Ēostre gazed down at the tiny, twin silhouettes in the photos then turned to her husband and squeezed his hand. “I think that is a marvelous idea. It will be good to have actual medical information if something were ever to happen in a future dragon pregnancy.” Or in ours, she worried, fretting over the unknown possibilities. While dragons were tough and hardy individuals, she’d known a few females over the centuries who lost their unborn cubs to mysterious reasons.
“Agreed,” Max said.
“Excellent. Now, I know I questioned you at length prior to the sonogram, but a few more thoughts have occurred to me since then. You do plan to birth the children in your human body, correct?”
“I believe I will. I like your office, as well as your bedside manner, and would be reluctant to part from that.” Ēostre hesitated. “I delivered my older son by myself, and while I was pleased with the outcome, the birth itself was a lonely process.
“Now you said your magic shifts them for now. What about after they’re born?”
Ēostre blew out a breath. “It will be a new experience for us all. No dragon has ever birthed in human form before. So the twins will have to learn to shift into their dragon shapes as they grow, rather than the opposite.”
“Regardless of the decision you make, we’ll adapt our birthing plan to work with you. Please let me know if anything changes.”
“Thank you, Dr. Shapiro.”
“Michelle. Please call me Michelle,” the woman said, voice warm and comforting in the otherwise sterile room.
“Only if you call us Ēostre and Max. I insist. If we’re to use your services for our little ones over the next year and a half, at the very least, we must be on a first name basis.”
“Deal. Now as I said, I have a few more concerns, and afterward, we’ll schedule your next appointment. Join me in my office. It’s a little more comfortable than that exam table.” She flashed them a reassuring grin, and led the way from the room to a sunny office with two plush visitor chairs. “Water?”
“Yes please.”
Michelle’s questions never felt like an interrogation — Ēostre and Max answered her candidly, withholding nothing about their species and unique habits.
When it was all done, the expectant dragoness floated on air from the office to the car awaiting them outside. This time, she had no fear of dragonslaying assassins and bombs. Ian worked closely with the head of the Secret Service in providing the best shifters he could find, and their security retinue had tightened without depriving them of further privacy and freedom. He hadn’t merely cut through the red tape to make it happen, he’d eviscerated the system and leaned on it until they were happy to accept his “recommendations.”
“Are you happy with the news?” she whispered to him once they were safely seated inside “The Beast.” “Are you truly happy?”
“Impossibly happy. Thrilled,” Max said. He brought Ēostre closer, and she turned her face into his neck, pressing her cheek against the heat her husband naturally exuded. “I can’t believe it. Twins.”
“It’s certainly made you a man of few words,” she teased.
“How could I possibly be anything but elated, my love?” His lips skimmed the top of her head. “Today is a day for celebration, we must tell your family—”
“Our family,” she corrected him.
“Of course. Our family. Saul, Chloe, and Astrid must be the first to know before we release the information to the media,” the dragon mused thoughtfully. “Unless you would prefer for the pregnancy to remain secret. I’ll be happy to do whatever you feel is best for you.”
Ēostre leaned back to gaze up at him. “Let’s tell them. Let’s tell the world.”
***
Max met a limited number of reporters for a small press release in the rose garden. He loved it there, the serene environment paired with memories of his wedding day to Ēostre. He went without the suit and tie, opting for khakis and a casual button-down shirt, and with the summer breeze rustling his auburn hair he felt invincible, bulletproof, and absolutely in control of his life. Ēostre loved him, the Ancestors had favored them with not one, but two little ones, and the world was gradually coming to accept supernatural existence.
“President Emberthorn, can you tell us when the baby will be due?”
Max’s grin widened. “The babies will arrive in the fall. A year and a half from now.”
He’d expected a stunned reaction. At first, the open yard dropped into silence. Then a flurry of questions broke out. He raised his hands and waited for the noise to die down before he answered.
“Yes, we were incredibly amazed to discover my wife is carrying twins, and we couldn’t be happier. As for the time… Dragonkind gestate for two years. Ēostre won’t begin to truly show, as you put it, until Thanksgiving later this year.”
“Do you know what you’re having?”
“Two healthy little ones are what I hope for,” Max replied. “Boys or girls, we’re happy with whatever blessings we receive. We only ask that the press respect our privacy during this time and in return we promise ample opportunities to get your pictures.”
“Do you have names picked out?”
The question resulted in another good-humored laugh. “Not yet, but knowing Ēostre they’ll be beautiful and impressive.”
“Where is the first lady?” someone asked from the crowd.
“My wife is with her family, delighting in their happy attentions at the news, and I am due to join them. Thank you all for your questions, and I am honored you were able to attend. I have time for one final question.”
“Will they hatch from eggs?”
Max, as well as a few of the other journalists, chuckled. “No. My kind are as warm-blooded as your people and quite similar in many ways. She’s chosen to birth them in her human form.”
After promising to keep them updated on the pregnancy, he was escorted into the building by his security team.
“We’ll be at the California estate,” he told his security team. “If you’re needed for a public outing, Ēostre will send for you. I don’t expect for us to be gone past dinner.”
