“They’re gorgeous,” she breathed.
“So you agree? You’ll be in my dragon master?”
“I don’t know anything about dragons.”
“I’ll teach you. And at the end of a year, you may keep one for your own.”
Her head shot up, tears in her eyes. “One year?” she whispered.
“And I will pay you with a dragon.”
“Yes.” The word came so fast, Josh wondered if she’d spoken before she could change her mind.
“Yes,” Bitterroot echoed. And then right before their eyes, he changed. Where there once had stood a condescending youth, there now stood a tall, dark fairy prince with a shimmering butterfly tattoo. His hair was sleek black, his eyes even more so. And when he touched her cheek, Mother shivered. Her lips parted in shock or fear, or maybe just a riot of emotions that flashed through her eyes too fast to catch.
The new Bitterroot smiled. It was a dark looked filled with a danger that sucked the heat from the air.
Then they were gone.
And so was Wisconsin, because just as quickly, Nero and Josh were back in Indianapolis, standing in the park on a brilliant winter morning.
Chapter 28
NERO DIDN’Tstumble so much as reel. Everything had changed so fast. And when he looked at Josh’s wide, startled eyes, he realized that they had collapsed against each other, that Josh was in his arms and they were holding each other so tight, not even a fairy crowbar could come between them.
Josh’s eyes were bright, the sunlight sparking in the hazel color making them first blue, then green, then back. Nero knew he could get lost in those eyes, in the changing colors and the emotions they revealed. But mostly, he knew he could get lost in Josh. The man who had made him whole when every part of him felt broken.
“So it’s done?” Josh asked. “We’re… free?”
“I think so.” Nero wasn’t the smart one here, so he had to talk it through just to make sure he understood it. “I went back in time and killed that fucker demon.”
Josh nodded. “I went with you and made sure you killed it right.”
“Yeah. And thanks.”
Josh grinned. “You can thank me with sex.”
Nero had no problem with that, but his mind was still stumbling past everything that had happened. “So I created a new timeline, one with my team alive.”
Josh’s voice softened. “They’re alive, Nero. You saved them.”
“We saved them,” he said. “And they’re going to kick ass over there.”
Josh nodded. “But now we’re back in the original timeline. The one where I was recruited to save your ass.”
“And I thank you with sex.” He dropped his forehead against Josh’s. “Of course I picked you.”
Josh whispered, “Thank you,” so softly that Nero almost missed it. But they were pressed so close together that even if the words hadn’t had sound, he would have felt it straight from Josh’s heart to his own.
“Thank you for saving me,” he whispered, and he meant it in more than the physical sense. He’d have lost himself in grief if it hadn’t been for Josh. And now he knew how much more he could feel, how much richer life was with Josh in it.
Meanwhile, Josh was picking up the tale. “But someone had to pay Bitterroot. I was willing to do it.”
“So was I.”
“But Mother—”
Nero gulped. Mother had taken the hit for both of them. She’d agreed to serve Bitterroot for a year in their stead. “She wanted to. She has a thing for dragons. She’s going to get to raise dragons.”
