Page 151 of Cast By Flames (Dragon's Breath)
“I know,” he said, opening the chamber door for her.
They headed downstairs to the great hall, finding it as full as ever. Rayna stood by the entrance, studying her nails and avoiding the glares of shifters. Titan stood next to her. He growled at anyone who looked too long at the slayer and made an excellent guard. Aidan had asked him to keep an eye out for her.
“How about you bring Rayna over to sit next to you?” he asked, glancing down at his mate. “I’ll get Orion, and he can sit next to me.”
“Sounds like a plan,” she agreed.
As Bailey walked away, Aidan heard his son chattering from the corridor. He was holding Phoebe’s hand, and next to him, Leilany held Ozara’s hand. Ruari and Freya followed them, having taken rooms at the castle just before the war started. It made sense that their belongings were closer while they helped with the war effort.
“Please, all of you should come sit with us,” he said, then took his son’s hand from his sister.
Phoebe looked at him with a devilish glint in her eyes. “We can expect Zoran, too.”
“You invited him?” he asked, surprised.
She shrugged. “He fought hard with us, and I thought he deserved a nice meal.”
Aidan had caught his sister and eldest brother speaking just before they began work that afternoon. He had hoped it meant their conversation was productive. More than anything, he wanted his family to be whole and for them to start a new beginning.
“I’m glad to hear that,” he said.
They took their seats, and he noted Bailey kept up a steady conversation with Rayna to help put her at ease. Anytime someone glared at the slayer, Aidan pushed his power to force them to look away. Zoran came and sat a few seats down the table from him.
Not long after that, Galadon entered the room. He glanced their way, gaze briefly falling on Rayna with no discernible emotion. His jaw hardened, and he chose a table as far from them as he could get. Aidan wished he could remedy the tension between the two, but they had to work it out on their own.
None of the shifters from the other clans were there. They’d chosen to gather separately on the land each was assigned for their stay so they could prepare bodies and mourn together over their dead. They would attend the celebration in a few days, towhich everyone was invited.
“Apa, are we going to cuddle and read tonight?” Orion asked.
He smiled at his son. “I would love nothing more.”
It had been far too long since they’d done it last.
Servants brought large platters of meat, vegetables, and bread they set in the center of the table. Each of them had their own empty plate to fill. Aidan dished up his son’s before his own, heaping it high. It had been a hard afternoon of work.
“Eat well,” he told Orion. “We’ll go on a walk after this so you can burn some energy.”
He and Bailey might be tired, but a walk through the keep would do them some good. Perhaps his son could find someshifter children to play with since they’d all been cooped up for too long.
“Yay!” Orion said, hurrying to fork more food into his mouth.
Aidan couldn’t wait until their lives could return to some semblance of normal.
Chapter 47
Rayna
Today was likely the most difficult of her life since her father died. Rayna stood among friends and acquaintances in a church, paying her respects to the man in the coffin up front. The song “A Long Time Traveler” by the The Wailin' Jennys began playing soulful lyrics from the speakers. It was so haunting in its beauty and depth that her throat tightened as memories of lost loved ones filled her mind.
Despite the crowded room, she’d never felt lonelier.
Danae, in the front row, wept as Bailey and Trish did their best to console her. They were good friends, and Rayna had no doubt they’d do all they could to help Miles’ wife as she grieved her husband’s death. Everyone should have people in their life like that.
Before long, nearly everyone in the front row was crying, including Justin. He didn’t strike her as the type to shed tears very often. The song continued to play, and Rayna thought of her memories of Miles, especially during their road trip to Oklahoma.
He’d been a nice guy and always had everyone’s back in a fight. Too many good people were lost in the war, but he hadbeen one of the best. Tears pricked her eyes as she thought of the saying that the good die young. In this case, it was true.
Her younger brother, nineteen years old at the time, had died three days after the dragons arrived. He didn’t get the slayer gene, so when she and her father were racing with him to safety where their mother waited, he burned in the flames that engulfed their car. They survived. That image of him screaming in fear until his voice cut off still haunted her nightmares. There had been nothing left of him to bury.
