by Sadie Sears
I landed in the side yard and lowered myself down carefully so Damini could slip off, wary of her ankle. The sprain hadn’t been quite as bad as I’d initially thought, and she’d seemed fine that morning, but I didn’t want to risk her tweaking it again by landing wrong.
She stood, staring at the house as I shifted back and dressed from my bag. I wasn’t sure she even registered Sam, Theo, and Cameron landing behind us and shifting down, as well. They got dressed quickly while her attention was glued to the house.
“Is this your house?” she asked with her tone one of awe.
Her excitement practically vibrated around her. “This is it,” I replied. I wrapped my arm around her shoulders. “Do you like it?”
“It’s like something out of a dream or a fairy tale.” She turned to me and grinned. “Can we go inside?”
Cameron stepped up beside us. “We weren’t sure where you’d gone, so we waited. When I heard from you this morning, I had the guys meet back here so we could pick up where we left off.”
“So, everyone’s here?” That was perfect. I could introduce her to all of my clan at once.
“Even the girls,” Cam said happily. That meant his mate and her daughter were there, as well. “Shae couldn’t bear to leave you to your own devices. She insisted on supervising the renovations, so we didn’t mess anything up.”
I chuckled. That was very much like her, the little control freak. I took Damini’s hand and looked at her.
“Are you ready to meet the rest of my family?”
She looked as ecstatic as I felt. I was finally going to introduce Damini to my brothers, my family, my clan. It really was like something out of a dream.
We walked to the front of the house, where Cam got the door for us. As soon as we stepped inside, we were bombarded by a flurry of activity. The entire living room had been emptied while Leath resealed the hardwood floors. I saw Ben in the kitchen with a trowel, the island loaded up with supplies. Noise from upstairs caught my attention, and two preteens thundered down the steps: one with wild golden curls, the other with sleek brown locks.
Shae and Zoe. The dynamic duo. The gruesome twosome. Stopping at the bottom, Zoe pressed the back of her hand to her forehead dramatically. “Oh, my dear Frederic!”
“’Tis Mabel! Oh, how I have missed thee!” I replied, hand on my chest. We cracked up, the other guys laughing and shaking their heads at us. “What’s happening, ladies?”
“We’re supervising everyone,” Shae informed us. “Mom is upstairs painting the bedroom. I think Taurus went to the garden center in town. He’s planning something for the garden where my tree was.”
I snorted a laugh. “Well, earth dragon or not, I wish him luck in this weather. Maybe he can plant me some holly bushes or something right there.”
“Who’s your friend?” Zoe asked.
I pulled Damini to the front, suddenly unsure of how she wanted me to introduce her. Was it too soon to call her my mate? My girlfriend? I cursed myself for not asking ahead of time. “This is Damini.”
Both of the girls’ eyes went wide. “Is she your mate?” Shae asked. “A destined mate? Like my mom?”
“And mine?” Zoe echoed. They both started squealing in pitches no human or shifter should ever be allowed to make and latched onto Damini in a group hug, firing off questions rapidly.
“Will you be living here, too?”
“Has he given you the bite yet?”
“You’re so pretty. Where are you from?”
“Do you want to fly with us?”
I tried to make my voice heard over them. “Damini, the blonde is Shae, and the brunette is Zoe.” The girls were so loud that I wasn’t sure she heard me, but she looked up, smiled, and nodded.
Another blonde head peeked around the corner up the stairs. “What is all the commotion down here? It sounds like someone is dying.”
“Mom, Vince brought home a girlfriend!” Shae shrieked.
Sophie gave me a knowing smile and walked down to greet us, standing several inches shorter than Damini. “Girls, let her breathe, please. Hi, I’m Sophie. It’s so nice to finally meet you.”
Damini glanced between me and Sophie. “Finally? He’s talked about me?”
She reached into her cardigan and pulled out a pack of tarot cards. “I saw you coming myself.”
“Oh, are you a witch?” Damini asked. Her eyes widened and she covered her mouth. “Sorry, is that an offensive term to use?”
