by Tami Lund
“He wasn’t the only one. I mean, he was the only one who got me pregnant, but he wasn’t the only one who left me for a fated mate. Every dragon I ever dated did. Every. Single. One. That wears on a girl after a while, y’know?”
No, he didn’t know, but it seemed wise not to let her know he doubted her reasoning.
“You can’t give up,” he said instead. That was exactly what his dad did: gave up. On his children, life, everything.
“Maybe the one for you isn’t a dragon,” he suggested.
“Ugh. I’ve tried dating gargoyles, but they just don’t do it for me. All stoic and unmoving and always determined to do the right thing. Convincing these guys that protecting me was in their best interests was a real pain in the ass, let me tell you.”
Gargoyles weren’t the only other creatures out there, but again, Noah didn’t voice his opinion. Or rather, that fact.
“What if your mom can help?” Petra said, joining him. He jerked his head to the side. What was she doing here? He’d assumed she’d gone after Sadie when she rushed out of the fray earlier. So where was their daughter?
“What makes you say that?” Delilah asked.
Petra shrugged. “She’s a witch, like you. And she dated a dragon. Sounds like they didn’t end up together, but she doesn’t appear to have any regrets. Maybe she can give you some advice.”
“She and my dad’s thing was blind lust right from the beginning. There weren’t any hard feelings because she didn’t love him. She just wanted to have sex with him.”
“Maybe that’s the secret,” Petra said, and to Noah’s ears, she sounded like she actually believed it. Gods, he hoped not. Because he sure as hell wanted more than that from her.
Whoa, where did that come from? He didn’t want more. He didn’t want to go through what he’d gone through with his mom ever again. He didn’t want…
He didn’t want to live without Petra and Sadie. That’s what he didn’t want.
Yeah, it was a scary concept considering what happened to his mom. Still, like his grandfather had told him a thousand times, drakon was an incredibly rare form of cancer and the chances of it striking someone else he loved were slim.
Holy shit, were they in the middle of a battle with a slightly crazed half-witch and a bunch of gargoyle bodyguards, and he’d just realized he was in love with the mother of his child?
“Your mom can show you how to date without falling in love every time,” Petra urged. What was she doing? Petra was starting to sound a bit unhinged herself. Why was she hell-bent on Delilah talking to her mother?
Delilah stroked the green gem at her throat and shook her head. “Or maybe it’s time to focus on my own wellbeing.”
Seemed to Noah that was what she’d been doing all along.
“The necklace,” Petra muttered out of the side of her mouth.
Noah stared at Delilah’s hand. What about the necklace?
“Keep her attention,” Petra whispered, and then she began backing away.
He glanced at Delilah. “Uh…” What the hell was he supposed to do to keep her attention? And why?
When Delilah started to look Petra’s way, he waved his hand and took a few steps toward her, pulling her focus back to him. “Uh, hey. Um… So Petra and I aren’t really fated mates.”
“No?” Delilah sounded surprised. “You sure act like it.”
That’s all it is, lady. Just an act. “I mean, maybe we are. Who knows? We’re from the Detroit colony, remember? Can’t find out.” Wouldn’t that be something? If they convinced her to lift the curse and it turned out he and Petra were fated mates? Certainly better than the alternative, which would be watching her fall in love with some other guy.
Noah was 1,000 percent sure he wouldn’t be able to handle that.
“Trust me,” Delilah said. “It’s better this way.”
He could actually understand her reasoning. If she never lifted the curse, he’d never have to find out if Petra truly belonged with someone else. And maybe then she’d stay with him.
“You might be right,” he said.
“I am?”
Before he could expound, Petra slipped up behind the other woman and reached around her shoulder, grabbing the green gem and giving it a yank. Delilah shrieked and tried to step away, but the necklace didn’t go with her.
“No!” she screamed as Petra dropped it on a fallen, rotting wooden beam and slammed her heel into it.
A flash of light burst from the stone, followed by what Noah could only describe as a sonic boom. The force of the reaction sent Petra flying several feet, until she dropped like a stone and slammed into the ground.
“Petra!” he shouted, and scrambled to her side, dropping to his knees. He slipped his arm around her shoulders and lifted her torso. Her eyes were closed and her head lolled backward like a ragdoll. “No! No! I can’t do this again!” He shook her, which, of course, did no good whatsoever.
He felt the telltale shimmer of magic warning him that a dragon had shifted nearby. Then Talia was on her knees next to him. “Oh my gods, Petra!” she cried out, lifting a hand and touching the unconscious woman’s face.
She was only unconscious, wasn’t she?
“Is she…?” Noah croaked out.
“I don’t know,” Talia responded.
“Petra,” Noah said, hugging her upper body to his chest. “Don’t leave me. I need you. Sadie and I both need you.”
“Sadie?” Talia asked.
“Our daughter.”
“Your what?”
He shook his head and buried his face in her hair. “Come on, baby. Come back to me.”
“When did you and Petra hook up?” Talia asked. She paused. “That baby? The one Gabe’s grandmother was holding? Is that your baby?”
Noah didn’t answer her. He continued holding Petra, rocking her, sending prayers up to the gods.
