Page 93 of A Fate of Blood and Magic (Fated #2)

“We’ll have to find the rest of them homes. How long do the puppies need their mama’s milk?”

“I don’t know.” I looked at Esmerelda for an answer.

“At least eight weeks,” she said. “They’re three weeks along now.”

“What if Brenton used his magic to speed up their growth?” Elias said. “Could we find them homes sooner?”

“Speed up their growth.” I whipped my head in his direction as I held the puppy closer to my chest. “And miss out on all their cute puppy antics. No way. They grow at their pace. It’ll be good for the girls.” I grinned.

Running a hand over his chin, he laughed. “For the girls.”

I heard Alastor’s laugh before I saw him. While it’d be the polite thing to go see him, I couldn’t force myself to move, especially when a puppy crawled over my ankle and settled there. I scooped up the tiny thing and rested it over my stomach.

Another puppy ambled toward me, stumbling over its legs as it tried to run. Elias picked him up and set it on my lap. When Leah came in, I gave her a puppy even though I might have pouted as I did it.

By the time Alastor found us, the mama, or Luana, as Brenton decided to name her, was feeding all four of her pups with Brenton beside her, petting her big, bony head.

“What can I feed Luana to help her gain weight?” Brenton asked.

“I’ve always heard broth and peanut butter are good for dogs,” I said.

“I don’t know what peanut butter is, but do you mind if I make her chicken broth when we get back to your place tomorrow?” he asked.

“You can make it now,” Alastor offered. “I have everything you’d need for it in my tent. I also cooked her up some chicken a couple of nights ago.”

“Oh.” Brenton ran his hand over her back, where her spine and rib cage stuck out. “Were you planning on keeping her?”

“No.” Alastor leaned down to pick up a puppy that stumbled away from Luana. “I was hoping to keep this one.” He inched the all-brown puppy to his face. “Unless someone already claimed him.”

“I want those two.” I pointed at the first two I held earlier.

“The white one is a little female, and the brown and black one is a male,” Alastor said. “When they grow, will it cause health problems if they were to breed together?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “I imagine it would, right? I wonder if there’s a way I can get the boy fixed.”

“What do you mean fixed?” Elias asked.

“In the human realm, we’d fix dogs so the females couldn’t get pregnant and contribute to overpopulation,” I explained. “For a male, a vet would snip-snip their testicles.” With my fingers, I made a motion like scissors opening and closing.

“What?” Brenton hissed out.

“Why would you do such a thing?” Elias grabbed the brown male pup and held him to his chest as if to protect him from me. “You’re staying far away from him and his nether regions.”

“What’s wrong with you?” Brenton asked, clearly appalled.

“I didn’t do it.” I snickered. “Veterinarians did.”

“That’s cruelty,” Elias went on.

Leah laughed. “I think I could sterilize him without snipping anything off.”

“Do you think it’d be better to sterilize the male or the female?” I asked. “If we find more dogs in the future, it’d be nice to be able to breed them so there are more dogs.” And puppies.

While Leah and I spoke, Brenton left to cook the broth for Luana, and Elias and Alastor stayed close by.

Eventually, they left, and Brenton returned with broth mixed in with chicken and vegetables.

Where making broth had been an all-day process for Grandma Richter, Brenton had finished in less than an hour.

I didn’t bother questioning it, knowing magic must’ve played a role.

Seeing him, Luana wagged her tail and rose to her feet to greet him, so he knelt in front of her to set the deep dish down for her. She ate slowly, sometimes stopping just to stare at Brenton.

I was certain if she could, the dog would have heart eyes. So would Brenton if I was being honest.

I finally left the barn to go fishing at a pond one of the shifter mages had discovered a week ago. After healing the land around it, the pond had unfrozen, revealing fish and frogs. One shifter swore he saw a turtle, but no one had seen it since.

Even with the marvel that was magic, it didn’t make sense how anything had survived beneath the frozen pond after thousands of years of endless snow.

With a makeshift fishing pole a few of the shifters had made, we headed for the pond with Luana trotting by Brenton’s side.

When a dark shadow cast around us, I smiled at Nalari flying above.

Two other dragons flew at her side. They circled the small pond several times before Nalari coasted down and landed beside the pond while the other two dragons flew away.

Luana stopped, leaning her body against Brenton’s legs, so he crouched down in front of her to pet her face, and although his dog kept a wary eye on Nalari, she didn’t back away but rested at Brenton’s feet. Brenton gave her a piece of something that looked like jerky that she all too happily ate.

“Many of the dragons have been watching the warriors-in-training at the military school,” Nalari said. “They are all impressed with your Javier’s resilience and drive.”

My Javier. If only that were true.

“Sama, who was Commander Hudson’s Guardian, is considering approaching him about Javier being . . . not his ward, as we are not Guardians, but something else. Something more.”

With my eyes stinging, I rubbed my chest. Elias took my hand and kissed my fingers.

“That would be incredible,” I told her.

“It would be a huge honor for a dragon to choose a warrior for themselves,” Elias said. “Do other dragons wish to ally themselves with other warriors-in-training?”

