They sent me a small smile and a nod.“Yeah, babe, please do.”
They led the way to the group of kids that Ailin was still guarding, even though the danger had passed. He was in fullprotective mode, but when he saw us, he sighed and dropped his shield so we could walk through. I gave him a pat on the shoulder, grateful for all he’d done here today.
The teenager, Isidore, came right over, carrying the toddler. I blinked when I got a whiff of the little girl in her arms. She was a dragon. Holy shit, Isidore was holding a baby dragon shifter.
Isidore’s eyes were watering as she met Oakley’s gaze, and for a second, I thought she was going to yell at them. But then she fell forward, hugging them one-armed, and crying softly.
Oak hugged her back, whispering, “I’m so sorry I couldn’t find you sooner. I’m so, so sorry.”
She shook her head. “We left right after your mom was caught. There’s nothing you could’ve done.”
The two hugged for a long time, whispering until I heard her let out a small laugh, and even though Oakley was crying, they were smiling too.
Relief and happiness bloomed in my chest, and I felt my own relief grow. I’d been so worried about the reception Oak would get from the kids they were so fond of, so this was going better than I could’ve hoped.
A young boy—fourteen years old, I thought—walked over, took one look at Oakley, and burst into tears as he flung himself into them. Oak laughed and hugged the kid, whispering to him too.
I gave them their moment, checking on the rest of the operation.
I almost couldn’t believe it was finally over. After so many months of searching, of hard work, we’d finally found the base of operations. And the leader was dead.
Sebastian and the rest of his team had finally opened the cages, and they were slowly helping people up the stairs and out of the building. We had emergency care vehicles outside, and I had no doubt that by now Tan had dropped his prisoners off andwas out there directing people and making sure everyone had what they needed.
Unfortunately, there were some people who needed medical attention here before they could be moved, so a bunch of people had brought down blankets, food, water, clothing, and medical supplies.
I walked over, grabbed a few things, and brought them back over, holding out a water bottle to Isidore. “Are you thirsty?”
She stared at me for a long time but didn’t take the bottle.
Oakley said, “You can trust him, Izzy. He’s my viramore.”
Her eyes widened, and she shot a look at Oakley before turning to me. “Really?”
I nodded with a smile. “Yes, Oak’s my viramore.”
“Wow.” She took the water bottle, opened it, still balancing the toddler on her hips, and took a big sip before offering it to the little girl.
“Do you need a healing tonic?” I asked, holding one out to her.
She shook her head and gestured toward Ailin. “He healed me already.”
Right. Should’ve known that he would’ve done that the second he had her in his shield. “Do you want a blanket for your… friend?”
She hugged the little girl closer, and I took the opportunity to examine her. I still couldn’t believe she was a dragon. They were so rare these days. I hadn’t seen a baby dragon in decades.
Isidore hugged the baby dragon and whispered, “She’s my… sister.”
I raised a brow at that because that just wasn’t possible. A blood witch and a dragon were sisters?
Well, maybe if they were half-sisters somehow, but I didn’t get the sense that either of them were half anything. Isidore was a full-blooded witch, and the little one was a full dragon.
The teen huffed. “Not blood related, but her parents, uh…” She grimaced, glanced at the dragon, then mouthed to me,“They died.”
I gave a nod of understanding, my heart going out to both the girls. The poor baby didn’t have any parents, and the poor teenager was a stand-in mother at fifteen.
If I hadn’t already wanted to help these kids for Oak’s sake, I certainly did now.
“What’s her name?” Oakley asked, taking a water bottle from my hand and passing it to the little boy still wrapped around their waist.
