"But can you?" she asked.
I swallowed hard. I'd never really thought about it before, but what if something happened and I needed help? What if I couldn't fight back?
I met her gaze. "I don't know, Riley. But I have to trust that he's not the same man he was then, or that he'd spent his time fighting against it. And I have to believe that he would never hurt me."
She nodded and said, "Ask him. Force him to be open and honest with you. That's the only way to know for sure."
I agreed. I would ask him as soon as I could.
"There's one other thing I never told you, but it wasn't intentional. I just didn't think about it. When I was at the Leyak headquarters, I found out that there was a prophecy made about Linna." She pulled out her phone. "I had to write it down to make sure I had the wording right." She tapped her screen, then read, "The dragon bears the child that will both begin and end the war. The child of The Dragon and The Hidden is The Chosen."
I had to have her repeat it a few times. "What does it mean?"
She shrugged. "Linna has something to do with starting the war, that much is obvious. Once they figured out I was having a shapeshifter's baby, they started all this incubator mess. They sure moved fast on it."
"What about ending it?"
"The only thing I can figure out is that because of the love we all have for her, we're willing to fight. We're willing to take down these evil creatures who have bred babies in incubators."
Cindy interrupted to show us an adorable bib, and we didn't get back to our conversation.
By the time we finished, we had bags full of... stuff. The formula was most important, then diapers. We loaded up one of the guards with three boxes of them.
"Um, Ma'am?" He shifted to look at me around the boxes. "If we're attacked—"
"If we're attacked, throw the boxes and fight," I said. "Easy enough."
He grinned. I'd dealt with him a few times around the castle, and he'd been jovial enough.
The second guard picked up far more bags than I ever would've been able to carry before I'd shifted into a dragon. Now, I probably could've gotten them, too. But it was nice to have someone help carry the bottles, clothes, burp cloths, and the rest.
"Hang on," Cindy said. "This is an entirely magical settlement, right?"
I nodded. "Yep. No humans around at all."
She grinned and opened a portal. "Now you can go back in and buy the furniture. We don't have to worry about carrying it back."
I beamed, rushed back into the store, and bought everything I could think of. The other woman in the store, who was currently helping a customer, looked at me like I was crazy as I piled up a baby bed, rocking chair, and changing table, while Riley went for a diaper pail, a formula mixer, and a whole bunch of other stuff I hadn't even thought of. Like a wipe warmer. Who knew?
"Are you sure you don't want a stroller?" the woman asked skeptically. "It'll make getting around a lot easier."
I shook my head. "No, I don't think so. We'll be fine."
Cindy's portal dropped us right into my room in the manor house and I immediately started putting everything away in the room next to mine. It was adjoining. It was nice to have my own space again, even if it was just a room in someone else's house, even if I was beginning to feel as though it was my home, too. Alexander and Roan certainly wanted me to feel that way. Eventually, my home would be the school, but for now, this was pretty dang nice. I mean, it was a freakingcastle.
Alexander poked his head in. "Cindy, do you have it in you to do a couple more portals? The doctors I've contacted are chomping at the bits to see this technology and the amazing, miracle baby."
She grinned at him. "Always. I feel like I'm making history here."
I watched them walk out of the room, then continued working. Why did I put the baby's stuff in the room next to mine? I wasn't even sure I wanted to keep the little guy. Keeping him meant forever. I wasn't even sure I wanted to foster the little guy. What did I know about taking care of a baby?
Yet I continued putting the little sweet baby items away in the room next to mine.
Riley poked her head in. "Are you sure you don't want me to call one of the women in the clan who have experience with babies?"
I shook my head. "No, I'm good. I'll just read some books or something."
"Okay," she said, though she still looked doubtful. "If you're sure."
