You say that, but the DDA Director, Rosalind Abbott, owes Stonefire for bringing down the Dragon Knights. Maybe Bram called in that favor.
I don't know if she has that reach or will deign to interfere in the lower ranks of the department.
Before Blake could reply, a human employee walked up to them. "It's time. Follow me."
They made their way out of the waiting room and down the hall into a much bigger chamber. Blake barely paid attention to the furnishings or the like because he noticed two things at the same time—Hayley was sitting at one table and two humans at another. One of the humans was the aunt in question.
His beast growled. I wish she'd look this way. Then we could flash our eyes and scare her a little.
As much as I want to do that, too, we probably shouldn't stir up any trouble. The staff will take notice of every little thing we do.
His dragon huffed. Stupid human ways I'll never understand.
They all sat down next to Hayley, with Daisy between him and Dawn. Hayley turned and whispered, "Just do as we discussed and it should be fine."
It was the "should" part of her sentence he didn't like.
Daisy took his hand with one of hers and her mother's with the other. She stated, "We'll win, remember?"
Even though the aunt didn't look at them, Blake noticed her frown. Clearly she didn't understand just how much Daisy loved dragon-shifters.
No, the female just wanted to win against the dragons and display how much she hated them. No matter what Stonefire or the other dragon clans did would ever change that.
His beast said, Her loss. And as long as she doesn't try to kill some of us, just ignore her.
He had a hard time believing the short woman would be able to orchestrate an assassination hit, let alone do it herself.
A door opened at the far side and a group of humans—two females and three males—walked in and took their place at the long table at the front of the room.
One of the females sat in the middle and spoke first. "Today we're here to discuss full custody of Daisy Chadwick. The parties are her mother, Dawn Chadwick, and her paternal aunt, Susan Miller. Statements have been submitted by both parties, but today's meeting will factor even more in our final decision. Right, then let's begin."
And so for the next twenty minutes, the tw
o solicitors walked through each of their cases. Blake didn't follow the particulars of the law very closely, but Dawn used being her mother and caring for her on her own for nearly a decade as her defense. The aunt's reasoning was that a human girl should be raised in the human world.
The questions were so boring that even Blake's dragon fell asleep for awhile.
However, he remained awake and continued to give support to his female and new daughter when needed. His participation was limited, which seemed odd considering Daisy would be living with both him and Dawn.
That could mean the female leading the questioning didn't think highly of dragon-shifters.
But Blake lived by trial and error, facts, and numbers. So he pushed aside any speculation and merely answered when necessary. If the decision turned out negatively, he would help formulate a new plan. Because both man and beast needed to ensure their mate could be happy. And Dawn would never be happy without Daisy.
So he waited for the end of the hearing, when they could maybe have a better idea of what their future would be.
It took every bit of strength Dawn possessed to remain calm and not start pacing the room. Susan had no problem sitting there calmly, answering questions. Of course she merely saw Daisy as a pawn for her beliefs, not the key to her happiness.
True, Susan probably cared a little for Daisy. But seeing as Susan had been fine with seeing Daisy once or maybe twice a year before this whole debacle, Dawn doubted the proceedings and battle were done out of love.
Having Daisy sit next to her helped more than anything, as did occasional foot touches from Blake. Not to mention that despite Hayley's slightly disheveled appearance from their first meeting, the woman was persistent and sharp for the proceedings.
After nearly an hour, the woman in charge pointed toward Daisy. "And now, are you ready for some questions, Daisy?"
Daisy sat up a little straighter. Never the shy one, she bobbed her head and said, "Yes, ma'am. I'm ready."
Dawn smiled at Daisy's formality.
The woman in charge was named Ms. Cook, and her voice was a tad less stern when she asked Daisy, "If given the choice, would you want to go back to your old school or stay at your new one?"