Etienne’s shoulders slumped, the exhaustion he’d been holding back washing across his face. His hand twisted around the blanket.
“You should sleep,” I said.
“I’m fine.”
The lie sat between us as he stared at the sheets. His eyes were suddenly too wide, his breath too shallow. Fear still hung onto him even if the worst had passed.
“I’ll stay until you fall asleep,” I said. “And I’ll be close if you need me.”
His throat bobbed with his hard swallow. “I’m sorry. I hate being a burden.”
I brushed his hair back from his forehead. This male had never been that. He’d been my strength, my person, even when he was encouraging me to seek out Brenton and make him mine.Even if I don’t know if we were still an us.“You’re not a burden. We take care of each other. It’s what we’ve always done. That’s what family is supposed to do.”
His lips twitched into the barest hint of a smile as he lay back down, his eyes fluttering closed. I stayed, listening to the uneven rhythm of his breathing as it slowed. He jerked awake twice, disoriented and scared, but I was already there to steady him.
Eventually, he fell asleep, but I stayed a bit longer before I slipped out of bed as quietly as I could and padded down the hall. The house was brighter with the sun sweeping through the windows. I found Brenton in the kitchen, elbows braced on the counter, staring at a glass half-filled with water.
He didn’t look up when I entered.
“Ashara came through the tear a little while ago.” His voice was rough and tired. “She’s outside with Hoshiko.” His gaze finally lifted, finding mine. His mouth opened like he might sayLolli,but he swallowed it down instead. “You’re not alone, Finley.”
Chapter
Thirty-Eight
BRENTON
“You’re not alone, Finley.”
But standing here in the kitchen, it felt likeIwas.
Hoshiko and Ashara were in the yard, their deep rumbling breaths like a quiet symphony. But it couldn’t reach the emptiness in my chest.
Teddy had stopped by earlier with my Luana, her tail wagging like I’d been gone for years. She’d dropped the leash in my hand and hugged me a little too tight, but it was me who held on when she inched away.
We couldn’t talk long. She was already running late for an outing the school had planned for the girls, but she’d be back, and we’d talk.
She’d seen it. Felt it. The pain that lived in my chest. And when she’d said Finley’s name, I’d snapped.
“I did this,” I’d said. “I ruined us, butvith,Teddy, I’d do it again.”
Indecision warred in her expression, and I could see she’d wanted to stay, but she couldn’t choose me over her girls. I wouldn’t allow it, so I convinced her to go while she promised to return as soon as she could.
After Teddy left, I sat on the back steps with Luana. She hadn’t cared about the tattered remains of my heart. She simply pressed her head atop my knees, comforting me the way she always had. It hadn’t taken much to convince her to chase a ball I found. Once she tuckered out, she’d made her way to Hoshiko and Ashara and curled up against the smaller dragon.
Finley had a dragon. I still couldn’t believe it.
And not just any dragon but a sweet youngling. Wide-eyed and fierce. Soft but with sharp teeth. And she’d rip me apart for hurting Finley. I couldn’t even blame her. She already loved Finley in that pure, unguarded way.
Maybe almost as much as I did.
A muscle in my jaw tightened.
It was easy to let go of hope when you’d been left behind before. Easier still to convince yourself that you weren’t just forgotten but also unwanted.
That thought slid in with familiar ease. The pain forged in an orphanage where no one came for you, where even the gentlest of goodbyes felt like proof that you weren’t worth staying for.
“Do you want to go outside with me?” Finley asked, voice cautious.
