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Ignoring his dragon, Blake merely enjoyed teaching Freddie and Daisy the special drink that doubled in size when adding the right ingredients.
While usually he was a long-term planner—his research required that type of mindset—Blake was going to just enjoy the moment and try his hardest to make more of them until it seemed natural that they were a family.
Chapter Thirteen
A couple of hours later, as the front door clicked closed behind Dawn, Blake took a deep breath and headed back toward the kitchen. Daisy was singing some song he didn't know and thumbing through one of her new books.
He stopped in the doorway and tried not to breathe too hard lest he disturb her.
His dragon sighed. We only have to watch her for an hour or so. It's not the end of the world.
While Blake knew that, this would be the first time he was alone with Daisy and entirely responsible for her care. Still, Dawn wanted Sasha to help her get ready for the mating ceremony, and this was his first duty to prove how much he wanted Dawn—and Daisy—in his life.
Taking a deep breath, he walked up to Daisy, and she glanced up. "Is this book true? Did dragon-shifters used to fight humans a long time ago, back when they used horses and swords and stuff?"
Blake nodded and sat across from her at the table. "You've learned a little about wars in school, right?"
She scrunched up her nose in thought. "A little. Some lasted a really long time, I think."
"Well, it's the same for dragon-shifters—we've been in wars, too. Sometimes with other dragons, sometimes with humans, and sometimes with both humans and dragons who teamed up together."
Daisy tilted her head. "But not now, right? I mean, I see dragon-shifters on TV sometimes being interviewed by human reporters. And you wouldn't be mating my mum, either, if we were at war."
He debated on how honest he should
be but decided Daisy was old enough to learn a little. "Well, there's not a full-scale war, no. But dragon hunters want to kill us and drain us of our blood. So it's like a small war, I suppose."
"Why don't you just share your blood for free with people who need it? Then maybe they wouldn't try to hunt dragons for it."
While simple on the surface, Blake took a second to think about how to explain that dragon-shifters needed some advantages to avoid becoming permanent second-class citizens to humans.
He finally settled on saying, "Well, people might then get greedy. And then dragons could end up being weak all the time from giving so much blood. And if we didn't have enough? People would get mad at us anyway."
"Well, maybe there's a way to use science to help everyone. You always say it can do a lot of good things. Many times it almost seems like magic, but there's really some special recipe involved, right?"
He smiled. "So you were paying attention during the special dragon camp sessions then."
She sat up tall and bobbed her head. "Of course. I try to listen to everything the dragons say. I'm not sure what I want to do when I grow up yet, but it'll probably be something related to dragon-shifters. And so I need to learn it all."
He chuckled. "We can never learn everything."
"Well, I'm going to try."
As they smiled at one another, Blake's nervousness faded away. If nothing else, he could always use learning as a way to bond with his soon-to-be-stepdaughter.
Then Daisy frowned and blurted, "Are you going to leave like my dad did?"
He blinked at the sudden change of subject. He hadn't expected that question, or at least this soon.
She continued before he could say anything. "It's just that I like you, and my mum really likes you, and I don't want her to be sad anymore. And somehow I think she'll be sad if you leave. She's such a great mum and should be happy instead."
His dragon said softly, We won't leave. Make sure she knows that.
Daisy spoke again. "So your dragon just talked, right, since your eyes flashed? What did he say?"
Blake wanted to lay his hand on Daisy's to maybe keep her from talking but didn't know if she would be comfortable with that yet. So instead, he merely said, "Yes, my dragon talks a lot. So asking all the time might be a little time-consuming." She opened her mouth, but he didn't let her get a word in. "As for leaving—you, your mum, and any other children she has will always be a part of my life. Stonefire is my home and I won't leave it."
Not exactly a declaration of staying together forever, but Blake and Dawn hadn't even said they loved each other yet. Blake loved his human, but he wouldn't assume anything about her feelings.
