Page 75 of Accidentally a Dragon Daddy

“Questions will be asked about this.”

I sighed. “My name is Damon. I am the Sovereign’s Shadow. Do you really want to make an issue with this?”

The purple recoiled as he realized who and what I was.

But he was a dragon, and we weren’t cowards. I had to give him that. He still didn’t back down. Not entirely.

“I’m still making the report,” he said quietly. “Maybe I won’t accuse you of helping the human. But I’m not going to get my ass in trouble covering for you. Not without a direct order. Sorry.”

I bobbed my head in a very human approximation of a nod. “I understand. I respect your dedication.”

For a moment, I thought about killing him. Eliminating the evidence of what had happened. If he made the report, there would be questions. People would want to know what I was doing. And why. Killing the purple would prevent that. It would make my life easier.

But it would mean more blood on my hands. What sort of example would I be setting for my child, if I turned to murder every time things got difficult?

The purple dragon spread its wings and leaped off the side of the building, swiftly shrinking as it headed for what I assumed was its command base.

I turned my attention back to the border and one tent in particular. Elanya was no longer visible, but I didn’t care. I sat there, staring, ignoring the guns and missiles all pointed at me. The sun continued its track across the sky, and still, I waited. Watching.

Just in case I could get one last glimpse of her.

I didn’t.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Elanya

The wave of despair that had been tugging at my skin and pulling at my feet faded as I approached the old post-war bungalow with the faded picket fence and off-season ornaments jangling softly in the light breeze. My steps didn’t pick up. My shoulders didn’t stand straighter. I wished they would, but the feeling of moving through molasses was replaced by the bitter stench of failure settling around me and weighing me down.

There I was, a fully grown adult, running in failure to my mom and dad. It hurt, on a personal level, I’d never really experienced before. I knew I was blessed that not only were my parents still there—after the war, so many families had been separated, not to mention other natural causes—but that we had a relationship of the type I could go to them and not expect judgment.

The only person judging me was myself. And I could be a right bitch sometimes.

I knocked and waited, fighting the rising panic telling me to spin on my heels and hightail it out of there. As if living on the streets would somehow be better for me simply because I was too proud to admit defeat.

The door opened to reveal my father in his familiar button-up shirt with its stiff starched collar and a pair of beige slacks. His face was lined with wrinkles and a bit of ruddiness in his cheeks, but the smile that lit it up took twenty years off him in an instant.

“Lena?” he asked, shocked.

I tried to ignore the concern I saw in his eyes, even if the rest of him was elated to see me. There never was any fooling him.

“Hi, Daddy,” I said, trying to remain strong.

Then I was in his arms, the years melting away until I was a tiny girl again, seeking the comfort of her big, strong, all-powerful father. He held me tight like he had after I’d fallen from my bike for the first time and scraped my knees. Or broken my arm after jumping from the fence. Or when our car had been T-boned by another, and after it had finished careening across the intersection, the first thing he’d done was pull me from my seat and scoop me into his arms to make sure I was okay. I’d been fourteen, but it didn’t matter to him. I was still his baby girl.

As I was now.

“Hi,” he said. “It’s so good to see you. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” I said, letting him squeeze me as tightly as he wanted. “I’m fine, I promise, I just—”

“Hush,” he said, rocking me back and forth from side to side as my voice broke and the tears started to bubble up. “It’s okay, my little Lena. It’s okay.”

I wanted to believe him as I had when I was young. To believe everything would be okay. But I wasn’t so sure.

“Do you want to come inside?” he asked after a bit, pulling back so he could study my face.

“That would be nice,” I said, letting him lead me inside.

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