Page 30

At least, Twig was pretty sure that he did.

He pushed open the door and peered in. He expected Killian to be behind his desk, but he wasn’t. Instead, he was sitting on the couch, one of his children climbing on his shoulders. He smiled when he saw Twig, waving him in. He looked a little surprised, and probably curious too. Twig had never voluntarily visited Killian in his office before.

“What do I owe the pleasure?” Killian asked, waving for Twig to sit on one of the other couches. Hedley was already there, the other child on his lap. That baby watched Twig with wide eyes. Both children were still in their dragon form—as far as Twig knew, they hadn’t shifted to human form yet. It made sense. Killian and Hedley had adopted them, so they were full dragons. It always took dragon children a while to learn to shift. Once they did, though, they never forgot how, and never stopped.

“Hello, Twig,” Hedley said with a gentle smile. “If you want to talk to Killian alone, the children and I can go.”

Twig had barely settled onto the couch when the baby on Killian’s shoulder launched itself off him. It flapped its wings, though it was too young to fly. Still, it was enough to send it crash-landing into Twig’s lap, and Twig reached out, steadying it.

“If this is a serious conversation, we can definitely go,” Hedley said.

“It’s fine,” Twig said, gently running his fingertips up and down the baby’s back. This was his nephew or niece. They were family.

“Let’s hear it, then,” Killian said. “Something happened? Is someone bothering you?”

“No one’s bothering me more than usual. That’s not why I’m here.”

Killian arched a brow. “I feel like that’s something we need to talk about eventually, but let’s focus on why you’re here first. What’s going on?”

Twig looked down. “It has to do with Taylor.”

When he looked up, it was to find Hedley smiling at him. He didn’t look surprised, and neither did Killian. In fact, the two of them exchanged a glance, seemingly having a full conversation without words.

“What about Taylor?” Killian asked.

“I think you know what about Taylor. I’m just not sure it’s a good idea.”

“Do you want it to be?” Hedley asked.

“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.”

“Then who cares what kind of idea it is. If you both want it, and if you both understand what might come with it, then go for it. This is your life, and you shouldn’t let anyone dictate your happiness—especially people who shouldn’t have any say in how you live it.”

“I just don’t want to get the two of you in trouble, or start drama. I know most of the council members don’t want me there, and I can’t say they’re entirely wrong. I’m still figuring out what I’m doing.”

Hedley reached over and squeezed Twig’s arm. “You don’t have to know yet. You’ll learn, just like the old guard did. They’ve clearly forgotten how they started, but maybe they should be reminded.”

“I’m pretty sure that would definitely not be a good idea.”

Hedley chuckled. “Probably not. They already hate me enough as it is. But you know what? I don’t care. Killian loves me, and I love him. Together, we’re happy. That’s all that matters to us. It’s all that should matter to you, too. Everyone else can keep their thoughts to themselves.” Twig glanced at Killian, relieved to see him nod. Apparently, he agreed with Hedley. He also thought Twig should follow his heart.

And Twig’s heart was telling him where he should go, wasn’t it? It was telling him what would make him happy.

And what would make him happy was a human guard.

* * * *

TAYLOR GENERALLY ENJOYED his days off. They gave him the chance to explore the palace, and one of the reasons he’d wanted so badly to work here was that he was curious about dragons and the places they lived. Now he lived here too, and he loved it.

As a human, he’d never thought he’d end up living somewhere like this. The palace was simple in some ways, but it was still a palace, and the king lived here. It was also luxurious, and it housed a lot of people. The king was here, of course, along with his family.

And, unfortunately, people like Ilias, who was currently standing in front of Taylor, blocking his path through the garden.

Taylor looked around. Was there any way to walk around Ilias? He was pretty sure he could make it work, but he also suspected Ilias had cornered him in the garden for a reason. Taylor had just been trying to find some flowers for Twig, dammit. He didn’t need to start a fight with a council member. Besides, he suspected he wouldn’t like the words about to come out of Ilias’s mouth. Ilias’s expression alone was enough to tell Taylor they wouldn’t be good ones.

“Council member,” Taylor said, inclining his head and trying to step around him. Ilias wouldn’t have any of it, though. Of course he wouldn’t.

“You’re the human guard,” Ilias said with a growl that might have been impressive if Taylor had been afraid of him. He doubted Ilias would ever want to get his own hands dirty, though. Sure, he could hurt Taylor, and he could no doubt do so without much effort if he wanted to, but did he want to?