24. Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Three

Garrick

A fter Tan managed to calm me down and get himself dressed, we headed out of the bedroom and into the living room where Tan explained what was going on to Roman. So the three of us, plus Orangelica, headed to the dungeon.

Tan was dragging, and I felt terrible not letting him get some rest first, but he'd insisted we speak to the dragon in the dungeon now.

As we walked to the elevator, I glanced at the sword in my hand. It was gold.

Which meant, Oakley's dragon was gold. I hadn't known.

He'd been too young to shift when Sylra took him from me.

My son's dragon was the same color as mine.

My eyes wanted to water at the thought, but I couldn't appear weak in front of this intruder, this assassin, this thief of scales and swords.

What the hell was this person doing with a sword made out of Oakley's scales? I would kill him. I couldn't shift, but that didn't mean I didn't know how to fight… or execute a person. I was a king after all.

With how much my anger was building, I might let him out of his cell to fight me one-on-one before I slit his throat.

Tan slipped his hand into mine, and I felt a rush of calm energy flow into me. Tan was pissed and upset, but he was trying to remain calm for my sake, and I could feel that reflected through our bond.

I had a feeling that now that we'd acknowledged it, our connection was going to grow at a quicker rate.

I gave his hand a squeeze of thanks, and the three of us remained quiet as we took the elevator down to the infrequently used dungeon level. When we got off, I wasn't surprised to see six guards down here. I was, however, surprised that Tan knew each and every one of their names.

Yes, I'd hired Tan and Remi's company to run my security a year ago, but I hadn't expected him to know each and every employee like that. Apparently, that was a thing, though. And every one of the guards gave him a genuine smile… definitely a sign that he was a good boss.

One of them, a gargoyle, said, "He still hasn't moved from the bench, boss."

"Thanks, Terrell."

The gargoyle gave him a firm nod, then straightened himself up, taking that soldier stance and waiting, watching. I blinked at him, then stared at my witch in amazement for a moment before letting Tan drag me the rest of the way.

Tan said, "I warded the cell to keep him inside, even though I know the cell is already dragon-proof, but also to keep out sounds and scents because I didn't want him to hear our plans or anything."

"You've already been down here?"

"Yes. I needed to make sure my guys down here are safe." He shrugged like it wasn't a big deal, but it was. He was just so goodhearted, and even after being so badly injured and nearly killed, he'd cared enough to come down here and ensure everyone else's safety.

I wanted to pull him into a hug and kiss him, but now wasn't the time. Plus, I was still reeling and pissed from the attack, and I had the perfect person to aim that anger at.

The three of us stopped in front of the center cell, and Tan said, "I'll change the ward to allow sound to travel both ways."

I took a breath to calm myself before stepping up to the cell's bars.

Inside, there was a person sitting on the concrete bench built into the back wall. He was sitting completely still with his hands folded on his lap, looking like he was waiting to hear his fate, and I suppose he was.

Before I could stop myself, I said, "What were you doing with Oakley's dragonscale sword? Where did you get it?"

That seemed to snap his attention to me because his eyes narrowed at me, but all I could see was his green eyes because he still wore a damn face mask. He didn't answer, which I wasn't exactly surprised about.

"Take off the mask."

He didn't reply.

"Take off the mask."

After a moment, he hissed, "Come in here and make me."

I sighed. He had to be difficult. "Tan, can you take the ward down?"

His brow furrowed. "What? Why?"

Because it'll be easier to read them if I can use all my senses , I thought at him really hard, hoping this message would get through too.

He blinked, and a flash of surprise ran over his face before he nodded at me. So… I assumed he'd heard me.

I felt the moment the ward dropped, and then I took a breath. The second the scent hit me, it felt like my heart stopped. That scent…

Before I could utter a word, Tan said, "You can either take it off yourself, or I can use my magic to take it off. Your choice."

The attacker didn't move for a few beats, but then he reached up and quickly took the mask off and set it on the bench beside him. He seemed to take a long time, almost petting the mask before he finally looked up.

A gasp fell from my lips.

Holy shit.

"Holy shit," Tan whispered beside me at the same time that Roman whispered, "Mother of Scales."

I stepped closer to the cell bars, putting my hand on them and trying to get a closer look. My heart was in my throat, tears wanting to leak out while my belly and chest felt like they were doing the Olympics.

With a weak voice, I quietly said, "Oakley?"

The attacker, the dragon, my sweet dragon son, narrowed his eyes in anger and ground out, "Who the hell are you? How do you know my name?"

My heart sank. I was such a mixture of joy, concern, excitement, horror, and so many other emotions. I didn't know what to do with any of them.

I answered, "I'm Garrick, the king. Oakley, I'm your father."

His eyes narrowed further. "I don't have a father."

He couldn't have taken a truer shot to my heart if he'd tried. Pain made my chest clench and ache.

Oakley stood, and Roman and Tan both tried to get me to back away from the bars, but I couldn't. My son was right there. My sweet baby, who I'd been searching for for twenty-five years. I wanted to run to him and hold him. I wanted to hug him for all I was worth. I wanted to talk to him, learn about him. I wanted to do anything and everything with him to make up for the years we'd missed.

But I could do none of those things. Not when he was staring at me with hatred in his gaze.

So at least I could remain where I was and let my sweet boy come closer to me.

He stepped up to stand right in front of me, and it was like looking in a mirror if I'd been a lot younger and had green eyes. He stared at me for the longest time, and I was frozen in place. I couldn't move, I couldn't talk. All I wanted to do was hug him. Tell him how much I loved him, how much I missed him, how much I'd been praying for this moment.

