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“Nothing. I’m being silly. Go on.”

They insisted I feel under the quilt as well, and I slid my hand in.

“Okay, what now?” It wasn’t that cold.

Ivy got out and made me get in. The triplets each put a hand on the bottom sheet and it heated up, as though someone had turned on an electric blanket.

I had a head full of stories about what I’d gotten up to in the jobs I’d taken, but those had to take second place to this. Nothing could top dragons, me living with dragons, dragons producing fire in the house or acting like a hot water bottle.

“That’s… ummm, yeah, it’s… well, I’d say it’s...”

“Scary?” Wren’s bottom lip quivered as she looked at her sisters.

“Different?” Poppy suggested.

“Do you like what we did?” Ivy was staring at me.

“It’s amazing.”

From the corner of my eye, I noted Sinclair had snuck in.

“You’re all so clever. I wish I could do that.”

I pulled back the covers and the girls leaped in, and we cuddled. I was sweating because I didn’t need a heated bed in this house.

“We do this every night after you leave the room.” Poppy put her head on my shoulder as Ivy and Wren agreed about whose foot could go where.

Maybe I should have been terrified. Dragons were no joke, and I was living in the house with a fully formed one and three apprentices, one of whom spilled every cup of juice I put in front of her, one who often put her shoes on the wrong feet, and the third who refused to eat food that touched other food.

Ahhh, that explained the mug, the steam, the furnace hands, and the overly warm house.

But what should have scared me wasn’t scales, horns, and streams of fire. The old me would have been checking the exits and thinking how long to stay, when to go, and what to leave behind. Those were my go-to questions, but lately, the math was coming out wrong.

But as I lay in bed with three people who were not human and a father skulking near the entrance, I didn’t look for the door. Sure, I knew where it was, but I couldn’t imagine walking through it and leaving the three people behind. And not because they were dragons but because I loved them. And the fourth? The verdict was still out on my feelings for the boss.

“We were worried you’d run away when you found out.” Ivy’s feet were on mine. “So we tested you.”

“And we do like you.” Wren looked up at me. “We heartie you, River.”

“I told you, Poppy. I knew River wouldn’t hate us.” Ivy produced her flame again and almost singed the bedding.

“Ivy, no.” Both Sinclair and I yelled. I went to grab her, but he was across the room in a second and took her in his arms.

“Ivy,” Sinclair began, but I shook my head because I had to learn how to handle these situations.

“I don’t know all the rules about fire, but you do not use it to hurt anyone and definitely not your sister.” Whatever the ground rules were, I needed to get up to speed.

“Bracelets.” Sinclair dangled the ones the girls usually wore and fastened them around their wrists. “It’s partly my fault because I allowed them their flames in the kitchen.”

I gave him a look before marching the girls into the bathroom. Brushing teeth was always chaotic with triplets, especially as they told me dragons didn’t need to clean their fangs, so why did they have to brush teeth?

“Oh really? If there are any dragons around here with bad breath, I’ll hand them a shovel, a hoe, and a tub of soapy water and tell them to brush.”

I could predict how the next few weeks would be. Instead of trying to trick or scare me, the template would be “We don’t have to do xyz because our dragons don’t.”

But that was life with kids. It just so happened the three I cared about had dragons they were waiting to meet.

“Do we get goodnight kisses?” Wren put her arms out.