Her Uncle Joseph was the only family member to have any contact with her, and that was only because he himself had been shunned, and knew what it felt like.
But it was obvious that her uncle had been feeding her garbage and not being much of a friend in her time of need.
“Do you want to meet him?” I asked quietly.
Brooklyn’s brown eyes widened, and I could swear that she was trembling.
When she didn’t answer, I smiled and took hold of her hand.
“Come on, you’ll love him,” I urged, pulling her the rest of the way to Keifer.
Keifer’s eyes took everything in as we walked towards him, and he smiled once his eyes caught onto my new mating tattoo on my wrists.
Causing him to look down at his own with a small smile on his face before looking back up.
The entire time, I could feel Brooklyn dragging her feet.
Had she really not wanted to do it, though, I knew she would’ve said no. She was good at saying no.
I, on the other hand, wasn’t. Which hinted why I was here with Keifer in the first place, because it was obvious that most sane people wouldn’t have gone with a man they didn’t know who was telling her how to control her powers.
“Hey, baby,” Keifer murmured softly once we were close enough.
He dismounted his bike, a different one than before, and stood up to his full height.
I felt Brooklyn tense, and her feet start to drag even more, but she made it to him and stopped slightly to the left of my right shoulder.
“Hey, Keifer,” I whispered happily.
Keifer’s eyes smiled down at me, and then moved to Brooklyn before going back to me.
One brow was raised in question, and shrugged. “I wanted you to meet Brooklyn Abernathy, my best friend in the entire world. Brooklyn, this is Keifer Vassago.”
Brooklyn’s mouth dropped open, and I had to smother the urge to laugh.
Yeah, if you’re not getting it by now, Vassago was a huge name around Dallas, and hell, even in the entire Northern Hemisphere.
“Nice to meet you, Brooklyn Abernathy,” Keifer nodded formally.
Brooklyn gave him a small smile. “Nice to meet you too, Mr. Vassago.”
Keifer grinned, “Call me Keifer.”
Brooklyn swallowed. “Call me Brooklyn.”
“Brooklyn wanted to meet the man that I disappeared off the face of the Earth for,” I teased.
Brooklyn denied it, but I could tell it was only halfhearted. She really did want to meet Keifer.
She was protective over the few friends that she had, having known what it felt like to lose those she called hers.
“That would be me,” Keifer rumbled. “I’m sorry to have caused you undue worry. I’ll be sure to have Blythe call you, have I a need to kidnap her again.”
Brooklyn burst out laughing, and I knew Keifer had broken through.
I winked at him before pulling Brooklyn into my arms.
“I’ll see you tomorrow for the big test!” I called with false cheer.
Tomorrow was the final test of our entire nursing career before finals, and from what we’d heard, it was also the hardest.
Brooklyn was a fucking beast, though, and usually had no problem learning the material.
I, on the other hand, didn’t absorb it as easily as she did, and I was always forcing myself to sit down and study when I really, really didn’t want to.
“Make sure you make some notecards. And you need to make sure to bring your clinical notes for her to sign off on. Okay?” Brooklyn whispered into my shoulder.
I patted her back. “Yes, Mom.”
Brooklyn punched me in the leg before she sighed. “See you tomorrow. It was nice to meet you, Keifer. Make sure she studies.”
Brooklyn left, and Keifer wrapped his arm around me as he watched her go.
“You got a good friend, there,” Keifer promised with assurance. “I could tell she didn’t want to come over here, but I knew she’d do it for you. Take care of her. She’s sad.”
I blinked and turned into his arms. “How do you know she’s sad?”
He gestured to her as she walked away. “The way she walks. She feels sad when she talks. I don’t know. I just know.”
I blinked, and shook my head. “She’s Amish… well she was Amish. Hell, I don’t know what that is anymore. When she came of age, she went out on her Rumspringa—when all Amish youth go out to get some life experiences—except she didn’t want to go back after it was all said and done, and she lost her family. I think she’s upset about not being able to see her little sister most of all.”
Keifer made a sound of agreement. “Nobody deserves to lose their family, Drakina.”
I blinked. “Drakina?”
Keifer nodded and turned to mount his bike before answering.
“Drakina is what dragons call their mates. Seems fitting, doesn’t it?” He asked with a smile.
I nodded in understanding.
“Yeah, I guess it does,” I handed him my bag.