Which was good news for Felicity and Apollo, as they only had to split their attention to watching the town’s borders, not distracting Tomás with flutters of magical sparks.
“Plenty of time for that,” Igraine said. “No idea what his power will be, yet? No? I suppose you’ll find out soon enough if it’s something cliché like the Montforts’ ordinary fire. The more subtle powers can be difficult to identify—wind, water. Moonlight.” She scoffed politely. “Your boy does have some red in his scales, though, so hopefully we’ll be expecting something fiery. Now. Tomorrow, I thought we could go over baby photos. I’ll show you Corin’s if you’ll show me yours. Deal?” Her smile was pure predator. “Over a late brunch?”
“I have work in the morning,” Maya explained over her shoulder as she refreshed her and Mrs. Blackburn’s drinks. Tomás’s scales were red, so his magic might be fiery? That seemed so basic. Could it be true?
The Montforts’ scales were red, too—she remembered the dull, old-blood color of Saint-John Montfort’s dragon when he attacked Hideaway Cove, and shivered.
“Work. Ye-es.” Mrs. Blackburn narrowed her eyes. “About that. Do you really think it’s appropriate for the mate of the Blackburn clan leader to run around cleaning rooms at a hotel? Cleaning rooms for her mate’semployees, at that. It seems rather backwards to me.”
Maya carefully set down the coffee pot. She took a moment to think. “Corin and I never actually told you that I’m his mate.” She turned around, smiling calmly, refusing to be pinned by Igraine’s piercing gaze. “You guessed.”
“As though it was hard!” Igraine waved her hands. “My son looks at you like a kicked puppy whenever you’re not looking athim, and when you do look at him, he’s like a puppy having his belly rubbed. No wonder he’s been such a misery these last few months.”
“He’s been miserable longer than that,” Maya said quietly.
“I know.” Igraine’s good mood dampened, but she rallied. “Well! And all it needed was a little push to get you together, hm? And in this delightful village!However, to return to my other point—”
“I’m not going to quit my job just because Corin’s strolled back into my life.” She raised a hand to forestall Igraine’s pained expression and what she expected to be an equally painful argument. “Yet.I know that whatever official and unofficial duties I’ll have as his mate, they’ll take priority. I’m looking forward to it.” To doing what she’d always done, but as Corin’s equal, not his assistant? Being in charge? Forcing thembothtotake weekends off? “I’mreallylooking forward to it. But I’m not going to leave Mrs. H in the lurch when this is the busiest the Innlet has been in years. And it doesn’t matter to me if most of our guests are on Corin’s payroll. I’ll be looking after them as his mate. I might as well look after them now, too.”
Igraine sat back, a look of pleased speculation in her eyes. “Good,” she breathed. “You know, Miss Flores, I think we’re going to get alongsplendidly.”
I think I’m lucky you decided that,Maya thought with a secret quirk of a smile. And wondered if, wherever he was, Corin was feeling like someone had just walked over his grave.
Under the table, something jingled. Maya ducked to look. “Tomás! Give that back to Mrs. Blackburn! I’m so sorry—” She winced an apology to Igraine as she reached for Tomás, who was pulling a handful of something glittery out of her purse.
“Not at all.”
“Excuse me?” Maya lifted her head and stared at Igraine, who was gazing down at her little thief son with an expression of … pride?
Her heart thumped.
Of course.
“You did that on purpose,” she said.
“And why ever not? He’s the child of my only son’s mate. Practically my grandchild, as soon as the two of you get around to doing things properly, which considering you didn’t even tell me the two of you were mates I’m assuming you’ve yet to do. And there hasn’t been a baby in our family for so long,” she added wistfully.
“You—you want to treat Tomás like your own grandchild?” Maya asked uncertainly. “Even though he’s not blood related?”
“He’s your child, isn’t he? And you’re my Corin’s mate. That’s all that matters.” Igraine smiled indulgently as Tomás waved thenecklace around, making the stones clink together. “Oh, look at him. Yes! Quick, hide it away before anyone sees it. Keep it safe!”
Tomás’s wings buffeted the air as he transformed and flew upstairs. Igraine watched him go, her gaze fond. “Interesting coloring for a dragonlet. Then again, I’ve never known a dragon shifter to find their dragon form so early. He really is an extraordinary child. And … no idea what his power will be, you said?”
Maya drew a deep breath. “We—I—don’t know who his father is.”
“What does that matter? Corin will be an excellent father,” Igraine declared, as though that was the end of the matter.
Maya stared at her.
“You make it sound so simple.”
“There are enough difficult things in the world without weaving new griefs for ourselves.” Igraine’s smile turned brittle, and she looked away. “Corin’s father taught me that. And it took me too long to see that I should have taught Corin, in turn.”
Maya was still wondering what she meant by that when her phone rang. The universe had a perverse sense of humor, so as she dug it out, she tried to come up with something to say to her mom…
It wasn’t her mom on the other end.
“Hi, Caro. What do you need?”