Then he opened his mouth, sounding like a hissing, pissed-off dragon, and it felt like he slapped me across the face. "I don't have a father. I have a sperm donor who's a piece of shit. He kicked my mom and me out of our home and left us with nothing ." Then he spit in my face. "Fuck you, dickbag." Then he turned on his heel and walked back to the bench, took a seat, and stared past us as if we weren't even there.

I wiped my face off, wishing I knew how to decipher my own emotions because I felt on the verge of tears.

"Oakley," I whispered, staring at him as my eyes watered. "You're alive. You're safe."

He glared at me and flipped me off, then went back to staring past us.

And I stood there and simply took him in for the longest time. I longed to go inside that cell and hug my son. I wanted to hold him. I wanted to touch him to make sure he was real. I wanted to carry him up to my den and keep him there, keep him safe and out of harm's way, keep him away from Sylra, for the rest of eternity.

Even though I knew he wouldn't like it, I still said, "I love you, Oakley, and I'm so happy to finally have you home."

He scowled at me, looking a touch confused, before he flipped me off again.

Tan gently coaxed me over to the side, away from Oakley's cell. I didn't want to go. I wanted to stand there and stare at him forever, but I knew he wouldn't like that, so I let my viramore move me away.

And when Tan gently took his sleeve to wipe the tears off my face, I didn't know if I wanted to laugh or cry more.

But then he smiled gently at me and whispered, "You finally have Oakley back. He's safe. He's here, and we can keep him safe now."

I swallowed thickly and nodded, still in shock and overwhelmed with too many emotions.

"Don't worry. He'll see the truth soon enough."

Roman came over and pulled me into a hug, the relief in his body obvious and extreme. He'd been searching for Oakley for over two decades, and now, my little Oak was here with us.

But then it hit me why he was here with us.

Because he'd been sent here to kill Tan. Sylra had sent our son into what she considered enemy territory to murder someone. What the hell was she thinking? He could've been killed! And what about how murdering a person would've made him feel if he'd succeeded?

Scales, had he done this before? Had he assassinated people before now?

I spoke quietly. "She sent her own son in as an assassin… she sent him to attack a witch. What the fuck was she thinking? Why hadn't he shifted and just… blew fire at Tan?"

Tan stared at me for a long moment. "Maybe he wasn't supposed to shift and give himself away. You're the only gold dragon that you know of, right? If you saw or heard that another gold dragon was flying around the city, you would've known it was Oakley."

I nodded in acquiescence, but I still couldn't wrap my head around it. "Why the hell would Sylra risk our son this way? If you hadn't stopped… if you would've…"

Tan turned pale and rubbed his face with one hand. "Yeah, let's not think about that. It didn't happen. I captured him, and now we have Oakley here. Garrick, now, for the first time in twenty-five years, you can keep your son safe."

My eyes watered at the thought, and Tan pulled me into a hug that I sank into. "She let someone cut off his scales, Tan. That's the only way he could've made that sword already. Do you know how painful that is? She let someone torture him. What the hell else did she do to my son?"

"I'm so sorry."

I gave him a squeeze and may have sniffled a little.

"Sir Dragon Breath, it's going to be okay." I snorted at his nickname for me. "We're going to keep him safe, and in time, he'll realize we aren't the bad guys here."

I took a shaky breath and nodded at him. I wasn't sure I could be so optimistic in changing Oakley's mind—the poor boy had been brainwashed his entire life—but Tan was right in the fact that we could keep him safe.

I released my viramore and stared at him. "You don't mind helping?"

He lifted a brow, then rolled his eyes and waved me off. "Was that a real question?"

I sent him a soft smile. "I suppose not."

"I'll put the wards back up in his cell."

I took a breath and frowned at our surroundings. Did I really want Oakley living down here in the dungeon like a criminal? I suppose he technically was a criminal, but was it really his fault when his mother had poisoned him with lies his whole life?

"I'd appreciate that. When you're finished here, do you think you could ward one of the condos upstairs? Make it so he can't get out?"

"I can do that. I've never made it so a client couldn't get out of their house, but I know how to do it in theory. I'll talk to Ailin and make sure I have everything correct before I do it."

"Thank you."

"We'll have to test it first, just to be sure."

"I have the utmost faith in you, little pretty."

He sucked in a breath. "I still want to test it."

I tugged him into my side and kissed the top of his head. "We can do that."

"Alright, let me ward his cell first so he's protected while we're not down here."

"Thank you."

He smacked my chest, then patted it a few times. "Start making a list of supplies we need for his new place. I assume we'll need furniture and dishes and towels and things like that."

"Good plan."

When he walked off, Roman came to stand beside me, and after a beat, he said, "I told you I knew who was really in charge here."

I snorted. "Shut up."

"I like it." He shoulder-bumped me, then faced me with a determined expression on his face. "We got Oakley back."

I sucked in a breath. "We did."

"I searched for him for twenty-five years, and your little witch just stumbles upon him after a few weeks."

I snorted. "Thank the Mother of Scales it was him who found him and not someone else." He knew exactly what I meant. Anyone else wouldn't have had the patience to capture Oakley. They would've… would've taken him out, for good.

"Agreed. Scales, I still can't believe we got him back. It's surreal."

"Very much so."

"He looks just like you did at that age."

I sighed. "He truly does. He hates my guts, but at least he's safe."

Rome nodded. "We have the chance to break the curse."

Turning to him, I blinked. I hadn't even thought of the curse once since coming down here. "Oh."

Roman shook my shoulder. "We'll get him to love you in no time."

I snorted at that. "Yeah, good luck with that. I don't care one bit about the curse as long as we can keep him safe. Sylra's going to come for him."

"I know she will. But we'll keep him safe, Garrick. We will. With all three of us, plus the extra security Tan's brought in, we'll keep him safe."

I could only pray he was right.