Chapter Twenty-Four
Vorren took Payton to a world unlike anything she’d ever seen before.
Where she believed there to be a cluster of snow-capped trees on a cliff, his single, deafening roar opened a portal to the breathtaking kingdom of Drakoryth.
And mirroring Earth’s realm, the landscape was a winter wonderland, making Payton question whether they had their own version of Old Saint Nick or not.
Were tiny dragon children running around, eyes sparkling with excitement as they anticipated the jolly man showing up with presents?
A single glance at the village assured her they weren’t celebrating here.
There was no tree lit in the center of town.
No colorful lights, wreaths, or decorations of any kind.
Drakoryth Castle, though filled with ornate artifacts and stunning to view, was also barren of holiday decor.
And didn’t it make her sad?
She loved Christmas. From the time she’d been a small child, her mother had made sure to create an enchanting holiday for them.
Trees with the works for every room, with presents under the tallest, resting in a place of honor in front of their living room window.
No one passing their home could miss the joyous sight.
She and Elara had gotten out of the habit of celebrating because funds were always tight in their younger years. But Dailey had gifted the holiday happiness back to her in the short time they’d been together.
Dailey.
Goddess, she was exhausted on every front.
“Come, Payton,” Vorren said gently. “I shall show you to the guest quarters. A server will bring up a tray.”
The bedroom, with its ginormous bath and sitting rooms, was five times that of Elara’s apartment. The four-poster bed was as inviting as she’d ever seen.
“Good night, Dragon Daddy. Thanks for the save.”
“I had the feeling you might regret murdering your mate.” Though he smiled, the concern in his eyes was very real. “Will you be all right, or should I send my sister to you?”
“I’m fine. But if you don’t mind, I’d like to be alone now.”
“As you wish.” He raised her hand and kissed her knuckles, as if the gesture were ingrained. She absently noted that her skin no longer resembled a Smurf’s.
“Sleep well, Payton.”
The day’s events had finally caught up to her, and her fear of the future dimmed as her eyes closed in sleep. It felt as if she’d just dozed off when someone spoke, calling her name.
“Payton,” the voice said again.
But she wasn’t ready to face reality, and there was comfort in sleep.
She batted away the hand stroking her skin.
“Pay, you have to wake up.” The voice was Dailey’s, loving and kind, but muffled as if he were underwater. Yet he couldn’t be here in Dragon Eye-Candyland. He’d never survive the atmosphere.
Curling into the tempting warmth of the human-sized pillow beside her, she allowed sleep to take her back under.
“Wildfire.”
“Dailey,” she murmured, snuggling closer to the heat.
“You must get up now. Your skin is too dry, and you need a soak, sweetheart.”
She licked her lips, feeling the roughness indicative of soon-to-be cracked skin.
Yes, she needed water, or at least a good lip balm.
Still, she resisted. He’d only been gone a few hours, and she missed him.
An ache took the place of the coldness she’d felt earlier, and tears burned behind her lids.
Why did it feel like the early days after she’d first bolted from Witchmere? Surely she’d be done grieving a three-year-old loss, right?
Her pillow moved, scooting down, until he was facing her. Only then did Payton dare to open her eyes.
Dailey.
Staring at her with all the love she’d remembered from their bliss-filled days. But he shouldn’t be there. Couldn’t be. And yet…
“How are you here?” she asked in a low voice.
He tapped an invisible mask. “Tripp created it for me. It’s part of my face until I leave here.”
“You can’t even tell it’s on.”
Dailey’s grin was engaging. “Another perk, so I don’t stand out as a stranger among Drakoryth’s people.”
She snorted and touched his handy-dandy breathing apparatus. “Okay, while I’m going to admit this is pretty badass, believing you don’t stand out is a joke. The muffled voice is a dead giveaway.”
“True.”
She recalled why Vorren brought her to his home. “Did I do a lot of damage to our realm?”
“No, not at all. Our cabin will need a little shoring up, and we may need to convert the moat into a koi river, but mostly, we’re good.”