“Excellent. Enjoy your time away, Mr. President. We’ll remain here, pretending you’re still on the premises.”
As he took the steps two at a time, Max sent a text message to Ēostre. She told him the portal would be awaiting him in the bedroom, and he found it open, without his wife waiting beside it. The clear window to California displayed the serene interior of Saul’s roomy den and enormous sectional sofa.
“Where you going?” Spartacus asked him. He sat on a perch beside the window, eyeballing the portal with uncertainty. Spartacus had seen and traveled through them before for visits to California. Sometimes Ēostre left a pocket portal beside his perch for him to visit Astrid during their busy days. He was never without a friend who loved him dearly.
“We’re going to see Ēostre’s family. Would you like to come?”
“Yes!”
Once Max held out his arm, the bird flew to his wrist without hesitation. “Astrid will be glad to see you, buddy.”
“Spartacus loves Astrid.”
“I know you do. I hope you’ll love our twins as well, as they will be little ones for quite a while.”
Max had missed some of the best parts of Brigid’s childhood and looked forward to swaddling them at night and giving Ēostre a rest. He grinned at the thought, excited by the prospect of diaper changing. When Mahuika brought Brigid to him for the first time, she’d been a thirty-year-old cub without a human shape, although that changed once he took her to Ireland to meet her first humans. Within days of their arrival, his beautiful little girl became a fiery-haired toddler.
Why did he still miss her?
Max inhaled a deep breath. Maybe the heartache would never heal, but with two cubs on the way, he couldn’t afford to live in the past. He had to move on and be strong for them.
Saul scowled at him when he entered. “You promised to take care of my mother. How i
s this taking care of her?”
“I made that promise at our wedding, which was technically after I did this to her,” Max cheerfully replied. “Where is she? I found a portal in our bedroom, but I don’t see Ēostre.”
“Looking at magazines in the next room with Chloe and deciding new, extraordinary ways to spend our money. You should know your wife has decided to donate two dollars of your money to charity for every dollar spent while preparing for the twins.”
“Excellent.”
“You have no idea how much Chloe can spend on a nursery. It was cute, initially, until boredom at the end of the lengthy pregnancy led to many unnecessary purchases. Her mind changed multiple times, often after the time granted for the return policies.”
Max grinned broadly. “You’re not nearly as aggravated as you let on.”
Saul grinned. “Of course not. But if I don’t pretend to be irritated, my bank accounts hemorrhage dollars by the thousands. It’s funny, too. She does it in rare spurts, and will go weeks without purchasing anything elaborate, only to wake up and decide one day the kitchen is outdated, or it’s time to engage in a bidding war in another country. When she isn’t pregnant, I can’t convince her to spend a dime.”
“You’re here!” Astrid rushed into the room and threw her arms around Max’s waist. She hugged him tight, and when he returned it, she giggled and turned her face up to look at him. “Can I take Spartacus outside with the zebras?”
“Certainly.”
“Awesome!” She held out her arm for the bird and waited while he stepped from Max’s forearm to her shoulder. Spartacus turned his head and immediately began running his beak through Astrid’s golden hair, grooming her in an affectionate manner. She giggled.
“You behave now, Spartacus.”
“He’s always good for me.”
“You behave, Max. Be a good boy,” Spartacus said to him.
Max frowned. “I’m not the bird. I’m your owner.”
“You’re his friend,” Astrid corrected him before flouncing away.
What the hell just happened there? he wondered.
Saul waited until she was out the door before he released his pent-up laughter. “I wish you could see your own face right now, Max.”
“Bloody bird has a mind of his own.”
“You’d get bored with him otherwise. If it makes you feel any better, I thought the same about Felix for a time. Now we’re old friends, him and I.” Hearing his name, the old Savannah cat raised his head and glanced at them both. At the age of twenty-one, he still played frantically with his humans and devoted his days to stalking Saul and Chloe.
They joined their wives in the sitting room, and as was customary, accepted the fragile, tiny cups Chloe poured for them. They wouldn’t hear the end of it if they didn’t drink her tea, especially since her recent hobby had been to sell tea blends and soaps with her friends Marcy and River online.
“How goes the shopping?” Saul asked.
“I found the cutest bedroom sets,” Ēostre gushed. She turned the tablet in her lap so Max could see. “Look. Dragons. This lady hand stitches them and can do almost any color we’d like.”
Ēostre had decided early on to make most, if not all, of her purchases through smaller businesses. Max approved the idea and was more than happy to support local vendors. He leaned over for a look and smiled at the pictures on the screen.
“I think those would be perfect for our twins.”
“You waste no time, do you, Belenos?” Fafnir’s sneering voice came from a shadowed corner of the room. “I never took you for a thief, and yet you have plundered my every possession.” He approached them, his yellow eyes bloodshot within an ashen face.
Max grunted, able to suppress the urge to lash out by only a slim margin. He rose to his feet and stood his ground. “Ēostre isn’t a possession.”
“She whelps incompetent, spineless spawn, and yours will be no different. They will be baying pups forever attached to her teat, unable to thrive on their own.”
Saul stiffened in his seat.
