Page 10

Chapter Ten

There were several heavy objects on me, wrapped around and between my coils.

Opening my eyes, I was shocked to find four kids between the ages of two and four as those objects.

“You were having a nightmare and suddenly these kids rushed from the houses or places they were sleeping over to you. As soon as they lay with you, you settled,” Talrinir explained with a soft smile.

The kids raised their heads, blinking sleepily, and I recognized one of them as the orphan boy I’d spoken to in the demon city when I’d gone exploring. His name was … Elrith? Yes, Elrith! He had small, thick horns at the top of his head and a tail wrapped around his waist like a belt as he sat with an arm around one of my coils. His skin was covered in scales, similar to that of a dragon, though I noticed they seemed to be a different color and thickness now than the first time I had seen him. They looked stonelike. Was it because he was growing? Had he shed the previous scales to grow the new ones, or did they just change?

Shifting into my human form, I helped the kids brush off the dust and the little boy smiled at me.

“You’re the hornless lady!” he said excitedly. “I thought you smelled familiar.”

“Her name is Princess Liliana,” Talrinir explained.

He gasped. “The one who saved us? Who saved the demons? That was her?”

Talrinir nodded. “That was her.”

I nodded as well and said, “It’s nice to see you again, Elrith.”

His eyes widened, his tail wagged back and forth wildly, and he smiled wide, showing off his thick, vampire-like twin fangs. “You remembered my name!”

“Of course I remember your name, Elrith. Do you live here now?”

He shook his head and said, “I don’t live here. I was passing by and saw the fire, so I came to investigate, then fell asleep at the fire.”

“Have you eaten recently?” I asked as my own stomach grumbled.

His stomach grumbled in reply and he rested a hand on it. “Not for two days.”

Talrinir growled softly, most likely upset to find this out. She looked at me and said, “King Jolmach has requested you meet him at the castle for breakfast. Would you like me to tell him you’ll be bringing a friend?”

I smirked and said, “You two seem much closer. Do you have something to talk to me about?”

She flushed and turned her head. “Later, nosey princess. I’ll just tell him you’re bringing Elrith.”

Chuckling, I stood and stretched, squealing as I did.

The little boy laughed. “You have funny skin and make funny noises.”

“Would you like to come have breakfast with me?” I asked him and held out my hand.

He looked at it nervously for a moment, looked up into my eyes, and asked, “Will you protect me, Princess?”

The fact that he had to ask made me simultaneously angry and sad and my hair began to glow from the emotions. Squatting down so we were eye level, I nodded and set my hand on his shoulder. “While you are with me, my mates and I will keep you safe. Promise.” I made an x over my heart with my finger and smiled warmly at him, understanding the uncertainty he felt.

He reached out and touched a piece of my glowing hair. His expression changed to a look of deep contemplation, or as much as a child could hold that expression, and he nodded. “Okay, Princess. I’ll join you for breakfast.” I wasn’t sure what he’d considered while looking at my hair, but I was glad for the result.

Trey squatted down next to me and Elrith focused on him nervously. “I see you have scales; they’re similar to mine.”

Elrith’s brows furrowed in confusion as he looked at Trey’s smooth, human skin, but Trey let his dragon scales flow over and then Elrith’s brows rose in delight. “Wow! You can shift your skin like the princess!”

“Are you able to shift?” Trey asked him. “Into an animal or other form?”

Elrith looked at Talrinir nervously before looking down at the ground and clenched his hands in front of him without answering.

Why would he be nervous about telling Talrinir he could shift? They had demons who shifted, didn’t they? “We should start our journey so we aren’t late and we can talk on the way?” I suggested.

“Visit us again soon!” Druth called out from the front of her house.

I raised my hand and smiled. “I will.” Walking to Talrinir, I pulled her into a hug and whispered into her ear, “I’ll be in touch soon since we have so much to talk about.”

She hugged me back, then pushed me away gently. “Anyone ever tell you that you are a brat?”

“All the time,” Kayden said as he draped his arm around my shoulders and pressed a kiss to my cheek. “One of the biggest brats in both the worlds.”

I pinched his side and skipped over to Elrith, holding my hand out for him to take. “Come on, Elrith. Let’s head for the castle. I’m hungry!”

He set his hand in mine and after watching me skip a moment, started skipping as well, giggling with a huge smile on his face. “What is this?”