Our cabin.
She wanted to call him on it, but the letter needed to be addressed, after the surprising fact that he wasn’t mauling her.
“The forced attraction doesn’t affect you anymore?”
“Doesn’t seem to. I mean, I’m never going to stop wanting you, but I’ve gone an entire thirty minutes keeping my hands to myself.”
Payton nodded, choosing to ignore his comment about wanting her. People could want to fuck, but it didn’t mean they were in love. And his lack of boot-inspired obsession made sense. She’d felt a change when they’d crossed the border between worlds, and the stones on her shoes hadn’t lit once.
With a wiggle of her toes, she gasped. “They aren’t on my feet!”
He gestured to the corner. “Seems Trickster magic doesn’t work here. We were able to take them off.”
“That must be why the dragons were immune back in Witchmere,” she mused.
“Yeah, I believe that’s the running theory.”
Dailey rose and crossed to a small table. From a pitcher, he poured her a glass of water, then returned. “Drink up, Pay. As soon as you’re done, we should get you to a pool or lake. At the very least, a bath.”
“You and Vorren were super trusting to think I wouldn’t smite you the second I woke up.”
“The trust was all mine. In the end, it was his father’s decree, and Vorren allowed me to stay under protest.”
She snorted and drank.
“Are you ready for my heartfelt apology?” he asked softly, sinking onto the edge of the bed.
“You don’t need to apologize for your feelings, Dailey—”
“Lee.”
She met his earnest gaze. His offering the nickname was an olive branch of sorts, but she wasn’t sure she was ready to take it.
“You don’t need to apologize for your feelings,” she said instead. “You made yourself clear in the letter, and your Superman complex wasn’t necessary in rescuing me. I’d have returned to take my lumps when I was ready.”
Dailey barely resisted the urge to hit himself on the forehead with the heel of his hand. His pigheadedness had made her wary, and rightfully so.
“Okay, one, there is no punishment awaiting you. Two, I didn’t make myself clear. I muddled what I intended to say.”
Payton hid behind another sip of water, remaining silent and watchful.
“I love you, Pay. I always have. The first time you looked at me with those bright, laughing eyes, my heart nearly came out of my chest. And I knew I’d never wanted anyone else.
” He clasped her hand, interlacing their fingers when she didn’t pull away.
Taking hope from her willingness to listen, he forged on.
“I was a fool to write that letter without explaining why.”
Her expression cooled, and she pulled away.
“I bungled everything so badly. Will you be so kind as to erase it from your mind?” he practically begged. “Please.”
“If you didn’t mean it, why write it?”
“It’s a long story.”
“We have time now that the boots are off, so to speak.”
“Meaning the gloves are off? You won’t fry my ass with a bolt of lightning, and I won’t rain down a meteor shower?”
“Something like that. Continue.”
“Our biggest problem was my mother’s influence, right?” Dailey waited for the sign of her agreement before continuing. “In all of today’s madness, I can’t remember if I told you about the magical hold she had over me.”
Although she frowned, Payton didn’t interrupt, giving him a chance to explain.
“After I left you and Rowan on the sidewalk, I had an epiphany and wanted to speak with you. I was a half block away from my mother when I grew dizzy. Then I turned around, and there she was, chanting a spell.”
Payton gripped his hand. “Oh my god, Lee. What was she hoping to accomplish?”
“I’m not sure. If Tripp hadn’t interfered, I’m certain I wouldn’t be here right now.”
“What did he do?”
“He stepped between us and redirected her with a simple enchantment. But that’s not all. I had Rowan sniff me—”
“You did what?” Payton choked out with a laugh. “I’ll bet that went over well.”
“Yes, she was her usual charming self. But she did confirm my mother had attached to me in some way. While normal people can’t smell the effect, Rowan’s wolf nose picked up her scent.”
“And is this the part where you tell me Mary-Alice didn’t mean to make our lives miserable?” she asked dryly.
“Not yet, but it’s coming,” he replied with a chuckle, lightly squeezing her fingers.
