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Matthias wasn’t going to find out today, and that was fine with him. They weren’t in a rush. If this could grow into something important, Matthias was fine taking his time. They could get to know each other as friends, then see what happened.

If things were left in his hands, nothing probably would, but Samuel? When he wanted something, he got it, and Matthias was pretty sure that he wanted Thorne.

Chapter Eight

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THORNE CLEARED HIS throat at the entrance of the library. Samuel blinked up at him, wondering what was wrong. He could tell something was up because of the way Thorne stood, his back straight, slightly shuffling his feet as if he wasn’t quite sure what to say. It wasn’t like him, or rather, it wasn’t like the man he’d become when he was with Samuel. Samuel wanted that man back. He liked Thorne when he was relaxed and smiling, not when the stick was back up his ass.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, getting up from his armchair. If there was anything he could do to help, he would do it.

“There’s someone for you outside the gates.”

Samuel blinked. “What do you mean?”

“Exactly what I said. There’s someone here to see you.” He glanced away, then back at Samuel. “Your mother, apparently.”

For a second, Samuel couldn’t make sense of the words. Then, he swore. “She’s here?”

“Apparently so. She said she’s your mother, although of course, I can’t confirm that.”

“You don’t need to confirm it. If she says she’s my mother, then she is.”

“And she’s here to visit you.”

“Of course she is.” His mother couldn’t leave him alone. She’d let him have a little time, but she knew she was losing control when he decided to move here, and she might be here to get it back.

Samuel loved his mother, and he knew that she loved him. She wanted the best for him, and for a dragon, the best was having a mage. Usually, they ended up falling in love with each other, and that was something every parent wanted for their child. That kind of relationship in which both participants knew they would never be alone again, or at least, that was how it usually worked. Samuel had heard Tyne’s story, though. His dragon had been leaving him, for his cousin of all people.

But they were still together. Of course, that had a lot to do with Meyer losing his memories and falling in love with Tyne again, but those were details that Samuel didn’t want to consider too hard.

“She sounded impatient,” Thorne added.

“She’s going to tear down the door if you don’t let her in,” Samuel said with a sigh. “Please tell me she’s alone, at least.”

“I’m afraid I can’t tell you that.”

Samuel groaned. “Great. How many of my family members has she brought? I hope it’s only my siblings. I really don’t want to see all of my cousins right now.”

“Samuel?” Jarvis called out from somewhere outside the library. He was probably already aware of what was going on and wanted an explanation. Unfortunately, Samuel didn’t have a good one. His mother had decided she’d had enough and wanted to see her son, and here she was.

Samuel reached out and squeezed Thorne’s wrist. “Thank you.”

Thorne blinked at him, but Samuel was already moving. He needed to explain to Jarvis what was going on. Jarvis wasn’t really the leader here, although everyone treated him as such. He would have the power to kick the family out, though.

It wasn’t that Samuel didn’t want to see them. In fact, he very much did want to see them. He just knew how his family was. If he let them in, they would settle down for the long term, and that wasn’t something anyone wanted to deal with. They could be a lot. In fact, they could be too much. They usually were.

Jarvis was coming toward the library when Samuel stepped out of it. He paused, gesturing at Samuel to follow him. Samuel knew they were going toward the gate. It seemed like Thorne had already opened it, which gave Samuel a few moments to gather his thoughts.

“So your family is here?” Jarvis asked when Samuel reached him.

“I had no idea they were coming. This is a surprise for me as much as it is for you.”

Jarvis’s smile was easy. “That’s fine. I would never tell you or anyone else here that their family can’t visit.”

“You might regret that once you meet them. There are a lot of them.”

“Considering everything we’ve dealt with, I think that meeting your family won’t be a problem.”