Jade’s evil smile didn’t budge. “No, but there are two large four-legged beasts right in front of me.”
The twins’ faces fell.
“What?” they roared simultaneously.
The twins pleaded for answers while Jade beamed with demonic pleasure. In the background, Gaius laughed his ass off.
“It’s not funny, birdbrain,” Aurum snapped. “If anyone should be ridden like a horse, it’syou.”
Gaius wiped a tear from his eye. “Sorry, bud, wrong critter. I’m a gryphon, not a hippogriff.”
“Whatever! Jade, change it. Me and Saffron aren’t running around like horses.”
“Um,” I piped up. “That actually sounds kind of fun.”
Aurum blinked at me. His expression calmed down. “You... want to ride me? Like a horse?”
“Didn’t you two do enough of that earlier?” Saffron asked smugly.
Aurum whipped towards him. “Wait, you knew about that?”
“Duh. Normal people don’t take hour-long showers.”
“Crimson does,” Aurum pointed out.
“I saidnormalpeople.”
Aurum let out an exasperated sigh. “Dammit.”
Jade snapped his fingers. “Let’s keep this on schedule, shall we? You two, shift and go stand over there. We need a good shot of your dragon forms in the moonlight.”
“Dude, I can’t fucking believe this,” Saffron muttered to his twin.
Aurum seemed slightly less annoyed after I expressed my interest. “Yeah, well, it could be worse.”
I took Aurum’s hand and squeezed it. “If it makes you feel better, I’m really excited to see your dragon again. I know I just saw Saffron’s, but... you’re different.”
Aurum’s eyes flashed. He gained a spring in his step. “Let’s get this show on the road.”
Satisfied with his puppeteering, Jade nodded at the camera crew to begin as he slipped towards the back lines.
“Thanks for playing along,” Jade told me. “I must say, I’ve never seen Aurum so enthusiastic to roleplay as a horse.”
I chuckled. “Maybe he’ll like it?”
To my surprise, Jade lightly touched my arm. “And thank you. I’ve never seen him so happy, either. The love in his eyes when he looks at you is beautiful.”
I blushed. Once again, the dragon family made me feel welcome. I was so grateful.
“I guess we’re doing a bad job of hiding it,” I admitted with a weak laugh.
“Hiding what?” Jade asked.
I rubbed my arm. “That we’re fated mates.”
“Oh, that’s perfectly fine,” Jade said calmly. “I realize I may seem cruel at times, but it’s never my intention to stifle that love. I wish to see it blossom—I only wish for the audience to witness that blossoming, too.”
I nodded. That made sense.
