CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT: CONNIE

"I DON'T understand." Connie looked at his fingers entwined with Kit's.

"As I said, there are certain things I cannot tell you because your future is not set in stone. The choices you make daily dictate your path. And yes, I knew what the two of you felt for each other."

"Then why?" Hudson asked quietly. "Why would you do that to us?"

It hurt to hear the pain in Hudson's voice.

"Tell me truly, Hudson. If there had been a soul bond between you and Connie, would you have been on the lookout for your third? Or would it have blinded you to the possibility of your third?"

Hudson opened his mouth, then closed it.

"Exactly. Kit is very important in your life and Connie's. He also has a role in the drama that has yet to play out with Lennox and Nox, a drama that dates back hundreds of years."

"Again, I don't understand," Connie said.

"Things are still developing, but Kit and his family are also involved in this, just as Axel was. And there are others who have yet to make an appearance who will also figure prominently."

Kit rubbed his temples. "Fate. You're talking about Fate."

"Yes, Fate. And every action builds on the other. But I digress. Same question, Connie. Would you have been open to a third if there had been a soul bond between you and Hudson?"

Connie honestly didn't know how to answer that. He'd been obsessed with Hudson for a long time, and he'd resented the fact that there hadn't been a bond between them.

But if there had been? If a third had appeared, would he have been open to accepting that person? He honestly couldn't say. Actually, yes, he could. The answer was no.

Even Hudson had hinted at that when he'd first met Kit—Hudson had been very clear that he didn't want a mate unless it was Connie.

"Connie may be your subordinate, Hudson, but he is a powerful dragon in his own right. He is also young. You are what? Around four hundred years older?"

"Yes, but what has that got to do with anything?" Hudson asked.

"Haven't you felt behind the times more than once? Haven't you complained about this modern age? And its language? And how people rush around without taking the time to enjoy life? Even Connie calls you old man."

"Wait. I call Hudson that as a joke," Connie said. "It was just a joke."

"But he is old. He's an Ancient. He's probably forgotten more than you will ever know, Connie," Gaura said. "And sometimes life gets to be too much. Sometimes an Ancient will hibernate for hundreds of years. And sometimes, that Ancient never wakes back up."

Connie gulped. Had Hudson been teetering on that and never said anything? Had there been signs he'd missed? Concerned, he looked at his mate.

"Don't look at me like that, sweetheart. No, I wasn't thinking about hibernating, but the ennui was getting harder to ignore," Hudson said.

"Connie, you are young and energetic, while Hudson is steadfast in his ways, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but he is also resistant to change, especially in his personal life. We probably have his mother to thank for that."

Hudson grimaced.

"And me?" Kit asked.

Gaura turned to gaze at Kit. "You are the glue that holds them together. You bring balance to the three of you. You temper Hudson's stuffiness—"

"What? I'm not stuffy," Hudson claimed.

"Should I bring up how I had to beg you to invest in certain inventions?" Connie demanded. "Remember the argument we had about electricity? Steam engines? Then later it was cell phones. You really thought nothing would come from that."

Hudson huffed.

"Oh, and shall we review the massive argument we had when I talked you into helping fund that little business that got started in that dude's garage? And several other startup enterprises that are now Fortune 500 businesses?" Connie asked. "Yeah, you can be unreceptive to new or unusual ideas and behavior."

"And Connie, you can be exuberant to the point where you jump before looking," Gaura pointed out.

"Golden retriever energy," Kit muttered.

"That usually applies to someone who's innocent," Connie argued. "And I'm certainly not that. I've killed just like Hudson has."

"You never enjoyed it, whereas there have been times I have. But there's no denying you're much more amicable than me," Hudson said.

"But I can be amicable. I'm not royalty," Connie said, looking around Kit at Hudson.

"The fact is, we both swing too far in the other direction. You can be too nice, and I can be too set in my ways," Hudson admitted. He looked at Gaura. "That's what you're saying, isn't it?"

"Yes, and Kit balances the two of you. He's certainly not a killer, but he's also not too nice."

