“Good morning, Emerald,” Zander said, standing to pull out a chair for her. “When I heard you up, I took the liberty of ordering enough food for a small army.”
Spence organized all the dishes on the small table, and Zander pulled a chair out for Emmy, who eyed the spread as Spence lifted lids to reveal scrambled eggs, bacon, sausagelinks, a dish that smelled like lamb chops, venison medallions, roasted root vegetables, fresh bread with butter, slices of cantaloupe, and a bowl of mixed berries.
“You weren’t kidding about the army thing,” she said, reaching for the coffee pot.
Zander settled back into his chair, his gaze assessing. “You need to put weight back on. So, question for the biology expert — what foods will help you gain weight the fastest? And more importantly, what does your dragon physiology process best?”
Emmy considered while she doctored her coffee. “Honey, because simple carbs, but for protein, lamb. My body seems to metabolize it most efficiently, and I suppose it makes sense when you consider that dragons ate a lot of sheep in the old stories.”
“Makes sense,” Spence said. “Wolves are the same with deer and rabbit. Our bodies are designed for it. I can eat other things, but venison settles better, and rabbit tastes better than anything else on the planet.”
“Interesting.” Emmy speared two lamb chops and added eggs. “What was your favorite food as a human, before you were turned?”
Grief flickered across Spence’s face, like an old injury he couldn’t shake. His scent told Emmy she’d brought up painful baggage, and she immediately regretted asking.
“Foster kids don’t really get to have favorite foods. You ate what was put in front of you and were grateful for it.”
The casual way he said it made Emmy’s chest hurt, but before she could respond, Zander reached across the table and squeezed Spence’s hand.
“What came before brought you to this place,” Zander said quietly.
Spence’s expression softened immediately, and he turned his hand to lace their fingers together. “Yes. It did.” He took a deep breath, blew it out slowly, and his scent evened out — went from painful memories to contentment and peace.
There was so much history there, so much healing that had already happened between them.
Emmy had been around Kirsten all her life, since she’s close friends with Emmy’s parents, and she knew Kirsten had been therapist to a whole lot of the supernatural world at some point, so she asked Spence, “Did you used to see Kirsten?”
Spence choked on his juice, coughing hard enough that Emmy half-rose to help. He waved her off, eyes watering.
“No,” he managed, voice rough. “God, no. I was so jealous of her at first, there’s no way I could’ve trusted her for anything.”
Emmy settled back into her chair, confused. “Jealous?”
Spence looked at Zander, who nodded, and Spence told Emmy, “Kirsten and Zander were together for a while.”
Crap. She knew that. It’d been before she was hatched, but she’d heard the gossip. OfcourseSpence hadn’t gone to her.
He took another drink. Blew out a breath. “When I first became … when Zander first…”
“When I inherited you from your former Master,” Zander supplied quietly.
“Yes. At first, I was so pissed at Abbott and Gavin. I was traumatized, years of it, both as a human then as slave, and a werewolf. But Abbott treated me differently. He insisted I learn to make decisions, and gave me a job helping others. Eventually, I fell for him. Hard. But he wouldn’t return the … he was just the Master, even though he wouldn’t really act like it. He treated me more of an equal than a slave, and then he gave me a book of vampire law, and pointed out a few sections about how slaves can acquire freedom. He couldn’t tell me those things, but he could help me figure it out.”
He shook his head. “I’m telling this in the wrong order. First, I guess you need to know why she broke up with him, and how she broke Abbott’s heart.”
Emmy’s head snapped to Zander, to see his expression, but he was very still, his face completely neutral. “Kirsten ended our relationship because I tried to control her. For the first time in centuries, I was dating someone I couldn’t control, couldn’t just alter memories or thoughts, and make them agree with me. It limited my way of dealing with conflict, so I went behind her back and…”
He sighed. “I fucked up, destroyed trust, and she broke up with me. For the first time in … more than centuries, possibly a millennium, I couldn’t change the mind of the person I loved.”
He met Emmy’s gaze. “She was right to leave me. I’d forgotten what it meant to have a true relationship.”
The weight of his confession hung in the air.
“I’d been doing it for so long with so many people,” Zander continued, his voice quiet, “that I didn’t even realize it was wrong anymore. There were no arguments, no conflict, because I controlled everything. I could make sure everyone around me wanted what I wanted, so I did. It was easier that way. Cleaner.”
“But not real,” Emmy said softly.
“No. Not real.” Zander looked at Spence and back to her. “Kirsten made me understand how a true relationship should work. Made me see what I’d been doing.”
