Chapter Twenty-Six

Sarah

I should have canceled the plans.

Levi had given me plenty of openings and opportunity to do just that, but in the end, I hadn't taken him up on it. So, now, we were on the way to meet his family, Jake and I atop Levi's dragon, with me holding on to my son so tightly he could barely breathe.

"It's going to be fine," Levi rumbled, the power of his voice actually palpable through his body as he spoke.

"You don't know that," I pointed out, not relinquishing my grip on Jake.

"Sure, I do. My family are normal and good people. They're going to love you both. Trust me. When my mother discovers she has a grandson, we're going to be treated like celebrities. First in the family. You're going to be her favorite. Well, Jakub will be. Then you. Then a bunch of other people, then me."

I knew he meant it as a joke, but I didn't laugh. "Can I tell you something?"

"Of course," he said, craning his neck around, even as we flew on in a straight line eastward toward the coast of the largest of the Dragon Isles.

"I've, um …" I stopped, shaking my head, glad Jakub was beyond distracted as he kept looking at the ground far below us.

Levi waited patiently for me to finish.

It was hard. I was supposed to be this badass Secret Service agent type. Not afraid of anything. So, how did I admit to him I was terrified of meeting his family—or anyone's family for that matter?

"Just because they're dragons doesn't mean it's any different than meeting other family," Levi added when I didn't speak up.

I ground my teeth together briefly. "You see, that's just it."

"Just what?"

Again, I couldn't put it out there.

"Sarah …"

"I've never done this before, okay!" I shouted, starting to throw both arms in the air in frustration, then thinking better of it.

"Never done … what?"

"Met someone's family before," I said, moaning uncomfortably, wanting nothing more than to bury my head in the sand and ignore the world around me.

A ripple of surprise ran down Levi's dragon spine. He took a moment to reply.

"Like, ever?" he pushed. "Not one boyfriend's family?"

"No. I never really had boyfriends." Why was it so hard to admit that?

"Well, don't worry. You're going to do fine with me," Levi said. "Just be yourself."

We were descending by then. I swallowed nervously as a large country house resolved itself ahead. Judging by the straight line we took toward it, I figured that was our destination.

"Did you tell them we were coming?" I asked, noting the gathered crowd. "I thought you said it would be a small thing?!"

"This is small!" Levi said, setting down gently.

"There's like twenty-five people over there," I hissed at him. "That is not small! "

"Usually, we're fifty plus," he said. "Big gatherings are a hundred, easily."

" A hundred? " I squeaked.

"I have a big family. Now, come on. Off you get."

Jakub, for his part, was already struggling to worm free and explore. "Come on, Mommy. Let's go!" he said.

You can do this. You can do this. You can do this.

As it turned out, Levi was right. His mother, Yolandi, was an absolute treasure of a woman. As short as his father, Darhell, was tall, she moved with efficient, bustling grace.

I smiled to myself as we sat and talked about nothing and the world, recalling the way her face lit up at the sight of Jakub. The first of her grandsons.

"You're very accepting of us," I said as we sat in chairs, alone for the moment. "Jakub and me, I mean."

"You brought me a grandson," Yolandi said, brown eyes glowing as her large mouth curved upward in a giant smile. "My first."

"I know," I said. "But that's not what I mean."

The tiny woman's face hardened into something more serious, the carefully sculpted eyebrows furrowing slightly. "You're talking about being human."

I paused for only a second. "Yes."

Yolandi sighed, tugging on her bright orange t-shirt. "There are many who dislike humans."

"There are many humans who dislike dragons," I said, both of us acknowledging the truths of our races.

"You're not one of them."

I remembered my reaction to Levi the night Jakub had lit the room on fire. The way I'd been sure he was a bogeyman coming for my child. "I'm not perfect."

Yolandi snorted. "As if any of us are. You're a good person in your soul, Sarah. That much is obvious to anyone who has met you."

"Thank you," I said softly.

"I try to be a good person as well. To accept people for who they are, not what . Humans are different, yes. But why should that make them inherently a people to dislike? We aren't completely un alike either. Look at us, unless we shift, it's impossible to tell our species apart."

"This is true."

"I think many hate you for that reason," she said. "They see themselves when they look at you, and they don't want to. They don't want to acknowledge that we are, in some ways, part human. In the way we look, but also the way we act."

"I understand."

"Maybe you do. Maybe you don't. Hard to understand if you aren't a dragon. But that shouldn't matter when it comes to how I and my family feel about you. I watch you with my grandson, I see you as his mother. As a good mother. Stern but not strict. Caring but not fawning. Encouraging but not negligent. You strike a good balance, Sarah. It isn't easy to do. That is respectable, and it tells me much about you."

Too flattered for words, I looked away, trying to stop my cheeks from burning with embarrassment at her compliment.

"Then there's Levi."

I nodded.

"Your intentions with him?"

My jaw dropped. " My intentions with him?" I laughed.

"You find this funny?"

"A bit," I admitted. "In human culture, it's very normal for the woman's father to be leery of the man's intention."

"Dragons are like that, too," Yolandi said with a half-smile. "But I'm not his father. Now am I?"

I grinned. "Well, I think you need to ask your son that question. After all, he's the one who brought me here."

"Did he now?" she said thoughtfully. "I knew I raised that boy right."

"He's okay," I admitted. "A bit na?ve sometimes, but it's mostly kind of endearing, eventually."

She tilted her head back and laughed. "You have no idea. I'm happy to hear you say that, though. It's obvious you make him happy."

"It is?"

"Yes. Very. In fact, I haven't seen him like this in a long, long time. Not since he was courting that other girl, claiming she was his mate. It's been so long now. What was her name?" Yolandi frowned, tapping her thigh. "I didn't think he would ever get over her, truthfully."

I laughed. "She can't have been that important then if you can't recall her name. She's probably long gone."

"Probably." Yolandi slapped her leg. "That's right. That was her name! Lydia. I haven't seen him smile this much since her."