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overly tight. Its stitching snapped and its fabric tore, revealing purple scales where there should
have been skin. The others in the room wisely evacuated to its perimeter or slipped out into
the hall, but Finch remained right where he was. He watched Hugh gain wings and a tail, saw
his claws sprout and his spines grow. The room was large, but Hugh was larger, and when his
wings gained their full size and expanded, the walls groaned and cracked in protest.
“He will, I assure you, pay for the damages,” came Geoffrey’s voice from out in the hall.
Atticus harrumphed, but had little else to say.
When the transformation was complete, Hugh lifted his massive head and looked Finch in the
eyes. As he did, a feeling of love pooled in the center of Finch’s chest. It radiated through him
and calmed all the horrible, irrational thoughts battling for supremacy in his mind. Very gently,
he placed a hand on the side of Hugh’s snoot and closed his eyes, and Hugh, sweet as ever,
pushed delicately into his hand and nuzzled Finch’s palm. Silent tears streaked down Finch’s
cheeks, which his dragon hastened to lick away.
“It’s you,” Finch whispered, sounding hoarse. “It’s always been you, hasn’t it? My love. My
mate. I can feel the way you love me. I never thought it could be possible, but here you are.”
Finch tapped his chest right above his heart. “And here.” He touched his brow. “No wonder I
felt so wretched when I left you. It was bloody stupid of me to run. I see that now.”
The truth thundered through Finch like a heartbeat. It was inexorable. Finch was a dragon’s
mate. He was a dragon himself, if Hugh’s family were to be believed. Everything he’d been
taught was wrong. He was far from being a Disgrace.
Like the last pieces of a great cosmic jigsaw snapping into place, Finch felt for the first time
like he truly belonged.
Over Hugh’s head, Finch could just make out Calvin, who smiled, but also looked a little sad.
“It seems you’ve come to your senses. I take it you’ll be leaving England, then? Your place is
in America with your mate, not here in this dingy old castle under the watchful eye of a dragon
so old, he breathes dust instead of fire.”
Atticus cursed at Calvin, and Finch couldn’t help but laugh. It wasn’t a happy sound, but it
came from a happy place. Yes, he’d lost his way, but he’d found it again. Hugh had come for
him. And were he ever to be lost again, he knew that Hugh and the rest of the Drakes would
be there to guide him. “I think I will be, yes. My apologies, Atticus. I will be tendering my