Sophie laughed and waved her hands. “Not at all, and yes, I’m a witch.”
“And a dragon,” Cam added, sliding past us to press a kiss to her temple. “One of a kind.”
“As far as we know,” Sophie added.
In the living room, Leath set aside his equipment and came over, dusting his hands off. “Hi, I’m Leath. Zoe and I live right on the other side of those woods with her mom, Lila, so if this guy tries anything funny, you can find us there.”
“Damini, and thank you, but I think I’ll be okay.” She grinned and shook his hand.
“Girls! Where did you put the—oh, who’s this?” A tall brunette woman rounded the stairs from the opposite direction Sophie had come from.
Zoe jumped up and down. “Mom, this is Damini! Vince’s mate!”
Lila raised an eyebrow at us. “Another one? Isn’t this a little too coincidental now?”
“What does that mean?” Damini asked, turning to me.
“Oh, honey, it’s nothing to do with you personally,” Lila explained hurriedly. “I’m sorry. Hello! I’m Lila. It’s just a little more than coincidence that four of the dragons have found their mates here in Spruce since they got here this past spring. Some might call it fate. It was practically written in the cards.”
“Lila, don’t start pushing your New Age stuff on the poor woman already.” Leath pulled her to his side and kissed her head. “She looks overwhelmed as it is.”
He was right. Damini, though excited, may have overstated her readiness to meet so many new people at once. I waved my hands into the crowd, shooing them away. “All right, you heathens. Back, I say!”
They dispersed with more enthusiasm at her presence and insistence that they get together sometime. The girls were more reluctant to go, but Lila herded them back upstairs. I stepped around Leath’s workspace and headed for the kitchen.
“Sorry about all of that. Maybe it’s best if we go to them so they don’t crowd you,” I whispered to her.
Damini smiled up at me and nodded. “That’s fine, but I was okay with the crowd. It’s obvious they love you.”
She leaned into me as I led the way. In the kitchen, Ben was setting a stone backsplash above the stove. It looked like he’d prepped the entire wall along the counters. He looked up when we walked in.
“Hey, Vince. Where’d you run off to?” He walked up and hugged me, clapping me hard on the back, then turned to Damini and kissed her hand. “And where have you been all my life?”
“Damini, this is Ben, our resident water dragon.”
“The Damini? As in, Boston Damini?” Ben dropped her hand, his expression shocked. “Well, it is indeed a pleasure to meet you.”
I scratched the back of my neck. “Yep. We kind of ran into each other in that storm a couple of days ago and had to take shelter together.”
“I’ll bet you did,” he said, winking. “I can smell her all over you.”
I shoved him playfully and he laughed, going back to his tiles. Damini waved to him over her shoulder as we swept through to the small dining room that had apparently been Sophie’s tarot room once. We’d knocked out part of the wall to open up a door to the kitchen, and evidently, they’d finished framing it while I was otherwise occupied.
Sam and Gretta were busy painting the walls from a deep purple to a lighter sky blue. Or rather, they’d started to before they started painting each other. Gretta’s dark, messy bun and her left arm were streaked with blue and Sam had some on his cheek and splattered across his shirt.
“Oh
, was this the source of the commotion I heard out there?” Gretta asked. She dropped her brush and skipped over, wiping paint onto her jeans. “Hi, I’m Gretta! I’m Sam’s mate.”
Damini shook her hand. “I like what you’ve done with your hair. The blue really works with the darker tones.”
She gasped and spun toward Sam, who flinched. “You got paint in my hair?”
While she attacked him with the paintbrush again, I filled in details. “Gretta is a doctor at the hospital in town, and a great one at that. Lila is her sister, and she’s a yoga instructor and works with people with mobility issues like MS. Lila and Sophie run a little shop together downtown called Sacred Spaces. They do massage therapy there, and Sophie gives tarot readings as well.”
“And she gets business for that in a small town like this?”
I nodded. “Her readings are eerily accurate, and word gets around. She has clients driving almost an hour from Burlington to see her.”
