Page 22 of Unhaunt Me

I thought about how coffee would move to the list of things I probably shouldn’t have while I carried. Most dragons could get by with tea and an occasional coffee, but I probably wouldn’t risk too much of that. Not my first time around. Carrying anegg changed the body’s hormones up and I wouldn’t know how they’d treat me until I’d underwent at least one time.

I grinned sheepishly, remembering all the knocking me up talk from the night before. We’d been drunk but I meant what I said. I did want a baby. I wanted a family, and I was pretty sure Casimir did too. He was a book with its pages glued together this morning, but I was learning to live with that.

“Do you have siblings?” I asked.

“Shit! I need to find my phone and call Castor and let him know what’s going on,” Casimir said, pushing his chair away from the table, nearly knocking over all the drinks. I grabbed them and a splash of coffee danced on my arm.

“Sorry, mate. Are you alright?” he asked, his eyes darting in all directions as if he were looking for an escape hatch.

“I’m fine,” I said, standing up. “Are you alright? We don’t have to talk about any of that. I just---”

“I’ll be right back. I’m going to find my phone.”

“I’ll help you look,” I followed him out of the kitchen.

His scent shifted to annoyed and I almost stopped following him. He wasn’t annoyed at me. He couldn’t be. He was annoyed at the magic tugging on us. He might even be annoyed with himself for misplacing his phone. It was on the floor in the living room, having fallen out of his pocket when I carried the clothes through the house after dinner the night before.

“I got it,” he said.

“I’ll give you a minute?” I said, a thousand other questions on the tip of my tongue.

“Thanks. I’ll go outside,” he said and nodded to the front door.

I opened my mouth to tell him he didn’t have to go that far away for privacy, but he was already opening the door.

Chapter Eleven

Casimir

It was still early enough that the street was deserted except for one small, winged dog sniffing around one of the yards across the street. I stared at my phone. I wasn’t calling Castor. I didn’t need to call Castor. We had a family link, and I’d make good use of it if I wanted to talk to him. There was no one to call. I needed a minute. A long fucking minute.

My dragon reared back inside his inner sanctum ready to burn the world down but I stopped him. This was our mate’s home. We weren’t on Earthside. Ren was beyond being hurt anymore. Ren was beyond --- Well, Ren was beyond everything and everyone now. She barely recognized her mate. As much as I liked to think she recognized me and remembered who I was to her, I wasn’t sure about that at all.

The phone vibrated in my hand. Castor’s face flashed across the screen.

“Shit!” I swore under my breath. I’d lost my grip on it all again. How much had he picked up?

“Hey, Cas,” I answered, leaning my palm against the door, trying to sound casual.

“You need to get back here now!” he said, urgency dancing on each syllable he spoke.

“My egg?”

“Is safe. Rocking. It’s going to hatch soon, cousin. Come back. Bring your mate. It’s okay. The egg’s okay.”

I let go of a long breath and pulled away from the door before my talons had a chance to come out and do damage.

“We’ll be there soon. Let Melon know, okay?”

“I will. Be safe and hurry up. You don’t want to miss this, cousin,” he said, and I ended the call.

I had to get my shit together. I was about to be a Frost-damned dad. This wasn’t the time to let the past play me for a fool again. This wasn’t the time to think about Ren and her---

I breathed out and killed the thought in its tracks as the front door swung open.

“Melon poked me over the flight link when she couldn’t get you,” he said, shoving a pair of grey sweatpants at me. “They’re mine but I wear them big to sleep in. They should work for you. I wasn’t trying to be nosy or anything.”

“It’s okay. You can talk to Melon. I’m not her dad,” I said and Tritus flinched.

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