Page 55 of Midnight in the Garden of Okay and Meh
“What did I miss?” I asked, glancing around. Parisi and Desi were standing next to the big window that looked out on the square, but were looking at each other instead of the pretty park where I had my walkies.
“Nothing. Absolutely nothing,” Aisling repeated, squeezing Drake’s arm before she kissed the tip of his nose. “Hunter winked at me before he left, that’s all.”
“Another dragon winked at my mate,” Drake said, sounding outraged. “A master of an ouroboros tribe winked at you. Why did he do so? He must want to steal you!”
“Oh, for the love of Pete ... Drake, it was a wink. He doesn’t want me. I have three kids and a sexy-as-sin dragon of my own—no one else is going to want me.”
“Why. Did. He. Wink?” Drake asked through gritted teeth.
“Jealous much?” I couldn’t help but ask, still keeping an eye on my parents. Sally, who had been standing at the far end of the room speaking softly on her phone, turned around to smile at us all.
“I’m happy to say that all the Hashmallim are accounted for, and have been given new physical forms and returned to their duties protecting the Akasha. Are we all done here?”
“Why aren’t you listening to me?” Aisling asked Drake. “Why do you think I’d lie?”
“I don’t think anything so heinous. You are my mate, and you are madly in love with me. I trust you with everything I have, but the same does not apply to masters of ouroboros tribes who can challenge me for you and attempt to steal you from me and our children.”
Aisling is made of nicer stuff than me, because where I thought Drake was being overbearing and ridiculous, she just smiled and leaned in to him to whisper, “You know full well I would never let that happen again. You’re mine, and I’m keeping you, so get over your wyvern jealousy when it concerns unmated male dragons, and tell me how much you missed me while you were in Hungary.”
He kissed her, murmured something that sounded a lot like a brief apology and reassurance that he couldn’t live without her; then he turned to Sally and asked, “Why did he wink?”
“Hmm?” She looked up from her phone before tucking it away. “Oh, that would be the blood bond. Aisling had to have some sort of a bond with Hunter in order to be able to summon him from the Akasha, and since she refused to kiss him for an exchange that way, they pricked their fingers and mingled blood. A blood bond is always best, I find.”
“You don’t have one with me,” I told her while Drake roared, outright roared, and Aisling had to take him to the other end of the room and have yet another round of reassuring the jealous dragon.
Sally gave me a curious look that melted into a tiny smile, one I felt was meant just for me. “But you are special.”
“Amen to that, sister,” I said, giving her a quick sniffle and head rub on her leg. “And speaking of that, thanks muchly.”
She glanced to where Parisi and Desi were speaking quietly, her smile fading. “I wish that I could be certain you will continue to be grateful for the actions we’ve taken today.”
It was an odd sort of thing to say, and I was about to ask her more, but Aisling’s phone started dinging with an alarm for an upcoming video call, and Sally used that as an excuse to leave.
“I’m willing to let it go, but the next time we have dragon-fighting time, Hunter is going to be present,” Drake said in a tone filled with portent. “I have a few things to work out with him.”
“Yes, yes, you can beat the tar out of each other the next time you boys have a shindig. Sally, we can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done. I’m sure Christian and Allie share my gratitude.” While Aisling and Drake saw Sally to the door, I wandered over to my parents.
“You came to rescue me? To save me?” Desi was asking when I stopped next to them.
“Of course.” Parisi gave a little shrug. “It was my duty as a defender. You said we know each other? I have no recollection of you, and yet ...”
“Heya,” I told Desi when he turned to frown at me interrupting their tête-à-tête. “So, it turns out you’re my dad.”
He blinked a couple of times, his expression filled with incredulity. “I did not sire a dog!”
I tipped my head to the side because Ash told me it made me look adorable. “Yeah, that’s just my preferred form. Ever since I became a demon.”
“You what?” he all but yelled, glancing again at Parisi. “Is this true? Our child became a demon? After everything I did to protect him, he became a demon?”
“I don’t know,” she said, lifting her hands in an obvious gesture of confusion. “I don’t have a child, let alone a dog. I live by myself, although I do have two beehives. I like the bees.”
“He says he’s our son,” Desi said, pointing at me.
“He’s rather confused, I think,” she answered.
“Maybe this’ll help,” I said, and shifted into human form.
Desi stared at me, his eyes first widening, then narrowing until they were slits of glittering black. “Effrijim?”
