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“One more thing,” I say, lowering my voice. I notice Astrid shoot me a gaze from across the room, but she can’t hear us over here. My dragon rumbles in my chest. “Guard that child like she is my own. Do you understand?”
I notice various indications of surprise of their faces; a flare of the eyes here, a stiffening in the jaw there, but they all nod. I know they’d protect anyone in our care with their life. It’s part of the job, being willing to sacrifice ourselves for a complete stranger. But I still need them to understand what this means to me.
When I turn back around to Astrid, Luciana, and Lilli, I make sure nothing of the conversation I’d just had is written on my face. “Are you and your bear ready to visit a castle in Scotland?” I ask Lilli. “And then you get to visit my house after that.”
“Are there bears in Scotland?” Lilli asks.
“Probably not, little bug,” Astrid says. She squeezes Lilli tightly and kisses the side of her cheek again. “Luciana is going to take great care of you.” Her nose is red and her eyes are watery, but she keeps a smile fixed on her face.
Luciana reaches out to take Lilli, but the girl turns and stretches her arms for me. “I want a hug from Erik, too.”
I feel a warmth in my chest. I lift the girl and she wraps her arms around my neck. Astrid steps up next to us, a strange look on her face. Our eyes meet for a moment, and then she drops her gaze.
“Alright, Lilli,” Luciana says. “Let’s go see if we can find any bears in my castle.”
Lilli squeals with glee and lunges into Luciana’s arms. Gretchen steps up next to them, holding onto Luciana so she can ride along on the transportation spell. A swirl of blue magic moves around the witch, and they all wave one last time before vanishing from view. The other two dragons head back outside to travel by flight.
“I’ll see you soon,” I call.
When the door closes behind them, it’s suddenly very quiet in Astrid’s house. I turn to face her. Her eyes glitter with tears, and she has one arm wrapped across her torso.
“They’ll take great care of Lilli,” I say softly.
Astrid sniffles and nods, then visibly pulls herself together with a lift of the chin and a squaring of the shoulders. “I know they will. Now, let’s find this spell.”