"I'm not sure calling me the glue is the compliment you think it is," Kit said to Gaura.

"Is it not? You make each of them stronger, while they are the everlasting love you've dreamed about since you were a small boy."

"Hold on. Are you saying you've been watching me since I was a child?" Kit asked.

"What if I have?"

"I, ah, well, um. Huh. Not really sure how to answer that, and I'm not really sure how I feel about that."

"You never cared about the white knight, Kit. You wanted the dangerous dragon who would protect you, because you've needed protection in your life, haven't you? And now you have them."

"Of course I needed protection. Have you seen me? Not only am I gay, I kinda have a girly look. I like to wear both masculine and feminine clothes. I like my lace and my leather. Of course I've been threatened over that," Kit declared. "And of course I've lost boyfriends over it."

Hudson squeezed Kit's hand. "I love your lace."

"I think you look hot in a skirt and heels," Connie said, kissing Kit's cheek. "And I think you look hot in leather and chains. We both just think you're hot."

Kit looked from Hudson to Connie. "I think you're both hot too. I'm not gonna lie, though—the fact you can change into a big ass dragon is thrilling."

"As I said, the three of you balance out each other. You have something they need, and they have something you need."

Hudson grumbled but didn't argue.

"Hudson and Connie would've been incomplete without you, as would you. This is why I asked Fate not to allow a soul bond between Hudson and Connie until they found you. The three of you need each other."

As much pain as the lack of a soul bond between him and Hudson had caused, he understood Gaura's point. They were right—it was likely he and Hudson would've been so wrapped up in each other they would've never accepted Kit, even though dragons often had a third.

But not all did. Sometimes dragons became so obsessed—and that was certainly a dragon trait—that they couldn't look beyond each other.

More often than not, those relationships burned brightly, but they also burned out quickly.

Could that have happened to him and Hudson? Connie didn't know, and it no longer mattered, since that never came to pass. Did he like how this had played out? No, but no one promised him life would always be carefree and happy, either.

"I am sorry for the pain that it caused, though." Gaura took another sip of their drink. "And no matter what, remember the three of you are Fated. You share a soul bond that can withstand the Flames. Hold on to that even in the face of grave danger, and trust in the love that is growing between the three of you."

Connie blinked. Love?

"Yes, my young dragon, love. The three of you will be a force to be reckoned with. Remember that. And remember that I will always be here." With a wink, gray smoke consumed Gaura, and they disappeared.

Connie stared at the empty space where their deity had been sitting. One second, they were there, and the next, they were gone. Just like that.

"Well." Kit swallowed heavily. "That was almost as stressful as the first time. At least they didn't kidnap me and haul my ass back in time this go-round. There's that. Good Lord, I don't know where to begin to unpack all of that."

"Secrets. So many secrets." Hudson huffed.

"I don't know if it's secrets, so much as Fate intervening in our lives," Connie said. "But I agree with Kit—where do we even begin with all that?"

Hudson turned toward Kit. "First and foremost, how do you feel after drinking our blood? In all the chaos, that was forgotten."

Kit leaned his head back against the couch cushion and stared up at the ceiling. "Oddly enough, I feel fine. In fact, I really don't feel any different. Where do I file a complaint because I was really expecting superpowers?"

"Superpowers." Connie snickered. "But seriously, you don't notice any differences?"

Kit sat up. "Actually, something happened earlier. When Connie was repeating his vow—and I'm going to call it a vow because I don't know what else it could've been—you were speaking in your native language, right?"

Connie nodded.

"About halfway through, I could suddenly understand what you were saying. You might have been speaking in your native language, but I was hearing the words in English."

"That's amazing. So, there has been some effect," Connie said.

"And now that I think about it, my vision seems to be… clearer? Colors seem more vibrant. I'm also noticing details on things I've never noticed before, so my eyesight has definitely improved."

"What else?" Hudson asked.

Turning, Kit looked out of the sliding glass door that led to Hudson's pool. "Huh. I can see farther as well. And even though it's dark, I can see perfectly."

