Sammy nods slowly. “I guess it’ll do, but I wrote Santa a letter asking him for your memories, back when I still believed in him.” He arches one eyebrow at me. “Now that I know Santa’s fake, who should I ask? Baby Jesus?”
Coral rolls her eyes. “Obviously he’s fake, too.”
“No, he’s not,” Jade says. “Take that back.”
“And we pray to God,” I say. “Not baby Jesus.”
“This house is really amazing.” Mom’s standing just outside, on the steps. “Do you mind if we come inside?” George had taken them to go over some papers and talk about things, and then he showed them the village that’s coming together around the dragons who have moved in.
My heart races as I shove all my ruined treasures into the corner. Mom and Dad are walking up the stairs to our home here in the Northern Territory, the home I made for Jade, Coral, Sammy, and me. The home we share with our dragons voluntarily. I shouldn’t care what they think, but I’m still trembling.
“How nice to see you again, Axel, and in human form, no less.” Mom arches one eyebrow. “Do you think the blessed will be able to defend the humans from the monstrosities they’ve released on earth?”
“Actually, Liz did that,” Sammy says.
Mom smiles. “Yes, I hear that’s true, but she did it to recover the heart for the dragons, did she not?”
“Oh man, and that’s stuck in her chest now,” Sammy says.
“Forget all the gifts I got,” I whisper as loudly as I can. “I’m getting this kid a muzzle.”
“He can’t talk to his parents?” Dad asks. “And is that true? Is the rock the dragons came for stuck inside your chest?” He’s staring at me, as if focusing on my chest might suddenly make it visible.
“We can talk about all this stuff later,” I say. “I have some Christmas stuff to do so we’ll be ready for tomorrow morning.” I glare at the kids. “Why don’t you show Mom and Dad to their rooms?”
“And where will I be staying?” I almost forgot about Gideon. “In there?” He points past the entry and around the bend. “It looks like your room.”
“It’s our room,” Axel says. “You aren’t welcome there.” He’s half-snarling and Gideon’s been here for two seconds. This might have been a very bad idea.
“I’ve watched enough people die today,” I say. “Why don’t you follow Sammy to his room.” I point down the hall. “Gordon and Rufus will be staying outside tonight so you and Sammy can share.”
Gideon frowns, but he doesn’t argue.
I’m tidying up the kitchen a little—why is there always water splashed all around the sink?—when Mom walks in. She glances around furtively, as if she’s nervous or embarrassed about something.
“Everything alright?” I peek around her. “Did one of the dragons knock something over?”
Mom blinks. “No.” She frowns. “I just—” She picks up a towel and wipes the exact same spot I just wiped. Her frown deepens.
“What, Mom? I don’t want Christmas to be any stranger than it has to be.”
Her head whips up. “I don’t either.” She swallows. “I’m—I guess I just wanted to say that I’m sorry.” Her lips compress. “It’s hard when you’re a mother, the very hardest thing you have to do, when you have two children who need opposite things. Helping one means harming the other. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, it’s like you’re being torn in half.”
I could see that, but I’m not sure where she’s going with it.
“I was terrified for the kids,” she whispers. “I couldn’t resist her, Ocharta, and I—” Her mouth snaps shut. “Then when Gideon told me you were entirely ensorcelled, so badly that you thought you wanted to be near your dragon, I just. . .” She sighs. “I should have tried harder to verify it. I shouldn’t have just trusted him. But he has always wanted what was best for you. He’s always been on your side. And he’s human.”
I get that. As a mother, I’m sure you always want the easier path for your child. The safer one. “Look, Mom, it’s fine.”
She drops her hand on mine. “It’s not fine, and I know that.”
I freeze. Her tiny hand, her fingers over mine, they seem to have frozen me in place. “I—you were doing the best you could, and then when Gideon suggested a way that I could get free from the dragons, you took it.”
She nods. “I really did think it was best, right up until I saw you there, in that place, dying day by day.” She swallows again. “I thought you might die, just give up and roll over and stop breathing.”
I wanted to. When I thought Azar was gone, Axel was dead, I wanted to just quit everything.
“I told your father that we were wrong. I convinced him that we had to get you free.”