“Wow,” she replied, impressed. “Spruce is a very progressive place. I like it.”
“I hoped you might.”
Before I could hunt down Dom or Taurus for introductions, she gasped and grabbed for her pocket. “I almost forgot, I should check in and let everyone know I’m okay.”
She powered up her cell and frowned down at the screen. Her fingers flicked across the surface rapidly.
“Everything okay?” I asked, rubbing her arm.
Damini bobbled her head in a way that wasn’t exactly a yes or a no. “I don’t have any calls or texts from my parents. A lot of texts from Jessica, though. I should probably—I’m just gonna step outside—”
“Yeah, go ahead. I’ll be here.”
Her smile was unsteady at the edges, then she turned and headed for the front door. As soon as the screen door slammed shut behind her, both Sam and Leath came over and started pounding on my back like they were performing the Heimlich maneuver. I didn’t have the bulky muscles most of my brothers did, so I fought free of the assault before they could break a rib.
“Way to go, man!” Leath said. “We knew destiny wouldn’t let you down.”
Ben stepped into the room, wiping his hands on a towel. “And she’s a lot hotter than we expected for someone as dorky as you.”
“Yeah, thanks for that vote of confidence.” I rolled my eyes, but I was all smiles. They liked Damini, and she seemed to like them. I couldn’t have asked for anything better.
“Reading a lot doesn’t make him dorky,” Gretta interjected, waving a paintbrush threateningly. “Maybe you should try it sometime. You might learn something.”
Ben laughed and stretched his arms over his head. “Nah. If I catch dork germs, they won’t let me into clubs anymore.”
Gretta caught him in the ribs and Sam joined in. If they hadn’t put plastic sheeting down, I would’ve had blue floors as well when they started roughhousing in the dining room. Leath nudged me and nodded toward the door.
“You want us to clear out and give you two some space?” He winked one green eye at me conspicuously.
I shook my head and grinned. “No, there’s no rush. We can keep working. I’d rather not keep my family and my love life separate. If things are going to work this time, I want her to feel like she fits in.”
Leath shrugged and tilted his head to the side. “Makes sense, I suppose. Hand her a paint roller and see if she’s willing to get her hands dirty for you.”
“I’m not testing her, man. I want her to fit in, not run screaming.” I stepped toward the entryway and glanced up the stairs, where a lot of noise was being made. “What still needs to be done?”
He walked back to where he’d left off. “The floor in here is almost finished, then Sam and Dom can quick-dry it for us. After that, we can start bringing the furniture in.”
The front door opened behind me, sending in a gust of freezing wind. Damini stomped her boots off at the threshold and stepped inside, Dom following in her wake. They were talking and he said something to make her laugh. My chest warmed at the sight. Yeah, she would fit in perfectly.
Dom walked up to Leath and held his hand out. “Let me take over here. Taurus needs your help with the plants if you’re gonna get them to take before the roots freeze.”
As Leath slipped out the door, sending another freezing gust through, Damini shivered in her coat. She waved her phone at me. “Jessica was happy to hear from me. She’s been worried sick and had apparently called the local police when I didn’t come back. When they didn’t have anything to report as of this morning, she called your friends here for help less than an hour ago.”
“That’s a good friend.”
Damini screwed her face up comically. “Until she gave me the ‘I told you so’ speech. I hate those.”
I rubbed my hands up and down her arms. “And your parents? Did they call the police as well?”
Her face fell, eyes dropping to the floor. “I couldn’t get a hold of them. I spoke to my mom’s new assistant, but she wouldn’t tell me where they were.”
“Why would she not tell you something like that?” I asked. “You’re her daughter.”
“Mom gets new assistants too quickly for me to even remember their names.” She pulled her beanie off of her head, running her hand over her hair. “She probably just hasn’t had time to tell her about me, so she was erring on the side of caution in case I was some creep.” She shook her hair out and forced a smile on her face. “They’re probably in New York doing some Christmas shopping, though. It gets a bit crazy this time of year.”
