“That’s when you’re most incapable of winning any arguments,” Brenton continued.
Elias covered his palm over Zayne’s eyes. Then he lifted his middle finger.
Laughter rippled through our small circle. A quiet moment stretched. Elias shifted, his jaw working as he looked between Etienne and me.
“Call me Elias.” The words were simple, but I caught the faint edge of nerves he tried to hide.
Etienne was the first to nod. “All right, Elias.”
I followed a beat later with a quiet, “Elias.”
His grin grew. “Good.”
Brenton leaned back while Caspian lounged against his chest, his eyes growing heavier. “Where’s Javi?”
“Kassidy wasn’t thrilled to hear you and Finley left so suddenly,” Alastor said, voice strained. “She was even less thrilled when I told her Everly and I were also leaving.”
Everly huffed in agreement. “Alastor calmed her in his charming, charismatic way.”
Brenton snorted. “You mean his shadows terrified her, and she had no other choice but to relent.”
Alastor smirked, but it quickly fell away. “Javier offered to stay. As a show of trust that we would return.”
“Is he safe there by himself?” Teddy asked.
“He has Sama,” Alastor said. “He’ll be fine, Ted. He’s not a youngling anymore. He does well at taking care of himself.”
Elias took Teddy’s fidgeting hand and brought it to his lips.
Brenton didn’t say anything, but I noticed the way his hand, braced on Caspian’s back, went still. I didn’t have to know the details to feel him. Tight, protective, worry. Each emotion filtered through our bond.
He was too far for me to brush my knee against his. Too far to squeeze his hand. His eyes met mine, and one side of his lips tilted. He knew I wanted to reassure him and be there for him in any and every way.
Elias broke the silence with a heavy sigh. “I saw Victoria’s birth mom in Vistos.” It came out tight, but he kept his fingers soft as they traced over Teddy’s arm. “I confronted her the night I left. She told me that after her husband died in battle, she didn’t want Tori to grow up around dragons or their riders. She wanted Tori to have a fresh start in a new realm. Kassidy wasn’t the leader yet, but she helped her leave all the same. No one but Kassidy knows where she went, but even Kassidy believes Tori died when I brought the endless winter to the human world. That’s why I left.”
Brenton frowned. “You said she fled Vistos. How did she go back?”
Elias rubbed his hand across his jaw. “Her husband’s dragon opened a tear in his rider’s honor and never sealed it. He guarded it so she could return if she ever wished to. Kassidy helped her leave, but she never knew the dragon kept a path open.”
Teddy nodded. “That’s why she’d leave Tori with me for days at a time,” she said, glancing at Elias. “She wasn’t disappearing. She was going home long enough to ease the ache of missing it.”
“After I brought the endless winter to the human realm, she believed leaving Tori with Teddy would keep her alive. She trusted Teddy. And she trusted what little she knew of the fate that brought me there.”
Alastor tilted his head slightly. “What now?”
Teddy’s face pinched, and her voice came out low but sure. “When Tori’s old enough, she deserves to know the truth so she can choose where she wants to be. It’s her birthright.”
“It makes sense now.” Elias nodded, his gaze distant. “Why Tori was never afraid of Nalari. Why she took so quickly to Hoshiko.” He let out a dry laugh. “I swear she’s more comfortable around dragons than she is people.”
Around us, the world dimmed as night fell. One by one, spheres of fae lights started to glow.
“Nalari’s taken her up a few times,” Elias said, turning his attention to where the dragons lazed on an open field. My sweet Ashara curled between Nalari and Hoshiko while the other dragons kept a smaller distance between them. “She said she’ll train her so when the time comes, she won’t be behind if she chooses to move to Vistos.”
Brenton’s smile faded. “If there’s a Vistos to go back to.”
The words quieted the group.
Everly’s gaze shifted to the dragons in the field. “Zaicha doesn’t need Finley to keep draining the dragons.”