Please don’t take her from me. Please let me have another chance. Please let me make this right. Please. I don’t even care if she’s supposed to be fated to another. Just let her live.
Noah was dimly aware of more and more people gathering around, dragons and gargoyles alike, forming a circle around him and Petra and Talia. And then someone else crouched near him.
“Lay her down,” a female voice commanded. He glanced to his right and blinked at the old lady. She wasn’t wearing her necklace anymore. “You need to lay her down.”
Reluctantly, Noah did as she said. “What are you going to do?” he asked, worried that whatever magic she planned to use might backfire and make everything worse. Although, how could it be any worse than living without Petra for the rest of his existence?
“I’m going to perform CPR,” the elderly woman said, and she threaded her fingers together and began a steady rhythm, pumping Petra’s chest for long moments before pausing to breathe air into her lungs.
“CPR,” Noah said dimly as he raked a hand through his hair. “Right.”
The old woman quietly counted as she pumped on Petra’s chest again and again. The only other sounds were those of nature: crickets, frogs, other night creatures. The gargoyles and dragons were quiet, and Noah had no idea where Delilah was. Or Sadie. He glanced up and spotted Argyle, who hovered behind the old lady, Sadie tucked into the crook of his arm.
Noah shifted his attention back to Petra. His love.
If only he’d figured it out sooner.
“Ah-ha,” the old woman proclaimed, and a scant second later, Petra gasped, sucking in a breath, and then coughed before blinking her eyes open…and staring right at Noah. He shoved the other woman out of the way and pulled Petra into his arms, squeezing her until she protested. He never wanted to let her go again.
The crowd came alive then, everyone seeming to talk at once, while Noah climbed to his feet and helped an unsteady Petra to hers. And then Talia pushed herself between them and gave Petra a hug before holding her at arm’s length and saying,
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you had a baby!”<
br />
Chapter 11
Forty-eight hours later, Petra was back in her own two-bedroom bungalow in the Detroit suburbs. It was as though she were stepping back in time. One year ago, almost to the day, now that she thought about it.
Someone had cleaned and aired out the place, which was nice, because all she wanted to do was crawl into bed and sleep for twenty-four hours.
Or as long as her nursing-mom boobs would let her.
Noah stepped into the house behind her, holding Sadie’s carrier in one hand and a portable crib in the other. “Where do you want me to set this up?” he asked.
She’d left everything but the bags they’d packed back in New Orleans. Most of it Pacey had loaned to her or purchased anyway.
Which meant she had to do some serious shopping now that she was home. She needed a real crib and a highchair and a stroller and…her head was starting to hurt again, so she stopped thinking about it. Her growing to-do list would still be here in the morning.
“In my bedroom for now,” Petra said. “Upstairs. On the left.” Noah placed the carrier with the sleeping infant on the floor and headed in the direction she indicated.
Petra wandered over to the sliding glass doors that led to the backyard. One of her aunts lived two houses down, and as soon as she noticed activity in this house, she’d start spreading the word. The family would converge soon thereafter.
And then they’d learn she had a baby.
They’d want to know who the father was. They’d pressure her to mate with him. And if she succumbed, she would officially follow in her family’s footsteps.
Exactly what she swore she’d never do.
Noah stepped back into the room and said, “Do you want to feed her before I put her down for the night?”
Petra nodded without turning around. It was a good idea. Hopefully, that would give her a few extra hours of desperately needed sleep. Her ribs were bruised and she had a knot on her head from the impact caused by destroying the gem. Luckily, as she’d guessed, the necklace was what maintained the curse on Ginger.
Noah sat in the armchair and watched, without saying a word, while she fed Sadie. When she was done, he pulled the baby out of her arms, burped her, and headed upstairs to the bedroom, presumably to put her to bed.
When he returned to the living room, he raked a hand through his hair and said, “Do you want me to stay?”
Yes.
She shook her head. “I’m sure my family will be on my doorstep first thing in the morning.”
“You don’t have to face them alone.”
“It will be easier.”
“And then?”
He was going to make her spell it out. He wasn’t just going to quietly go away. Not that he could, she supposed. It was clear he fully intended to be involved in Sadie’s life. At some point, they would need to work out a shared custody agreement, decide who would pay for what.
“And then nothing,” she croaked out, squeezing her eyes shut. She couldn’t look at him while she reminded him of where their relationship stood. He’d been so attentive, so sweet, affectionate since she’d awakened after being knocked out; he had clearly changed his co-parenting with a side of sex stance to something, well, more.
And she couldn’t do it.
A single teardrop managed to escape through her closed lids, and she impatiently brushed it away. “We agreed, Noah. We both swore we didn’t want…” She cleared her throat. “To be together.”
“I know, but—”
“I still feel that way.” There, she said it.
“Petra…”
She shook her head, still without opening her eyes. “Please go,” she whispered. “Give me a couple days to recover, to deal with my family, and then we can talk about how we’re going to raise Sadie. Just give me that. Please.”
After a long bout of silence, she opened her eyes. He stood before her, his lips a thin, straight line, arms crossed over his rather impressive chest, eyes hot with unspoken emotion.
“Please,” she whispered again.
