Page 235 of Gift from the Source
I shake my head out to clear that scenario from my mind.
That wasn’t the life we were meant to live.
I clear my throat as he walks around me and runs his fingers over the surfaces of his things. “You can tell me no, but you know, we can take care of this place for you… I mean, I know the forest has awful memories attached to it. You might not want to ever come back here. Even though Willow’s going to change it all. This house, though, you know maybe—” Grunting, I shut my mouth since I obviously forgot how to fucking talk like a normal person.
There’s a teasing smirk on his face, but his eyes glisten. “I’d like the house to be saved when your beloved saves the land. It might be nice to have a place of my own when I can come back to visit.”
I swallow the prickles in my throat down. “It’ll always be yours. I can have it moved if you want me to.”
“I’m kind of used to the location. It’ll look good with some upkeep, though.”
The teasing in his voice pulls a watery laugh from my chest. “I’ll let my little wanderer know your expectations.”
“The Adored will be happy to oblige. I’m sure of it,” he says as he pulls me in for a hug.
“She will be. She’d do anything for you.”
“And I for all of you, son.”
When we pull apart, I duck my head as I fake a cough and make my way out the door. My eyes close with the sound of the door clicking shut.
Wind whips past me, causing my eyes to fly open, and his loud-ass laugh carries back to me. “You won’t beat me this time.”
I wipe my face and tilt my head back, letting a vicious smile cross my lips. When I look in front of me again to track his movements, my eyes shift.
My dragon aids in the burst of speed I’ve been handed down and I zig-zag through the trees to catch up to him. I can make out the crowd of vampires and my family waiting a few hundred feet away and he’s almost halfway to them.
Not on my timekeeper, old man.
Pushing myself even faster, he growls as I come up beside him and I wink.
I make it back to everyone a step before he does.
“Whew! Did you see that, little wanderer? I won again.”
“None of us could see anything, dragon, but the dirt you two kicked up,” she says, laughing as I bury my face in her neck, then put her down.
“We sincerely apologize about the mess, Adored. Whatever will we do with the dead leaves the two of us killed even more.”
“Very funny. Come on, you two. Tanith is growing antsy outside the ward.”
My heart clenches.
In the month since the battle, Tanith’s healing journey has been a long one. Apparently, a broken dragon bone takes far longer to heal. The skin of her wing that was frayed and shredded in multiple areas has healed back for the most part. They only left behind a few scars.
Jamie learned quickly the structure of her bones was very, very different and her body didn’t respond as immediately as any of ours would. He’s been having to heal her in sessions. She guided him as needed during the process and he’s confident she’ll heal the rest of the way perfectly fine.
This week she started doing small jumps and flapping her wings. She’s determined to get back to full strength as soon as possible. When she mentioned that if she came across an unknown dragon in the Keep, they may view her as weak and attack, both Willow and I nearly shifted where we sat.
She and Keeper had to constantly reassure us that wasn’t going to happen.
As we make our way to the ward on the side of the forest that will lead directly into the one with the portal, I watch how the vampires react.
We brought plenty of blood with us to make sure they were all well fed before going home. The last thing we wanted to do was send Keeper across a portal with a bunch of crazed vampires who would attack as soon as they were free.
Almost all that were left still had their wits about them. Some even cried a little when he announced they were going home. Tillman and Willow went through the minds of all of them. Those who actually committed atrocities and deserved to be put here, they informed Keeper. Those who didn’t, Willow apologized to endlessly.
He is using his compulsion on them right now to get through the ward and portal orderly. He told us not to worry about the other side.
