lot of the memories with it.
He thinks for a moment and then pauses in his walking. I stop with him and gaze up at him as cats twine around our legs. His mouth works for a moment, and then he shakes his head. “No words.”
I nod. “Strange feeling? Too much feeling?”
Murr stops petting my hand and indicates his brow. “Murtades here…big. Many.” He puts his hand to his mouth and mimes speaking. “Here…small.”
“It’s not the same when it’s spoken as when it’s thought?”
He nods at me and manages a little smile. “Here, I Murr. Feels good.”
“Whatever you want to be called, just let us know.” I give the hand I’m still holding a squeeze. “I can call you Murtades or Murr or something else entirely.”
Lifting my hand to his mouth, he smiles and nips on my fingertip, surprising me. “Murr happy. Not broken.”
