Page 184 of Memories Like Fangs
When nothing happened again, I called. “Clarkson!”
There was a rustle from the treeline. Then, a blur of chocolate brown and navy bounded with supernatural speed to us, her long ears adorned with navy and black bows flopping behind her. Her stubby tail wagging like it was possessed, Clarkson stopped next to Quinn. She was in the same navy and black pullover as me and Quinn, but in an adorable doggy size. Finding the tops online had given me a new record for the fastestpurchase ever. I had never seen a dog prance with so much pride before until I saw Clarkson feeling herself in her clothes this morning. Either utterly oblivious to the spike in our heart rates or willfully ignoring it, Clarkson happily brandished the s’more toy that had been magically eluding her all day. She showed it off like she had just won a mighty battle.
I bent at the waist, laughing breathlessly with relief. Quinn, meanwhile, rolled her eyes and shook her head. “You are an absolute,traitorousmenace. Now that you have given me a heart attack, can you do your job that you so desperately wanted?”
Clarkson barked snarkily at Quinn around her toy. Then, she shook. When she stopped and sat back down, a bespelled piece of parchment unrolled from her collar tag. Words appeared on the page as if an invisible hand was writing them:
Will you officially make my mom the spare human by becoming my new mom?
A laugh stuck somewhere between disbelief and humor broke through tears that hadn’t let up for a moment.
Before I could scoop the pup who looked far too pleased with herself up into my arms to shower her with kisses, Quinn reached over and gently pried her toy from her jaws. The magicked parchment vanished in a shower of glitter once she did. Quinn dug her fingers into the marshmallow part of the toy, and she very quickly plucked a smallish black glass hexagon box. Clarkson snapped playfully at the toy in Quinn’s other hand, so Quinn tossed it for Clarkson to chase after with all the joy in the world, her job completed.
The box resembled a miniature terrarium. It’s big enough to fill the palm of Quinn’s hand. The light from the universe reflected off the glass in glinting lines, hiding what was inside. It was a very beautiful box.
Then, Quinn opened it.
And, I realized what made it even more beautiful was that it was aringbox.
Cradled by moss like it had grown there was the most perfect ring I had ever seen. It was a massive 2.5-carat pear-cut Padparadscha Sapphire. The stone was the rarest, most perfect color for the stone: sunset and dawn captured in crystal, sweet peachy pink and warm honeyed orange blended with precision. Set in rose gold, the band twisted into delicate leaves dotted by tiny moonstone opals. Marquise-shaped opals flared outward on either side of the sapphire, making the ring look like a crystal flower blooming eternally.
Quinn’s hand shook just slightly as she held the box to me. Her voice was filled with so much emotion that it trembled at the edges. “Brydgette Fallon Pierce, my girl,mi vida, mi tesoro, mi libélula, my fated mate, would you do me the greatest honor of my life by marrying me?
As every trace of breath in me left all at once, I said, “Oh my fucking gods, Quinn, yes, yes, yes!”
We collided into each other, falling onto the ground. We laughed through our falling tears, and we kissed in between breaths like it was the only language we could muster the strength or knowledge to speak. Our bond exploded with pure joy, both of us so deliriously happy that we were drunk from it.
By some miracle, we regained enough composure for Quinn to sit us up with me in her lap. She took my left hand and slid the ring onto my finger.
The moment the metal touched my skin, my spine straightened and my breath caught in my throat yet again. Power surged up my arm like liquid fire, curling in my chest before spreading through the rest of my body. The flame was electric, but it didn’t burn or sting. No, this warmed and healed andloved. It was layer upon layer of love that seemed to stretch for centuries, maybe more. My mom’s obsidian pendant heatedas if the fire had overflowed into it. My dragon instantly began to purr so loud and powerful, thrumming through every bone inside me until it spilled from my own throat. Trying to press even closer to the stone, my opalescent scales surfaced across my ring finger, dazzling in the celestial lights.
I recognized this energy instantly, even if it was different now. I had felt it during the battle with Lilah, in my family’s horde. This power was familial, ancestral. This stone came from one of the sapphires in my mother’s enchantment. But this wasdifferent. I closed my eyes as the sapphire spoke louder than any crystal I had ever touched. Most crystals I heard whispered or hummed or pulsed with energy. This one, though, actuallyspoketo me, its voice as layered as the fire it ignited within me.
Mom’s ring.
Grandma’s ring.
The ring of those who came before full of love.
Blessed.
Creativity, energy, health.
Rare, royal, eternal.
The name means lotus flower.
I chuckled softly to myself. As if this stone couldn’t get more perfect for me, it also harkened to my nickname that Izzy called me? There were no other words to describe it other than perfect.
“Did I do pretty good on the ring?”
I opened my eyes to meet Quinn’s wet, shining ones. She tried to shield her genuine sheepishness and concern under a teasing tone, but I knew too well what the ruffling of her curls and that pinched line between her brows meant. I chuckled breathlessly before stammering. “Are you f-fucking kidding? It’s p-perfect! I love it! H-How? H-How d-did you even get?—?”
“Everett. He gave me your mom’s and dad’s rings when I asked for his blessing to marry you,” Quinn said before explaining how Everett had gotten Mom’s and Pops’s rings, thedragon-shifter tradition of passing them down, and how she had asked for my hand. By the time she was done, I was even more of a blubbering mess than I was before, with hot tears the size of my ring falling down my cheeks.
“I-I can’t believe you did this for me! And, onyourbirthday!”
Quinn brushed her knuckles over my cheeks before taking them in both of her hands. Quinn’s glistening eyes were suns that my world forever revolved around. “Byrdie, I can’t imagine a better birthday gift than the promise of forever with you by my side.”
