Epilogue
Palmer hummed as he worked. It was cute, and Curran wasn’t the only one to think that. Deryn hadn’t been able to take his eyes off Palmer since he and Curran had walked into the infirmary for Curran’s checkup.
“Everything looks good,” Palmer murmured as he continued gently pressing on Curran’s stomach. “I talked to some of the healers, so I can tell that your egg is growing well. It shouldn’t be more than a few weeks.”
“So soon?” Curran asked, even though he’d known it would happen soon. Laying the egg wasn’t a lengthy process in a dragon’s reproduction. Waiting for the egg to hatch was.
Palmer smiled. “I hope you’re ready.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever be ready, but there’s nothing I can do about that, is there?”
“I suppose there’s not. Do you need help with anything? I could ask a healer to step in instead of me.”
Curran shook his head. “I don’t want anyone else.”
“I’m touched, but I would understand. I’m human.”
“So? You take your job seriously. That’s all that matters, isn’t it?
You’re going to make sure both me and the baby are okay.
I don’t care if you’re human.” Curran was pretty sure that Deryn didn’t care, either.
He was still looking at Palmer with heart-eyes.
Curran wasn’t sure that Deryn had heard everything Palmer had said because he was so focused on staring at him.
It was fine. Deryn was here to support Curran, but Curran didn’t actually need anything from him.
He just wanted Deryn to feel like he was part of what was happening.
Now that Curran and Marlin were together and were building a family, Curran wouldn’t have as much time to dedicate to Deryn as he had before.
He didn’t want his best friend to feel left behind, and Curran was more comfortable doing these visits with him than he was with his mothers.
They always had a lot of questions and flustered Palmer.
Deryn flustered Palmer, too, but in a different way. It was amusing to see.
Palmer smiled. “Well, then, I’ll be happy to follow you through the rest of your pregnancy,” he said. “But if I do anything wrong, please, let me know.”
“This is my first pregnancy. I wouldn’t know if you were doing anything wrong,” Curran pointed out.
That made Palmer frown, but not for long because Deryn stepped in. “I’ve seen a few pregnancies. I’ll force him to come see you if there’s anything odd about his, and I’ll tell you if you do something wrong.”
Palmer’s eyebrows did something complicated that Curran couldn’t read. “Have you been pregnant before?” he asked Deryn.
Deryn’s eyes widened, and he shook his head. “God, no. I have two siblings, and both of them have children.”
Palmer seemed relieved. He was smiling again, anyway. Those two needed to get their heads out of their asses and do something about the tension between them before Curran lost his patience and took things into his own hands.
“I see,” Palmer said. “And is that something you’ve been thinking about? Children, I mean.”
“Not for now. I want to focus on Curran.”
“But you’re not the baby’s father, right?”
“Definitely not. Curran and I have never been together like that.”
“Good.”
Curran almost laughed. They couldn’t be this oblivious, could they?
The two stared at each other. Curran wanted to give them all the time they wanted to look into each other’s eyes, but he had stuff to do. “Well, I need to go finish packing my things,” he said as he swung his legs off the bed he’d been stretched out on.
That made Palmer frown again. “You shouldn’t be doing anything that will tire you out too much.”
“I’m not. Deryn is taking care of all the big stuff, and I’m not carrying boxes around the palace, I promise. I just need to put all my stuff inside of them, and Deryn, Birch, and Marlin will take care of moving them.”
Palmer nodded. “Good.”
“You don’t have to worry about me. I have plenty of people who make sure I don’t do anything stupid.” Sometimes, it was too much, but they did it because they cared.
“You need a keeper,” Deryn grumbled. “I’m glad you and Marlin finally stopped being idiots.”
“Maybe you should do the same,” Curran murmured.
Deryn glared at him but didn’t say anything. He probably didn’t want Palmer to understand what they were talking about.
Curran slid off the bed. “Well, I have to go. When am I supposed to come back for my next visit?”
After Palmer gave Curran a new appointment, he and Deryn left the infirmary. Curran was surprised that he didn’t have to drag Deryn away. “When are you going to talk to him?” he asked as soon as they were out the door.
“I talked to him. You were right there.”
