Jonathon shook his head, but he wasn’t really upset. I could tell that he liked her fire as well. With another kiss on the cheek for both of us, he left. Mischa took my hand, and the moment we touched the bond between us flared to life.
I’ve missed you, I said to her mentally.
She jumped. I forgot we could do the mental talk thing now. Do you think we can shut it down for a bit? My mind is messy enough with just me in here.
Sure, I’m getting better at controlling it now. My dragon is teaching me. I erected the mental blocks I had been working on, and immediately the sensation of being linked lessened. Our bond was still there, but we were no longer in each other’s heads.
Mischa smiled. “Thank you. And I’ve really missed you too.” Her voice shook then. “Jess, I’m so sorry. I’ve been freaking out worrying about you, not to mention kicking myself for being the world’s biggest idiot.”
The girl was not kidding about her mind being a mess. She was a hot mess like nobody’s business right now.
I led her across to a small double couch, farthest from where Braxton was quietly talking to Nash. I took a second to watch the pair of them together, loving how happy both the boy and Braxton looked. Nash loved the dragon shifter that had befriended him when they were both locked in Vanguard, and I could see my mate felt the same. He was going to be a wonderful father, as long as we could stop our world from crashing down around us. At least Nash and the Compass parents would be away when Larky hit.
Focusing on Mischa again, we sat down facing each other. I gave her a moment to pull her shit together. Tears had formed in the corners of those stunning turquoise eyes and she was blinking rapidly to stop them falling. Finally, I tried for some reassurance.
“Misch, it’s okay, I’m not mad at you.”
She shook her head hard, black hair flying around her face. “I’m mad at myself and you should be mad at me too.”
I laughed. “Truthfully, shit happens. If it wasn’t you helping the bitch twins, it would have been someone else. Blame game is not my deal, and since you’ve clearly been beating yourself up about it the entire time I was gone, there’s really no need for me to lump in too.” I reached out and hugged her. Hard. I was fast realizing that you only got one family, and that they could be taken from you in an instant.
“I’ve been worried about you,” I said to her. “It really sucked balls being stuck in Faerie and not being able to talk to you.”
She nodded, losing the battle with her tears. They silently streamed down her face. “Dad has filled me in on what he knows, but I want to hear from you. Tell me everything that happened after I lost consciousness in the prison.”
Shit. Really … everything? It wasn’t exactly a short story. Still, I would want to know everything too, so I couldn’t blame her curiosity. I started at the beginning, the castle in the land of illusions, Rose, all the rest of the assholeness which was Larky. My story wrapped up with everything we’d learned from the golden dragon, and I could see the absolute astonishment in my sister’s face.
“So, you might be pregnant with a magical dragon baby.” For some reason her voice broke there, but she managed to keep going without more tears. “And your baby could be strong enough to control all the races. And Larkspur is on his way here to both find you and destroy Stratford…”
She jumped to her feet, running both hands haphazardly through her hair. “I’m struggling to process this information. How are we supposed to fight the king when he’s so powerful now? You’re so lucky you haven’t felt his call yet. It’s … horrible. His voice and power fills my mind and overflows until I can’t even remember who I am. I know deep down that I need to fight against him, but there’s nothing left of me to do it.” She hung her head. I was starting to understand why she was a walking skeleton.
I watched as she started to pace. “Having his presence in your head must be just delightful,” I said, letting my sarcasm run free. “I’m guessing you aren’t getting a lot of sleep.”
She shook her head. “Nope, sleep is the easiest place for him to reach us. Our minds are open and vulnerable to his manipulations.” She swallowed roughly, and dropped back down beside me. “I’m going to ask you something now, but I don’t want to cop any crap for it. Can you do that?”
I was instantly curious. “Can’t promise anything, but I’ll do my best.”
“Is Max back? And is Cardia out there with him?”
My curiosity fled. “Seriously? Babe! Seriously? You’ve got to get over it. He’s mated. There’s never going to be a chance for you.”
She leaned in closer to me, her voice barely a whisper. “Jess, I’m not a complete fucktard. I know he’s not in my reach any longer, but I have to tell you something, and it affects Max. I need to know you won’t tell him yet, at least not until I figure out how to break this news myself.”
My sister had cursed. This was bad.
Something hot and potent licked across my body – fear. I hated promising to keep secrets from my boys. That had caused me nothing but trouble recently. Still, it was clear that Mischa was desperate to offload and I could tell by the stubborn tilt of her jaw that if I didn’t promise to remain mute on it she wouldn’t tell me.
“I’ll keep quiet for now, but you better sort yourself out and tell him soon. Secrets are the death of relationships, and I for one hate them.”