“Why don’t we all go into the kitchen where we can snack while we eat,” Odem suggested.
“Fine, but I hope you made enough deviled eggs or I may not share,” I threatened as I waddled there between my brother and mate. Ionus, Baird, and Larkin were already seated at the table when we came in, but Odem must have warned them about the eggs, because none looked to be missing from the platter my mate had made.
He’d made plenty, smart dragon.
“Did I make enough?” Odem asked, chuckling as I sat down in my usual spot.
“Yes, I am willing to share them now,” I declared, before snagging one and popping it in my mouth.
“Pregnancy suits you, brother,” Upalo said. “You look radiant.”
“And you are going to get a lot of practice being an uncle,” I told him. “We’re having twin girls.”
Upalo’s eyes teared up as he stared across the table at me. “Mama would love spoiling them. She always hoped for a girl. I only wish I could have located her.”
“Oh…” My shoulders slumped as he crushed that hope right out of me.
“I’m certain she’s still alive,” Upalo said. “I’ve felt flickers of her presence, but always too far away for me to hone in on. I believe she went back to her people, but I lack the ability to dive deep enough to seek them out.”
“Wait,” I demanded, “back up a moment, please, when you say dive…I need you to be very specific.”
“Our mother’s people are ocean dwellers,” Upalo said. “Unfortunately, you and I take more after our father’s people.”
“I hate him with every fiber of my being,” I snarled, biting into a sandwich and ripping a chunk out of it that was way too large to properly fit my mouth.
It was only when I studied the remaining half left in my hands that I realized that there were fang marks in it, instead of teeth impressions. Giggles bubbled up as I chewed, because I knew it was my dragon’s handwork.
“The man you hate isn’t our father,” Upalo told me. “He’s just the man who took our mother captive and us along with her.”
“Wait,” I said, sputtering as I choked down the bite. “How do you know that and why didn’t you ever tell me?”
“Because you already defied him enough and you were way more brazen about it than I was,” Upalo explained. “If you’d known the truth you would have fought him harder and he would have destroyed you before I had the chance to get you out of there.”
“But you were gone so long,” I said. “I had no choice but to leave without you.”
“I’m sorry for that, I truly am. It was never my intention to stay away so long,” Upalo said. “First I hunted for mother,learning the pieces of our dragon heritage along the way. So much knowledge was denied to us, so we wouldn’t be able to revolt against the elders. When I learned that true mates did not live long once the other had perished, I knew our real father had to be alive somewhere, so I tried hunting for him, but I barely remembered him, and had only the name our mother called him to go by. Unfortunately, I’ve come up empty time and time again.”
While we spoke, his friends, whose names I still couldn’t remember, were steadily pigging out on the thick sandwiches my mate had made, but I could tell that they were listening, and every now and again, I caught one of them studying me.
“We’ve been all over the world,” Upalo said. “Met dragons hidden in intricate caverns and others who were reluctant to even admit that dragons existed out of fear that they’d be discovered.”
“They didn’t always take too kindly to us poking around,” his midnight haired companion said. “We’ve been imprisoned a handful of times and threatened so often I lost count. Some eventually shared information with us, while others banished us from their lands under penalty of death.”
“Communities are scared,” Upalo announced. “Not all who come hunting for individuals have done so because they hoped for a joyful reunion. Dragons have gone missing. Others are deep in hiding. While some effort has been made to locate the missing, many times it’s only led to more missing. We were in a seaside town in Japan when we heard rumblings about the protectors and Dragon City. Some folks believed it was nothing more than folklore, while others were hopeful that a change was in the air. We came to see for ourselves if it was real and if there were any answers to be found here. Finding you is a blessing from the Goddess.”
“I could have helped,” I protested.
“Now, yes, but when I left you were still a child, and I knew he would never allow me to leave with you without a fight I could not win,” Upalo admitted. “I have never been strong enough to defeat him.”
“Because of the leeches,” I blurted.
“In part,” he said. “And because my dragon was damaged in a fight with him not long after he dragged us to live with him. I did my best to keep him from doing the same to you. I’m sorry that meant having to keep secrets from you.”
“No,” I said as I listened to his explanation and allowed it to sink in. “You were right to do it. I didn’t need any more reason to hate him than the ones he gave me. Knowing he’s not truly our father is a relief.”
“Many of us who were raised there did not belong to the dragons who had us,” his midnight haired companion said.
“Wait, what?” I said, startled into dropping the deviled egg I’d snagged. “And please, can you tell me your names, I’m sorry, but I’ve forgotten them. I’ve forgotten a lot of things, though my dragon is slowly sharing the memories with me again.”
