“Yes, that’s it. People are determined to date and ultimately procreate with the Sárkány. News of Riley’s sons has reached ears far and wide, and everyone wants to have a child with heightened powers.”
“Oookay,” I said, shaking my head in disbelief. “So people will want to date me.”
“Yes, but we want you to know that’s not why we are asking to date you.”
“Then why are you?”
They both stopped walking and turned to me. “You don’t know?”
I shook my head, eyebrows raised.
“You’re beautiful. You’re smart. You handled the imprisonment with more backbone than anyone we’ve ever seen,” Roan said.
“We want a chance to get to know you better,” Alexander finished. “And it’s not because you’re Sárkány.”
They’d successfully thrown me straight out of my head. “Okay, so let’s see what happens. I’m not looking for love at this point. I’d like to explore what it means to be a dragon first.”
They put on happy faces, forced smiles and all. “We can understand that,” Alexander said. “Whatever you want. Give us a chance, okay?”
“I can do that.”
CHAPTER FOUR
We spent the afternoon exploring the castle in greater detail. The living quarters Alexander used only took up a small portion of the entire building. The entire thing was meticulously kept, and parts of it had been turned into apartments, while still keeping with the original structure.
My favorite room was, of course, the library. It was something out of a movie. The room was bigger than my entire apartment in Tennessee. It might’ve been bigger than the house I grew up in. The walls were floor to ceiling books, with one of those ladders that attached to the wall on wheels, so you could push off and ride around the room. It was a two story library, with the upper level being nonfiction and the lower being fiction.
I quickly realized there were more books in the library than at the bookshop, but they hadn’t been updated in a while, at least since the 1950s. Every time I found myself with time to kill and I didn’t feel like walking into town, I ended up in the library. Though, usually it was to read a book I’d found at the bookshop.
I’d been worried about my apartment, but Roan arranged for a portal to stay open from my bedroom in the castle to my apartment. It was constructed with some complicated drawings on the floor and wall. Hard as I tried to memorize the angles and lines, it wouldn’t commit to my memory. Roan said it was an addition to the spell to keep anyone from stealing their proprietary magic. It also ensured they’d be called upon again to do the spell in the future.
They only agreed to the portal after I promised to run straight back to the castle at the first hint that something might not be right. I had a piece of chalk on a table beside the portal, and the witch that created it showed me exactly where to draw a line to completely shut it off. I’d only need seconds to sever the connection.
Roan and Alexander were called back to their own business frequently. They said they had a special portal that would take them wherever they wanted to go, but I hadn’t seen it yet. I finished lacing my sneakers so I could head to my apartment to finish packing. I’d gone for several hours for four days in a row and still I wasn’t done packing. Amazing how much stuff I’d fit into a tiny, one bedroom flat.
My life was changing drastically, and I was at the mercy of two men who, after staying with them for several weeks, weren’t exactly strangers, but also weren’t lovers. We were friends, and I was attracted to them for sure. But, I’d have to find a way to make money in the Unseen world or go back to playing piano. Maybe the supernatural creatures needed a pianist.
Roan stuck his head in the door. “Oh, good, I caught you.” They’d both proven a disregard for privacy. I supposed I must’ve set that precedence, at least with Roan, the day I stripped and showered in front of him. “We finally got the Sárkány we hired freed up. He’s in high demand with the entire Unseen world. Everyone wants to meet him and hear his story.”
“You’re paying him to tell his story?”
“No, we pay him to advise us, keep us informed of the goings on of his people. Since Riley’s Axoular has decided he’d rather be a husband and dad than have a spot on the council, we’ve offered it to Doryu.”
“Door-ah-you? That’s unusual.”
“No, more like dor-ee-you.”
“Ok, cool. What time should I be back?”
He checked his watch. “Three hours should be about when he’ll be here.”
“Drop him in the library? We can sit on the couches in there.” I hopped up and turned toward the stack of boxes they’d brought me from who-knew-where the night before. I started slinging them through the portal into my apartment. “I should be done today. I have enough left over from my last check to hire someone to move my stuff to storage, but that’ll be the last of my money. I need to find work.”
“I’m sure we will work something out, don’t worry. Money is not an issue in our world, your new world.”
Laughing, I threw the last box. “Money is an issue everywhere, always.”
He shrugged and shut the door, and I made my way into my mostly packed apartment. I’d brought boxes back to the castle with me, things I felt like I couldn’t spare, but for the most part everything was boxed and waiting in the living room for the movers.
