Page 119 of Tears of Gold

Erritt chuckles. “It’s true.”

Skye leans over and holds his face near mine. “When are you going to make me fly, little butterfly?”

I shake my head at his silliness and twitch my gaze toward Vanrey, warning Skye not to get too close. “I’ll go after him,” I say, squeezing Erritt’s hand and climbing off the bed.

Vanrey might know I’m Erritt’s girlfriend, but how do we work out the rest without endlessly sneaking around? We’re a family now, and with Erritt sounding more like the prince I first met, and Harper kissing him in front of Vanrey and discovering new abilities, we need to work out a way to be together. I can’t lose the beautiful harmony we’ve just discovered.

I find Harper sitting on the stairs to the lower floor, bouncing his boots nervously as he leans over his knees.

Sitting down beside him, I brush my arm against his. “Does the kissing bother you?” Lightning skitters across the sky through the window, quickly followed by a peal of thunder rumbles, announcing the storm we saw earlier.

He shakes his head, making his long curls dance. “You’d think so, but no. I mean, I never imagined I’d be comfortable with another guy, but somehow it just is. But, you know, I’ve spent my whole life with this little bit of qi that’s just enough to light a candle, and I thought that was all I’d ever have. Now, suddenly I’m out there fighting wars, and I’ve got some new ability I never knew about. What am I supposed to do with this?”

He drops his head into his hands. “Those guys are qi titans, Ava, but Erritt’s looking at me like I can do something for him, and I don’t get it.” He tilts his head, peeking at me. “It scares me—but it’s also fucking amazing.”

I smile. “I think Erritt has a point about you and first aid. I remember you patching me up and checking if I had a concussion that first day we met. Maybe now you just have a few more options for something you already did.”

He makes a small noise, and his head bobs once as he considers.

“Harper?” I lean my head against his shoulder.

“Hm?”

“Thank you for saving Erritt’s life, even before you liked him.”

He pulses with a silent laugh. “You’re welcome.”

We sit quietly on the step for a long time listening to the thunder, Harper lost in his thoughts. His brow creases as if he’s struck a particularly bad thought.

I hug him with one arm, feeling helpless. “How can I help?”

He snorts and rocks into me once before sprawling across the step until his head lays in my lap. “I might be the one who threw you into Exerin-Mi, but you’re the one who’s brought me into this world. Into their world. You’re the catalyst here.”

My cheeks warm. Skye called me a muse too. Do I really have something to offer? Maybe all this mess of being kidnapped and hunted is worth it to bring these three men together into one family.

And maybe it’s a bit soon to be calling them my family, but somehow I know we’re supposed to be together—if for no other reason than the fact I haven’t had a serious heart episode around them in three months.

Like my heart is healing, or it’s gained something that was missing.

The doctors on Earth would shake their heads at me, but things are possible on Exerin-Mi that I could never have made up in my wildest dreams. Maybe Harper has been healing me all along, and Skye’s filling me with his good humor and wildness, and Erritt with his focused devotion, all giving me something I never felt before.

Acceptance.

Harper’s next words sober me. “But they keep coming for you, Aves, and it scares me.”

I inch my fingers through his damp curls, . “If nothing else, we have each other now. It was super scary, but you three guys worked together like clockwork back there. All week, you got along, and I don’t even have words for how beautiful that is. How amazing you three are.”

He squeezes my knee. “Even the dragon?”

I chuckle. “Especially the dragon.”

Harper sighs. “You heard they called him a prince right? I don’t think that was accidental.”

“Yeah. He said it didn’t mean anything, but I’m not so sure. You know the Davina woman who broke into my mind? She asked me about princes, plural. I didn’t know what she meant, but I think she might have meant Skye.” I twirl the death charm bracelet on my wrist. She definitely knew it had a dragon’s qi within.

Harper’s head bobs in my lap. “More secrets. But I imagine it would be instinctual for Skye to deny it. They may not have royalty in the regular sense, but there might be some sort of clan hierarchy, and considering all the purges, there probably aren’t many dragons left at all.”

My heart aches for my dragon. “Puts him in a shitty position between the Davinas and the empire.”