Chapter 20 #2
Tisi and Serena were flying as hard as they could, their tiny wings fluttering madly. When they tired, they rested down on one of his brother’s backs and let them run a bit, before leaping in the air to fly again. Both of them were trying so hard to be quick.
They went until they couldn’t go anymore, and then they all flopped down on the ground, panting and tired. The ground here was soft, the flowers blooming all around him. And his mate had an expression of pure joy on his face.
Thank the goddess.
Brom slowly morphed back into his human form. “Do you feel better, son?”
Corbin nodded to his father. “I do. I just felt everything was very difficult.”
“Yes, well, you are carrying three babies. And your brother is carrying a baby of his own. And your other brother carries the weight of all the visions of the universe…”
“That’s me. Visionary boy.” Cosmo made his eyes wide, and they all began to laugh, the joy springing between them.
Corbin leaned against his father and nodded, but there was a smile there now at least.
Are you happy, lethean?
I am. I’m sorry I’ve been so down. I didn’t mean to be… I just couldn’t seem to help it. Corbin’s smile began to falter, and he shook his head.
No. No apologizing. You are physically uncomfortable, you were having a happy day, and it all went south.
And then we were all worried about leaving the house.
He smiled at his mate, his human form making that far easier.
You can be unhappy, and I will try to make it better, but this is not a matter of fault.
Bron kissed the top of Corbin’s head. “I love you, my son.”
“I love you too, Dad. Thank you. I needed to fly.”
“Whew.” Human form Orion flopped down on the grass with them. He’d overshot carrying Isabelle and had to come back. “You guys can really fly and run. I am feeling distinctly out of shape. And my little flyers, how amazing you both are.”
Tisi was glossy again, his horn shining, and Serena’s giggles filled the air like silver bells.
Everybody seemed lazy and happy, including his brothers. Once again, he wished Alyster could be here. He wondered what his brother was doing off in the Court of Bells, but he was distracted when Elliot rolled over to him and hit him right in the belly. Bonk!
“Unc Evs. Loves you.”
“I love you too.” He wondered if Elliot would talk like this all the way through adulthood, as if it was so hard to force the words out from between the rocks that were his vocal cords. That he just would rumble and grumble and grunt.
I guess it won’t matter if Stella’s going to be his mate, Corbin teased. All she ever does is screech.
Don’t say that where Cosmo can hear you. He’ll start to fire up his eyes again. Evander teased right back, because now he felt like he could. He felt like Corbin had come down out of the trees a little bit.
God, anything but that. Corbin chuckled softly, his eyes lit up as he looked over at his brother, who just winked.
“I’m sorry Hawk couldn’t be here for this,” Cosmo murmured.
Bron shook his head and smiled, the expression wry. “They made an exception for me —and maybe they would for him. But I think a lot of it has to do with the magic.”
Ev looked at his mate’s father and shook his head. “Well, how did you get here though?”
“I was hurt, and she was having a bit of a snit.” Bron’s grin was wicked.
“We were both in the human world. This was many, many years ago, obviously, but she found me when she was looking for new plants, new adventures, she told me. She healed me from my wounds, and as we learned one another, we fell in love.”
The expression on Bron’s face was one of peace, of wonder. “It was easy to fall in love with her. She wasn’t the queen of anything back then, of course. She was just a beautiful young fae with the brightest eyes I’d ever seen. And I was completely smitten.”
“The world was much wilder when we met, and we spent many years living and happy, but one morning, there was a huge cat that attacked her while I was out hunting. When I got to her, she was almost gone, and so I grabbed her up, and I flew as fast as I could to where I knew a portal was. I tried to take her home, to push her through, and she refused to go unless I could come with her. She was willing to die rather than be without me. How could I not stay with her here forever? She’s my best friend. ”
Evander’s eyes filled with tears, and all of them—his brothers and his father—nodded.
Evander had just heard those words from another dragon who was waiting for them back in the guardian house. The love these fae and dragons had for each other humbled him.
Finally, Corbin came to curl up with him, eyelids heavy. “Can I nap on you until we go back to the house?”
“Of course, lethean.” Ev wrapped his arms around his mate, letting him rest. Cosmo quietly took off with his two kids once Corbin was asleep, but the rest of them stayed until the evening started to cool and darken, and then they went back to the house, Bron once again carrying Evander’s sleeping mate.
Corbin’s color was once again vibrant and green, his scales sharp and delineated. Evander couldn’t be more happy about how today had turned out.
Now he just had to keep it that way.