Page 6 of Storm In The Sky

He had to let Winter go, no matter how much it hurt.

Chapter Three

Keylon regretted his decision to visit his family almost as soon as he stepped through the portal Jarvis had created for him, because he was assaulted.

“I thought you’d forgotten you had a family,” his mother said as she squeezed him hard.

He rolled his eyes and looked up to see his father watching them and smiling fondly. “How could I ever forget about you? You call me once a week.”

“Because if I didn’t, I would never hear from you,” Keylon’s mother said as she leaned back and looked at him. She frowned. “You look tired. Are you sleeping enough?”

“I’m sleeping as much as I can. I’m fine, I promise.”

Keylon was far from fine, but he kept up the pretense as he said hello to his father. Their hug was briefer, and as soon as his father stepped away, Keylon’s mother hooked an arm around him and pulled him forward. “Come on. Cora and Faith are waiting for you. Faith wanted to come along to wait for you, but we convinced her to stay in our rooms.”

“How’s the pregnancy going?”

“Good. She looks like she’s about to pop at any moment, but it’ll still take a while.”

Keylon was happy for his sister and his sister-in-law. They’d wanted children for years, and now they would finally become mothers. His parents were over the moon, especially his mother, and he couldn’t find it in himself to tell her about Winter and that he was planning to break their bond. Her heart would break if she found out that Keylon had to give up his shield and the man he loved.

Keylon’s family knew about the spell Carlyle had cast on the dragons. Keylon had told them as soon as they’d found the first dragon without his memories, and everyone had expected theothers to have lost their memories, too. It hadn’t been a surprise to see that was the case when the second dragon had been found.

But Ansley, Penley, and Jarvis had found a way to be happy. Their dragons weren’t the men they’d been before, but they’d fallen in love with them again.

Winter, not so much. There was no way for him to fall in love with Keylon because he couldn’t spend enough time in the same room to make it happen. He barely ate his meals with the others when Keylon was there. When Keylon entered a room and noticed a door slamming shut, he knew it was because Winter had just run away again.

His mother was talking a mile a minute as she guided him through the castle. Keylon nodded at several people he recognized as they walked, and even though this hadn’t been his home in decades, he wondered if maybe he should spend more time here. He didn’t want to leave the other mages before they got rid of Carlyle, but he might think about moving back once that was done. He couldn’t really imagine himself staying at the castle around all the happy couples while he had to deal with meeting a new shield and getting to know them.

It was one of the reasons he was here today. He wouldn’t tell his parents, but he was sure his sister and Faith knew people they could introduce him to. He just needed a few names so he could start looking into different dragons. He wasn’t planning to make any decisions today or even tomorrow.

But the sooner he could free Winter, the better it would be for both of them.

As much as he loved his mother, Keylon was relieved when she finally let go. She pushed open the door to the suite of rooms she and Keylon’s father lived in, and once again, Keylon was assaulted. This time, it was his sister who threw herself into his arms. He hugged her back, closing his eyes and inhaling her familiar scent. She always used the same perfume—green tea. Itmade Keylon feel like he was home, even though, technically, he wasn’t.

“Were you waiting for the baby to be born to visit?” Cora said as she leaned back and slapped his chest.

“I was actually hoping to get out of diaper duty, which is why I’m here today. I need to visit before the baby’s born.”

Cora scowled and punched him again. Keylon wrapped an arm around her shoulders and kissed her temple, smiling as he did so. He could feel his body relax. Nothing had changed, but at the same time, being here brought him back to before he’d met Alvin. More than that, it felt good to be able to forget all about Carlyle and Winter for a bit.

Not nearly long enough.

Faith started to get up from the chair she was sitting in, but Keylon rushed to her. “Stay there. You look like you’ll tilt forward if you try getting to your feet. I don’t think I’m strong enough to pick you back up,” he teased.

Faith laughed. She and Cora had been together for a long time, and she and Keylon were like brother and sister. Keylon was almost as close to her as he was to Cora.

He was careful as he hugged her sideways. It was the only way to make it work, with her stomach in the way. Keylon didn’t touch it, but he was tempted.

He wanted to keep all ten of his fingers.

“Mom said you looked like you were about to pop, but I didn’t think you’d bethisbig.”

“If you’re not careful, I’m going to sit on you. We’ll see how big I am then.”

“Well, if you sit on him, he won’t be able to leave,” Cora said as she went to sit next to her wife. “Maybe that’s a good idea. Please, sit on him.”

Keylon sat on Faith’s other side. His mother was flitting around the small kitchen, ordering his father around and gettingfood out. Keylon would’ve told her it wasn’t necessary, but he didn’t bother. He knew his mother, and she’d feed him even if he’d already eaten.

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