Page 57 of Gift from the Source
“A break…for now, you will have to be satisfied with the small moments you and your family get. It is almost time.”
“Riddles and secrets. Secrets and riddles. That seems to be the only thing you extra smart beings give us,”I grunt.
“Our reasoning is the same as yours. You’ve been keeping a secret from your beloved—mate—Primary, whatever, because you’re waiting for the right time to bring it up. My, the threads the two of you share. No wonder almost every thought of yours is consumed with her.”
My eyes widen and I cover his beak with my hand, shushing him as though he spoke that out loud for everyone to hear. I’m not an idiot like Caspian, though, and I jerk my arm away before he can stab me.
“How do you know anything about that?”
“I know everything there is to know about you and filia. It is my job.”
“You know what? I think I’ve changed my mind. I’ve had enough for the day,”I declare as he presents yet another mystery in front of me.
“Fine. I’m going to spend time with that glorious creature. When your mind finally rests, then I will answer your questions,”he gripes and his weight disappears from my shoulder as he glides across the air to Tanith.
She instantly perks up like she’s been waiting for him to pay attention to her but wasn’t going to be the one to invite him. My eyebrows rise when V lands feet in front of her and together they bow their heads at one another. The small action draws the attention of everyone, and even as I move closer to the rest of my Nexus slowly, we all stay quiet as we watch.
“Well, it looks like two best buds in the making,” Keeper says as he pats me on the shoulder.
“Me and V or V and Tanith?” I ask.
“I guess all three. Probably four including your beloved. Although I don’t know what the little owl is, I can sense his intelligence just as any can sense Tanith’s. Creatures of your kind tend to flock together.”
“He’s the strangest dragon I’ve ever seen.” My little wanderer picks as she walks up, catching the end of his sentence.
“Definitely not a dragon, but definitely on the same level as us,”I say to only her and wink down at the questions in her eyes.
How I know what he is without being told, I have no clue. I mean, I’ve obviously worked out it has to do with my slowly but surely emerging communal knowledge. But who would have those answers and pass them to me, though, I still haven’t the first idea.
“Will, you want to go say your goodbyes so we can get going?”Tillman asks, stealing her curious gaze from me.
“Yeah. One more stop, then I’m ready for a bath and to relax,”she says before pushing up on her toes to give me a kiss on the cheek.
Fuck yeah, I’m ready for a bath too.
My dragon purrs in my chest and I run my thumb across my bottom lip to hide my smirk as I watch Willow shiver as she walks away. That’ll always bring me the utmost satisfaction.
As she approaches Aria, Lyker, and his brothers, I turn to spark up a conversation with Keeper, only to come up short when I see Carrington sitting on the ground by her mom’s greenhouse. Trex, Codi, Dec, and Xander are only a few feet from him, but I got the sinking feeling in my gut, the young giant does things like that to seem smaller.
“I’m gonna go talk to Carrington before we go,” I tell Keeper so he doesn’t think I’m just ditching him.
His gaze moves over and his face softens. “He’s going to feel a little out of place for a while. Being locked up against your will, then being freed to a whole new and exciting realm. It’s a shock to the system,” he says knowingly.
“Yeah, it is. He won’t be alone, though.”
“No, he won’t be. Poor thing probably won’t know how to handle being adopted by all these people. The Adored doesn’t give much of a choice once she declares you’re family.” He chuckles and I mimic him.
“Sure doesn’t. Possessive little thing.”
I’m still smirking as I approach the group and each of the guys gives me nods as I pass them and perch my ass beside Carrington on the ground. His nerves are so strong, they vibrate the ground.
“How are you feeling, big guy?” I ask.
“I’m all right. Excited,” he says unconvincingly.
“Right…You know, I had to start at the academy when I was fourteen. I’d never been to school before then.”
“Isn’t that when you emerged? They told me everyone here had to go to an academy when they got their gifts and stuff?”
