“Axoular, nice to meet you.” He held out a hand to shake mine, but he held out his left hand. I shook it, bemused.
“Wrong hand, Axo,” Riley said with a laugh.
“Ah, sorry. I’m still learning.”
“Axoular is from Galdiart, the home realm of the Sárkány.”
Finally, people who could give me real answers. “I’m supposed to meet with someone this afternoon that comes from that place—”
“—Galdiart,” said Axoular.
“—Yes, Galdiart. He comes from there.”
“Who is it?” Riley asked.
“His name is… oh crap I can’t remember, hang on.”
I ran through the portal, into my castle bedroom, then out the bedroom door and a couple of doors down to Roan’s room, hoping he was still there.
He was. I ran in, breathless. Maybe I should do some working out myself. “Hey, what was that guy’s name? The dragon?”
His hand paused over the paper he’d been writing on at a desk against the wall. “Doryu.” He spelled it.
“Doryu,” I repeated.
He nodded.
“Thanks!” I called before turning and running back to my room and through the portal. Riley and her guy had moved boxes and sat on the couch while I was gone. “Doryu!” I said triumphantly.
Axoular’s eyes widened. “What’s he doing with Alexander that he could get him to come talk to you?”
Riley leaned forward. “More importantly, how are you with Alexander? How do you know about the Sárkány?”
“It’s a long story.” I launched into my tale, embellishing the imprisonment as much as I could, considering besides the bathroom embarrassment and how dirty I got, it was mainly incredibly boring.
I finally wound down, concluding with an apology for not contacting her sooner. “Honestly, it felt so awkward to call you out of the blue after all these years and tell you I know we’re both dragons.” I threw my hands up, the entire situation beyond crazy. “Your turn. I only know the few things Alexander and Roan have told me.”
“Wow. You’ve had a crazy few weeks.” She gave me a sharp look. “If Alexander is making up for the imprisonment, then great. But if he even looks at you wrong, let me know. I’ll fix him.
“My story starts with my husbands, Elias and Anthony.” Her tale took considerably longer than mine. I stopped several times to ask questions.
“So, did Michael ever plan to take the kids from you?”
She shook her head. “I don’t think so. I think he was going to risk the Junta and tell me the truth, but then the Junta caught up with him, and then Peter did.”
“We make quite a family, don’t we?” I asked after grabbing a couple of bottles of water out of the fridge. The waters were all that was left, I’d arranged for a food bank to pick up all the food I’d had in the kitchen the day before.
“It has to be our moms,” she said. “Which means we might have to tell your mom. If a moment of extreme stress brought out your change, there’s no telling what could make other Sárkány change. How will we find them and help them?”
“I have no idea,” I said. “Alexander said he’s going to talk to the witches and see if a blood spell can be done.”
“That’s a good idea. I’ll talk to a witch friend of ours, too.”
We spent about an hour talking about everything from my ex to her babies. I wished she’d brought them. Axoular was a good sport, chiming in at times, and letting us hug it out at other times.
“I should probably get back for my meeting with Doryu.”
“He’s a good guy, but he’s intense. Dominating,” Axoular said. “Don’t let him run over you.”
