“Are you heading back to Earth soon?”
“In a bit. I will come and find you soon,” he says shyly.
I nod. “Do you want to come now and meet my family?”
“Your family? You have a Dragon mate and hatchlings?” he asks in surprise.
“Oh, no, no. My Vampire, Shifter and Demon family.”
“Oh. No, I’d rather not. Can’t say they will be happy to see us together.”
Okay, no, that is true, but apart from my mother, I haven’t met another Dragon yet. Not even in the Dragon Realms. We have always been left alone. Oh, I see that now.
“How old are you?” I ask rudely as he swoops across me to fly backward facing me. Neat trick.
“One thousand, five hundred and fifty-three,” he says with a wicked glint. “Older than you.”
“Yes, you are.” I’m intrigued. I swoop over and under him enjoying this game.
He laughs. “A word of advice from an elder. Try to come here often. Even just your presence here, flying around, reminds the community exactly who you are and that you are watching over them.” He ducks his head towards the ground.
I look down and I do see that I am causing quite a stir. There are hundreds of Demons staring up at me and pointing. Some are even on their knees in reverence to me and I feel humbled and ashamed that I’m not taking this duty very seriously at all. That is going to change.
“Noted,” I mumble, and he chuckles at me.
“I will leave you now to your flight. I hope to see you soon, Your Majesty.”
“Wait, tell me before you go, how do you open up a Portal?” I know that I can Astral out of here, but in order to do that I need to be in human form. I have every intention of going back home in the manner in which I left it.
“That should be easy for you. Think of it the same as opening a locked door. You want it open and it opens,” he says.
“Easy as that?” I ask. That sounds way too simple.
“For you, yes. The rest of us have to work a bit harder.” He laughs at me again and swoops off leaving me to my thoughts.
Well, I’m pretty sure that this is not what Xane had in mind when he ordered me to feed off his energy. But I am confident my point has been made. I muse away to myself as I fly, it’s incredible up here. Wishing I were over Tuscany, to be able to see the countryside as I always wanted to do, brings my thoughts into focus. There is something eating at me, but I can’t place what it is. My sire and my charge. That’s it. I thought ‘my sire and my charge.’ Not my sire and my husband. And before, at CK’s house, I stopped myself from saying ‘my husband’ and used his name instead. Why? I wonder. It’s odd and I have no explanation for it. I mentally shrug and determine to keep an eye on that. See if it happens again.
I must have been gone awhile by now. They will all be freaking out which makes me chuckle to myself.
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED SEVENTY
I concentrate on what To’Kah said about opening up a portal. Lo and behold, I do it and fly straight through it and I land in my back garden to everyone yelling at each other over whose fault it was that I Shifted and flew off. As I’m noticed, everyone goes silent and remains rooted to the spot. I feel the Shift come over me slowly, molding me back into my human shape, and then I am standing in front of them naked and oddly, a bit chilly. I have disappeared many times before in my various forms and always when I come back, I am stifled with hugs and ‘where the fuck were you’s’ and ‘don’t do that again’s.’
This time, there is none of that. Just plain and simple awe of my Power and my true form. Now this is more like it. Lincoln is the only one who steps forward, grabbing a towel off a sun lounger and wrapping me up in it. Leading me away from everyone and into the house, he whispers, “That was awesome V.A. I think you proved your point.”
“I hope so,” I mutter back. “By the way, Dragon clarity is something else. We need a Pack, you and me. It’s time I stepped up to the plate with regard to you and our commitment to each other.”
His eyes light up at my words. “I thought you would never ask. I will get on it immediately.”
“And Linc. You need to seriously think about that thing you won’t discuss. I can’t give it to you, but that doesn’t mean you should be denied a chance to extend your own family,” I say it matter-of-factly and he growls at me.
“No. I told you I’m not interested.”
“Just think about it. Whether it be tomorrow or a hundred years from now, you will need to think about it,” I say it firmly and he reluctantly nods.
“Fine. I will think about it. But I know that the answer will still be no,” he says mutinously.
“That’s all I ask,” I say sweetly.