"Tash," she said, "you're not crazy. Nobody laced your cocoa. This is who your daughters are. They’re magical. Always have been, you just didn't know. You couldn't have known."
I pressed my palm into the throw pillow, desperate for something solid. "You expect me to believe this? You're telling me my kid's adragon? That Chance is… Hell, that he's—" I couldn't even get the words to play nice with my mouth.
I glanced back at the Fifi dragon. Her breathing slowed. The golden eyes blinked. Just once, but it cut me straight through.
A sigh escaped me. "Please tell me this isn't real."
Nobody answered. Not even Maeve.
Behind me, Mere tensed. She let go of my arm and angled herself up, glaring at Maeve. "You're a witch, too?" she barked, jabbing a finger. "You did magic, just now. You're a real witch?"
That floored me. "What do you mean ‘too’?" The words came out screechy, shriller than I meant, but there it was.
Mere shrugged, her calm settled back over her like an old blanket. "I'm a witch, Mom. I just never knew how to say it. You always talked about science, and I tried to figure out how to explain, but it all sounded nuts in my head."
Her gaze flicked to the dragons. "But seeing this? It makes sense. I finally feelright. In a world that didn't seem to have room for me as I was."
She didn't sound scared. She sounded relieved. Like the world had thrown her a life raft instead of a brick.
I most surely felt like I'd been hit with a whole sack full of bricks.
I opened my mouth to reply, but a man's voice appeared in my head. Low, deep, certain.
Natasha, you belong to me.
There was no echo, no sound through my ears. It just showed up, neat and precise, inside my skull.
"What the fu—" I started to yell, but the big black dragon moved. Carefully, not at all threatening, he flattened himself to the ground and inched forward until his massive head brushed the somehow-not-ruined rug in front of me. Those silver eyes, a different color yet somehow still Chance's eyes, locked onto mine. If a statue could bow, this was it. Total surrender, chin tucked, every line of his body radiating respect.
I couldn't look away. "Chance? Are you in there?"
His eyes burned with silver flame, and the answer slid into my mind all sideways.
Yes. He's here with me.
The room went silent. The copper dragon, my Fifi, watched, her head cocked, and I realized she was tracking every breath, every twitch.
The last speck of shock burned right out of me. All that was left was rage and maybe a wild streak of pride.
I let go of Mere, got my feet under me, and glaredstraight at the legendary beast in the middle of the room. "You donotget to be mad atmefor keeping secrets! Ever! You want honesty? Lead by example next time!"
I folded my arms, pillow still clutched like a riot shield.
Huey, God love him, let out a huff and pressed his nose to my ankle.
Chance
All of myattention belonged to the sweet little dragon crouched at my feet. Fifi, all molten and shaking, copper wings wrapped around her middle like she could fold herself into a paperclip and disappear.
We needed to get outside. She'd feel better when she wasn't confined by walls.
Before I could usher her out the large French doors, installed just for reasons such as this, my mother erupted into the room like a flash bomb. She didn't waste time with hellos or polite words. Her heels had barely hit the hardwood before she was shouting. "I felt her shift, I couldn't stay away!" She slammed the front door so hard the frame cracked. I'd never seen her in such disarray. Her hair had worked loose around herface, and her usually perfect clothes were rumpled. The look in her eyes was all frantic worry, barely reined in.
Inside my chest, Caden crowed. Or, I was inside his chest at this point. Either way, he liked this, our mother and Maeve being here. Too bad both of my brothers were too far away to join us. He liked the show of loyalty, the rush of family rushing into place. Even the air seemed to snap. The world felt right and true.
Mom dropped her purse on the floor. "We have to get her outside, now." She gestured to Fifi, my daughter, her granddaughter, then looked at Caden. "Get her outside, Chance!"
Caden rumbled at her and narrowed his eyes.We were working on that when you barged in.
