I felt guilty. But the girls and Tray all gave him hugs, and Tray said something that made Jed laugh and give him a second hug, so he’d be okay.
Apparently, he usually came with Ker or took the kids himself, which I thought was super cute. He loved having younger siblings after spending millennia as the youngest himself.
We pulled up to Zell and Sara’s school first, and Zell got out, yelling, “Wait a minute. Let me find Marjory.”
She was off like a shot before anyone could stop her. Saranor rolled her eyes and sighed as she slowly exited the vehicle.
I asked Ker, “Um, should we get out?”
“I guess…?” He didn’t sound sure, and he shrugged at me.
“Do you think the kids would freak if I shifted right here on their front lawn?”
He snorted. “Don’t you dare.”
I chuckled, and when I saw Zell heading back in our direction, I got out of the car and leaned against it. Roman came to stand beside me while Ker rolled his eyes at the entire situation.
“I think it’d be hilarious if you shifted right here,” Rome murmured under his breath.
A huff of laughter came out. “Are you seriously telling me to cause trouble? Aren’t we supposed to be staying out of the spotlight until this thing with Dad resolves itself?”
He shot me a grin and shrugged, but Zell was too close for him to reply. Instead, he said to Zellya, “Who’s your friend, cuz?”Oooh, nice family moniker. Ha.
Her grin was so big her eyes were shining. “This is Marjory. She’s never met a dragon before.”
Marjory gave Zell a look like she couldn’t believe she’d said that out loud, and Zell just shrugged. Mother of All, I loved that kid.
I said, “Well, now she’s met two.” I stepped closer to Zell with my arms open. “Do your cousins get hugs?”
She let out a small laugh and an eye roll but gave me and Rome each a quick hug, making her little friend’s eyes go even wider. And just to prove that we were really family, I added, “Let’s do a movie night tonight. We can get the whole family together.”
That made her smile even wider. She was loving every second of this. “Sounds great! See you guys later!” She nudged the othergirl’s shoulder, and they quickly headed toward the school’s front doors.
Rome gave me a nudge of his own, and we climbed back into the car to get the other kids to school.
Alsira murmured, “You guys better not get out of the car and expect hugs at our school.”
That made me snort. “Awww, are you afraid I’ll embarrass you?”
Without hesitation, she said, “Yes.”
That made Rome, Ker, and me laugh, and I shook my head as my best friend pulled the van back into traffic.
I had a ton of unread texts and a billion missed calls from my dad. And a few from Tan. I’d spoken to and texted Tan regularly, but today, I hadn’t wanted to get into it.
But my phone kept buzzing.
“Are you planning on answering that anytime soon?” Ker asked from the other side of his greenhouse. He worked for Tan and Remi’s company, growing plants and things needed for the spells they used for their security business.
I’d decided to tag along because I was sick of lounging around Ker’s house, and Roman was taking care of business things today from Anton’s house, and I knew I’d get bored. He was still in bodyguard mode, though, so he’d walked me into the building and made Remi agree to walk me out if I left.
At least Remi didn’t have to follow me around while we were here, though. Roman and I both knew how secure this place was. It was as heavily warded as my dad’s condo and the tower’s roof, so I was safe here and didn’t need a constant babysitter.
Not that I needed one anyway. As I’d proven time and again, I could actually handle myself when the need arose. But whatever. This was fine.
At the same time, though, I kinda missed the big dragon even though it’d only been a few hours since we parted.Sigh.Was this what it was like when you had a viramore? Just constantly missing them when they weren’t with you and wanting to spend every second with them… even when they were driving you mad?
“It’s my dad, so no. I’m not answering.”
