Draco
In…out…in…out.
Sawyer squeezed his hand, then looked down at his chest. “Henry?”
“Yep. Using you as a body pillow.”
“We don’t know. Someone attacked you and you called me. We got you back here and called Henry’s dad. He seemed to think you would wake up on your own, but thought you needed a little extra oxygen.”
“Yeah,” Sawyer said quietly. He dropped his hand back into Draco’s and held it tight. “It felt like he set me on fire.”
“Tell me what he looked like.” Draco would be sure he knew exactly what fire felt like once he found the attacker. And he knew how to make it last.
Sawyer frowned and his breath caught. “I…I’m not sure.”
“You don’t remember?”
He shook his head. “No. I mean. I remember, but… I…he wasn’t…he like blinked or something. Like, have you ever seen one of those projections where they fade in and out? I don’t know, maybe a hologram or something but not that because I’m pretty sure he was real.”
“Okay. What else?”
“He said…” Sawyer paused, his attention turning back to Henry. “He asked me if I knew Henry. Then he blew this powder in my face and told me to tell Henry he said hello. Then he just walked away.”
Draco leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss to Sawyer’s lips. “You’re safe now. We’ve got you and you aren’t going anywhere without one of us by your side until we catch this asshole.”
“Sawyer!” Henry jerked and came awake, raising his head from Sawyer’s chest and smiling at him. Then he leaned in and kissed Sawyer, before pulling away with an embarrassed squawk. “Oh my goddess, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean… but you’re awake… and I just… you’re awake!”
Sawyer grinned and pulled Henry against him in a hug. “I’m awake. You helped me, didn’t you?”
Henry nodded, untangling himself from the sheets and sitting up the rest of the way. “Yeah, it was like when you helped me. I just touched you and you calmed and… yeah. It was good.”
“Thanks, Henry.”
“Of course. Did you see—”
Draco cleared his throat. “Henry, why don’t you go see if you can find Cecil. Sawyer hasn’t eaten all day and I can guarantee he’s hungry.”
“Oh! Yeah, of course. And I’ll tell Eduard and Andvari that he’s awake, too.”
He practically ran from the room and Draco couldn’t help smiling as he watched him go. He reached over and turned off the oxygen tank, before returning his full attention to Sawyer.
“You liked that, didn’t you?” Sawyer asked.
“What?”
“Seeing him wrapped up against me like that. I saw the way you were looking at him.”
Draco grinned and leaned in again. “And?”
“And I like him, too.”
“Good. Now pet your dog before she dies.”
Pearl was wiggling around by Draco’s feet, desperate to have Sawyer’s attention. He’d made her get off the bed earlier when Henry kept moving around and bumping into her. Not that she minded laying on Draco’s feet while he kept watch.
Sawyer patted the bed and she jumped up on top of him, licking his face and chuffing happily as he rubbed her ears. She flopped down on his chest and rolled onto her back so he could pet her belly.
“She’s such a goofball,” Draco said. But he reached up to give her a good scratch as well.
Henry bounded back into the room and jumped onto the bed beside Sawyer, joining in Pearl’s belly rubs for good measure. “Cecil’s bringing food. Eduard is calling Uncle Meshaq and my dad for me and then he’ll be up. Andvari is outside on guard, but I’m guessing he’ll be in soon as well.”
Sawyer grinned at him and Draco could practically hear his inner dialogue. Yay, food! Wait, Uncle Meshaq? Mmm, Andvari.
“Help me sit up?” Sawyer asked.
Draco immediately stood and reached for Sawyer. There was still pain there and it made his dragon want to tear into something. He eased his arms beneath Sawyer and helped him sit up. “Henry, can you grab the…”
Henry stacked the pillows behind Sawyer’s back and Draco leaned Sawyer back against them.
His face had gone pale, and Draco wished he could take the pain into himself.
That wasn’t possible, but Henry seemed to be trying.
He had Sawyer’s hand in his again and since Draco’s dragon was so close to the surface, he could just make out the blue swirl of magic.
“Oh that’s good,” Sawyer moaned. “What are you doing?”
Henry blushed. “Um, nothing?”
Draco snickered and resumed his seat. Pearl stretched out on Sawyer’s legs, a sign to Draco that Sawyer was doing better.
Her instincts where Sawyer was concerned were very on point.
When he was sick, she never left his side and curled up against his ribs close to his heart.
Once he started feeling better, she moved back to her usual spot against his legs or feet.
“He’s working his magic on you,” Draco teased. “I can see it.”
That caught Sawyer’s attention. “Wait… you can actually see it?”
“My dragon can. I get hints but if I let him through, he can see it.”
“Really?” Henry asked.
