27. Chapter Twenty-Eight

"Tell me about your grandmother."

Toby tossed a piece of chicken into his mouth. "What? We have other things to discuss. Firstly, about that luscious woman standing outside with your mate. How about we talk about her?"

Sasha was Toby's type of woman. Curvy with a mouth. "I need you to tell me about your grandmother and the forest she talked about, Toby."

Toby leaned back against the kitchen counter while crossing his ankles. "Dorran, I told you, she is losing her mind, I wouldn't take anything she says seriously."

My gaze shifted toward Amara's shadow from the balcony. She needed to know for her sanity where she came from. "I'll take my chances. Where is she now?"

"She's still in a nursing home in The South Kingdom. She's way far gone, Dorran. I think it'll be a wasted trip, but I understand you want to find out her heritage. I'm curious too since she put me on my ass."

"Did anything shoot from her hands? Wind? Streams of light like in the movies?"

Toby thought about it while sneaking another piece of chicken. "I didn't see anything, though I wasn't expecting it, so, I don't know. I could try and scare her again."

"Go get the girls. It's time to eat."

I sat the food on the table while Toby walked the girls into the dining room. Amara slid into the chair beside me and sniffed the food. "This smells so good. I can't wait to taste it."

"I'm sure it's not as good as you."

Amara's eyes rounded. "You know that embarrasses me."

"Do I?" I asked, passing the chicken pasta around the table.

"You will," she said, reaching up and twisting my ear.

"You two are so damn cute it hurts," Sasha said, staring at us over folded hands. "I mean, I've never seen Amara like this. I love it."

"Me too," I answered. "She's been inventive lately. Showing me things she likes—,"

"Stop it now or I'm eating alone in my room."

My dragon loved seeing Amara blush. This was a prison break for Amara, and Heaven on earth for me.

We ate dinner, and Toby took Sasha home, I"m sure he made a few detours on the way. My mind shifted once they left. I hadn't told Amara about wanting to go to the nursing home to see Toby's grandmother.

Amara shut the door behind Sasha and kicked off her heels. "Dinner was really good," she said, meeting my gaze. "What is it?"

"What is what?" I asked.

"You've got this look," she said, waving her index finger around my face.

"What look?"

"A look like you're thinking about something."

"Like you did in the closet earlier today?"

"Touché Dragon Prince. Tell me. What are you thinking about?"

"We have somewhere to go tomorrow."

She shifted her weight from one leg to the other. "Yeah? Where?"

"The South Kingdom."

She raised both brows. "That's an entire day's drive. Are we spending the night? What's the occasion?"

She forgot I was a dragon and we'd be there in no time. "It won't take that long with me. We'll be there in an hour or so."

"Oh yeah," she smiled. "Why are we going there?"

"Toby said something to me the other day about his grandmother talking about a giant magical forest, and how she went there as a child."

"So we're going to see her?"

"Yes," I stepped forward and braced my palms on her shoulders. "But, she's in the nursing home with early onset dementia. I'm not sure how much she'll remember or if she has any of her mind left, but it's worth a shot, right?"

"Absolutely," Amara whispered. "How about you relax, and I'll do the dishes since you cooked?"

"I can have someone come up to clean Amara."

"I don't mind. It keeps my mind focused." She lifted onto her tiptoes, and I bent down so she could kiss me. "I won't be long."

She sashayed into the kitchen and left me to get ready for bed. When I finished, Amara had finished cleaning the kitchen and was taking her hair down from its up-do. "Do you think Toby is interested in Sasha?" she asked.

I chuckled. "Toby probably made ten moves on the way home. Sasha is Toby's type."

She smiled up at me with hopeful eyes. "Sasha has always wanted a dragon. Maybe it'll work out."

"Perhaps. I want you to know something about me, Amara."

She quirked an eyebrow. "What's that?" she asked, taking off her dress.

"I am a very determined man. I get what I want, and I will do whatever I can to find out your heritage. If tomorrow doesn't work out, then we'll try something else."

"I know you are determined," she said. "If I have to fight my stepmother, I'll do it."

Sizing her up, I laughed. "By looking at you, I would say no, but knowing that you put Toby on his ass, then I'd gladly let you after her."

"I just wish I'd had these powers when I lived there with her. I could have protected myself from her emotional abuse. All the cleaning. The inability to go do anything like a normal teenage girl. There were times that I hated my father so badly for dying and leaving me there with her. I was already hurt that my mother wasn't here, but then Dad left and now I don't even know if he was my dad."

