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She touched my shoulder, then took a stiff seat on the couch. I sat next to her. Aya sat on the other couch, and Darius pulled up a chair. Astrid and Tyr cleaned up the mess my dad had left before they joined us. Neither of them spoke while cleaning, and Darius watched them from the corner of his eye, but didn’t offer any assistance. I had to guess that he was unsure what to do around his daughter right now.
Astrid sat next to me when she joined us, and Tyr joined Aya. Astrid didn’t even look at her father, focusing solely on me. She slid both her hands into mine, her presence helping me stay calm as my nerves skyrocketed.
I squeezed her hand to show her how much I appreciated her support. I couldn’t imagine what was going on in her head right now, and yet she was going to stay strong and support me through this.
Mom took in a long breath. “As Darius said, I am Urd, one of the two remaining oldest dragons in existence.”
“Two?” Darius paused mid-lift of his drink. “What happened?”
“My sisters and I have always had a difference in opinion on how to interpret our visions and how they should be handled. Unfortunately, as you know, Darius, Skuld chose the path that would ensure those moments would come true. This included her own death at the hands of the former last Valkyrie.”
Darius froze, his eyes briefly flicking to Astrid and then to Aya, but he didn’t say anything. He was always good at making sure not to derail a topic too much, and would most likely ask more questions later, when it was also his time to share who the hell he really was.
Mom turned to me and Astrid. “Have the two of you been told about us dragons?”
Astrid nodded. “Enough to follow along with this so far. We also know Dahlia.”
Mom nodded. “I suspected you three might have been introduced by now, but I wanted to make sure. This will help you understand what I’m about to tell you.”
I tried not to fidget.
“I did not intend to harm you or your father, Diego. I had every intention of raising you and living out your and your father’s lives parading around as the human I’d led you both to believe I was.” Her gaze dropped, grief filling her eyes. “But I had a vision. I saw your father die, and not in any normal way a man should who had no connection or knowledge of the true inner workings of this world.”
She licked her lips. “Only once before had I not taken a neutral stance to my visions. I see them as inevitable happenings. But I was too close to this one. I desperately wanted to stop this event, and unfortunately, the best solution I could come up with was to not be near you.”
My mom slowly lifted her gaze to meet mine. “From what I saw, I surmised I was the leading cause of your father’s death. I believed if I wasn’t around, you two would be safe.”
My brow knitted together. “So you pretended to be sick and faked your death?”
She nodded. “There was no easy way to reduce the pain I’d cause by leaving. I refused to just up and leave. I couldn’t hurt either of you like that. And so, I thought if I died in both of your eyes, that would give you the closure you needed to live without me.”
“Why here, then?” I asked. “Why did you have us move here if you thought leaving us would be the answer to keeping us safe?”
“I was paranoid. I feared my leaving wouldn’t be enough protection,” she admitted. “I knew Aya was in the process of protecting Astrid here, as I’d had a vision about a beloved witch of the gods dying and being reborn, so I approached her, requesting she also protect you and your father.”
“Wait,” Astrid said. “You had a vision of my death? Was it the same as my mother’s?”
I noticed Darius’ attention sharpening on Astrid.
My mother nodded. “It’s quite likely we did. Prophecies tend to repeat themselves to various clairvoyants. It’s not always in the same way, but it’s always about the same event.”
“I see.” Astrid tapped her lips with a finger, her eyes going distant as she lost herself in thought.
Mom grabbed my hand. “I am sorry for hurting you, Treasure. I never would have made that choice, had I known you possessed a dragon soul.”
I worked my jaw. I could see the sincerity in her eyes, but that didn’t erase the pain twisting and pulling in my chest. “Did you ever feel tempted to come back?”
She nodded. “I thought of you two every day. Everything I did since that choice was to ensure the world was safer for you. And many times, I had wondered, if I did achieve that and thwarted that prophecy, if I could be worthy to come back and beg your forgiveness.”
My fingers tingled with numbness. I wasn’t really sure what to feel right now. “How is it possible I’m a dragon? Tyr told us there was only ever three, and after Skuld died, Dahlia took their place.”
Her face grew serious. “Because the claim that there were ever only three dragons… is a lie.”
The room stilled. I felt the growing, focused attention of everyone present.
“Why would you lie about that?” Tyr asked.
“Because of the story Ùna told us,” Astrid said. Everyone turned to her. She had a calm expression, but there was a knowingness to it. “It’s related to the world losing full access to magic, isn’t it?”