“Yep. Which is why I didn’t know this place was warded when we first got here. Normally I would be more on guard but I wasn’t expecting it and I hadn’t been my dragon in a long time.”
“That’s kinda sad,” Sawyer said. “Was it because of me?”
Draco actually took a moment to think about his answer. He tried to never answer Sawyer’s questions by rote. “No, not entirely. It was more that I didn’t need him for anything, so I didn’t shift. He’s very much part of me, but it’s not like the shifters Henry grew up with.”
“Oh yeah,” Henry added. “My family has to shift at least once a month, more if they’re kinda high strung. Longer than that and it isn’t pleasant, believe me.”
“So the rules aren’t the same for everyone? Or like all magical creatures, um, beings? Magical humans? Humans who shift? What exactly are you all called?” Sawyer asked.
Before either of them could answer, Eduard entered the room. He hurried to the head of the bed and Draco moved back far enough to give him room. Eduard leaned over and looked into Sawyer’s eyes. After a moment, he sighed in relief. “You’re better?”
“Getting there,” Sawyer said. “I’m really sore, though.”
Eduard ran his fingers through Sawyer’s hair and cupped the back of his neck gently. “You had a seizure. You’ll be extremely sore for a few days. Dr. Jerrick said we’d need to be careful of any torn muscles or sprains so don’t get up without one of us here to help, okay?”
Sawyer nodded and Draco leaned further back into the chair with a smile.
The way those two were looking at each other sent sparks of desire through him.
Sawyer glanced his way, asking the question, and Draco nodded, giving him the reassurance he needed.
Sawyer reached up and ran his fingers along Eduard’s jaw before kissing him gently. “I’ll be careful. I promise.”
Eduard stiffened for a moment, obviously realizing they weren’t alone, but then reached an understanding. He pulled Sawyer close once more and pressed another kiss to his lips. “Thank you.”
“Merlin’s beard, that’s hot,” Henry moaned.
Draco snickered and Sawyer pulled away from Eduard to shoot him a frown. “Did you just quote Harry Potter?”
“Oh come on,” Henry said. “I was a boy wizard. I mean my dads practically said Yer a wizard, Henry when they found me. Of course I was obsessed with Harry Potter.”
“When you put it that way, it makes perfect sense. Hey, do you think J.K. Rowling is one of you? Oh, she must be! That’s how she knows all that inside scoop on the creatures and—”
“No,” Draco said. “She isn’t. Well, maybe she is. But just… no.”
“Aww,” Sawyer said with a laugh. “You’re just mad because she used your name for the mean kid.”
Draco huffed and crossed his arm over his chest. “It was my name first.”
Sawyer laughed as Eduard maneuvered his way onto the bed, sitting with his back to the pillows next to Sawyer.
Sawyer snuggled up against him while Henry moved to lean into his other side.
Draco reached out and laid his hand on Pearl’s back, giving her a nice long pet while he and Sawyer shared a secret smile.
“Henry, with me,” Draco said after a moment.
“Where are we going?”
“To relieve Andvari on patrol so he can come in and spend some time with Sawyer.”
“Oh, yeah. Okay.”
Henry leaned in and nudged Sawyer with his forehead before sliding to the far side of the bed. He hurried into the bathroom, then through to the master closet where he reemerged hopping his way into a beat-up pair of Chucks.
Draco sat his hand on Eduard’s knee for a moment, then stood.
He met the griffin’s eyes, gave him a quick nod, then went to guide Henry from the room.
They found Andvari outside, sitting in the gazebo at the front of the house.
When Draco had first seen the structure going up, he passed a bit of judgment.
A gazebo and a turret room? The house was a mash up of Victorian castle with a side of farmhouse.
It made no sense.
Except now it did.
Both additions gave them cover while allowing them to keep guard. Henry’s vision had known what they didn’t. Draco wondered if other parts of the house that he hadn’t explored yet would reveal more about the other guardians.
“You can go see Sawyer, if you want,” Henry said to Andvari, pulling Draco from his thoughts. “We’re going to patrol.”
Andvari glanced at Draco, then back at Henry. “You’re patrolling?”
Henry scowled at the doubtful tone. “Yes.”
“Then I’ll stay with you,” Andvari said.
Draco sighed and reached out to pull Henry back against him before he lost his temper. “Do you doubt my ability to keep him safe, vampire?”
Andvari looked back at Draco, obviously torn. But he knew how to answer without raising Draco’s ire. “No. I don’t doubt you.”
“Then go inside. It’s our turn.”
Andvari scowled, but stomped his way into the house. Henry pulled away from Draco and scowled at him in much the same way Andvari just had.
“Why did you do that?”