"Maybe you got some superpowers after all, then?" Connie joked.

"Focus on your hearing. See if you can hear the animals outside," Hudson instructed.

Kit tilted his head. "Wow. I can hear the crickets like they're right next to me. How in the world did I miss that? And, and, now that I'm trying, I can hear your hearts beating."

"I imagine there are other things that have, shall we say, improved, but this was also the first time you took our blood," Hudson said.

"Your sense of smell will probably also improve," Connie mentioned. "Which can be a pain in the ass on occasion, true. But it'd be helpful if you could tell who was human and who was not eventually."

"That would certainly put me at less of a disadvantage," Kit agreed.

"But I have to say, I'm looking at you and your skin seems more vibrant," Hudson commented. "And those few lines I've noticed are gone."

"What lines? I have no lines." Kit glared at Hudson. "And hasn't anybody ever told you how egregious it is to mention something like that? Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a sudden urge to use the bathroom. Be right back." Kit leaped from the couch and hurried out of the room.

"That certainly got his mind off the other things," Connie said, watching Kit rush out of the room.

"Wait until he figures out he's basically going to look like this for as long as he takes our blood." Hudson chuckled.

"The proverbial fountain of youth."

The humor on Hudson's face faded. Moving closer, he took Connie's hand. "I have no words to explain how relieved I am that there's a soul bond between us, but I'm also angry. Very angry."

Connie had been expecting this, actually. "I am too, but I understand, to some degree."

"Do you?"

"I hate to say it, but Gaura had a point." Connie squeezed Hudson's fingers. "You and I most likely would've been so involved with each other we never would've accepted Kit. If this was what had to happen for us to get here, I can accept it."

"I'm not disagreeing, I just don't like—"

"Someone messing around with your life? No, I don't suppose you do. You, after all, like having control. We dragons can be stubborn, especially when we think we're in the right. You can be more stubborn than most."

Hudson didn't comment on the last part of what Connie said, but he didn't call Hudson out on it. Humans lived such brief lives, and by the time the two of them would have gotten their heads out of their asses, it very well might've been too late to join with Kit.

Their blood could offer humans a variety of things, including youth, but it couldn't reverse aging. Time really had no meaning to creatures such as them, but it marched relentlessly over humans all the time.

The simple truth of the matter was Connie and Hudson could have bonded, and because they were obsessed with each other, they could have lost Kit. As painful as it was not sharing a soul bond with Hudson before, Connie understood the reasoning behind it. But that didn't erase the pain.

"I will concede you may have a point."

Connie's lips twitched. "That's mighty big of you, Your Majesty."

Hudson poked Connie in the ribs.

"But all kidding aside, Gaura said the three of us would be a force to be reckoned with," Connie said. "I wonder what they meant by that."

"They also said we shared a soul bond that can withstand the Flames. I find that concerning, because I don't know if our deity meant that as a figure of speech or something more."

"I agree. Like Kit said, there was a lot to unpack there." Connie leaned over and kissed Hudson's cheek.

Gaura had also hinted that they were falling in love, but he wasn't quite ready to address that elephant in the room.

Connie knew how he felt. He'd been falling in love with Hudson for quite some time. He was also pretty sure Hudson was in the same boat as him. Kit, though, was another matter.

There was definitely lust there. Also, affection. But love? He wasn't sure about that. But he also didn't think it would take Kit long to get there either.

They were, after all, lovable.

Kit joined them a few minutes later, a big grin on his face even though he said nothing about lines or the lack thereof.

They cleaned up the mess the broken wineglasses had caused, then discussed what Gaura had said some more. After a while, Kit started yawning, so they retired to the bedroom.

Somehow Hudson ended up in the middle of them, so they both snuggled up next to him while watching TV.

Halfway through the show, Kit started snoring.

Happy that his mate was there in bed and safe, Connie let himself drift off to sleep too. With everything that had happened, they hadn't made it to his hoard yet, but he planned to tackle that tomorrow after breakfast.