Page 88 of Dragon's Honor

“Ash needs to focus on other things. Please don’t tell him I’m here.”

Gavin nodded once. “Do you need something to drink or eat?”

As if on cue, her stomach growled.

Pru laughed. “Sit with me while my mate makes us something to eat.”

“I was hoping to check on my sister.”

“She’s safe. I just checked on her. Sit with me first and then I’ll go down there with you.”

Finley set her things down and sat down with Pru.

“How are you dealing with everything?”

Finley shrugged. “Not well, I suppose. I left Ash in bed.”

“You gave him back his heartstone?”

“Sort of. I sort of used his hand to get it off.”

Pru cringed. “Why would you do that?”

“He needs that heartstone to fight Grey.” She looked at Pru. She really took in the woman. Pru wore a pair of yoga pants, cami, and her dark hair was piled up on her head in a messy bun. She didn’t wear makeup. She glanced down at her ankle and there was the garnet heartstone around her ankle. She had matching red nail polish on her toes. “You’re part of a different clan?”

Pru nodded. “Sort of. Gavin was a prince of the Garnet Clan. When I met him I was one of the first settlers in Colorado. I assisted my father with all of his patients, I was essentially a nurse without any education aside from what my father taught me, which was as much as possible. Gavin and his clan lived in the Rocky Mountains.”

“I thought dragons were supposed to be in the mountains, not Miami. Wait…” She took in Pru’s words. “First settlers in Colorado? Like…historically?”

Pru laughed. “They tend to stick to the mountains now because it’s easier to hide especially when they want to fly around. But yes, I was born in 1857.”

“You’re human? How is that possible?”

“Oh dear, Ash hasn’t told you anything, has he?”

Finley sighed. “To be fair there’s been a lot going on. Our one and only date was interrupted by a possessed murdering dragon. There have been conclaves and vampires and all sorts of interruptions.”

“I’d like to say that it’s not always like that, but it’s like that a lot,” Pru replied. “When you are claimed by a dragon, your lifelines are joined. If he dies, you die. And dragons live for hundreds of years…”

“And you don’t age? I mean, you don’t look a day over twenty-five. In fact, I was a little nervous you were my doctor.”

Pru laughed again. “Yeah, I haven’t aged much since Gavin and claimed each other. I always have to convince new hospitals that I’m worth my salt.”

“Did you get a degree from somewhere?”

Pru nodded. “I’ve been to school several times. There’s always new things to learn and with technology we’ve been able to do so much. I spent twenty years as a researcher and tried to help with cancer. I’ve done as much as I can. With all the time I have, I don’t want to waste it. I want to get into pre-natal surgery. Saving people before they’re even born, I can’t even imagine.”

Finley gaped at the woman. She’d been around for a long time and yet she wanted to do more. She wondered what she would do with that kind of time. She’d been a photographer, but there were so many things she wanted to see and take pictures of that seemed so far out of her scope of possibilities.

Not that it mattered. Ash saw her as a distraction. He hadn’t been able to make up his mind about having a mate since he’d seen his heartstone around her wrist. She wouldn’t force him into anything. She knew that if he thought she was in danger, he would lose his mind like he did on their date Tristian showed up on.

“So, you stop aging regularly, what happens when it’s been twenty years and people start noticing you aren’t aging?”

“Oh honey, don’t bother yourself with that sort of thing now. It was easier before technology was really involved, but we’ve got a hacker friend. She helps us out with all of that stuff. Other dragons have other resources. The dragons have been dealing with all of this for a while. They’ve got it down to a science.”

Finley nodded woodenly.

Pru rubbed her arm. “Don’t look so worried. I believe in fated mates. Fate knows what she’s doing when it comes to match making. In all my years, I’ve never seen a bad match. You and Ash met at a hard time for him. And at some point in your relationship it’s going to be a hard time for you too.”

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