Page 4 of Dallas

“Too long.” She glanced at me from the corner of her eye. “As long as the girl’s been living, I suppose.”

The girl. Our niece, though we had not yet discussed the relationship with her. The daughter of our older sister, mother’s firstborn child and the only child for many years. Long enough for the two of them to develop a bond neither Calliope nor I had come close to over the course of our long lives.

“You think she ages the way humans do?” I asked, the two of us starting off down the well-worn footpath which led to lower ground.

“It seems that way, or else how would she have become such good friends with Alan’s mate, Emelie?”

I grunted. It made sense. If the two of them had met as children, surely Emelie would have noticed if she aged more quickly than Keira did. “Perhaps the presence of dragon’s blood negated that,” I mused.

“I’d think dragon’s blood would only make it more likely that she wouldn’t age at all.”

“Then again, it isn’t as though you and I never aged. We simply slowed down once we reached a certain point in time. The same with the clan. Perhaps that’s what’s happening to her. She could stop where she is for all we know.” It was a mystery, one to be added to so many others. Life had certainly changed in an instant.

“Regardless, it’s been decades. We can agree on that.”

“We can. Far too long to spend in a cave with little chance of safely venturing out.” No amount of magic could make the cave anything other than what it was. While we’d used our powers to keep ourselves more than comfortable, there was nothing that could replace the simple joy of being outdoors and breathing the fresh air, hearing the birds sing.

Although the thought of a dragon looking down on us left me slightly on edge. I knew their presence was supposed to provide assurance, but I found it unnerving.

Just as I found everything about them, which was part of the inspiration for the shield I’d put up around myself and my inner consciousness. Nothing terribly advanced—there could be nothing gained if my mother sensed the shield and asked why I went to such lengths to guard myself—but enough that my coven and the more perceptive of the dragons would be unable to read anything more than my surface emotions. What I allowed them to see.

Not even Callie was aware of it, and everyone knew of her gifts with mindreading. She was by far the most naturally talented of all of us.

“Mother seems happier than she has in a long time,” Callie observed from ahead of me. She couldn’t see the way my nose wrinkled at this, and that was for the best.

Just another reason why it was best for my thoughts to exist behind a shield.

“I’m sure the two of them will be very happy together,” I muttered, remembering the mother whose heart had so long been closed off—and how wide she’d opened it once Keira had come to us.

“Come on, now. Isn’t it better for her to be with us? Keira, I mean?”

“Keira. Demeter would come up with a name like that.”

Callie snorted. “My name is Calliope. Keira sounds to me like a dream come true.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Try being named Hecate and see how much you enjoy it. But I’d still rather have my name than hers.”

“It sounds to me as if you simply don’t like her very much.”

“It isn’t that I don’t like her, per se.”

“You don’t understand how Demeter could mate with a dragon.”

“That is much closer to the truth, yes. I’ve always questioned it. Doesn’t the thought disgust you?” The merest mention of the idea sent a shiver of disgust racing through me. When I tried to imagine one of the dragons in that way—Dallas, for example—my stomach churned.

“Not nearly as much as it does you, I can tell.” We reached the end of the path, where the ground flattened. She turned to me. “Keira’s father has nothing to do with us. She is our blood, and that’s what matters.”

“The fact that her existence is a reminder of why we were in hiding for so long means nothing, then.” I brushed past her.

How typical, taking the softer, gentler approach. While Callie was a fierce fighter and highly skilled when it came to using her powers, her heart was far too big. She thought with it far too much.

“Why does it have to?” she asked, following me. No way would she let this go.

I should’ve known better than to start. “I don’t want to get into this now.”

“Too late. You shouldn’t have said anything if you didn’t want me to ask what you meant.”

“I realize that now and wish I knew how to hold my tongue.”

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