Page 65 of A Dragon's Desire (The Pretern Wars 2)

When the kiss ended, she felt him tucking something into her hand.

Looking down, she saw her blade, the one she’d stolen back from the Redcap—the one she’d long suspected Amy had stolen from her years ago. It was that blade that had been passed down the family line to her. It was that blade that the Redcap had used to injure her father, forcing him to remain behind, and in the end, sacrifice himself. The Redcap had tried to take the blade then, but her father’s magic had protected it and it had been returned to the family.

Now it was in her hand again.

The dream from mere nights ago flashed through her mind.

Gia pressed her lips together to stifle the tears.

“How do you have this?” she demanded. She’d put in her pack after her shade had stolen it back in Missouri, secreting it away from the men who’d kidnapped and held Wyn captive. It had been stowed there, safely.

“Amy took it. She used it to kill Ronna.” Sorin cradled her face. “Then she told me to return it to you. An odd circle, isn’t it?”

“You gave me this once before,” Gia murmured, holding it to her heart as though it was the most precious gift imaginable. “After stealing an old dagger that had been my mother’s.”

He stayed quiet.

In her mind’s eye, she saw the girl from the village, back when she’d been another woman, the woman who’d loved a dragon. Olga had gone back to that woman’s cabin and taken a box of treasures. One had been this knife...did Sorin know that Olga had been one of Gia’s ancestors? Generations back on her mother’s side, and this blade had been passed down, from mother to daughter in an unbreaking line for hundreds of years.

He might not know. Imagine that, something the arrogant beast didn’t know.

So she’d have to tell him. Later. When they started their lives together.

Gia kissed him again.

“Do what you must do, then find us, dragon.”

“Where will you be?” he demanded, gripping her arms. “I’ve waited too long already.”

But she just kissed him again, then pulled away.

---