She looked alarmed. “But…what about you?”
I smiled. “Don’t worry about me. I was born for this.”Chapter 8
They say unconditional love exists. It does…but only with dragons. Men are shitheads.-Blythe’s secret thoughtsBlythe
“Does this happen often?” I asked Keifer’s mother and sister.
I’d only met the sister, Skylar, as Nikolai shoved her into the room with us, and then sealed the opening off with a wave of his hand.
Much the same as I’d been ordered to do by Keifer.
My mind started to wander as I thought about him being out there without his powers. Defenseless.
He’s hardly defenseless, dear heart, the dragon’s smooth voice slithered through my subconscious.
I took a deep breath and said, take care of him.
“Do we go into lockdown and get shoved into holes?” Skylar clarified, raising her eyebrow at me in question.
At my nod, she shook her head. “No. This isn’t normal. Well…I take that back. It’s normal lately. But not here. Our havens all over the country have been coming under attack, but no one can figure out just how they’re being found. Not that I know what happened this time, but something major had to have happened if we’re in the safe room. Keifer’s not one to overreact.”
Her admission didn’t make my stomach stop rolling.
But with nothing else to do, I let my mouth speak. Something that I always found myself doing when I was nervous.
“When I turned eighteen, my mother died, and she said I would be special when I got to be older. I never believed her until this morning,” I told them, staring into space as I relived this morning through my memories. “I know I don’t know Keifer all that well, and I feel like I have a ton more to learn, but I sense a connection to him. Something deep.”
Skylar smiled. “I’ve never seen Keifer act the way he has this past day with anyone in my entire life. Even during high school when he was the king of football. Trust me, I’m sure he feels much the same way.”
I smiled. “I used to watch the dragons from my apartment window,” I told her. “Used to daydream about riding one. Being in the clouds, feeling the wind in my hair,” I sighed wistfully as I remembered yesterday’s flight. “Keifer made one of my dreams come true within the first twenty-four hours of knowing him.”
I felt a cool, dainty hand touch my forearm, and I turned to find Keifer’s mother, Bella, staring at me. Then she touched my cheek, letting me know that she understood what I was going through.
Hell, I wished I did. I was so fucking lost it wasn’t even funny.
The minute the door sealed off, my heart froze in my chest, and I felt like I hadn’t taken a deep breath since.
“Mom knows sign language, do you?” Skylar asked softly.
I turned to Skylar and shook my head. “I know the alphabet, but I’m really slow on the uptake. I can sign it quickly, but I can’t comprehend unless they go really, really slow.”
I smiled apologetically at Bella, and she patted my hand twice before removing a spiral bound notebook from her side.
She started scribbling words down, and I looked down to read them.
Do you have any questions? She wrote.
I shrugged.
“Probably a bazillion,” I admitted.
She smiled and made a come-on gesture with her hand, so I started to ask my questions.
“How long were you able to resist your husband?” I asked.
She didn’t even pretend that she misunderstood what I was asking her and instead just started to scribble away.
He and I were able to stay away from each other for a little over forty-eight hours. The third night we knew each other, our relationship became a little…explosive.
I smiled, remembering this morning, and how I really couldn’t stop myself from taking him.
Hell, I’d practically woken up with him already in my mouth.
I was shameless!
“Is that how you lost your voice…did he breathe his dragon fire into you?” I asked carefully.
She nodded.
His father told my Dodd about what would happen. When we were blocked off from our family, the day before he died, he started to write in that book. For hours he wrote, and I lay against him, telling him what I thought should be in there. Then we were attacked, and Dodd dispensed the first wave of Purists. But they gutted him, and he died a very slow and painful death. He was able to breathe his dragon fire into me, and I willingly took it, knowing it was something he wanted me to have. To raise our sons like they should be raised. To be with them and help them carry on their legacy.
I watched as she wiped a lone tear that had escaped, despite her tight control, and I felt my own responding tears start to take over.
“I’m a mess,” I muttered to myself.