Tenderness flows from him as the kiss goes on. I’m drawn into him like stars racing across the night sky. I hug him around the middle as I battle the ache in my throat and the burn in my eyes. A tear escapes me anyway. Bastian thumbs it away as he pulls back.
“Getting weepy when we have company?” He tsks as he swipes away another tear.
“Hush up,” I say with a sniffle.
I glance over to see Renee making the most intense “aww” face I’ve ever seen.
Drew clears his throat and says, “It’s kinda late, we better take off, babe.”
“Can’t I watch them being adorable for a few more minutes?” she asks with a child-like whine.
“Nah, it’s time I get you to bed,” Drew says, then slaps her ass with a loud clap.
Renee yelps and I can’t help but chuckle. They’re adorable, too.
We help them pack up some leftovers and they take the trash for us on their way out.
They come back in the evenings for the next week to help us with the giant dragon design, though Bastian is the heavy lifter on the fabrication. Drew and Renee make the magical sconces with me, and I spend my witchy energy infusing all of them with illusion magic.
We set the first pair of torches in the entrance and I activate the incantation to light them. Opalescent flame bursts from the top and dances six inches upward. Little sparks of rainbow brilliance shoot away from the flame every so often, giving the appearance of some alchemic instability.
It looks absolutely magical.
Bastian takes one night to canvas off the front of the building so no one can watch him fabricate the dragon. We make hammering noises the next day before opening to give the illusion of construction for about twenty minutes, and then, we do the big reveal.
Our neighbors come out to ogle the massive gaping maw of the dragon head coming right out of the awning. I’ve infused the inside of its mouth with the same magic as the torches and we’ve put a trigger on either side of the window to set it off when someone walks past.
Bastian hugs me close as we watch the kids from the bakery down the street run through the illusionary fire, a smile splitting each of their faces as they scream in delight. I can’t wait until it’s one of our own children screaming alongside them.
Like lightning, dread strikes in my gut. I clutch my stomach from the intensity of it, but remember to breathe. Just breathe through it.
“Cait? What is it?” Bastian asks as he bumps my head with his nose.
“I was just…thinking about the children is all. What if one falls while running, or what if my magic hurts them?”
His human hand tenses on my side and I feel the prick of claws.
“Do not lie to me,” he says with quiet ferocity.
“Why would I ever stay with a woman who can’t give me a family?”
I swallow Jeremy’s words, making the stone in my stomach heavy and hot with rage.
“Can we talk about it later?” I ask, my voice trembling to contain the emotion.
“Of course.”
Bastian turns me toward him and pulls me into a tight embrace. I hold onto him as my world tries to fall out from under me once again.
“You don’t need to hide from me. I’m nothim.”
“I know. I’m sorry,” I murmur as a burn builds behind my tightly closed eyes.
“No more half-truths. No more lies. Yes?”
I nod, smearing his shirt with my salty tears.
He lets me hug him for a long time. We listen to the children scream and play until my quiet sobs dry up. I pull back and glance up with tear-stained lashes that make the light halo around him. He looks like an angel.
