Page 1 of Unhaunt Me

Chapter One

Casimir

I let out a long, slow breath as Ren leaned in toward the screen. Down the hall, Melon and Kelp laughed from the dining hall turned nesting room. If I wasn’t on a video call with her, I’d have yelled for both of them to shut up. Actually, I wouldn’t have. I’d have left and gone home. The Medwin 2 wasn’t home anymore. That was a cavern room in a house built by a wild born dragon in the middle of nowhere. Sometimes I wondered if Ren had a room like that too that she told no one about. Hell, being out there made me think about her and the rest of them more than ever.

Ren’s big golden dragon eye leaned in. She wanted what she always wanted when I managed to get her on the phone these days. She wanted to see the dark pink star-shaped scale that sat over my heart. It was the same color as all her scales. When the damn thing first grew in on my chest I laughed bitterly. It was as if even across the galaxy none of us could escape our pasts. They were right there growing out of us.

I stripped off my shirt and showed her the star-shaped scale again. It was a small thing after everything she’d gone through. Her big golden eye twinkled at the one piece of me that matched her. I held my breath waiting to see if she’d relinquish herself back into her human form. She hadn’t done that since before it all fell apart.

“We still haven’t figured out anything about that woman I told you about before. Did you hear a story like that? One wheresomeone gave up her name to save her eggs and then gave up her magic to the rest of her clan to let them open doors? You used to collect lore,” I said again as I had on every call since Izora tripped on mushie pizza unknowingly fed to him by his true-mate.

Ren backed away from the camera and the air around her whooshed. I broke the unspoken rule again. We didn’t talk about before. For Ren, there wasn’t a before. She flew away and Hean sank to the ground, frowning at me.

“I’m not going to keep luring her back here, if you’re just gonna upset her. I’d like to see her for more than five minutes after going through all that trouble. Mostly I visit her out there, Cas. When she comes back here,” he let out a long breath and ran his finger through his blonde hair as if I should’ve been able to fill in the rest of his sentence myself.

“There was a before,” I sighed. “There should’ve been an after too.”

“This is our after, Cas. Right here. What you see when I’m actually able to get her to come by for the call is the after. Frost in a pit of spikes, it’s more than any of us have the right to ask of her. You need to leave it alone. Even if she once knew something I doubt there’s enough of the human side left of her to recall it now. This isn’t what you wanted for her. This isn’t what me or anyone else wanted for her, but this is the way she chose to cope with it all.”

“Did you tell her about my egg?” I asked him, trying not to scowl.

Hean and I used to be friends back in the ‘before.’ Hell, he was family. He was still family because I refused to believe Ren would live out the rest of her days in her current condition.

“No, there really hasn’t been a good time. I don’t think ---” he rubbed the bridge of his nose again. “Sometimes I don’t know that she remembers who any of us are. Maybe me – becausethe magic’s still there. We’re true-mates. She knows you’re someone. She always smells happy to see you but it’s in the draconic way and not the way people are, Cas. I’m sorry. I don’t think she could wrap her head around why she should be happy about it.”

“I think you don’t give her enough credit,” I frowned at the screen. “I’m staying with a wild born dragon. You know, Izora’s mate. His mother is a wild dragon. Both is parents are. They come over for dinner and we go over there. They know he’s their kid. You’re not giving Ren enough credit. She’s made of stronger stuff. You’re not giving her enough—”

“Maybe not. Look, I’m going to go try to spend some time with my mate. Some of us didn’t catch a case of intergalactic zoomies and run away to another galaxy. Some of us still have lives to live here and while you may think my life – our life – isn’t enough for you, I’m glad to just still have Ren around. So fuck off and have a pleasant day.”

He ended the call, and the screen went black before we could resume our old argument. Ren was still Ren, dragon or woman. He was the one who didn’t get that.

“Bad call?” Melon asked from the doorway, and I swallowed down a sharp remark.

“Same as always,” I said instead, spinning the chair around to face her. “Kelp pass out on you again?”

“He’s an omega. He gets tired,” she shrugged.

I wasn’t in the mood to talk to Melon. I wasn’t in the mood to talk about Kelp or Ren. Hell, I wasn’t in the mood to talk period, but once you make an egg with someone you lose the right to a clean break. There isn’t a break. The relationship might change but unless they’re some horrible monster you’re stuck with them in one way or another. Melon and I had dissolved our friends with benefits and no strings attached relationship before she met Kelp, but my dragon was still in the stages of thinking Kelpwould be better off dropped in the ocean to be with his namesake rather than in the nest with our egg.

“He likes to swim in the ocean,” Melon quipped picking up on my stray thoughts over the Starscale Flight link.

“Good because my dragon dreams of granting him that wish,” I chuckled.

“I’m rather glad you haven’t tried to follow through on that one,” she leaned against the doorway clad in a nightgown that hung to her knees. “I don’t want to fight you, Casimir. I don’t want to fight with anyone but he’s mine and that means something.”

“I think he’ll feel a bit better once the egg hatches,” I leaned back in the chair, ignoring my inner beast’s ranting. “It’s complicated.”

“I don’t think so,” she shook her head. “I know you like being all dark and mysterious and never telling anyone about your past makes that easier but it’s simple. You’re afraid he’s stealing your baby.”

“Can’t steal my baby,” I shrugged. “They’re mine and they’ll come out smelling like me and probably looking like me. Hell, maybe they’ll have a crescent instead of a star. I’ve talked to the council. I know my rights.”

She quirked an eyebrow and put it down.

“No one wants to trample on your rights, Cas,” she finally said after a long beat of silence. “You’re too Moony for your own good sometimes.”

“You’ve met a handful of us. You don’t know what it means to be a Moony,” I laughed, fighting the urge to lift her out of the doorway so I could leave the room.

“You think I’d try to take the baby from you. You’re too Moony,” she frowned.

---