I smiled back for her sake, but inside, my heart broke for her. Not that I expected any less from the people who had manipulated us nine years ago, but because she was still expecting something different. Damini deserved better than that. They hadn’t even noticed their daughter had gone missing.
“So, what can I help with?” Her eyes moved around the space.
“Well, I think we could probably do a better job with the dining room than Sam and Gretta.” We poked our heads in to see Sam, Gretta, and Ben almost entirely covered in blue paint. “Um, yeah, I think we’ll take over in here, if you guys would rather help… somewhere without paint.”
Gretta cackled loudly. “Sure thing, boss. Let’s go help Ben with tiles.”
She grabbed Sam’s hand and they ducked into the kitchen. Ben sighed heavily, looked down at his ruined clothes, then stomped into the kitchen after them. We spent the rest of the afternoon painting the walls of the room and touching up the white trim, especially where we found suspicious blue splatters. It was done much quicker than it otherwise would have been, and we only came away with minor smudges where Damini just couldn’t help herself, and I naturally had to retaliate.
Sam and Dom went through the living room, curing the sealant with as much of their fire abilities as they could access in their human forms. A box truck sat in the driveway full of furniture waiting for us to unload. Theo carried an area rug in and unrolled it in front of the fireplace, while Leath had two wooden end tables. Sam and Cameron were having difficulties getting the couch through the door.
“Does this door have a latch that we don’t know about, too?” Sam growled as they turned it again.
Leath watched them and laughed. “You guys really suck at getting couches inside.”
Cam shoved his shoulder into it and nearly ran Sam over as it gave way. We got the living room set up just the way I wanted it and started cleaning the plastic covering off the dining room floor. The floor would still need to be sealed in there before I could move the table in, but we could finish the rest tomorrow. At that moment, I was as mentally exhausted as Damini was physically.
“We’ll see you bright and early, yeah?” Cam asked. They were packing up and getting ready to leave as the sun started to make its descent.
“Actually, can we make it closer to lunch? I was hoping to take Damini around town in the morning.”
Sophie snuggled into his side. “Oh, that sounds wonderful. A cozy day date while Spruce
is all dressed up for Christmas. You two enjoy yourselves, now.”
“Don’t do anything I would do!” Ben called from the front door, followed by the sounds of shuffling and laughter from multiple people.
When the door shut behind them, Damini collapsed on the couch. Dom had gotten the fire going before they left, so it was already nice and warm. I made us a couple of mugs of hot chocolate and praised the running water. When I took them into the living room, she was laid out fully on the couch, arm across her eyes. I set the mugs down and lifted her feet, setting them in my lap as I sat.
“Are you still worried about your family?” I asked. I tugged her socks off and started rubbing her feet.
She groaned pleasantly. “I honestly don’t have the energy to be worried about them right now.”
“Tired?” I chuckled.
Peeking out from under her arm, she grinned. “It’s a good tired. I haven’t felt like this since college.”
My stomach twisted nervously, bracing for a rejection, and blurted it out without any preamble. “I—I want you to stay. You are everything that’s been missing from my life for the past few years. Please, please stay with me.”
She hesitated, but only for a moment, then the smile was back. “The longer I stay here, the more it seems like a real option. Just promise you won’t rush me. It’s a really big decision, leaving everything behind to start something new here.”
“You mean, restart something amazing,” I corrected her. “I promise, there’s no rush. As long as I know you’re thinking about it, that’s good enough for me.”
I would just have to enjoy every second and make her enjoy it more. There were more than just words that could convince her to stay here, and I would show her tomorrow. Tonight, there was something else that required our attention.
Getting to my feet, I picked her up and carefully carried her upstairs to the master bedroom. It smelled of fresh paint, the furniture pulled away from the walls so they could dry and looked like they’d gotten that fireplace going as well. The windows were cracked for ventilation, so once I set Damini down on the soft bed, I ran over and shut them. I could see Cameron’s hand in the room decor and smiled to myself.
