Chapter 5 #3
“There was a village in the Bizarre,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck. “It was hit last night by humans. Everyone was slaughtered. The centaur foster family hid him under the rubble. He’s an orphan.”
Mom’s face fell, eyes going glossy. She hugged the baby closer, careful not to squish him. “Oh, sweetheart. You poor thing.”
Soft footsteps sounded down the hall.
Aunt Maelis emerged from her room like a ghost stepping out of fog.
Her blonde hair hung loose and unstyled. Her blue eyes, which were usually the color of a clear sky, had dulled and hollowed since Darian died. She was pale, cheeks hollowed out more than they should be.
She opened her mouth to ask what was going on, but then she saw the baby.
“Nymera,” she whispered. “What…?”
Mom turned, beaming through tears. “Come look, Maelis. Jesper found a baby.”
Aunt Maelis drifted closer as if she were afraid any sudden move would make the baby vanish.
“He’s a firedrake,” Mom told her softly. “Brown eyes. Look at that hair. Oh, he’s perfect.”
The baby stared up at Aunt Maelis, tiny fingers flexing toward her.
Something shifted in her expression. Her blue eyes lit up. Not fully like before, but a spark that hadn’t been there since Darian was killed had come back.
“He’s beautiful,” she cooed.
Rune stepped up beside me, wrapping an arm around my waist. “His foster parents died protecting him. Jesper found him. No one else even heard him crying.”
I cleared my throat, suddenly feeling too big in my own house. “This is probably too presumptuous. He needs a family, and Rune and I thought you might…”
Aunt Maelis looked at me, tears spilling over now.
She laughed, but it came out broken. “Jesper…”
“This baby,” I continued, “finding him feels like a gift from the Fates. Like he was meant to be found by me and given to you. He is meant to be here with someone who understands what it is to lose and still have love left to give. You, Aunt Maelis.”
Mom pressed a trembling kiss to the baby’s forehead and then transferred him into Maelis’s arms.
“You heard him,” she said. “He’s yours.”
Maelis cradled him as if he were made of glass. The baby grabbed a lock of her hair and gave it a tug, cooing.
She laughed again; this time it sounded less broken. “He’s perfect,” she told us, voice cracking. “He’s…perfect.”
Rune put a hand on Aunt Maelis’s shoulder. “Second chances are real. Sometimes the Fates don’t give us what we asked for. Instead, they give us what we need.”
Aunt Maelis slid one finger into the baby’s tiny fist. He latched onto it with a strength that made her wince slightly.
“Mason,” she whispered.
Mom tilted her head. “Mason?”
Aunt Maelis nodded, eyes shining with tears. “Mason. That’s his name.”
The baby let out a cute noise in what seemed like agreement.
Love settled in my chest, flowing between Rune and I. Watching Aunt Maelis cuddle him, watching my mom fuss over him, and seeing Rune smile softly beside them gave me a sense of completion that I hadn’t realized I was missing until just then.
“I’ll handle the paperwork with the Council,” I said, voice cracking. “Official adoption, death confirmation of his parents, all of it. Don’t worry about any of the legal work.”
Mom sniffed, wiping at her eyes even as she watched Aunt Maelis rock Mason gently. “Good. You do that. I’m going to get baby food. And clothes. And a crib. And—” She spun on her heel and headed for the door with determined purpose.
“Mom,” I called after her. “He’s like…weeks old. He’s not eating solids.”
“We’ll need it eventually,” she shot back, already halfway out the door.
Rune laughed, glancing up at me. “I’ll stay with your aunt while you do the paperwork.”
Aunt Maelis looked up at me over Mason’s tiny head. Tears streaked her cheeks, but there was color there again. “Thank you, Jesper. You have no idea…”
“I do,” I said quietly. “More than you think.”
Rune moved closer to Aunt Maelis, leaning in to coo at Mason, talking softly about the Fates and found family, and about how sometimes the worst nights led to the best gifts.
I watched them for a moment, memorizing the image.
My mate, my aunt, and a brand-new baby firedrake named Mason who was now safe and sound in our home.
I exhaled slowly.
The fight in the Bizarre, the bodies, the human with Rune’s stolen DNA…all of it lingered in my chest. There was still a war outside these walls. We still had a lab to burn, treaties to keep, humans to kill, and supernaturals to save.
But for a stolen moment, in this house, something broken had been given a chance to mend. Both baby Mason, who lost his parents twice over, and Aunt Maelis, who had lost her son.
“I’ll be back,” I told them.
Rune glanced over her shoulder, meeting my gaze. Our bond hummed between us—warm, steady, and full of shared grief and love.
“See you soon, mister agent,” she teased.
“See you soon, honey drop.”
I stepped back onto the wayfaer portal in our living room, already pulling up the forms I needed in my head to handle the Council’s systems. Adoption papers, guardian claims, and death certificates needed to be filled out.
They were all red tape that I would happily cut through with my bare hands if anyone tried to stand in the way.
Mason was officially part of our family, and I protected my family.
For the first time since the humans took Rune, stole her DNA, and turned it into a weapon for themselves, I felt a little less like everything was spiraling out of our control.
We’d lost an entire village in the Bizarre today, but we’d also saved a life.
Mason’s tiny heartbeat and coos echoed in my mind as I stepped out to brief Sabine and explain the situation.