Ignatius sat down opposite us, hands folded on the table, and for a second, nobody said anything. The only sound was the clink of ice in my glass and the scratch of bread against a plate as Doryu tore off a chunk and buttered it like nothing in the world was wrong.
Cole hadn’t touched his food. He looked exhausted, eyes ringed with bruised shadows and jaw set like he was holding himself together by sheer will. I wanted to reach out. I wanted to touch his wrist, just to remind him he was still here.
But I didn’t want to make it worse, so I just waited.
Ignatius started simply, like he was giving a report. “Our heritage goes back a long way. Longer than most people realize. There have always been dragons, even if the world has turned us into myth and legend.”
I stared at him. “You’re saying you’re…dragons?”Because what the fuck?
Ignatius nodded. “We shift into dragons, and as soon as I get Cole help, he will be able to. The power is always there. Always has been. Some lines are stronger. Some weaker. But every so often, a generation is born with the old blood. Pure. Raw.”
He looked at Cole, and something sharp flickered in his eyes. Not anger. More like respect. “I knew your grandfather.”
Cole’s lips parted in astonishment. “I barely remember him.”
“I lost touch because when my first mate died, I cut myself off from the council.” He shot a fond look at Doryu. “I was immensely lucky to be granted another. That, and because I owe it to my nephew’s generation to be present in their lives, I am now more involved in the council. I’ve heard of this so-called doctor. He has human qualifications and comes from a weak line that doesn’t shift. To make himself important, he styles himself an expert when his ignorance is dangerous.”
Cole’s hands were fists on the table. I watched the muscles jump in his forearms as he tried to steady himself. “He said I’d kill someone if I ever lost control. That the only way to keep everyone safe was to…tie it down. Seal it up.”
“And that’s what the binding is,” I guessed quietly. “Like a lock?”
Ignatius nodded. “A psychic lock. A way to force the dragon inside to stay dormant. In theory, it stops accidents. In reality, it just makes things worse, certainly as you get older. Your dragon needs freedom, and now that you’ve met your true mate…”
“What does that actually mean?” I asked because it was clear from the silence Cole wasn’t going to.
Ignatius glanced at Cole, like he was waiting for him to take the lead, but Cole just stared at his hands, knuckles white against the table. So Ignatius turned to me instead. “True mates are…what it sounds like. For dragons, it’s not just a bond. It’s a joining at the deepest level. Psychic, physical, even at the level of the fire itself. If you’re lucky enough to find your mate, the dragon’s power amplifies. It grows. It also gets harder to suppress.”
I tried to process that. “So, what—you’re saying he’s stronger now because of me?”
Ignatius smiled, but it wasn’t mocking. Just a little sad. “Precisely. That’s how it’s meant to be. Two halves. When you’re together, the bond intensifies. It’s why his binding is failing. Why his control is so fragile. Why you’re the only one who can get close when he’s like this.”
My face went hot. I looked at Cole, but he still wouldn’t meet my eyes.
I realized my hands were shaking, and I forced them to stop. “I thought this was just… I don’t know. I thought maybe he was sick. Or traumatized. Not that he was...” Words failed me. What was I doing?
Keegan nodded. “It’s weird at first. The fire thing is hard to control. I can control my body temperature which is why I can skate.”
“The thing with the ice?” I asked, knowing they all knew what I meant.
“It’s dangerous,” Cole muttered.
Ignatius’s eyes softened when he looked at Cole. “You’re not dangerous, Cole. You’re not broken. The only mistake was making you believe you had to hide. When the binding breaks, you’ll have a choice. I can teach you how to shift safely. How to use your gift.”
Cole’s voice was thin but determined. “What if I don’t want it?”
Ignatius’s expression didn’t change. “The dragon is part of you. You can’t cut it out. You can only learn to live with it. Or let it twist you up inside.”
Keegan shot me a look, like he was afraid I’d bolt. “It’s not as bad as it sounds. The first time I shifted in front of him, my boyfriend thought I was going to eat him.” He grinned. “Drake still teases me about it.”
I wanted to laugh. I wanted to say it was impossible, that none of this made sense, but the truth was, it explained everything. The way Cole felt too hot sometimes. The wayhe shook when he was upset. The way I’d felt pulled to him, in a way I’d never felt with anyone else in my life.
“So what do we do?” My voice was barely above a whisper, because I was still hiding a huge secret and five thousand dollars. Nothing had been mentioned about that man, and all this true mate stuff I had to take with a pinch of salt. Cole might need me to ground him while he worked things out, but neither of us expected or were even ready for a commitment. It didn’t work like that in the real world.
“We have to travel to Chicago tomorrow,” Keegan said, but met my gaze. “You need to be there with Cole. There’s a PR stop in a children’s hospital then a game that night against the Grizzlies.”
Cole glanced over at Keegan. “Who else? Is it because I can’t shift that I don’t know, and why our team?”
Ignatius leaned forward. “Excellent question. Dragons don’t give off a scent—”
