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Now if he could only get them to understand that in that way, Stella was sort of one of them.

“So where is Uncle Myk? Weeding the gardens? Or is he with the children?”

“Uncle Myk says his place is in the gardens. Growing things, and so he let us build our own garden. There’s nightshades and wolfsbane. Foxglove. Hemlock. Jimsonweed. Mistletoe. Oleander. Belladonna. We promise not to use it. Promise not to share it. They said we could have a fence and a gate with a lock.”

“Oh, that’s very exciting. How grown you are to have your own special garden with such powerful plants.”

Kynan nodded. “Uncle Myk trusts us.”

Katrina agreed. “And we trust him. It’s an agreement. And one does not break agreements.”

“Very true. It’s all about loyalty, you know, and trust. I would love to see your garden. But if you don’t mind, of course, I’ll stay on the outside of the fence. Because of the baby.”

“That seems wise.”

“Yes, wise, because we don’t know what happens deep in the garden.”

“We’re taking classes. From a lady. The dragon lady. A witch. She’s teaching us about new things. So you should stay out.”

Now, thatwasa bit concerning. “But Uncle Myk gets to come in, yes?”

“Yes, Uncle Myk has the key to the lock, just like we do. That is also part of the agreement. Uncle Myk helps things grow. It helps things?—”

Both the twins paused and put their foreheads together.

Uncle Myk knows about her. And tries to keep that away from everyone else. And that is good. We will never hurt him.

“That’s because you are. Good. Because you care. I’m very proud of you both.”

The orange turned a little rosy. And they wiggled around a bit, obviously pleased.

Jasper, who they called J-bot, came trundling over, the chunky little boy growing like a weed. This sweet lad grew out and then up and then out and then up. And he was going to be a tall, tall dragon. Cosmo could tell already.

“Uncle Cosmo. Katrina. Kynan. I was looking for you.”

“You were looking for me? Did you know I was coming?”

“No. No, I was looking for the twins. But I’m glad to find you too. Uncle Myk says the strawberries are ready, and they’re so good. And he wanted me to wait for you to make sure we all got some.”

That earned another of those blushing little color changes. Then the twins were off and running. Heading toward the back garden with J-bot.

“Oh-ho, deserted so easily,” he said, taking his own time to get across.

“Cosmo, is that you?” Egan waved at him, smiling.

“It is. I came to get more tomatoes. I heard that the vines were heavy, and there’s nothing I want more. I feel like Rapunzel’s mother looking for ramps.”

Egan chuckled. “You look amazing. Sweet little belly. Come on in. There’re strawberries as well. The children are about to have a party where strawberry fingers can’t get on books.”

“I understand.”

“How’s your mate?”

“He’s good. He’s been very busy. Reading and redoing the nursery and just being Hawk.” Which was, he had to admit, an utterly wonderful thing.

“Ah, good. Good. I’m so happy for you.” Eagan was a lovely dragon who adored tea and antiques and who always had a moment to chat.

“Thank you. Everything is well here?”