“You have an amazing son, Fafnir, and you would realize as much if you gave his chosen mate a chance. If you gave him a chance, but no, you wasted your years with Ēostre and spent them running away from your family. You brought this on yourself,” Maximilian seethed back at his former friend.
Fafnir hissed and took three charging steps forward until Saul leapt between them with his back to Maximilian. “Don’t presume to know my thoughts. I loved my family!”
“Fafnir—”
The furious dragon snapped his eyes to Ēostre. “You have no right to speak to me when you stink of his bastard whelps. I can smell them festering inside you.”
“Father, enough.”
“And you.” He glared at his son. “My Brigid was too good for you. I see that now. A thousand curses upon you for bringing her death.”
“How dare you!” Ēostre leapt to her feet, fury making her entire body quake.
“How dare I? How dare you!” Fafnir roared back.
“Saul is your own flesh and blood, and you won’t speak to him this way for as long as I draw breath.”
“The perhaps it is time your breath ceased and spared us all the shame of your presence. A whore to dragons and humans alike.”
A partial transformation overtook Fafnir, his claws elongating and clothing stretched to the seams. He lunged toward Ēostre but Max was there to block his path, a snarl on his lips as he pushed away the man who had once been his closest friend.
Chloe drew Ascalon and pointed the razor-edged blade at Fafnir. He recoiled from its radiance and stepped back to give them a wide berth.
“To oblivion with all of you.”
They quieted as Fafnir stormed from the room, radiating blistering heat with each step. His borrowed clothing went up in flames, thankfully causing no damage to the stone floors or walls, but tiny pieces of burning threads and ash were left in his wake. Ēostre trembled on the couch until Chloe drew her into a tight embrace.
“I’m going to kick him out now. We can’t continue to suffer barbs and taunts from him.”
“Saul, no.” Max frowned, staring out the door Fafnir had disappeared through. “He is too dangerous to loose on the world. We must keep an eye on him until Watatsumi returns.”
“What did he mean by ‘my Brigid’ anyway?” Chloe asked.
“Who knows, love? He’s not in his right mind.”
“All the more reason to allow him to stay,” Chloe murmured, meeting Max’s gaze. “You’re right, he isn’t in his right mind, and we’ll never forgive ourselves if we send him into the world. He’s gotta stay here where we can keep an eye on him.”
“Are you certain, Chloe?” Ēostre asked in a tremulous voice.
“Positive.”
Saul sighed heavily. “In that case, I believe Leiv and Mahasti deserve a long overdue vacation. We can send them and the girls to Teo’s island, or wherever they like for that matter.”
“Thor would be glad to host them at his home and I know he’s spoken many times with Leiv about a hunting trip,” Ēostre suggested. “They’ll have a good time and it’ll get everyone away from the stress of babysitting Fafnir.”
“To be honest, I would feel better if you both went with them.” Saul looked from his wife to his mother.
“Nope, I live here.”
Saul released a long sigh. “I figured as much, but I had to suggest it.”
“And I love you for it, but your mother and I won’t leave you guys here to handle this alone.”
“Correct,” Ēostre said. She swallowed and raised her eyes to Max.
Max and Saul exchanged glances, but they both knew it was useless to argue with the women they loved.
Chapter 24
Watatsumi opened another book and breathed in the smell of ancient paper and old leather. He’d known from the start that the books wouldn’t have the answer to their problem with Fafnir, but he’d hoped something in their rich history would jog his me
mory.
Could a dragon come back from the dead? Was it possible Belenos and Ēostre were wrong? In their grief, they could have mistaken a grievously injured dragon for dead.
No, he thought. If such was the case, why wasn’t the soul bond between Fafnir and his mate intact? Why had it taken him more than a century to recover?
Most importantly of all, why did he feel the most sinister, dark intentions from the dragon who was once one of his closest friends? Watatsumi shivered, unable to forget the animosity sweltering from Fafnir whenever their mutual friend was near Bel. A century ago, he would have been hard pressed to name two dragons closer than Fafnir and Belenos, and while he’d like to blame Ēostre’s new bonding for the change, he knew the hatred ran deeper. It festered in Fafnir, a disease of the soul, and Watatsumi’s sensitive talent for empathetic magic made it difficult to bear. He couldn’t talk to his old friend for longer than five minutes without nausea rising in his stomach.
A tiny rap at the door brought Watatsumi’s attention to one of the servants.
“May I enter?”
“You need not ask permission, Nagisa. We have discussed this.”
“Perhaps, but it’s polite to ask,” the doe shifter replied. She stood in the doorway watching him with kind brown eyes. She, like all of his servants, preferred tradition over modern ways, and wore an exquisite blue kimono with silver thread woven into a water print. “This arrived for you, but it bears no name.”
“No name?” He abandoned his seat and crossed the room to meet her halfway. Bowing deeply, she presented the dragon with a neatly wrapped package addressed from the United States.
“No. Only that. It’s a store in America.”
Watatsumi glanced at her.
“I may have Googled it briefly before bringing it up to you,” the girl said with an impish smile.
Nestled inside of the packaging and bubble wrap, he found a beautifully painted volcanic dragon with curving horns and enormous black claws. His brows raised at the resemblance to a certain, recently awakened wyrm.
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