“It’s called skipping,” Kayden answered as he skipped by us, swinging his arms exaggeratedly.

“It’s fun!” Elrith exclaimed, and let go of my hand to skip faster after Kayden.

Once we were far enough from the village that no one could see us, Kayden shifted into his werewolf warrior form before continuing to skip.

Elrith slid to a stop. “Y-Y-You shift?”

“We can all shift,” I explained gently and shifted into my warrior form.

Mason shifted into his bird form and flew overhead. “Hybrids,” he cawed.

Trey shifted into his full dragon form for a moment, letting Elrith gawk.

“Can you shift, too?” I asked softly.

Elrith looked at me and my mates and asked, “Promise not to tell others?”

Although I wanted to ask why he didn’t want others to know, I nodded and saved the question for later. “Promise.”

Taking a breath, he closed his eyes, and we all stared in disbelief as his body rippled, black smoke exploded out of him, covering him and hiding him from our sight briefly. When the smoke dissipated, a three foot tall Elrith with the same horns, scale-covered skin, and fangs stood, but he now had red eyes, wings that looked to be made of the same stonelike substance as the scales on his skin, and claws growing from his fingers.

“He looks like a gargoyle,” Mason whispered in my ear.

I nodded my agreement and quickly schooled my features so I was smiling as I approached Elrith. The last thing I wanted was for him to assume we thought him strange. I knew from experience how that felt. “You look awesome!” I praised. “May I touch your wings?”

He nodded.

Stroking a finger down the top of one of his wings, my eyes widened to realize they felt like stone as well.

“Father said I wasn’t supposed to show others because even though demons are different, I’m very different. Too different,” he explained in a whisper.

My chest hurt, feeling that familiar pang. “I understand being different,” I told him. “However, I think you look amazing.”

“Do you have abilities?” Trey asked him.

“Abilities?” Elrith asked back.

“Like breathing fire,” Trey explained as he stood before him.

Elrith shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m not supposed to be in this form much, unless my life is in danger.”

I’d thought it before, but he was incredibly articulate for being so young. Was it due to being alone and needing to survive? Or had someone been teaching him? More questions for later.

“You can shift back,” I told him. “Thank you for trusting us and showing us.”

The black smoke swirled around him and then dissipated to reveal him back in his demon form. “Are you going to tell others?” he asked. “Are you going to tell the king?”

“I think King Jolmach would think you are awesome, just like I do, but if you don’t want me to tell him, I won’t.” I gripped his little hand in mine and said, “I promised to protect you, remember? Me and my mates. Right, guys?”

All three of my mates nodded.

Elrith smiled at me and said, “I’m glad you’re here, Princess. You make me feel safe. It’s been … I haven’t felt safe much.”

My hand shot to my chest as it hurt and I pulled Elrith into a tight hug. “I’m glad you feel safe with us.”

“Come on, we better hurry or King Jolmach will eat all the breakfast,” Kayden teased. “Elrith, want to race?”

“Race?” he asked as I reluctantly released him. The urge to cuddle him against my chest and protect him from the world roared through my veins.

Kayden nodded. “I’ll race you to the castle. Loser has to give the winner his bread roll.”

Elrith gasped and took off at a sprint towards the castle.

Mason and I laughed as Kayden ran after him.

“Is this feeling what I think it is?” Trey asked me as he and Mason jogged on either side of me. We moved just fast enough to keep Kayden and Elrith in our sight, but not fast enough to pass them.

“What?” I asked, confused.

“Did we just adopt our first child?” he clarified with a soft smile and reached over, squeezing my hand.

“You’re okay with it?” I asked, shocked by the happy feeling flowing through our bond. I had planned to talk to them about it once we all had a moment alone.

“If we weren’t together, I would have adopted him if you hadn’t,” Trey answered.

“Same,” Mason replied with a nod.

My heart warmed at their replies. I was so lucky to have them as mates.

I smiled up at my handsome dragon prince and asked, “Do you think my parents will be shocked when we come home and introduce them to their first grandchild?”

Trey laughed. “No, they’ll fawn over him just like Dan did you.”

Mason nodded in agreement. “Dan will probably steal him like he stole you all the time.”

“Jolie is going to turn into mush the first she sees him,” Trey said with a soft smile.

I nodded. “Nana Jolie is definitely going to be excited.”

My adoptive family was seriously the best. I hoped Elrith would feel the same as he grew older. But first, we had to convince him to let us adopt him.