And finally,finallyI feel it—the rush.
And then Zan’s eyes snap open.
I stare for a second.
And then I reach down, grab the dang spoon, and shove it against his mouth. “Eat, damn it!”
Looking vaguely startled, Zan opens his mouth and I feed him the ice cream.
He swallows, and Ifeelhis magic increasing.
It’s working.
I grab the whole bowl. “You said you don’t get brain freeze. Now’s the time to prove it.”
«Yora?» Zan’s voice in my head is tiny; confused? «You... made this? For me?»
“Yes, you absolute twat,” I say acidly, my relief somehow coming through at the same time. “And you are going to eat every bite if I have to shove it down your dragon mouth myself.” I push the ice cream bowl onto his snout. “Eat it, you fuckingliar.”
Zan—wisely—does not respond to that, and starts lapping up the ice cream.
Hours of my labor devoured in seconds.
Without a word I grab the next bowl and shove it under his face too.
Okay, this is maybe a little funny—me furiously shoveling ice cream into a dragon’s face as fast as he can eat it.
It would be funnier if he hadn’t scared me so badly.
Zan finishes all but the last bowl, because before I bring it to him, his form shimmers.
And then he’s back in human form.
Just like that.
Zan reaches for me, and only then do I realize that at some point my magenta aura faded—or was sucked away.
I place my hand in his anyway, and he tugs me to him.
I don’t resist. I’m mad at him, but this is what I went to all the trouble of bringing him back for.
But Zan doesn’t just wrap me in his arms.
With one hand, he tilts my face up to his.
And then he kisses me.
And I feel everything, like a conduit has opened between us.
I feel his fear and his frustration and his gratitude.
And I feel how drawn he is to me, body and soul.
I don’t know if love is the word. I’ve never felt love before.
But whatever it is, I feel it just as strongly.
Zan’s mouth on mine sends warmth cascading through me, setting me on fire from the inside out as I melt into him.
