Chapter Twenty-Four
Roman
How was Oakley so damn sweet?
I smiled to myself as I covered the cheek they’d kissed with one hand, and I stepped onto the elevator. It only took a moment to reach Garrick’s office floor, and when Elvira, Garrick’s secretary, saw me, she offered a bright smile.
“He’s expecting you.”
“Thanks, El. It’s nice to see you, by the way.” I dropped a chocolate chip muffin on her desk with a grin—they were her favorite.
“Oh! Thank you, Rome. I’m gonna save this for a lunch treat.”
I gave her desk a small knuckle knock, then headed into Gar’s office without knocking.
“Hey, Rome.” He offered a smile, and a big part of me felt guilty seeing that expression.
He was my best friend, and I’d been avoiding him for the last week.
Sure, I was pissed about the case, but that wasn’t the real reason. I was nervous to tell him about Oakley being my viramore.
So fucking nervous.
But my relationship with Oak couldn’t move forward until I told Garrick.
I knew that. It’d taken me a week to gather the courage, but Oakley was worth it.
I wanted more with them. More than snuggles, more than cheek kisses.
I wanted to take them to bed, I wanted to hug them and hold them any time I wanted instead of only at night behind closed doors.
There was no way in the world I’d ever keep Oakley a secret, so… this was step one in moving forward with my Woo Oakley Plan.
“You doing alright?” Garrick asked me, walking around his desk and gesturing to the sofa he kept in the corner of his office.
I sighed and took a seat—in one of the chairs so he was far enough away I could run if needed. “Yeah, I just want to talk to you about something.”
When I didn’t say anything after that, Garrick sighed in his own chair, ran his hand over his face, then leaned his elbows on his knees, his hands loose, staring at me.
“You have got to tell me what’s going on, Rome.
You’ve been acting off for months. I know you’ve been mad this week, but even before that, before you left on your last mission, you wouldn’t come over.
You’re barely talking to me at all. I miss my best friend. ”
I stared at him, the man I’d stuck by for centuries because of what a good man he was. Garrick was not only my king, he was also my family. He was the only family I had left.
He was right that I’d been pulling back. Since the moment I realized who Oakley was to me, I’d been in a weird funk. At least where Garrick was concerned.
I wanted to celebrate and shout from the rooftops that I’d finally, after all this time, found my viramore.
And that they were so damn perfect for me, so beautiful, so full of courage, so full of spunk and sass.
I already loved Oakley as a friend, but I’d been falling in love with them over these past few months.
But I was so fucking terrified of what Garrick would think.
He was going to fucking kill me.
But… I couldn’t hide it forever.
I might as well get it over with now.
I stared at my best friend for a beat longer, then cleared my throat. “I… I, um, I found my…” Sweat broke out on my forehead and back, my nerves just about ready to make me come out of my skin. “I found my viramore.”
Garrick stared at me for half a beat before he smiled widely, stood, yanked me to my feet, and pulled me into a hug before I could say anything else. “Holy shit, brother. You found your viramore? That’s amazing news! Who is it? Do I know them?”
I cringed and hugged him back for a moment, wanting to enjoy it before he murdered me, then I pulled away and took a few steps back. Garrick was probably going to get violent, so I didn’t think I should be within easy reach.
Garrick’s brow furrowed, obviously noticing my weird behavior. “What is it? What’s wrong? Is your viramore okay?”
“Yeah, uh, yes, they’re fine. Yeah… so… um… yes, you know them.”
“Okay…” He said it slowly, like I was being insane, which, from his perspective, I was.
“So… it’s someone I’ve known for a while, right? But I didn’t know they were my viramore until a few months ago. You know how they say that the pull doesn’t come until all parties are of age and ready for their viramore?”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “So this is a young person? How young are we talking?”
“Uh… twenty-seven.” I winced.
He stared at me for a long moment before his eyes narrowed. “You’re not telling me what I think you’re telling me, are you?”
“Uh… I don’t know.” I did. And so did he. He knew exactly who I meant.
“Roman. You’re not saying…”
Fuck. He was already so pissed off. I took a breath and quietly said, “Oakley’s my viramore—”
Garrick let out a loud roar. His dragon came out in the sound, roaring so loud, it shook the floor, the windows rattling away. Smoke filled the area, leaking out of Garrick’s mouth and nose at an alarming rate.
I flinched but stayed where I was, even when he rushed me. Running would do me no good anyway. There was nowhere to go since we were standing inside his office. He was pissed enough that he’d catch me before I even made it to the door. Shit.
He grabbed my shoulders and pushed me backward until I hit the wall with a loud thud.
My head bounced off, and I winced but ignored the sharp pain.
My natural healing abilities would take care of any bruise or bump I might get.
It didn’t help with the pain right this second, but it’d go away quickly.
“You,” he ground out between clenched teeth, more smoke pouring out of his mouth and nostrils. “And my… my child!”
I flinched again. “Oakley’s an adult.”
Wrong thing to say.
His eyes turned into slits, his dragon coming out in full force. I could tell he was having trouble holding his shift back because his skin was rippling with his golden scales.
He growled again. “They’re my child. And you… you…” His jaw clenched so hard I could hear the grinding of his teeth.
“They’re my viramore, Garrick. Not some whim. Not someone to simply date. They’re my viramore.”
He growled again. “You cannot take my child from me.”
I blinked in surprise. “What? I would never—”
“Never. I don’t care who you are. You’re never taking them from me. I will never lose them again. Never, you hear me?”
More smoke poured out of him, and I was glad I was immune being a dragon myself.
“You can’t have them.”
“Gar, I’m not trying to take them away from you. I would never—”
He growled again, and I knew his dragon was riding him so hard he couldn’t even hear me. Shit, I needed Tan. Why hadn’t I thought to have Tan with us to keep this damn scary ass dragon king calm?
“Gar? Garrick, can you hear me?”
“No one will ever take them again.”
And then Garrick did something I wasn’t expecting at all. He pulled something out of his pocket—it looked like glitter—and blew it in my face.
I spluttered. “What the… hell… is… that…” My words came out slower and slower as my body drooped and my eyes closed.
Garrick… Garrick knocked me out with magical glitter?
What… what was… happening…?
“Sorry, Rome, but I need some time to think. Good thing Tan keeps me supplied with a bunch of defensive spells.”
His words made little sense to my sleepy brain, and then everything went black.