Oh, I remember Malak well.
Black hair, inky-blue eyes, pale skin, and high cheekbones. But the chill that I would feel when I was in his presence… I’ve never felt that around Thaden.
“With one distinct difference,” he continues. “My skin was light brown like my mother’s.”
Slowly, he begins removing the tunic he’s wearing. Then he points to a spot right beneath his left pectoral muscle. “This is where I drove the device into my heart. I expect removing it willbe just as painful, so I’m going to back up and brace against the wall.”
He does as he says, even though I haven’t agreed to anything, and there he waits.
I make a decision.
It’s formed from instinct alone, but I have to trust myself and the power that Erik allowed me to access. I need to trust this medallion that I forged from a hammer made of his deep light, a forging in which I poured every part of myself.
“You are not your father, Thaden,” I say, placing the toolbox on the floor and striding toward him, drawing on my power in a flash, a surge so strong that the moment I press my left hand to his heart, he jolts.
His fists slam back against the rock wall, his teeth visibly gritted.
With a swift wrench, I pull the device from his heart, fully aware that it’s slicing through flesh and bone and causing him unbearable pain.
But I also sense he needs to feel it.
He needs to know that it’s gone and that all the grief that came with it is finally over.
The dragon device slices through his skin and drops to the floor, but I’m already pouring my hopes for him through my metal.
Heal. And be human.
Be all the things that humans can be. Loving and kind like Maybelle and Kedric. Intelligent and loyal like Rachel. Compassionate and strong like Mother Solas. Talented and resilient like Genova?—
Genova.
My eyes widen as a very real possibility occurs to me.
Genova was the one who walked me through Malak’s orchard. She pointed to the dark cottage and asked me whatmust have happened within its walls to turn Malak into such a monster.
She was a midwife for the Blacksmiths and the one who told me about the baby Milena took away. The baby who was Thaden.
I may never know if she is Thaden’s mother, but oh, he is so much like her in so many ways. Smart, loyal, thoughtful, strong.
As I pour my power into his heart and body, the dragon scales vanish from his skin while his body shape remains the same, tall and broad-shouldered. His bronzed eyes shift from amber and yellow to green and finally inky-dark blue. His hair color changes at the same quick rate, the strands becoming black, and his skin transforms to light brown.
Now that the device is gone from his body, he doesn’t appear to experience any pain. All of the tension leaves his face, his jaw unclenches, and his shoulders relax.
The reversion to his previous appearance happens so easily and seamlessly that I’m under no illusion that it’s entirely because of my power. His body knew what it was before he forced the dragon’s soul to merge with his, and it must have been ready to change back.
The changes happen smoothly until he’s standing in front of me, wholly changed. But also… the same.
Even though his coloring is different, he is still Thaden.
Quickly, I do a final check of the wound across the location of his heart, keeping my left hand pressed to him for another few seconds until his skin fully heals.
His heart resumes beating normally, a strongthump-thumpbefore he slumps forward, and I catch him, lowering us both to the floor.
His head comes to rest on my shoulder, and his breathing deepens. Erik slept for hours after I made him whole, and it occurs to me that I probably didn’t think this through. I should have ensured we returned to Thaden’s cottage first.
“It’s okay,” he murmurs in my ear as if he reads my regret. “This is where I wanted to be. In my forge, where I found my purpose. I’ll just sit here a while. I’ll be fine.” His forehead creases. “Hopefully, Tamra won’t get a fright when she sees me.”
And then he says, “She’s a good person. The best person. Maybe even the family I didn’t think I would ever have. I’ll keep her safe. I promise.”
