Page 25 of The Dragon’s Stone Hearted Mate (Mori’s Mementos #1)

Morvan

Preston’s heart raced and raced as if it picked up a few extra beats every time he glanced at Mori passed out on the floor.

The comatose wolf didn’t smell injured. If anything, he smelled both delighted and annoyed at the same time.

Preston kept patting his twin’s face and a twinge of envy shimmied through my scales.

Was I the only one who had a twin that just didn’t give the same amount of fucks about me as I did about him?

“Not the only one. I’m sure others have ran into problems too,” Rho said, picking up my thoughts from our half-opened mating link.

I held back a growl of frustration that threatened to crawl out of my throat.

Now that the immediate danger had passed the push-pull magic of my and Rho’s true-mate response was back in full swing.

The urge to pin him up against the kitchen shelves and tear into his claiming gland was almost too much to fight against.

“Morvan, go say goodbye to your brother,” Mori croaked, opening one eye and squinting as if someone hung the sun over the tip of his nose.

“Say goodbye so he can get on with what comes next. I really don’t want to have to talk him down again.

He needed a therapist while he was alive or some good antianxiety meds or something. ”

“Mori!” Preston pulled his brother up to hug him, smelling like the happiest bear I’d ever met.

“He’s right, dragon of mine,” Rho whispered. “I’ll be right here. You say goodbye and then we’ll find us a little place to sneak away to.”

“We need to send word to Cutter and ---” I started but Rho shook his head.

“We’ll get a message to him,” Rho said, his scent smelling a bit sadder than I liked but today wasn’t the happiest day in history. “Go on. I’ll take care of it.”

I left the others to decide the fate of the trio and to play nursemaid to Mori.

He was already batting his brother’s hand away when he tried to check his pulse.

Slipping into the freezer, I shut the door behind me.

Torvan lay stretched out on his back on the floor.

I winced as I stretched out next to him mimicking how we laid together in the grass as hatchlings.

“I’ve fucked this up,” Torvan said.

“Not gonna lie. It’s been really bad,” I nodded.

“You’re not gonna die now,” he said and nodded at an ornate teak door standing a few feet away from us. The handle looked to have been carved from diamond. “I’m still dead but I think you’ll live a long life. You better anyway. One of us has to.”

“I plan on it. I plan on living as long as I can with Rho and having enough children to make rock dragons a well-known species.”

“George was a dick,” he said. “Not that I have room to talk.”

“I didn’t mind him when he was just your boytoy,” I shrugged. “It changes nothing now, but you should’ve told me that you were in trouble. I mean, I made it my literal job to get people out of trouble.”

“You’d have been livid!” Torvan said, drawing out the last word.

“Not as livid as I was to find out you wanted me dead.”

“I don’t know what to say. It feels so far away. It changes nothing. Even if I say I’m sorry it changes nothing.”

“It changes a lot.”

“You’re only saying that because I’m dead,” Torvan rolled his eyes.

“No, I’m refraining from punching you because you’re dead,” I countered.

“My mate left to be a baby,” he sighed. “Fucking Patrica’s baby. The universe hates me.”

“I think the universe is saying if you’re a dick the next time around your mate is going to stab you instead of your mother-in-law,” I laughed and a second later he did too.

“I don’t think I know how to be dead,” he said when the laughter faded away. “I’ve thought about it since the wolf left but I don’t think I know how to do it.”

“I think we all do. It’s like living. You have to stay in the moment and plan for the future all at the same time. A piece of cake really.”

“Asshole,” he muttered under his breath. “I can’t believe I messed up so much I was almost disowned at a soul level.”

“At least that’s fixed,” I said and flashed him a sad smile.

“Don’t do anything stupid and name a kid after me or something. Don’t give a kid that sort of namesake. It’s not fair to the kid.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

“You could’ve argued with me a little on that one,” Torvan frowned at me.

“Torvan, I will miss you because for all my life I knew you as my brother. I knew you as my other half. Only, I didn’t know you.

It was like I was blindfolded and looking into a mirror and assuming that under all your gusto you were as kind as I tried to be.

I was blindfolded, though. So, I’ll miss the ‘you’ I thought you were. ”

Torvan nodded. It wasn’t the best send off, but it was the most honest.

“Can I tell you something about death?” he asked.

“Sure,” I nodded.

“I heard you for a bit when you were rambling on about how you die alone but that’s not true.

It only looks that way from the outside.

When I was dying as soon as it was clear to my cells I was dying, I had people with me.

You and Teal couldn’t see them but they were there.

People I knew and people I barely remembered knowing in other lifetimes.

They were all there and talking to me and they’d been through it before – the whole dying mess – and it sort of made it easier to go.

And you’re the one everyone adores – so when you go people will be there.

You’ll probably die an old dragon surrounded by your own species of draconic descendants with your mate by your side.

Probably Teal and his brothers too – either living or as ghosts.

It’ll work out for you because people will remember you for the good things you did. ”

We laid there on the icy floor of the walk-in freezer until, despite my scales and the fire burning hot in my belly, I started to shiver.

“I hate to do this but I don’t want you to freeze to death because I’m a coward.

I think I have to go now. I think it would be best for you.

You should take Rho out to Moonglow Cabin now that some jackass isn’t around to blow it up.

It’s a nice spot to have a matingmoon. If Clarence says no – start crying and carrying on about how he killed me. ”

“Will do,” I nodded as we both rose to our feet. Torvan turned toward his final door and I grabbed his shoulder before he could open it.

“Huh?” he squeaked out.

“Come here,” I said and hugged him one last time. “You’ll be okay. There’s always your next life not to fuck up.”

“I’ll do my best. Tell everyone I’m sorry they got dragged into my mess.”

“They know,” I said and watched him open his door and disappear from Earthside forever.