“Possibly.” She blinked her golden eyes, seeming to consider her next words. “We are friends — the three of us. Do you wish for us to also be allies as warriors?”

“I do,” Elias said without hesitation. “I hope we have peace for several lifetimes to come, but should the need arise, I would like us to also be allies.”

“Have you considered a school for dragons and their riders?” she asked.

“Dragon riders,” I whispered in awe, remembering the many stories I’d read of fae or people going into battle with their dragons.

“Dragon riders,” Nalari said.

“I hadn’t considered it since I didn’t know dragons would want to ally with us,” Elias said. “But I think a school for dragons and the riders they choose would be an excellent idea.”

“Alastor has a few dragons who would like him to be their rider,” Nalari said, eyeing my cousin as he helped Leah step into the pond with her pole in hand.

“Your foolish friend, Brenton, does as well although I fear either Alastor will have to choose for them or the battle for him will end in bloodshed.”

“That might be a new, fun sport to bring to Niev,” I teased, widening my eyes for emphasis.

White smoke blew from Nalari’s nostrils, and she snarled.

“Okay.” I held my hands up. “No dragon battles. Got it.”

Elias pulled me to his chest, nuzzling my neck as he laughed quietly against my skin.

“Javier is at your cottage,” Nalari said. “He is aiding Kieren with the painting in the nursery. When Delaney and Aidas arrived, they took a break to train. When I flew over the cottage, several lirio were training with them in swordplay.”

Warmth spread through me. Although we weren’t there, Javier was home. He was leaving his mark in the boys’ nursery. I was glad the boys and Delaney were training with the lirio.

Was it foolish of me to hope Javier would stay the night in his room? Or that he’d still be there when we returned the following night to watch a movie ?

“I was thinking, if you truly want me to take Tori for a fly, I’ll consider it only if Teddy agrees to fly with us.”

Excitement shot through me. “You want me to fly with you?”

“If you wish.”

“Yes,” I agreed. “A thousand times yes.”

Elias laughed.

“Right now?” I asked. “Can we go right now, Nalari?” If anyone judged me for clapping my hands, they didn’t say.

“Ask your healer if it is safe for your babes.”

Before I could speak, Elias asked Leah, “Do you think it’d be okay for Teddy to go up with Nalari?”

“Wait, Nalari is going to take you flying?” Brenton asked.

“Yes.” I shifted on my feet. “As long as it’s okay.” I waited for Leah to answer as eager anticipation rose inside me.

“I don’t see a problem as long as she doesn’t drop you,” Leah said.

“I make no promises,” Nalari said, a white puff of smoke blowing from her nostrils.

“She promises she’ll be extra careful,” I said, and Nalari huffed out a laugh.

I ran up to Nalari, and with Elias’s and Alastor’s help, I managed to climb onto the enormous dragon’s back. Already on her back, Elias guided me to her neck and instructed me on how to hold on to her.

When I peered over her back to the ground, I shuddered. I was still absolutely excited, but a larger and larger part of me was also getting scared.

“Do you want me to stay with you?” Elias asked.

I bit my bottom lip. “Is that okay?” I asked more to Nalari than Elias.

“It’s fine,” Nalari said.

“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be scared,” I said quickly. “It’s just ?—”

“I’d worry there was something wrong with you if you weren’t slightly afraid of flying on a dragon’s back,” Nalari said.

“I bet Tori won’t be scared,” I said with a huff.

“She’s a special one,” Nalari said.

Elias pressed his chest to my back, and we leaned into Nalari’s neck together, where I did my best to hold on. With his legs over mine, he flattened our legs onto her sides.

“Are you ready, mo elma? ” He kissed the back of my neck, over my hair that was sure to fly all over his face within seconds.

“Ready.”

I was ready for our future. Not just for Elias and me and the family we were creating together, but for all of Niev.

Despite the tragic and devastating war with the various fae who lived outside Niev’s borders, the kingdom was slowly coming together.

Shifters, lirio, and mages now had a home in the very place that once drove them away.

I had a home.

So much still needed to be done to gain the peace Elias sought, with learning why magic was malfunctioning and finding the orb at the forefront of his mind.

I wanted to be able to traipse through all of Respandora without the fear of my ancestors’ magic turning on me.

It was home, more than any other place I’d ever lived in, and somehow, every time I visited, I felt Mom’s presence watching me. Maybe even smiling at me.

And Brenton . . . I wanted my brother to find solace and confidence in who he was and what he had to offer. One day, he’d find love, of that I was certain, but first, he had to come to love himself as selflessly as he loved others. Cliché, maybe, but it still held true.

I smiled, knowing this was only the beginning of Elias’s and my happily ever after. Both in battle and in love, we found out who we were and what we were capable of—the good along with the ugly. And I knew that wherever we went in this fantastical realm and whatever awaited us, we’d be okay.

I mean, how could it not when I was about to become a dragon rider? Take that, romantasy lovers.

Brenton’s story will release in 2026.