A muscle in his cheek ticced.
“June practically moved in for a while to look after the kids, and Chris dispensed wise advice as I was trying to find my feet. At least, that’s how he presented it. He was actually priming me and pointing me at whatever he wanted me to do. It took me a while to realise he was trying to rule by proxy, and I was the clueless proxy.” His voice was bitter, as if he blamed his eighteen-year-old self for being taken in.
“Things grew difficult between us when I started to ignore his advice, and June suggested the kids go to live with them for a while, giving me space to learn a trade. Of course, I refused—no way was I losing Mia and Tim on top of everything else, and we were managing. With June’s help, sure, but it was working.”
He paused, and when he spoke again, his voice was rough. “I came home from work early one day to find Chris piling suitcases in his car and June bringing the kids out of the front door. I only realised what was going on when I saw the guilt on her face. And when I understood what she was doing, I thought it was going to kill me. I’dtrustedher, and she was taking them away from me.” His breathing roughened further. “When I saw her with you, when I thought you’d chosen her over me, I felt it again, like my heart had stopped working.” He rubbed his chest, his head bowed.
I’d never seen him like this, and it scared me. Putting my hand on his arm, I left it there, hoping it would be some comfort.
He drew in a deep breath. “Anyway, I told the kids to go back inside, and once the door was closed, Isomehowprevented myself from shifting and flaming them to ash. Instead, I ordered them off my land forever.”
I was still trying to process what I’d heard. “But surely they knew you’d simply turn up at their house and take Tim and Mia back, so what was the point?”
“I’ve never known for sure, but I think… Chris is completely gone for June, as you’ve probably noticed. He’d doanythingshe wanted. They've never had kids, and after she'd spent so much time with Tim and Mia, I wonder if her dragon hoarding instinct kicked in.” A very uncharacteristic uplift at the end of his sentence underlined his uncertainty. “Or perhaps they simply wanted to punish me for not listening to Chris. But the thing is, when I was telling them to get out”—he breathed deeply, and that muscle ticced again—“she said she’d report me as anunsuitable guardian to social services, and the kids would be taken away from me.”
“She saidwhat?” For the first time in my life, I literally saw red, a flash of it as the top of my head felt like it had blown off. “MyGod,flaming is too good for her!”
“I don’t know if she ever did anything about it, but I spent the next year fuckingterrifiedthat I’d come home one day and they’d be gone, taken into care. I broke all dragon rules and hired human babysitters and tutors for them because I couldn’t trust anyone in the family. Thankfuckneither of them shifted when the humans were here. But you see why Tim called me a hypocrite about having his friends here.”
I could feel how rigidly his muscles were clenched beneath my hand. “You know what she said was a lie, don’t you? About you being unsuitable for the kids, I mean. You’ve brought up two amazing dragons, and they adore you, so long as you ignore the testosterone that kicks in with Tim every so often.”
He huffed something that sounded like an attempt at a laugh and ran his hands over his face, before turning fully to look at me. Very slowly, his expression changed, and he reached out to touch my face, his big, capable fingers stroking gently down my cheek.
“How do you always know what to say, Ollie?”
I didn’t. To cover up that fact, I leaned in and pressed a kiss to his lips. “Love you,” I told him.
It wouldn’t make that old hurt and fear magically better, but I hoped it would help by reminding him that was the past. Mia and Tim were safe, and no one would ever again try to take away the people he loved.
Chapter Thirty
ARCHER
As soon as it was dark, we went flying. I warned Ollie I needed to fly alone for a while, as high as I could go where I could flame the clouds and let go of the memories in visceral dragon bugles. Let go of the fear that my accusation had wrecked everything with Ollie beyond mending. I’d underestimated Ollie when I’d believed that, and it was a mistake I’d never make again.
When I dropped back down, he flew to me and snuggled against me, until I gave a throaty warble of pleasure at having him there. He’d heard everything and had taken my side without question, even though I’d been a scared kid trying to hold my family together when it might not have been the best thing for them.
He was so warm and comforting, pressed along my side. Right up until the fact he was only flying on one wing in order to cuddle me caught up with him, and he fell away, towards the canopy of the trees below. I dived after him hard and fast, coming up beneath him as he regained his balance.
We didn’t stay out much longer. I wanted to lay him out in my bed and show him how much he meant to me. I kept making mistakes, but none of them compared to how badly I’d messed up with him earlier. Yet he’d forgiven me, instantly and completely.
I still worried that I wouldn’t be able to make him happy, but I knew one thing for sure—I wouldn’t fail for lack of trying. Not with Ollie.
OLLIE
“You mentioned a fault line in the family,” I said to Archer as we drove back from the woods. “Are June and Chris on the other side of that split?”
He nodded, keeping his eyes on the road. “Chris would be head of the family if the challenge had been successful all those years ago.”
That might explain why Chris had behaved as he had when Archer had taken over. Better to be the power behind the throne than to have no power at all. But he’d underestimated Archer, badly. As June had today, thinking a cheerful, chatty exterior could lead him to overlook what she’d done. Presumably she’d carefully chosen her time to pay me a visit, not expecting Archer to return early from his surgery.
“I don’t understand why Chris hasn’t either tried to become head or made things up with you, instead of this cold war thing they have going on,” I said.
“If they’d broken away when I’d just taken over, the rest of dragon society wouldn’t have been too impressed with them not giving the new head a chance, no matter how young I was. And I guess some of my family would have stayed with me out of loyalty to Dad.” His fingers tightened on the steering wheel. “As for now… Honestly, I’ve been expecting it any day for the last several years. I can only think they’re still too uncertain how the rest of dragon society would view it. It would be a hell of a gamble on their part.”
That was true. If June and Chris were seen to be the perpetrators of some sort of coup, they wouldn’t be welcome generally amongst dragons. On the other hand, if they could present it as a justified grievance, the blame would fall squarely on Archer’s shoulders.
“My best guess is they’ve judged the risk too great,” Archer said, as if reading my thoughts. “But if I ever gave them an excuse, or if they could find proof about that historic claim, they’d seize on it immediately. Until then, they reluctantly acknowledge my headship in order to stay part of the family.”