I cupped her face between my palms. "He was your father whether he was your biological one or not. He raised you. He loved you. Now that he is gone, it will feel good to find someone with the same blood as you. Tomorrow, we'll take another step in finding that for you, Baby Girl."

Amara kissed my nose and continued to get ready for bed. My phone buzzed in my pocket. I dug it out and Theresa's name flashed on the screen.

"Hello?"

"Dorran," she said. I could hear the unease in her voice. "I got the results back on the pills that Amara was given."

Amara's gaze shifted toward mine in the mirror. "And?"

She cleared her throat. "It's an herb used for natural remedies."

"Okay," I shifted. "Remedies for what?"

"Suppressing powers. Suppressing memories. She's been taking this since childhood?"

Amara nodded.

"Yes," I said.

"It looks like her stepmother was trying to hide something from Amara or trying to keep her tamed."

Amara's face turned ashen.

"Thank you, Theresa. Is it okay for her not to take it?"

"Well, yeah," she said. "I mean, I don't know what she was trying to suppress, but whatever it is, it's going to come out now."

What in the hell?

"Thank you, Theresa."

Amara clung to me with her face pressed into my shoulder, and my arms wrapped tightly around her. I didn't shift into my dragon for the flight, because I wanted that to be special. Her seeing my dragon for the first time was a vulnerable moment.

We'd spent most of the night in silence. After the phone call from Theresa, I knew we were in over our heads. She was suppressing Amara's powers. We made our way to The South Kingdom after an hour of getting permission to fly there.

We landed at the front gates and were immediately seized by the guards. Once they realized we'd been given permission, which was rare, they let us go.

Amara stood on wobbly legs and I helped her for a few yards until she gained her control. "I don't know how you are standing on two feet right now. I feel like I need to throw up and sit down."

"Do I need to carry you?"

"No," she said, slicing her hand through the air. "I don't want everyone staring any more than usual."

I glanced around at the courtyard in the distance. There were many dragons out, but none seemed too worried about us. "Ah, come one. Interspecies dating isn't that big of a deal anymore."

She eyed me. "Right."

We followed Toby's directions toward the far end of the kingdom. His grandmother, Verna, was well-known in the facility for her outlandish stories.

Which didn't look too good on our end.

The nurse at the reception desk glanced over her thick-rimmed glasses when we walked inside. "Can I help you?"

"We're here to see Verna Gossett."

The nurse clacked on her keyboard. "She's in room 18. Down the hallway to your left. Here are your visitor tags. Visiting hours end at four, so you have a while. You'll need it. Verna is a talker."

While walking into the nursing home something heavy hit my chest. The laughter of the older people was light-hearted, but it felt so sad to see them there.

Amara tugged on my forearm. "Can I meet you in the room? I need to use the restroom."

"Room 18," I said.

She veered to the right toward the bathroom sign, and I continued down the hall. The door was cracked, and the light from a TV flickered as I pushed the door inward. An elderly woman sat in a rocking chair, while she hummed along to the Gilligan"s Island theme song.

She glanced up at me, and I noticed a long scar that traveled over her eye. "Look who we have here. A dragon man to see me?" She chuckled.

I grinned. "I'm Dorran, The Dragon Prince of The North Kingdom. How are you today, Mrs. Verna?"

She kept rocking in her chair. "I'm good. Do you know my grandson, Toby? He works at the castle."

"He's the reason I'm here," I said, sitting on her bed. "He told me you talked about something I'm interested in."

She fluffed her curled white hair. "And what would that be?"

"A forest."

Her dark eyes shifted toward mine. "I'm surprised he listened," she laughed. "Toby is always trying to get away for some girl."

"Sounds about right. What can you tell me about that, Mrs. Verna? About the forest."

She glanced out at the window, her mind traveling back somewhere I wish I could see. "My mother took me there as a child. She didn't know who she was taking from. The forest was at the edge of the river. The tree looked so inviting. It's how I got the cut on my eye. I can't see out of it. The people took my sight for themselves."

I stalled. "The people?"

Her gaze shifted toward the door as Amara poked her head through. "Hey," she whispered.

Mrs. Verna stopped rocking, and her body became still. "Get out," she whispered.

Amara's eyes widened. "I'm sorry?"

"Get out of my room!" she shouted, tossing knitting needles from a side table toward Amara. I reached out and snagged them from the air.

"You devil!" she shouted. "You did this!" she said, pointing at her eye.

Amara stumbled out of the room, hitting the opposite wall, covered her mouth, and left.

Mrs. Verna became irate, and seconds later nurses raced inside. "You need to leave, Sir. Mrs. Verna is having an episode."

I left the room, watching as they struggled to calm her down, and went after Amara.

What in the hell just happened?