I let loose a long sigh, my body slumping and moulding into his. Suddenly, so very tired. “Is this…over now? Are the shifters all…gone?”
“All gone,” Ketill confirms. “But we have one last thing to do, treasure.” Ketill nods, his hand gently stroking my hair back. “Then it’s over.”
“What more is there left to do?” I try not to sound like I’m complaining, but I think I deserve it after everything we’ve been through.
“We gotta finish the job.” Ketill releases me and turns to Saskia, the dragon mother.
She’s standing at the mouth of the alleyway, her long black hair swaying around her. The scales are gone, as are the diamond fangs. But there is something powerful about this woman, something that makes me glad Ketill moves in front of me.
“I want what belongs to me,” Saskia says, her voice soft and her amber gaze locked on the egg in my arms.
“My customers always leave happy,” Ketill replies. He takes the bag from my shoulder and holds it out to her.
“W-wait!”
They both turn to stare at me, and I swallow before clearing my throat.
“I…just wanted to say goodbye.”
After a beat of silence where Ketill’s grin grows way too large and the back of my neck heats, I hear Saskia chuckle. Her shoes tap against the cobbled street as she approaches us. “You’ve found yourself an interesting mate, Ketill.”
“Oh, I’m aware.”
I ignore them both and gently lay my hands on the pretty egg, my thumb stroking the warm shell. “Thank you for everything. Remember to stay safe, okay?”
I don’t expect anything to happen, and maybe it’s my imagination, but I swear the egg grows the slightest bit warmer.
Ketill lays another kiss on my cheek, then hands the egg to its rightful owner.
Saskia pulls it close to her chest and sighs like something painful has finally been removed. “What’s your name?”
“Er…Thomas.”
“Thomas,” she replies, nodding once. “Your soulmate doesn’t deserve you.”
I’m about to say something when Ketill speaks up, “Oh, I know,” and I realise she’d been talking to him. I shift my feet and scratch the back of my neck.
“Shut up,” I mumble, gently punching Ketill’s arm. “Yes, you do,” I whisper.
And the look he sends me is more blinding than Saskia’s flames.
“Goodbye, Ketill and Thomas.” Saskia spins on her heel and heads towards the road. “I’m excited to hear about this daring adventure in your next newsletter.”
I turn to my grinning vampire, eyebrow cocked. “Do you really have a newsletter?”
Ketill tosses his head back as he laughs, loud and bold. He slings his arm around me, and as I shake my head, he pulls me in the direction of Saskia. “Don’t you want to see Saskia and her egg off?”
I perk up. “Is she going to fly away?”
Ketill only smirks and points me in the direction of Saskia strapping the egg into a car seat in the back of a white Ford Focus.
“Oh…”
“Yeah. Disappointing, right?” Ketill says, sounding not disappointed at all as we watch her drive off in a cloud of exhaust fumes. “So…”
“So…”
“I believe you wanted to see an old ass village.”