“Okay, you’d better get comfortable and tell me the rest.”
Dailey explained how he’d met with Harrison and Sloane and how they’d been in contact with Flo and Brelenia.
Then, he explained about the Camden curse, finishing with, “I drank Harry’s potion and was able to see without blinders on for the first time.
And that means seeing you for who you are to me, Wildfire.
I’m able to recognize how rare our love truly is. I don’t want to lose you.”
“When did the letter come in?”
“After I initially met Harry and discovered what Brelenia had to say. I was worried I’d never shake my mother’s influence, and I didn’t want you to be miserable. How could I expect you to live the way you had when I wasn’t strong enough to break free?”
He gave Payton time to process all he’d said, along with his reason for the goodbye.
“I felt horrible, Lee,” she confessed. “The only thing playing on repeat in my mind was that no one loved me enough to stay in my life. I’d had years to process and come to terms with my parents’ abandonment. But when it came to you, I wasn’t prepared for it.”
“I’m sorry for contributing to your pain, Pay. If I’d ever believed, for one second, you couldn’t read the truth in my words, that it was me, not you, I’d have never written that fucking thing.”
“It’s a standard line when one person is trying to spare another.” She shifted sideways to meet his earnest gaze. “Why not tell me in person, or better yet, hold off and not have Archer give it to me at all?”
“All I know is that we’re dealing with a generational curse. We suspect it goes back almost as long as I’ve been alive. You don’t break one of those without consequence, and I didn’t want you to be part of the fallout.”
Payton closed her eyes and shook her head, huffing out a frustrated breath.
Dailey’s stomach soured. In his silly optimism, he’d hoped she’d understand and forgive him. “I’m sorry, Payton. More than you know,” he said in a low voice, unable to manage anything louder for fear his voice would crack.
“If anything like this ever happens again, you’d better pick up a phone and call me like an adult. Got it?”
Relief made him giddy, and he grinned as he met her fierce gaze. “Is now a bad time to point out people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones?”
Her lips twisted into a grimace, and her expression grew pained.
“None of that.” He tipped her chin up and tenderly kissed her. “You were right, then and now.”
He laughed when she gasped in surprise.
“It should be noted that I can admit when I’m wrong,” he teased, sobering to add, “You called it when you said I’d find a way to brush over your objections. Not because I was ignoring your concerns, but because of what’s attached to my mother. I was programmed to give in to her demands.”
Payton’s brows dipped, and she looked like she wanted to say something, but reconsidered.
“You can always speak freely with me, Wildfire.”
“You mentioned the Camdens. Are you positive they are the source? And if they are, how do you break the curse? Your mother’s hatred of me runs deep, Lee. We can’t dismiss that.”
“We aren’t positive of anything. But Mother is encased in a protective room until I can find someone strong enough to free her. As for her hatred, I’m hoping we’re wrong, and she’s being influenced in that area, too.”
“If she isn’t?” Payton asked, genuine concern reflected back at him.
He hadn’t considered any other outcome or the strain it would put on their relationship. “Can we agree to cross that bridge when we get there?”
“No, Dailey. I’m not setting myself up for failure. I can’t go all in if there’s a chance I’ll be hurt again. I won’t be second best.” Those eyes he loved so much glistened with unshed tears. “I can’t continue to be an afterthought for everyone.”
“You never will be. Your happiness is my utmost priority, Pay.”
“And if we are blessed with children, she isn’t allowed to make them uncomfortable with her nasty comments.”
Dailey was ashamed to admit, even to himself, that he hadn’t considered the weight of Payton’s fears.
Being a good, well-respected mother would mean everything to her.
She would do the opposite of what her parents had, and she’d shower her children with all the affection she’d missed growing up.
Any undermining on his mother’s part would cut her to the quick.
“I choose you,” he promised. “I’ll always choose you first.”
The first of her sobs caught him square in the chest. His own eyes stung as he held her. Together they cried as they took this healing step forward.