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Caspian stared at him. “Darling, I’m afraid that’s not how genetics work. You can’t be mostly one thing or another. You’re your own thing. And I say this as a geneticist. Literally. You can have dominant genetic markers, but those have no bearing on who and what you are.”
Remi didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know how to feel. His entire life, he’d been ridiculed and mocked for what he would never have, thanks to him not being Siren enough, but this Dragon seemed so… so certain.
“Can we staaaaay?” Percy cried out.
Remi blinked out of his thoughts and shook his head. “No, but I bet Mom and Dad will let you come back for visits.”
“We would love that,” said one of the larger Dragons with a massive tattoo on his neck. He picked them both up like they weighed little more than river pebbles. “We can go hunt deer again.”
“I’m gonna catch one with my fangs!” Percy said, baring his teeth.
Remi didn’t have it in him to tell his brother he didn’t have fangs. Instead, he smiled at the Hoard and stepped a bit closer to his siblings. “I bet you’ll be really good at it.”
“The best hunter ever,” Percy said.
Jeremiah came close and wrapped his arm around Remi’s waist as the Dragon let the twins down to gather their things, and he tipped his head close to Remi’s ear. “You’re not okay.”
“Nope. But we can talk about it later,” Remi said. He fought the urge to touch his neck again, but he was shit-scared if he said anything now, Jeremiah would reject him, and he wasn’t sure he’d survive that.
No, all of it could wait until the threat was neutralized and they could all think straight. His gaze searched the crowd, and he found Storm in the corner of the room talking quietly with a Dragon several inches taller but with almost the same face and umber skin tone. Storm seemed tense, but the other Dragon was squeezing the back of his neck, and he looked surprisingly kind.
“Is he going to be okay?” Remi asked. “They all seem really great.”
“This Hoard is,” Jeremiah said, then smudged a kiss against Remi’s jaw. “I wouldn’t have suggested them for the twins otherwise, but he’s not ready to completely forgive his family just yet.”
Remi could understand that. Luckily, he’d never been through it, but he didn’t think he’d be so eager to forgive anyone who had said horrible things to him over the years, even if they tried to be better. “We should probably get going, yeah?”
Jeremiah frowned at him, but after a beat, he nodded. “We have a long journey home and then a long journey back to Hillsland. Are you feeling ready?”
Remi had no idea what to say to that. He was already a freak on the human campus, being who he was, and he’d spent his entire time there trying to fit in and be more like them. But now he was going back with a Hellhound bodyguard that might be something more than just a lover to him, and he wasn’t sure he was ready to burn everything he’d worked for to the ground.
But at the same time, when he looked at Jeremiah, he knew he wouldn’t give him up for the world. It would be like asking him to cut off a limb. He rubbed his neck, and when he saw Jeremiah’s eyes go hot, he leaned in and stole a kiss.
“I’m ready as long as you’re with me.” And as terrified as he was, he meant those words.
Jeremiah cupped his cheek. “I’m not going anywhere. Ever.”
Remi believed the truth in those words. He was falling—maybe they both were—and try as they might, there was no way to stop the crash.
16
REMI
Saying goodbye to the twins right after they returned to the palace was excruciating.
They’d both started to cry, clutching at his hands and pantlegs, begging him to stay and telling him how much they didn’t want him to go.
It had taken everything inside him to put on a smile and gently peel them off, handing their squirming bodies over to Priest. He’d promised to call as soon as he was back at his apartment and to come home for a visit as soon as he could.
Tears were burning his eyes as Jeremiah led him out to the waiting SUV, their things already loaded in the back. The ride to the airport was silent, the guards in the front keeping their eyes forward and Jeremiah giving him space.
It wasn’t until they were back on the plane and in the air that Remi finally cracked. A tear slipped down his cheek, and he swiped at it angrily, pushing to his feet and storming back to the private bedroom. The bed was freshly made despite the fact the flight to Hillsland was only a couple of hours. He appreciated it, though, when he flung himself onto it face-first.
He never heard the door open, but when a familiar heat settled next to him, causing the mattress to dip, he turned and curled around Jeremiah, craving his touch and comfort.
“They’ll be okay,” Jeremiah said, raking his fingers through Remi’s hair and down his neck. “Unlike some people, they won’t mind being confined to the palace grounds since that’s where they spend most of their time anyway.”
“It’s not that—well, it’s not just that,” he corrected, then sniffled and wiped his face dry. “I miss them so much. It’s just… really difficult being so far away from my family.”
