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“You’re going with us,” Caleb said immediately.
Her eyes brightened and she looked at him across the table. “We go trip!”
He nodded. “Yes.”
“Who would be going?” I asked, looking at Dan and Jolie.
“Everyone here,” Jolie answered. “Plus, the other kings and queens.”
“Random question,” I said. “Why do you all live in the same area when you could live in the different countries across the ocean?”
“It allows for us to have meetings together to come to agreements faster and to meet with the elders who are also located here. Hundreds of years ago, we used to be divided, a country per race, but that caused a lot of tension and there were lots of battles. We wanted to ensure our people could mingle and not be so closed-minded towards the others,” Dan explained.
“Then why are hybrids so hated?” I asked. “If you wanted them to mingle, why are so many against the idea?”
“Long-held hatred is hard to get rid of,” Rhys said. “We thought hybrids were a myth until the ones came to steal Caleb. We thought it was just physically impossible for dragons and elves to mate, like cats and dogs cannot crossbreed.”
That did make sense, but was still so odd to me.
“How long would we be gone?”
“Two weeks,” Rhys answered. “We will travel by train there and back and be there for one week.”
“We will stay at the location to make it easier to attend the meetings and events,” Jolie said. “We will have rooms next to each other as well.”
“I don’t like being gone for so long,” I said, “but if that’s what is expected and what you want, then I won’t decline.”
Caleb smiled. “It will be good for us to show up at the Summit, to make an appearance, and show our united front and lack of fear.”
Lack of fear? That was a lie. I was terrified.
Nodding, I agreed to going, even though I did not agree with not being afraid.
“Great! We leave tomorrow!” Dan announced.
“What!” I screeched.
Chapter
Seventeen
After some of the fastest suitcase packing of our lives, and a shopping spree at two different kids’ stores, we made it to the train station with five minutes to spare.
Lily had a few bouts of crying throughout the night, so we didn’t get much sleep, which did not help with our attitudes.
She had shifted into her snake form, refusing to shift back, but thankfully allowed Branson to put her inside of his sweatshirt like a makeshift baby sling. She was coiled up inside while his arms were tucked up beneath her.
“You think she’ll shift when she gets hungry?” I whispered to Caleb.
“I think she’ll shift when she hears Papa Dan. He’s got a super comforting alpha presence that children and women are drawn to. Used to make my dads so irritated when I would run to Papa Dan instead of them for comfort.”
I could imagine the exact scowls the four of them would wear, especially Deryn to have his father chosen by his son over him.
Dragging my suitcase as well as Lily’s behind me, we boarded the train. Apparently, we had rented out the entire train for our trip since there were so many of us going.
“There you are!” Jolie exclaimed. “Cutting it close don’t you …” She stopped talking, her smile slipped to a frown, and she rushed over, cupping my face. “What’s wrong? You’ve got bags under your eyes.”
I glanced towards Branson and whispered, “Rough night.”
