Page 40 of Accidentally a Dragon Daddy

I jerked my hand back from Elanya’s stomach, but I was far too slow. She’d seen us and knew what that sort of touch meant.

Her eyes filled with blue hellfire as she came at us, her face twisted into something I’d never seen before.

“Stay behind me,” I growled, interposing my bulk between Elanya and my sister.

“Yep, no problem, I’ll be right here, hiding from the insanely scary dragon lady.”

I snorted, then held out my arms wide, blocking the hall. “Jaklin. The children.”

The reminder of where we were and what she was brought my sister up short. None of the fury faded from her eyes, but the reminder got through to her. She straightened, composing herself, and turned back the way she’d come, facing the kids who had come around the corner after her.

“Okay, kids,” she said, and I marveled at her switch in tone. “Everyone back into the class now, okay? Come on, let’s go. Hurry up. Go-go!”

“Do we run for it now?” Elanya whispered from behind my shoulder, grabbing one bicep to peer past me.

I contemplated doing just that as my sister ushered the kids back around the corner into their classroom, momentarily leaving us alone. It was the coward’s way out in many ways, but that didn’t particularly bother me. It would perhaps give me time to go discuss things with Jaklin when Elanya wasn’t around. Perhaps I could get through to her that way.

“No,” I said, realizing I had to face it head on. “If we leave now, I don’t know what she’ll do. I have to try to talk her down off whatever ledge she’s on.”

“I take it you didn’t realize she was this unhinged.”

“Not really,” I muttered.

“I can see why you didn’t want me to mention the pregnancy.”

Grimacing, I looked at her. “This was not the reaction I expected from her. I knew she wasn’t a fan of humans coming here, but I figured that was mostly a personal thing.”

“What do you mean? I didn’t do anything to her. I’ve never met her before!” Elanya paused. “Unless your sister wanted to mate with you …?”

“No. Ew.” I shook my head. “Nothing to do with either you or me. But, before the war, she was involved with a dragon.”

“Do dragons not date?”

“Some do,” I said. “But this wasn’t quite at that level.”

“Friends with benefits?”

“Basically. It was with Vicek, though. The literal heir to our entire kingdom. I told her it wasn’t going anywhere, but she refused to believe me or accept that. Then, of course, he gets kidnapped, which didn’t overly endear her toward humans. To make things worse, when he came back, he did so with a human mate. She couldn’t handle that.”

“And you brought me here, why?”

“To see our school system. To meet some dragon children, so you could realize in your subconscious that they truly are just kids. Sure, they’re stronger and faster than any human of the same age, and most have some mild level of control of their powers, but they’re still kids. I wanted to set you at ease.”

Elanya scoffed gently. “And maybe, just perhaps, in the process, you hoped your sister might meet me and realize we’re not all bad?”

I winced. “Am I that transparent?”

“Oh, yeah.”

“Damn.”

We were interrupted by the return of Jaklin. That time, she didn’t come flying down the hallway like some demon fresh out of hell, but she wasn’t exactly calm either.

“Explain yourself,” she snapped at me with a raised finger. “Now.”

I tilted my head, staring her down, my main emotion one of regret. “No.”

The word shot down the corridor like a bullet.

---