Page 65 of Dragon Fires Everywhere
“No, of course not. I can handle it.”
“But you don’thaveto.”
I think about sacrifices, and the difference between the ones forced on you and the ones you choose. I think of the responsibilitywe’ve been handed by our entire community. It’s a weight, but it’s also a gift. And so is this.
“No, I don’thaveto,” I say. “I want to. I love giving the tours, and we haven’t let anything that’s happened this year get in the way ofliving our normal lives. Why start now?”
Everyone begins to move. Zander says goodbye to Ellowyn with a kiss for her and the baby, then is off to the ferry. Jacobmagicks himself off to a Healer call.
“Once I finish the tour, I’ll head back to the archives and see what else they have to tell me,” I assure Frost.
Rebekah stands with him, then pulls me into a rare hug. “I guess you belong in this house after all,” she whispers to me.
I want to cry again, but I know Rebekah would recoil at that, so I just squeeze her back and release her, so they can headback to Frost House to continue the ongoing research into any and all details on ascension we can find.
Then it’s Emerson’s turn. She pulls me into an even harder hug.
“This doesn’t change who we are. Not really. Everything before this moment still happened, and everything we’refacing still has to be overcome,” I tell her, but I hold on just as hard to her.
She pulls back, just a little. “We didn’t need blood to be sisters, but it’s... it’s amazing, all the same.”
I nod.
Then Ellowyn and I eye each other.
“I’m not particularly tactile,” she says, but then smiles and gives me a quick hug too—which might just be a greater miraclethan a staircase accessory turning into a dragon lover.
Then the two of them head out onto Main Street to walk down to their shops together.
Azrael slides his arm around my waist and tugs me closer into him. Easy. Like this is just who we are. A unit.
Like all those little gestures Jacob and Emerson have been doing for months that make my heartache.
I thought I was jealous, and maybe I was. But maybe I also knew I had this out there somewhere. That it wasn’tSage, no matter how much I told myself it should be.
I lean into him and let his strength replenish my own. It’s a lot. This year has all been alot. And there’s still so much more to come.
But for today, I need to give one of the tours of the historic houses on Main, all dressed up for the holiday. The first tourgroup will meet here in just a few minutes. Then I’ll take them around Wilde House before moving them on to the next. ThePendell house.
It’s not really the morning for a dragon.
“You could tag along with Ellowyn to Tea & No Sympathy,” I suggest. “Flex those merchant muscles.”
He’s silent for a moment. “Trying to get rid of me?”
“Unless you want to pretend to be human in a group and learn about the history of this house—which you probably already know—Ithink helping Ellowyn out might be more fun for you, and more helpful for Ellowyn than it would be for me.”
“Are you calling me a distraction?” He grins down at me.
And I remember, in my mind’s eye and every inch of my body, just what last night was like.
“Yes,” I say.
Emphatically.
He laughs, but then sobers. “What are you wearing for protection?”
“Black jade.”
