Page 66 of Dragon Heir

“And how can she wield dragon fire?” Vargas chimed in.

Will and I stared at each other with confused expressions before we dropped our gaze to the child. She was all smiles as she looked around us all. “I helped! I helped!”

I knelt in front of her and grasped her shoulders. “Ivy, who exactly are you?”

Ivy blinked at me. “I’m Ivy.”

“Yes, but how can you use magic like you do?” I persisted.

She pointed at Will. “Because Daddy can and because Mommy can. That’s why I can.”

“Who are your parents?” Allard asked her as the others crowded around us.

Ivy pointed at Will and me. “This is Mommy and Daddy.”

Everyone shared a look of stupefaction and Vargas frowned at the child. “This is no joke, girl. Who are you?”

Ivy stuck up her chin. “I’m Ivy and this is my mommy and daddy!”

Ware scoffed. “But how can this be? Lady Thorn has never even been pregnant.”

A sheepish smile slipped onto my lips and I blushed. Vargas gasped. “By all the realms, you are pregnant, aren’t you?”

“That still doesn’t explain how the kid is outside of her and looking like she’s six years old,” Enna spoke up.

I looked Ivy up and down. “That’s very true, Ivy. You haven’t been born yet so how are you standing in front of us?”

She puffed out her chest and beamed. “You wanted to save everyone and me, Mommy, and I wanted to help you, so I came out when you used your light and put my little balls in the ground! They helped a lot, didn’t they?”

“Frightfully so. . .” Vargas muttered.

Ware nodded. “Without them, we would not have fended off the worms that surrounded us at that moment and came to your rescue when we witnessed the glow of flames.”

Blake scratched his temple. “So that’s why she was planting those things everywhere. She made a barrier to protect around the house.”

“So I helped?” Ivy asked me.

Warm happy tears sprang into my eyes as I squeezed her arms. “You not only helped but you saved everyone.”

She grinned and nodded. “I’m so glad. That means I have to go now.”

My heart skipped a beat as a soft white light surrounded her. Her tiny form began to fade into a cloud of glistening sparkles. “What’s going on?”

“I’m going to go to sleep again, Mommy,” Ivy told me as she pointed at my stomach. “But I’ll come back in a little while. Oh, and you’ll name me Ivy, won’t you, Mommy? I really like the name.”

I managed a smile through my tears and nodded. “Of course.”

Her little shape vanished into the sparkling cloud. I leaned back as the wisp floated toward me and into my stomach. The hollowness I’d been feeling over the last day disappeared and a faint warmth filled me.

Allard grinned at Will. “You have a most remarkable mate, Lord Thorn.”

Will smiled down at me as I stood. “I know, and it appears I will have a most remarkable daughter, as well.”

I cupped my stomach in one hand and leaned against him. “I can’t wait for her to be that cute.”

“And I can’t wait to get back to the house and get some sleep,” Enna spoke up as she looped her arms around one of Allard’s and tugged him in that direction. “Come on.”

“You would like my company?” he guessed.

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