Chapter 21
Graham
I watched the amusement on Meera’s face as Elana peppered Mateo with all the questions a mother would ask a son during our lunch. How’s work? How’s Eva? When are you two having children?
Mateo had been a scrappy, orphaned teenager on a path to self-destruction when Desmon took him in and gave him a job.
At the time, Elana had lost access to both her children and had been grieving.
It turned out to be a perfect match. She had needed someone to mother. And he had needed someone to care.
The soufflé pancakes were delicious, though they were mostly air, and I’d gone through so many that I felt self-conscious until I realized Mateo was demolishing them faster than Elana could put them on his plate.
“Don’t worry about how much you’re eating,” Elana said. “I’m used to feeding this one here and Desmon. No matter how much you eat, you can’t out-eat a dragon. There’s a whole pile of bacon too.”
“Yeah,” Carly agreed. “There’s a giant griddle in the kitchen. She covered the entire surface with pancakes. Twice. We tried to make a giant one on the third round, but it flopped.”
“They’re really good,” I said.
“They are.” Meera speared another piece of bacon from her plate. “I’ve been to a place in New York that specializes in soufflé pancakes, and these are comparable.”
“Oh, I almost forgot,” Mateo said around a mouthful. “When we closed up your apartment, Eva grabbed a few sets of clothes from your drawers. She thought you might want them. We reused the duffel since we didn’t sense any magic on it, and there were no trackers. I’ll drop it off at Redrock tonight.”
“Thank you. That’s very thoughtful. I kind of feel bad borrowing all of Tansy’s stuff.”
“That’s for the best. You’ll be here for a little longer than expected with this new development,” I said. “We can pick up anything you’re missing.”
“Are you sure we should be out there after that?” Meera looked hesitant, and I hated that she no longer felt safe.
“As long as you stay close to me and we always have a way to get back to the SUV, it should be fine. But I can ask Seth if it’ll mess up his plans if we end up drawing more attention from our ghoul friends.”
I brought my phone out and sent him a text. I didn’t trust him not to pick up the phone in the middle of sex if I called, and I didn’t need to hear him and his mates going at it.
As we finished up our meal, Meera said, “I know this might be an ask, but can I see Om… er, the egg? I know it’s weird, but I feel like I know it, and I want to make sure it’s okay.”
Her question immediately had me thinking of her dream again. I wondered if it had been a mistake not to mention it to Seth when he was here. I made a note to message him later.
Elana immediately brightened. “Of course. You spent so much time with it on the run. A magic bond must’ve formed. I can feel it too now that I’ve spent several days caring for it.”
“Dragon eggs release a pheromone that entices people to care for it. Kind of like how babies are cute, so we don’t abandon them. They aren’t born yet, so they have to use chemicals,” I explained.
“It’s one of the reasons I’m not the one taking care of it in case we have to return it to the rightful owner,” Carly said. “I really don’t want to start a war because I can’t let go of an egg, and Desmon will do anything for me.”
Meera’s mouth formed a cute little O. “That makes so much sense now! The moment I held it in my arms, I knew I had to get it away from Karim.”
“It trusts you.” Elana stood. “Just leave the dishes. A family of brownies moved in, and they don’t like it when I try to help. Claim I’m doing it wrong. So now I have to deal with looking at the mess until lights out.”
Meera looked shocked. “They exist?”
“They do! I haven’t actually seen them, but they do leave me notes often.
So now I leave bowls of cream and porridge out for them next to the stove.
The last note I got asked for more honey in the porridge.
I saved a whole pancake for them, so they should be happy tonight.
” Elana looked to Mateo and me. “Why don’t you two catch up, and I’ll take Meera to visit with our little future baby. ”
Meera was safe here, so I let her go, and I loaded several more pancakes onto my plate as the ladies stepped out of the dining hall.
I was texting Seth about the dream, asking if it could be related to the ghouls since it had happened the night before. My mouth was full of pancakes when Mateo spoke.
“So you and Meera, huh?” he prodded.
I shrugged.
“I thought you said you’re never going to cave to a woman ever again.”
“I’m not.”