“You know that’s not what I mean.”
“Why would I talk to him about anything else? He has plenty of things to focus on without me adding to it.”
“Why wouldn’t you talk to him? I’m sure he’d like another friend.” Curran had seen Palmer around the palace, and beyond his brother and a few dragons, he didn’t seem to be close to anyone.
Deryn narrowed his eyes. “And I’m sure that you know I don’t want to be his friend.”
“No, but you can start with friendship, can’t you?”
“As if he could ever be interested. He’s a human healer. He can have anyone he wants. Besides, he’s probably going to leave once he learns everything he can about dragons. It’s why he’s here.”
“Or maybe he’ll stay because he’ll meet someone who’ll make him want to stay.”
“Couldn’t be me.”
Curran hated it when Deryn talked about himself that way.
Deryn knew it, but that had never stopped him.
His stubbornness also had never stopped Curran from being honest with him, though, so he opened his mouth to tell him to stop being self-deprecating, but someone coming toward them from the other side of the hallway caught his attention.
He sucked in a breath at the sight of the smile on Pearl’s face. “Shit,” he murmured, looking around. Luckily, they weren’t alone in the hallway, but he still wanted to run. He didn’t want anything to do with Pearl.
“What do you want me to do?” Deryn asked.
Curran didn’t miss the way his best friend placed himself slightly in front of him as if there was anything he could do if Pearl decided to attack. If she did, they’d go down together.
“Curran,” Pearl said once he reached them. “Were you in the infirmary? I hope everything is okay with you and your baby.” She glanced down at Curran’s stomach, and Curran had to resist the urge to cover himself.
He didn’t want Pearl to look at him or to have anything to do with his child. Unfortunately, he couldn’t hide his pregnancy anymore. It was obvious to anyone who looked at him.
He didn’t want Pearl to know that he was scared. He hadn’t talked to her since that last time in the garden, not even after she’d sent that dragon with the poison. She hadn’t reached out, and Curran had been happy to ignore her when he saw her around the palace.
Not anymore. He might be terrified, but he didn’t want her to think that she could use him or push him around like the bully she was.
He squared his shoulders and stared at her. “We’re both fine.”
“That’s good to hear.”
“As if you care.”
Her eyes widened for just a second. It was enough to tell Curran that she hadn’t expected him to answer like he had, which made him feel smug. It also gave him the courage to continue talking.
“You never cared about me or my baby. You acted like you did because you wanted to get close to Killian. Well, newsflash. I’m never going to allow anyone to use me to hurt Killian. You’ll have to find someone else to do that.”
Her smile turned sharp. “You don’t think I could force you to obey my orders?”
He knew that she could. She’d find a way. “You could try,” he said.
“Is everything okay here?” someone asked, causing all of them to turn.
Taylor stood there, frowning. He was human, so Pearl wouldn’t have any trouble hurting him if she wanted to, but Curran could see people watching them. Pearl didn’t want that kind of publicity. She didn’t want any publicity at all. She wouldn’t hurt any of them, not today anyway.
She gave Taylor and Curran a tight smile. “Of course not. I was just checking in on Curran. I’ll see you soon, Curran.”
It sounded like a promise, and not a good one. Curran stared, willing her to leave. When she finally did, he stayed tense until she turned the corner.
“What the fuck was that?” Deryn breathed out.
“That was Pearl.”
“I know that. Why did she want to talk to you, though?”
“Because she’s angry. I ruined her plan.”
“Are you sure that the two of you are both okay?” Taylor asked. “Because the infirmary is right there. I can ask my brother to check you out.”
“We’re fine,” Curran reassured him. “She didn’t touch either of us.”
“Well, I can’t force you to go to the infirmary, but I can walk you home. I won’t take no for an answer.”
Curran found himself smiling. “I’d be happy to have you walk us home.” He didn’t think that Pearl would try anything, but he’d feel safer with Taylor.
Taylor looked like he couldn’t quite believe Curran, but thankfully, Curran was giving him what he wanted. He nodded and gestured at Curran and Deryn to start walking, and they did.
Curran was going to have to tell his brother and Marlin about this, wouldn’t he?
