Chapter Thirty-Three
Oakley
Crying in Roman’s arms like that yesterday morning was terrible and wonderful at the same time. I’d hated feeling so vulnerable and upset—so fucking raw—but Roman was… so solid. So helpful and comforting and just… there for me.
I’d never had that in my life. Not really.
Coral and I had become best friends, but we’d both been in such a terrible place that comforting one another that way would’ve been dangerous. Hell, crying the way I had would’ve gotten me at least a day chained up and cut open.
Crying had been frowned upon in our community—cult, dammit. It was a cult. I knew that. A cult.
Ugh.
But getting all of that out yesterday had been draining and refreshing at the same time.
In fact, I hadn’t had any nightmares last night. At least not that I remembered, and Roman wasn’t woken up by my thrashing, so I’d call it a win.
“You okay, babes?” Keryth asked, drawing me out of my head.
I blinked at him. “Uh, yeah. I’m good. Sorry. Lost in thought.”
“Wanna talk about it?”
I offered a genuine smile. “Nah.” If I was going to talk about it, I’d talk to Roman more. But I was all talked out.
For now.
“Hey, Oak?” Zellya called over from her spot at the table where she was eating pancakes.
“Yeah?”
“Marjory doesn’t believe I’ve been on a dragon ride before, but I told her all about you and how you stay with us sometimes and how you’re our family, and she still doesn’t believe me.”
I couldn’t help the twitch of my lips when she called me her family. “That stinks, but what do you want me to do about it?”
She grinned at me. “Will you drop us off at school today? Then I can show her you’re real.”
That made me laugh a little. “Sure, peanut. I can do that.” I’d adopted Ker’s nickname for her, and luckily, she didn’t mind when I called her that. Although she was getting older and complained about Ker using the nickname, especially in front of her classmates.
Ker shot me a fake glare, obviously not happy that I could get away with it. I stuck my tongue out at him.
“Can I come too?” Roman asked as he walked into the kitchen, freshly showered and smelling like a dream.
Zellya’s eyes went wide, and she bounced in her seat. “Yes! Then I’ll have two dragons to show off.”
That made us both chuckle, and Ker sighed, saying, “I don’t think it’s very nice to show them off just because they’re dragons.”
“Why not?”
Ker shrugged and seemed to struggle with that answer, but Roman gave his shoulder a squeeze and said, “No worries. Oak and I don’t mind being shown off for our little peanut over there.”
She giggled and stuck her tongue out, and Rome shot forward and pretended to grab her tongue, making her squirm and giggle even more. I laughed at the sight, and Ker looked completely exasperated even though he was clearly fighting a smile.
Roman tickled Zellya a little before he backed off. “Finish your breakfast, okay?”
“Yep! I’m almost done. Then we can go to my school.”
She put a bite of pancake in her mouth that was so big, I doubted it would fit in mine. Ker saw this, let out a defeated sigh, and dropped his head, shaking it in a what am I going to do with her kind of way.
Roman walked over to me, put his hand on my lower back, leaned around, and instead of kissing my cheek like I thought he would, he stole a piece of bacon off my plate.
“Hey!” I smacked his hand, trying to grab it. “Get your own.”
He shoved the entire thing in his mouth and said around his food. “This is good.” But it came out like, “‘his if ‘ood.”
“You’re disgusting. Don’t talk with your mouth full.”
He stuck his tongue out, filled with bacon.
“Ewwwww! What are you doing?” I couldn’t help but laugh as I pushed him off me. “Gross. Stop teaching the kids bad habits. Go get a plate.”
He swallowed a bite, and this time when he leaned in, I covered my plate with my hands, and he laughed but really did give me a cheek kiss.
I shook my head at him as he walked into the kitchen, and I caught Keryth’s eye. He gave me a huge smile and a double thumbs-up. I shrugged and sighed, waving him off.
Yes, Roman was perfect for me, even when he was being gross, but I didn’t really know how to talk about it. I wasn’t sure I’d fully processed the whole viramore thing yet.
I mean, what the hell did I know about being in a healthy relationship? I’d never even made it past a third date with someone before, let alone had a real partner.
I didn’t want to fuck anything up.
The last thing I wanted to do was hurt Roman, so… I suppose we were going slow? Or something.
I didn’t even know.
Sigh.
After everyone ate and got ready, we headed out the door to Ker’s minivan.
Alsira was getting ready to graduate, so she was still in school, which meant all four girls plus Trayben—Keryth and Anton’s fae-vampire fledgling, so their youngest boy—were in the van with us.
We were totally packed, and Jed was sad when we pulled away since he wouldn’t fit.