Finally, his shoulders dropped and he turned away from her. She watched as he walked to the door, placed his hand on the knob, and then stood there, obviously struggling with her request—or his decision to do as she asked. She almost hoped he’d turn around and try to change her mind.
Almost.
But he didn’t. He quietly slipped out the door without a backward glance. She fell against the couch as a sob escaped.
She’d gotten what she wanted, so why was she crying?
***
Talia showed up on her doorstep bright and early the next morning and stayed through the subsequent converging of the family. She stoically backed Petra up when she refused to tell them who Sadie’s father was. They’d find out soon enough, but she wanted to work out the terms of their relationship first. Maybe that way, she could be strong enough to resist when they pressured her to mate with him.
Talia seemed to sense when the interrogations became too much because she suddenly remembered that Gabe had summoned Petra to his mansion for a meeting.
As her parents, aunts and uncles, and even her grandmothers all reluctantly filed out of the house, Petra asked, “Did he really summon me?”
“Actually, he did ask me to bring you over at some point today; he just wasn’t specific about the time.” She grinned.
“Thanks,” Petra said, relieved.
“He wants a full report on what you found out while you were in New Orleans.”
Petra groaned inwardly while she changed Sadie’s diaper and secured her into her car seat. “Well, I suppose I should be grateful that you’re talking to me again, at least.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Talia asked.
Petra flapped her hand. “I failed. Well, sort of. I went to New Orleans to prove myself to you, and to—”
“You didn’t need to prove yourself to me. All I really needed was an apology and to believe you didn’t really mean to hurt me.”
Petra stared at her best friend. “I did that. And you still weren’t talking to me.”
Talia rolled her eyes. “Hey, give a girl a minute to hold a grudge, would you? I was coming around.”
Petra shook her head and pulled her into a hug. “I missed you. So much. I’m so glad we’re friends again. I couldn’t do all of this without you.”
Talia swiped at a tear and then led her out the door to her car. “I’ll drive you over there, and on the way, you can fill me in on how you think you failed.”
Once they were in the vehicle, Petra said, “I didn’t complete the assignment.”
“You found Gabe’s mother. That’s a step closer than we’ve ever been. And Ginger has decided to move here, to be closer to Gabe and Ruby, who she’s already fallen in love with and is spoiling rotten.” She laughed. “She calls herself the live-in granny.”
“I’m glad. And this also means she’ll be able to break the curse.”
“Exactly. So you see? You didn’t fail.”
Maybe not.
***
“Unfortunately,” Gabe said a couple hours later, after she’d recounted everything she’d learned while she’d been living in New Orleans, “we’ll be able to break the curse, but we’ve unearthed a whole other issue.”
“The dragon’s blood business,” Petra guessed.
They were sitting in his office, Gabe in his butter-soft leather chair, she in a not-uncomfortable seat across from him. There were glasses on the desk, one filled with water for her and one with whiskey on the rocks for him.
Far cry from the meeting they’d had here a year ago.
Talia had taken Sadie as soon as they arrived. Had they gone to the kitchen so Noah could spend time with his daughter? Probably. It was something Talia would do. And Petra appreciated it, since that meant she could avoid talking to him for just a little while longer. Maybe she would figure out what she really wanted out of this relationship by then.
“Yes. We can’t walk away and pretend we don�
�t know what’s going on. That colony is suffering, and it’s my mother’s fault, which means it’s my problem to deal with.”
“I understand.” She really did.
“I’ve learned that she’s disappeared. Gone into hiding. Argyle offered to help, but unfortunately, since gargoyles and dragons don’t normally move in the same circles, he has no idea where to start. But we agree that wherever she’s gone, she won’t give up the dragon’s blood trade. Not without a fight.”
Petra braced for his next words. It made sense, given she’d lived there for a year, and was a dragon, and had made it her business to learn where the local dragons spent their time.
“Ketu is from New Orleans, originally. I’m going to ask him if he will take on the task of finding her. Once we know where she is, we can come up with a plan to stop her and the sale of dragon’s blood once and for all.”
Petra stared at him. “You aren’t sending me back?” She was the one who discovered his mother was the dragon’s blood supplier, after all.
He shook his head. “You have different priorities now, Petra. Sadie’s just a baby. I wouldn’t expect you to leave her here while you go back to New Orleans. And based on what we all just went through, it’s too dangerous to take her with you. Plus, if you did go back, I’m pretty sure Noah will follow again, and even though I enjoy standing over the grill on occasion, we missed his cooking. True confession: the only reason I accepted the position of reeve was because I knew I’d get to eat food he prepared every day.”
Her lips twitched. She knew that wasn’t really the reason, but she appreciated the sentiment. “Thank you,” she said, and she meant it.
He inclined his head. “No more rash decisions, though, okay?”
She chuckled and stood. “You got it.”
And then she hightailed it out of there, texting Talia and asking her to meet her in the foyer so she could avoid seeing Noah. She didn’t trust herself not to break that promise almost immediately if she did.
***
Two days later, Talia bounced Sadie on her hip while Petra sat on the floor, the pieces of a brand-new crib scattered around her, the instructions that might as well be in Greek laying in the middle of it all.