“Yes, but I’m your smart-ass. Come on,” I rinsed his plate and put it in the dishwasher. “Let’s get you added to the bio scanner.”
“Bio scanner?” His eyes were huge. “Like…”
I laughed. “No, not biohazard.” He followed me through the office to the door at the back that led into the mountainside. “Place your hand here,” he laid it across the biometric reader. “Now, look into this window,” it scanned his retina and I entered his information into the keypad that popped out when the door opened. “Welcome to our horde.”
“Whoa, this room is huge.”
“Well, I’ll be damned.” Never once had it hit me until now. All my life I’d hoarded rubies and opals and now it all made sense tied in with the rest of the horde. “Anything and everything to do with fire.”
“Rubies, opals and lava rocks? All along you’ve been drawn to rubies and opals.”
“Yes, and now I understand why. Guess I was planning for you and the girls all along.” Various fire suits lined one of the walls, some in worse shape than others. Over the years we’d had a hand in perfecting them for the humans to wear, so many of these were crash test dummies. “This couch is ridiculously comfortable and a great place to nap. Feel free to come in here anytime you wish, but also know that if the war we suspect starts happening, I expect you and the girls to immediately retreat to this room. This is our safe space.”
“Understood. Can I make a few homier changes?”
“My love,” I pulled him into my arms, “you can do as you wish with the entire house.Mi casa es tu casa.”
“These display cases are part of the mountainside and these gems are exquisite.”
“Aye, they are and worth more than you could imagine. Our family will never want for anything. Our children’s children on down the line will be financially secure for centuries to come. My brothers and I have invested wisely since the use of money came into play and before then we traded well. Listen,” I tucked a finger under his chin and tilted his head upward. “I love you, Ronan and I’m pretty sure I have since the day we met. You’re my mate, my lover, and the father of our children.”
“I um, I heard you say it last night.” He didn’t have to say it back. I got the impression Ronan didn’t have it easy growing up and trust was something that had to be earned with him, and earn it, I intended to.
“Come on, let’s get ready to go to Ionus’. It’s important for you to get to know everyone, especially the other mates. Emerson is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to dragon history. He can probably answer more questions than I can.” I nearly added plus, I have the feeling you need to learn how to change a diaper,but at the last second I decided those words were best kept to myself.
We puttered around the house, but I knew Donovan was headed over to work on Ronan’s wardrobe space now that the girl’s room was painted and ready for furniture. Getting him out of the house for the rest of the day was crucial for keeping my surprise under wraps.
“Take the tunnels anytime you go to one of the other houses until things settle down, okay?” Ronan nodded. I think the kidnapping had been an awakening for him. “You’re not trapped here, but please don’t leave the compound without a Denarius or Drakemyre escort.”
“Yeah, I think I’m just fine here, but how do we get our deliveries?”
“One of our clan is always in town with a van picking up supplies. Quint was running to the post office to pick up a bunch of our orders that came in.” I couldn’t wait to build the nest. We stopped in the middle of the garage so I could point out each brother’s door. “Ionus and Caro’s homes are next to each other which makes it easy to visit the dragonets." As soon as we stepped inside Ionus and Alex’s house, the noise level hit and Ronan froze. “Come on, with two coming, quiet our home will no longer be.”
Chapter Twelve
Ronan
The chaos of dragonets at play was overwhelming. There was literally a roar, crash, and squeal every few seconds, and most of them came from the twin boys playing with a large set of castle blocks. One wall had a dragonet sized hole in it, like the Kool-Aid man had come crashing through, and for just a moment, I was reminded of a colorfully decorated cardboard box, with ribbons for banners and turrets made from taped together construction paper. A blanket and pillow lay on the floor inside of it, along with the purple and white stuffed bunny I’d received in my Easter basket the year my mom went away.
It was the last thing she’d given me.
Remembering it brought back images of cold, furious eyes glaring down at me before the bunny was ripped from my grasp. Screaming, I’d jumped to get it back, but the man who held it was so much bigger, and so very angry with me. My father hadeyes like ice with just a ring of blue around the edges. I don’t remember ever seeing him smile, but he laughed as I leapt and batted at the air, trying to get my bunny back as he carried it across the lawn, to the fire where he was burning the rest of my mother’s things.
I couldn’t reach my bunny, so I wrapped my arms around his leg and clung, hoping that it would stop him. Instead, he just kicked me free and kept walking. Scurrying behind him, unable to keep up with his long strides, I could only watch as he dropped the bunny into the flames and the fire consumed it.
Even after it was gone, I couldn’t look away. The tears wouldn’t stop nor would the anger when the next thing he carried out of the house was my pretty box castle, ribbon banners trailing forlornly through the dirt. He burned my safe place right in front of me and shredded my heart in the process.
The bonfire spit lava bombs at him. They chased him across the lawn. A sound, like whistling in the darkness, followed them like a comet trail, smashing through the roof of the porch and the kitchen window until something had smothered the fire and put it out.
Ice.
I remembered now. It had covered me too, freezing the tears on my cheeks, the grass crackling as the ice was breaking away when someone lifted me.
Upalo.
My brother had carried me to somewhere in the woods where we’d stayed until our father’s wrath had cooled and it was safe to return to the home we’d hated. I stood frozen in the doorway of Ionus and Alex’s living room, unable to look away from that castle fort, feeling like a damn fool when I felt the prickle of tears in my eyes and my mate’s hand on my back, rubbing circles as he asked what was wrong.
“I…I…” Stammering, I shook my head, because how to tell my mate that as a child, I’d once terrorized a grown man with lava bombs and as a teenager I’d tried to roast him in his bed while he slept. “I’m a dragon.”
