He sighs. “I need rest, Peach. I can do a lot, but bringing someone back to life is the limit of my magic until I recharge.”
Back to life? Anger at the monster strikes me again.
Darcy pets the scales protecting my gullet where my breath fans the flames I want to use on the monstrosity that killed my sister. “It’s not as bad as it seems. Her soul didn’t even leave her body.”
I blow out a lick of flame at the dead thing, and it ignites like it’s meant to. Cradling Darcy close, I watch the thing burn to ash in moments, then allow my body to melt back into my human form, thinking very hard about remembering to not drop my mate.
From one moment to the next, I forget what happened.
I blink at the beautiful man in my arms, frowning at the ashen look of him. He’s asleep, so hopefully that will help with whatever’s wrong with him.
I look up at where my father has my sister in his arms, sobbing as he cradles her. She’s breathing, and there isn’t a hole in her body, so I’m guessing that Darcy’s condition and hers are magically linked.
“Good mate,” I whisper to him. “I got you.” I’ll protect him with everything in me for the life he saved.
My dad takes a deep breath, looking at me with gratitude. “I’m so glad you showed up, son. You alright? Who is that?”
I knock my head toward the house. “Let’s get them tucked into a couple of beds,” I urge him, and he follows me toward the house. “This is my mate, Darcy. I’m a dragon shifter, so I get a fated mate, and he’s mine.”
My father sniffles. “It’s a good thing. He saved Lizzy.”
“He’s a good man. What happened to her?”
Dad shrugs. “No idea. I found her a moment before you two arrived. She got hit by something, but he—I don’t know. Looked like herbal medicine or something.”
Dad must be really human if even after seeing magic he’s not remembering it.
“He’s magic,” I tell him, not sure how else to describe my mate.
“I’ll say,” Dad agrees, kissing Liz’s forehead. “So he’s your new beau? He’s prettier than you usually go for.”
Mom opens the door for us, concern on her face. “What the hell happened?”
Dad looks at me, and I shrug. “Stung by a bug, but they’re fine, just sleeping it off now.”
Dad nods in agreement as we climb the steps into the house.
It’s a farmhouse with pictures of the family all over the walls. My parents aren’t religious, but there’s a few religions represented in the house. My mom doesn’t care if the art is religious in origin, if it tickles her fancy, she’ll put it up in her house. There’s some interesting symbols mixed in with all the family photos, but that’s home for me.
I take the creaky stairs up to my bedroom and lay Darcy on my bed. He flops onto my pillow, still out like a light, so I take his shoes off and throw a blanket over him.
When he’s tucked in, I meet my parents back in the kitchen. My mom hands me a pint of hard cherry cider with a couple of homemade cherry fritters, then gives dad the same, and sits down with her own portion. “When’d you get back?” she asks like nothing’s amiss.
Ok, even I can admit it’s a little weird that my parents aren’t freaking out about Liz’s near miss. That humans-can’t-see-magic is powerful stuff.
“Just a little bit ago,” I say as a breeze blows through the kitchen, bringing with it the cool scent of the mountain air.
I love it here, but as I think about the man sleeping in my bed, I realize this isn’t home for me anymore. I’ve not lived here for the better part of seven years, and now I’m moving in with my mate, and there’s no future here for me. I planned to return, but there’s no point. Darcy isn’t ever going to be a farm boy, and I—I don’t want to bring him here when he needs to be everywhere else tracking down missing babies, killing people that need dying, and otherwise bringing the balance of the universe back into its usual state.
“I just wanted you to meet Darcy, then we’re heading back home. I’m moving in with him, and we gotta get that sorted, you know?”
“That boy you brought in?” Mom asks with a happy smile. “He looked real pretty. You caught his eye?”
I laugh, nodding as I sip my family’s famous cherry cider. “I guess I did. He’s more than a pretty face, you know. He’s important. Not just to me. He does bounty-hunting and search and rescue. He’s the best. I’m going to marry him.”
“I think he needs to agree to that before we start making wedding plans,” Dad points out.
I chuckle. “He’s going to ask me. I don’t have to do anything. That man is going to make himself mine in every possible way.”
