Page 22 of A Fate of Blood and Magic
Ryenne threw a wadded napkin at Javier, but it came up short and fell on the table.
Aidas and Kieren strolled up from behind Javier and Delaney. Without missing a beat, Kieren smacked the back of Javier’s head. Javier flipped him off without looking back.
“Mama Teddy, would you like to see our design?” Aidas asked.
Mama Teddy.If that wasn’t the sweetest nickname, I wasn’t sure what was.
It was a good kind of strange the way Aidas had taken to me so quickly, from worrying over Ryenne’s concern over me to now calling meMama Teddy.It made me wonder more about him. He reminded me a little of Brenton with his easygoing manner that contrasted against his gentle nature.
I scooted closer to Ryenne, pushing her farther down the booth, then patted the empty seat beside me.
“Come, show me,” I said.
Aidas went through his inner pocket of magic where all fae seemed to store their stuff. I needed to learn that little trick so I could also have a magical pocket. It’d come in handy when I carted the kids’ stuff around, especially after the twins were born.
Damn. Twins. I was having twins.
He pulled out a sketch pad and slid in the booth with me. He flipped through a few pages, then handed it over.
I froze.
A beautiful green dragon with yellow and black scales soared across the page, wings stretched out mid-flight. I traced the sweeping curve of her yellow horns, swallowing past the knot that formed in my suddenly dry throat.
A gasp escaped me as I rubbed the side of my neck. “It’s Nalari. She looks beautiful.”Majestic,I almost said. “This is . . . this is incredible. Stunning. You’re quite the talented young man,” I told Aidas.
“Nah,” he said, lifting his chin toward Kieren. “He’s the artist, not me.”
I peered up at the quiet male. Kieren hadn’t spoken a word but his posture was open and confident. I gave him a watery smile.
“You’re incredibly talented, Kieren,” I said, tracing the outline of the dragon I missed every day.
“He said you can keep it,” Javier said. “If you want.”
I glanced back at Kieren, moved beyond words. “If you don’t mind, I’d love to frame it and hang it in our home.”
He placed an open hand over his chest and bowed his head.
I smiled.
“I’m sure you’re wondering,” Aidas said after a beat, “but Kieren doesn’t talk. Not conventionally anyway.”
“Do you mind-speak?” I asked him, remembering the way my own mind-speak magic had reacted to him earlier.
A warm tingle brushed against the edge of my mind, gentle and curious, as if asking for permission. I opened myself up to who I assumed was Kieren.
“You can mind-speak too?”Kieren’s deep voice asked with a surprised lilt to it.
“It’s something new I somehow acquired,”I answered.“I’m still learning and don’t do it that often because it tires me. I haven’ttold my best friend about it yet. She’d probably want to talk to me at all hours of the day and night.”
His chest shook with laughter, his shoulders trembling with quiet amusement, but the only sound I heard came from inside my mind.
“It’ll take time and training before it stops tiring you,”he said.“I can feel how much energy you’re burning just to talk to me. You don’t have to push so hard.”
“If I don’t use this much energy, Elias can barely hear me.”
He nodded, chewing on his bottom lip.“I can show you if you’d like. Not now, but if you’re okay with me coming over after school a few times, it wouldn’t take long to teach you. And eventually, you’ll be able to leave an open connection with those you want so they can contact you through your magic anytime.”
That would be convenient.