I felt guilty. But the girls and Tray all gave him hugs, and Tray said something that made Jed laugh and give him a second hug, so he’d be okay.
Apparently, he usually came with Ker or took the kids himself, which I thought was super cute. He loved having younger siblings after spending millennia as the youngest himself.
We pulled up to Zell and Sara’s school first, and Zell got out, yelling, “Wait a minute. Let me find Marjory.”
She was off like a shot before anyone could stop her. Saranor rolled her eyes and sighed as she slowly exited the vehicle.
I asked Ker, “Um, should we get out?”
“I guess…?” He didn’t sound sure, and he shrugged at me.
“Do you think the kids would freak if I shifted right here on their front lawn?”
He snorted. “Don’t you dare.”
I chuckled, and when I saw Zell heading back in our direction, I got out of the car and leaned against it. Roman came to stand beside me while Ker rolled his eyes at the entire situation.
“I think it’d be hilarious if you shifted right here,” Rome murmured under his breath.
A huff of laughter came out. “Are you seriously telling me to cause trouble? Aren’t we supposed to be staying out of the spotlight until this thing with Dad resolves itself?”
He shot me a grin and shrugged, but Zell was too close for him to reply. Instead, he said to Zellya, “Who’s your friend, cuz?” Oooh, nice family moniker. Ha.
Her grin was so big her eyes were shining. “This is Marjory. She’s never met a dragon before.”
Marjory gave Zell a look like she couldn’t believe she’d said that out loud, and Zell just shrugged. Mother of All, I loved that kid.
I said, “Well, now she’s met two.” I stepped closer to Zell with my arms open. “Do your cousins get hugs?”
She let out a small laugh and an eye roll but gave me and Rome each a quick hug, making her little friend’s eyes go even wider. And just to prove that we were really family, I added, “Let’s do a movie night tonight. We can get the whole family together.”
That made her smile even wider. She was loving every second of this. “Sounds great! See you guys later!” She nudged the other girl’s shoulder, and they quickly headed toward the school’s front doors.
Rome gave me a nudge of his own, and we climbed back into the car to get the other kids to school.
Alsira murmured, “You guys better not get out of the car and expect hugs at our school.”
That made me snort. “Awww, are you afraid I’ll embarrass you?”
Without hesitation, she said, “Yes.”
That made Rome, Ker, and me laugh, and I shook my head as my best friend pulled the van back into traffic.
I had a ton of unread texts and a billion missed calls from my dad. And a few from Tan. I’d spoken to and texted Tan regularly, but today, I hadn’t wanted to get into it.
But my phone kept buzzing.
“Are you planning on answering that anytime soon?” Ker asked from the other side of his greenhouse. He worked for Tan and Remi’s company, growing plants and things needed for the spells they used for their security business.
I’d decided to tag along because I was sick of lounging around Ker’s house, and Roman was taking care of business things today from Anton’s house, and I knew I’d get bored. He was still in bodyguard mode, though, so he’d walked me into the building and made Remi agree to walk me out if I left.
At least Remi didn’t have to follow me around while we were here, though. Roman and I both knew how secure this place was. It was as heavily warded as my dad’s condo and the tower’s roof, so I was safe here and didn’t need a constant babysitter.
Not that I needed one anyway. As I’d proven time and again, I could actually handle myself when the need arose. But whatever. This was fine.
At the same time, though, I kinda missed the big dragon even though it’d only been a few hours since we parted.
Sigh. Was this what it was like when you had a viramore?
Just constantly missing them when they weren’t with you and wanting to spend every second with them… even when they were driving you mad?
“It’s my dad, so no. I’m not answering.”
Ker didn’t respond for a long time, and I narrowed my eyes in his direction as I concentrated on my task. He had me filling small pots with soil so he could plant some seeds. To be honest, I was surprised he was allowing me to help at all, even if it was more busy work.
Finally, he said, “How are you guys going to get past this if you won’t talk to him?”
I grumbled, not wanting to admit he was right.
“I… I just… I don’t feel like hearing his bullshit.
I’m so sick of people having an opinion on my…
love life or whatever you want to call it.
Everyone’s always told me what to do and who I should love, or at least who I should marry, and I’m just… done.”
Ker stopped what he was doing and walked over to me with a big frown on his face. “Your dad hasn’t tried to marry you off. I know he hasn’t because he’s not that kind of man. So I can only assume you’re talking about… before.”
I let out a long sigh. “Yeah… I guess I am.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“It… isn’t a nice story.”
“Tell me anyway.”
I sighed. He deserved… something, I supposed.