He nodded sagely, like finding his mate somehow made him that much wiser than me. “Well, if you’re not interested in her, I have a friend—”
I knew he was baiting me, but I couldn’t stop the growl that rumbled from my throat.
He laughed. “You’re a goner. The last Redrock brother has found his match.”
Before I could reach over and strangle him, something I usually reserved for Seth and not Mateo, my phone buzzed from the table with a message from Seth.
Judging by how horribly far gone the ghouls had been, he doubted the same people could’ve dreamwalked into the mind of someone protected inside the penthouse.
Phantasmal intrusion was an advanced branch of magic.
He was sure it was a coincidence, and most likely just a dream.
The phone was still in my hand when it vibrated again, and a photo of Meera holding the egg with a motherly look on her face—as if she were about to tell it a bedtime story—popped up on my screen.
I thought of all the troubles she’d gone through to make sure it was safe. Meera would be a wonderful mother.
I paused mid-bite as I realized where my brain was taking this. I put my phone face down on the table, but it was too late, the seed was already planted. What would a life with her be like? Not just her, but a family.
Until Griff found his mate, my brothers and Eamon were the only family I had.
I recalled how fast my brother had fallen for Emily.
And the way Grayson considered showing up at the address on the dress box Shelby had used to deliver a cloak just to see her.
The only reason he hadn’t was that he didn’t want to come off as stalkerish.
And Gunnar was originally only going to marry Lilian temporarily, but he just couldn’t stay away from her because they’d been mates.
Was Meera my mate? Was that why I couldn’t stay away from her even if I tried? Was that why every moment with her made the time I’d spent with Sara seem so much… less?
I pushed my plate away, no longer hungry. The old insecurities, the ones that had been gnawing at me for years, slithered back into my psyche like they had never left.
Mateo reached over and yoinked the last fluffy pancake off my plate and stuffed it into his mouth, completely oblivious to the turmoil in my head.
Shortly after Seraphina’s marriage to the younger wizard she wanted, and not the older one she’d asked me to save her from, she was murdered by her husband when the baby was born clearly inhuman.
At first I’d thought it was mine. It wasn’t until years later, when I’d found out that gargoyle babies carried by human women came out fully human and only developed their gargoyle side as they grew, that I realized it hadn’t been mine at all.
Also, so far, all Gargoyle babies recorded had been boys. The baby had been a girl. That much I knew.
If I’d been honest with myself, I’d have figured out that the math had never matched anyway. The timing had been all wrong.
I was terrified of making the same mistake again ever since. Terrified to hand someone my whole heart just so they could use it as a stepping stone to something better.
That was a hard thing to admit to myself. Even if I’d magically broken the bonds holding me captive and whisked her away, it would’ve changed nothing. She only wanted me for what I could do for her and not the gargoyle underneath.
The sound of Meera’s voice pierced through the heavy cloud that had settled over me, bringing me back to the present. The ladies were back. I realized something was off the moment I saw her face. She had a smile, but it looked pasted on.
“How’s Omelet?” I asked.
“I think it’s happier here than it was before,” she said. But I could tell there was something she wasn’t saying. “I’m glad I made that snap decision to call the museum.” She turned to Mateo. “I forgive you for being a jerk and hanging up on me.”
“You’re never going to let that go, are you?”
“Nope! I’m petty, deal with it.”
Petty, sure. But perfect. And exactly what I hadn’t known I was looking for.
“Yeah, Matty , deal with it,” I added, getting him back for his digging into my life and stealing my last pancake. He really did hate that nickname.
We said goodbye to everyone, Elana promised to visit soon, and we were on our way back to the penthouse, our day of exploring the city cut short.
“I owe you a trip to the Starving Aardvark,” I said as we turned out of Desmon’s roundabout and down his long driveway toward the front gate. That was where I’d originally planned to take her today after the market.
“Next time,” she said. “Since it looks like I’ll be here in Darlington a little longer. And the aquarium too. I really want to meet Fin Diesel!”
I grinned. Fin was Royal Reef Adventure’s—Darlington’s world-class aquarium—social media-famous sand tiger shark. Looks like he had another addition to his fan club.