God, they’d be so angry. They wouldn’t even be able to do anything about it because Pearl was out of their reach.
Until she did something that clearly pointed to her threatening someone or trying to kill her brother, there was nothing anyone could do.
Curran couldn’t keep this a secret, though.
His brother would never forgive him if he did.
And Marlin, well...he might forgive Curran, but it would take time, and Curran didn’t want anything to come between them.
They were moving in together and starting their new life as a family.
He wanted to be able to enjoy that, and even though having to talk about Pearl wasn’t his definition of enjoying anything, he’d do it.
Curran didn’t want to start his relationship with Marlin with lies. They’d already wasted too much time over the years because they hadn’t talked to each other. That ended now.
* * * *
MARLIN KNEW SOMETHING had happened as soon as he saw Curran’s expression.
The fact that Taylor was with Curran also made it obvious.
Curran had told Marlin that he’d see Palmer with Deryn, and while Marlin had wanted to go with them, he’d had to work.
He’d just arrived home, ready to help Curran move his stuff from the apartment he shared with his mothers to the one he was now going to share with Marlin.
“What happened?” Marlin asked, gesturing at Taylor to come in. Deryn was nowhere to be seen.
Taylor shook his head. “I was actually going to see my brother. I just noticed Curran and his friend talking to Pearl, and I know nothing good ever comes out of a conversation with her. I wanted to make sure they were okay.”
“And we are,” Curran said. “I promise. She didn’t hurt us. She didn’t even touch us.”
“But she wanted to talk to you for a reason,” Marlin pointed out.
“Just veiled threats, like always.”
“Well, I’m going,” Taylor said as he stepped out of the apartment. “Marlin, let me know if you need anything from me.”
Marlin could only nod. His full focus was on Curran, and as soon as the door closed behind Taylor, he pulled Curran into his arms. Curran came easily, snuggling against him. “Not that I don’t like this, but there’s no need for you to worry,” he said. “She really didn’t do anything.”
“Her being close to you is enough.”
“Well, she’s not right now. You can relax.”
Marlin didn’t think he’d be able to relax until Pearl was permanently taken care of, but he didn’t want to scare Curran. He was already going through enough. “All right. How about instead of moving your stuff, we take the rest of the day to relax?”
Curran leaned back to look up at Marlin. “It’s not necessary.”
“It might not be necessary, but I still want to do it. Besides, you need to tell me what happened with Palmer. I’ll make sure to be there for your next visit.”
“Nothing much. He checked me and the egg, and everything’s fine. Honestly, it was more amusing to watch him and Deryn try not to stare at each other over my stomach.”
Marlin smiled. “Oh? You think there’s something there?”
“I know there’s something there, at least on Deryn’s side.”
“You’re not thinking of doing something about it, are you?”
“Now, why would I do that? I have more than enough things on my plate to focus on already.”
“You do, but I know you. I’m pretty sure that as soon as this egg is out of you, you’re going to turn your focus on Deryn.”
“There won’t be much else for me to do while we wait for the egg to hatch.” Because Marlin would still need to work, but Curran had decided to stop working until the egg hatched at the very least.
“Maybe talk to Deryn about it first?” Marlin suggested. He didn’t want them to fight because of something stupid. He’d be there for Curran as much as he could, but Curran would need the other people in his life, too, including Deryn.
Curran wrinkled his nose. “You know how Deryn is. He thinks he’s not good enough or something like that. It’s stupid.”
“I’m not going to argue that, but still. This isn’t something you want to surprise him with, especially if he’s resistant.”
“Fine,” Curran said with a sigh. “I’ll talk to him before doing anything. I might drag him to every visit I have with Palmer, though. Unless you have anything to say about that?”
Marlin chuckled and buried his face against Curran’s purple hair. “Probably not.”
“You know, I wouldn’t have given up plotting this for anyone but you,” Curran said as he reached upward to kiss Marlin. “I don’t know what you’ve done to me, but I’m not sure I like it.”
“You love it. You love me.” It always gave Marlin a thrill when he thought about it. Curran loved him.
“You have me under your spell,” Curran murmured.
“Good. That’s where you need to be.”