I love the way we’re synched up in our thinking, even if he would never admit it. “No babies. That is, um, Theo.”
“Theo, the huge dragon capable of eating ten bunkum in a single bite?”
“Yes, that one. I sort of shrank him.”
“You don’t say,” he deadpans.
“With whatever magic, power, essence, or substance I absorbed from the Red Queen.”
“Well, that took a dark and unusual turn,” Genie mutters.
“Please don’t absorb anyone’s essence other than ours,” Malachi adds as his hand swipes down my spine, reminding me we’ve yet to be together fully since my return. We have Theo back, sort of, so no more waiting.
Genie tilts his head when Theo hiccups and sets the rug on fire. Sir Sweeps-A-Lot flies over and bats at the tiny fires. Aw, my sidekicks have the chaos covered. I love it.
“Do you want him in human form, or normal-sized dragon?” Genie wonders.
“Human form,” the knights chorus.
Ugh, I was going to go with dragon, but I guess that would give us the overgrown, growly beast issue all over again.
Genie sighs and circles Theo while muttering to himself, too low for me to make out the words. He pauses, leaning closer, and Theo growls at him. So damn cute.
“I see what the problem is,” Genie says with a firm nod.
“Oh, good,” Gwyneth breathes. “Can you fix it?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m not meddling in an architect’s power. That’s a sure way to have yourself written out of the history books. Daphne needs to do it.”
“How?” Nash asks.
“Simple. Take the power back, but only that which you expelled. Be careful not to pull on anything else, or you might find yourself a dragon.”
“Daphne as a huge fire-breathing beast with wings?” Hart says. “What could possibly go wrong?”
I elbow him in the ribs. He huffs, but he’s smiling. Nash presses his lips into a thin line.
The mirror hanging on the wall shimmers. No, not just a mirror,themirror, with its crack and everything. “Miss Denise, my fairest of fair, you are once more back with your army of burly men,” Eron says as his face becomes clearer.
For some unfathomable reason, my eyes begin to sting. A tempo later, Hamish and Eugene come scuttling through the cracked-open door and fly up onto the bed behind me, cuddling between me and Hart. Now? Now I’m crying.
We’re all here, even the smarmy prince with a foot fetish who started it all. I guess I have him and his wayward floof fondling to thank for putting us on this path.
“Hey, Eron,” I say with a watery smile. Why am I so emotional? This is the first tempo we’ve had to breathe—even with a shrunken dragon to deal with—which, in the grand scheme of things, feels small. No pun intended.
“What is that?” Eron mutters, squashing his face against the glass to get a better look at Theo. “Oh my, have you all grown into giants?”
I dart a look at Gwyneth. Is that what happened? Theo is normal-sized and we are huge? That... no. Doesn’t make any sense.
“That’s Theo. I accidentally shrank him.”
“But you do have him,” Eron says with a big grin. “Well done. Now you can do what you were born for.”
“Which is?” Malachi asks.
Eron blinks. “Erasing the evil and building a new world.”
No erasing. I tried that, and it didn’t work out. Problem for another diurnal.
