Page 30 of Finch

anything at all accomplished without you.”

“Thank you, sir. Your faith means a lot to me.”

Hugh skated his thumb over Finch’s cheek. “My Finch. How I do rely upon you. Never leave

me.”

Finch was silent. That was a promise he feared he wouldn’t be able to keep. He imagined

Hugh and his mate, seeing only each other and their offspring. While they would stay young

and beautiful, Finch would grow old and frail until one day, having used his life to see to it that

Hugh never suffered from want, he’d die. It was not a fate he thought he could face with

equanimity.

“I do my best to assist you,” Finch told his employer. “But I think it’s an exaggeration to say

that you can’t survive without me.”

Hugh frowned. “Promise me, Finch. Promise you’ll never leave me. My household, I mean.

Promise that you’ll always be here for me.”

Finch blinked up into Hugh’s twilight eyes. When the day came that Hugh did find a mate,

would Hugh still feel the same? It was impossible to tell. “I’ll stay as long as you need me,” he

finally said.

“Which is forever. You know that full well.” Hugh swept his thumb over Finch’s cheek one last

time, then withdrew his hand. “You are my rock.”

“Thank you, sir.” Finch handed the apology over to Hugh. “Here. I would recommend writing it

out in your own hand.”

With a huge smile, Hugh took the letter from Finch. “What a very sensible suggestion, Finch.

You are a treasure, you know.”

Finch grunted. He opened his laptop and began to make arrangements for a ball. There would

be a great deal of work to be done, and if he was to have it organized before the end of Hugh’s

sanctioned period to produce a clutch, he’d need to start right away. Soon he had several tabs

open.

One of them had nothing to do with the ball, however. The site was called The Attendant

Exchange. On it were job listings for skilled Attendants looking for new positions within the

dragon community. Finch made note of a few promising entries. There was nothing as good

as his current position, unfortunately, but for as long as his future in the estate was uncertain,

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