“May I?” Urien gestured to the chair beside Sam.
Sam nodded, mute.
Urien sat, angling himself so he could watch Sam’s face. He needed to see every flicker of emotion, every hint of what their mate was thinking.
“Dragon culture is very old,” Urien began, keeping his voice gentle. “Older than most human civilizations. We live for centuries - some of us millennia. And we’re meant to live in groups, triads, specifically. Threefated mates who find each other through their dragon spirits.”
Sam’s throat worked as he swallowed. “You, Mabon, and Rux.”
“Yes. We recognized each other around a hundred years ago. The bond formed immediately - we knew we belonged together. Dragons don’t choose their triad mates, our spirits recognize each other, and that’s...that’s everything.”
“Like the heart stones,” Sam said.
“Exactly like the heart stones.” Urien’s chest warmed at the connection Sam was making. “The stones appear for Treasures who becomes our fourth mate.”
Sam’s hands twisted in his lap. “And you think I’m…”
“Not think, we know who you are to us,” Urien said firmly. “That’s why the stone appears – so there is no mistake - they only appear for the one person in the entire world who’s meant to be ours. You’re the one we’ve been waiting for.”
“For a hundred years,” Sam whispered.
“Admittedly, we stopped hoping about fifty years ago,” Urien said, throwing a fond glance at his other mates. “Dragon numbers are declining. There are so few of us left, scattered across the world. Treasures are even rarer - some triads never find theirs. We thought we were one of those, and it would just be the three of us forever, and that would be enough.”
He watched Sam absorb that, watched the way his eyes widened behind his glasses.
“And then Rux saw you walk past a grocery store window,” Urien continued. “And everything changed. His heart stone appeared, and he came to us immediately. We tracked you down to the coffee shop, and the moment we saw you…” He pressed his hand to his chest, feeling the pulse of the stone. “Our dragons knew, and so did we.”
“That’s why you’ve been...” Sam trailed off, gesturing vaguely.
“Acting like absolute disasters?” Urien finished, allowing himself a rueful smile. “Yes, that’s why.”
Sam’s laugh still held a slightly hysterical edge. “You bought me a gold bar.”
“That’s traditional in dragon courting,” Mabon said from his position on the floor. “We give gifts from our hoards, precious things to show our mates we can provide for them and that we value them enough to share our wealth.”
“I thought someone was trying to scam me,” Sam said.
“We realized that, eventually.” Urien sighed. “We tried to research human courtship, but nothing made sense. The advice was contradictory. ‘Be mysterious but vulnerable. Text immediately, but wait three days. Make grand gestures but don’t love bomb.’ We’ve been failing spectacularly for weeks.”
“The coffee,” Sam said suddenly. “Rux ordered six coffees in twenty minutes.”
Rux groaned. “I was trying to prolong the conversation.”
“Mabon called my drink basic.”
“That was the negging article,” Mabon said miserably. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean…”
“And you…” Sam turned to Urien. “You made a garden that had some special message except…except. Oh…oh, I get it now. I couldn’t see it from the ground.”
“It’s visible from the air - your name with a heart beside it,” Urien said. “Dragons see the world differently, and I completely forgot about how you’d need to be flying to read it.”
Sam stared at him. Then he laughed - a real laugh this time. “You made a beautiful garden that I can’t read.”
“I’m aware of the irony,” Urien said dryly.
“And you tried to buy the coffee shop,” Sam said to Mabon.
“I did want to give it to you, so you could run it or sell it and write full-time. Whatever you wanted.”Mabon’s voice was low. “I didn’t think about how that would sound.”