“Well, when I was sixteen, I was matched up with someone who ended up becoming my best friend. Until the cult murdered her in front of me.” I swallowed thickly, not wanting to think about that.
“And then… the grand master matched me with someone else when I was twenty. I… I was supposed to marry her after I came back from my mission, but Tan captured me and yeah… that was done.”
Ker was quiet for a long moment. “Did you want to marry her?”
My gaze snapped over to him. “No. Not even a little bit. She was awful and cruel and hated me. I…” I shook my head.
“I’m sorry, Oak.”
I sent him a small, grateful smile. “Thanks.” I cleared my throat. “And thanks for listening. But I… don’t think I can talk about this anymore.”
He nodded. “Of course. That’s completely fine, as long as you know that I’m here to listen whenever you want.”
“I know.” And I did. I really did. I knew how much Ker cared about me. “I’m here to listen to you too, you know.”
He offered a smile. “I know that.” He took a deep breath. “I’m sorry you had to go through all of that, Oak, I really, really am. But… I don’t think Garrick’s trying to tell you who to love or anything like that.”
“He literally locked my viramore up in a dungeon, Ker. Of course he is.”
Ker shook his head with a grimace. “Okay, so you’ve got me there, but you know that was just a knee-jerk reaction to finding out Roman was pursuing you, right?
I’m sure he knows how wrong he is and that he has zero right to interfere.
I’m sure he’s come to terms with it and is actually happy that you’ve found your mate. ”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “You’ve been talking to my dad.” It wasn’t a question.
Ker huffed. “No, not your dad. Well, not really.”
That made me roll my eyes. “Tan, then.”
He nodded. “Yes. And… I could hear your dad in the background, so…”
With another long sigh, I dropped my head back to stare at the greenhouse’s ceiling. “I don’t know if I’m ready.”
Ker moved closer and lifted his hand, ready to pat my back or my shoulder or something, but I jumped back so he didn’t touch me.
“You’re covered in dirt!”
Ker looked at his hands with a grimace. “That’s what happens when you garden.”
“As much as I like your hugs and stuff, I don’t want dirt all over me.”
“Then you probably shouldn’t have volunteered to help me.”
I opened my mouth to reply when my phone started ringing again, cutting me off.
Keryth stared at my pocket for a second. “Why… why is that a different ring tone?”
“Uh, no reason.” I took off my gardening gloves and reached into my pocket, swiping the answer button and putting the phone to my ear. “Hey.”
“Oak, we need to go to the tower.”
I sighed, and Keryth’s eyes glowed in amusement as he whisper-yelled, “Holy shit, you have a special ring tone for Roman!”
I swiped at him. “I do not.”
“What? I mean—”
“Not you,” I said into the phone. “Ker’s being an asshole.”
Ker flipped me off, giggling like a hyena at my expense.
I ignored him, pretending that my lips weren’t twitching in amusement. So what if I gave Rome a different ringtone. We were partners at work, and I needed to make sure I answered his calls. That was all.
Psh.
I couldn’t even pretend to myself. Sigh.
“Sorry, Rome. What’s going on? Why the hell would we go to the tower? I don’t really want to talk to Dad yet.”
“I’m really sorry, babydoll, but I don’t think we have a choice.”
I could tell something was wrong from the sound of his voice. “What happened?”
“The team Garrick sent, the one that took our place, they… well, only one of them came back alive.”
My breath caught, my heart freezing in my chest.
All those people, all those fellow guards, they were dead?
“I’ll meet you there.”
“Fly. We need to get there fast.”
“You’re not going to insist I take someone with me?”
He sighed, sounding put out. “Actually, you need to take Terrell with you.”
My brow furrowed. “What? Isn’t he at the tower? Why…” I trailed off as realization hit me square in the face. “Holy crap, you have a guard sitting outside, don’t you?”
What an ass. And he’d had to have made the poor man promise not to tell my dad where I was today. Not that it mattered since it wasn’t like my dad was after us or something ridiculous like that. I just… didn’t want to be near him at the moment.
“Yes.”
“Roman! I thought you trusted Remi.”
“Of course I trust him. But he’s working, running a business, and I wanted to have backup there in case you need it. Remi knows he’s out there, and he wasn’t offended.”
I closed my eyes, shaking my head. “Fine. Whatever. I’ll fly the gargoyle to the tower.”
“Thank you.”
“Whatever.” I wanted to sit in my annoyance for a while, but I couldn’t, so I sighed. “Rome?”
“Yeah?”
“Bring me some clothes. I’m covered in dirt and—”
“I got you. Meet you on the rooftop.”