Page 90 of Twilight of Embers
“This isn’t real,” I whispered. “I’m dreaming.”
Knox moved in front of me, crouching low and taking my hands. “It’s real. I know it’s a lot to take in—”
“A lot to take in?” I snapped. “You’re telling me that you transform into some magical creature. I watched it happen, but I know it can’t be real.”
“And you will, too,” Cillian said. His voice was perfectly even. That mask was back in place.
My breaths came quicker. “Stop it.”
Knox squeezed my hands. “Dragon shifters have been around for centuries. We live in the shadows, along with other supernaturals.”
My mind swirled. What other kinds of beings existed? I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.
“Most of us live in groups called hordes or clans. It’s like a chosen family.”
I tried to focus on Knox, on his words. The idea of a chosen family was nice, but I still couldn’t get past the transforming-into-a-mystical-creature bit.
“Is your family fighting?” I asked.
Knox’s brow furrowed in confusion.
“She means the Corbetts,” Maddox said as he washed my blood from his hands with a cloth. “They’re a rival horde, not our family.”
My eyes found Cillian. “Sounds like a gang to me.”
He scowled. “We’re not gangs.”
“Okay, sounds like the mafia, then,” I accused.
That muscle in his jaw fluttered wildly again. “We do what we have to—whatever it takes—to protect ourselves and the people we care about.”
I bit the inside of my cheek. “And you can transform whenever you want?”
Cillian nodded.
“But today, people had to see freaking dragons in the sky.”
Knox squeezed my hands again and pushed to stand, releasing me. “These forests are enchanted. We’re free to be who we are. Humans won’t see us in our dragon forms.”
“But I saw you,” I reasoned.
Cáel dropped a kiss on the top of my head. “You aren’t human, Little One.”
I shook my head vehemently. “I’m not a dragon. I’ve never transformed. My parents weren’t dragons.”
“That you know of,” Cillian argued.
I slipped off the bed, pulling my cut-up sweater tighter around me. “You’re wrong. It’s not possible—”
“It is,” Knox said gently. “If a dragon experiences trauma early in life, it can block the shift. You lost your parents so young, in a very traumatic way.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “My parents would’ve told me.”
“Female dragons are extremely rare,” Knox explained. “It’s why I was so shocked the day we met. Even more so when I realized you were our true mate.”
“True mate?” My head swirled.
Cáel nodded. “These kinds of bonds are rare for our kind. But it’s why we all feel so drawn to each other. The Universe has destined it.”
