“Hey,” Came Marcy’s voice as she rapped on the door. “Dinner is ready.”

  It was only then that I realized we had both fallen asleep. Reaching up, I rubbed her back as I said, “Wake up unless you don’t want dinner.”

  In response, she emitted a soft growl. Moving her head to the crook of my neck and softly nipping at my neck. It didn’t hurt, but instead sent a shiver down my spine. I doubted it was the normal response to something biting your neck. That meant it was either a me thing or a bond thing. I would have to ask her ter. My stomach joined its growl with hers and she ughed.

  Pushing off of me she stood up before offering me a hand. “Let's get some food into your belly. Who knows what you may need the energy for.”

  I knew what she was insinuating, and I could feel the heat in my cheeks at the idea, but I rolled my eyes as she helped me up from the soft bed. “Likely your mom's idea of training. Any idea what she will have us doing tomorrow?”

  “Magic practice for me and maybe sword drills for you?” she said. Letting me go before giving me a smack on my shoulder. “But you know that is not what I was talking about or do I have to spell it out for you.”

  “No, you don’t, but I don’t think we are ready for that. Do you?” I looked at her as we walked down the stairs.

  Grabbing my hand she said, “You are a moron. One that I have loved for a while, but still a moron. But if you are not ready for this step, we can wait. Just don’t take too long or I may go mad.” Based on the glint in her eyes, I knew she was going to be the end of me.

  I didn’t get a chance to retort as her uncle spoke up from a chair next to Victoria’s mother. “So cute. How long have you both been mated?”

  “A day,” her mom snorted. Pointing at Victoria, she continued, “That one secretly built the bond between them for years without anyone realizing it. Only finalizing it at dinner yesterday in front of me.”

  He ughed at that, “Oh, yeah. She takes after you.”

  Sitting in the chairs opposite them, I asked, “What do you mean.”

  “Oh, you see…” he started, only for an elbow to find its way into his ribs. I didn’t even see Marcy move but based on how Gregory let out a breath and winced, she had not held back. I had a feeling that I would likely have died, or at least had a few broken bones, if she had hit me with that.

  “We do not need to go into that. Now, time to eat.”

  “Thank you for the food.” We all said at nearly the same time. Victoria grabbed a few slices of meat from her side while I grabbed something that looked like sliced potatoes from my side. I say it looked like potatoes because it did, but it was a jade color. As she put food on my pte, I put food onto hers.

  “One day you said,” Gregory’s low voice came from across the table.

  “Yes,” Marcy replied just as softly. I don’t think either realized we could hear them. Not that we would tell them that. “It’s kind of scary, to be honest. She trained him well. Better than most of those mated pair up in the castle.”

  “You’re not wrong but what about the rest?”

  She smacked him on the back of the head. I raised an eyebrow but kept eating. “Not yet from what I can tell. But this is not the pce for such a discussion.”

  “So,” Gregory spoke up “have you guys fucked yet.” I started to choke on a piece of the fake potato while Victoria spat her drink across the table. Marcy’s hand smacked against her face, covering it as she sighed. “What? It’s a reasonable question.”

  “They were raised differently than either of us,” Marcy said around her palm. “It is not something that Earth humans talk about so openly. Well, not most of them.”

  Grasping at a change of topic I asked, “What do you mean Earth humans?”

  Marcy took the bait, answering me, “Humans have come about a number of times on various worlds and universes. Those from Earth are only one such version. A retively technologically advanced version, but still just one of many variations.”

  “You told him where we were hiding? Isn’t that dangerous? What if we have to go back into hiding?” Victoria asked.

  “Who do you think helped to cover your mother’s tracks and eliminate the magic traces from your father's spell?”

  “Then why were you so weary of him when we returned from our trip?” I asked.

  “Some shapeshifters can take the shape of various people in order to infiltrate them. Then you have the fact that I haven’t seen him in years…”

  “Three decades.” He interrupted.

  “Oh great, there was another time slip between Earth and here.” She said, “And here I was hoping it went in the other direction.”

  “Time slip?” Victoria asked before I could.

  “Earth is in another universe. Sometimes universes will run at simir rates while other times they will go faster or slower.” Gregory answered.

  “And other times they will just skip or stall out for no goddamn reason.” Taking a quick breath to calm herself. Marcy continued, “It is the same thing you read about in stories of the Fae.”

  “You mean Tír na nóg is real?” I asked. They all looked at me as if I was stupid.

  “Most of the worlds and things in human mythos are real. It's just a matter of where the damn things came from and what they wanted.” Marcy said. “While some are decent pces to go visit, Tír na nóg is not one of them. In fact, if you ever find yourself there, run back the way you came.”

  “They are not that bad until you renege on a deal or insult one of them.” Gregory ughed. “In fact, their parties make most of the castle functions look dull in comparison.”

  “They are only nice to you because you’re a powerful and influential dragon.”

  “I notice you didn’t disagree with me on the parties.”

  “No,” Marcy said, smiling at a memory. “Those are some of the best parties I have ever been to.”

  At this point, I held my st bite up for Victoria just as she did the same for me. Neither of us realized what we were doing until Gregory lifted a brow as he said, “So, when should I expect a niece or nephew?” Something inside me forced me to finish swallowing the bite instead of doing what I wanted to, which was spit it at him. Seeing my reaction, he ughed before continuing. “Oh boy are you fully bonded to each other.”

  As soon as I swallowed, I asked, “What do you mean? How could we be otherwise?”

  “The fact that you couldn’t spit out the food even though you wanted to tells us both everything we need to know. It is just another sign of how deep the bond is. Just accept it and each other.” He said.

  “You’re only saying that because you want a baby to spoil,” Marcy said in a resigned voice. “You have not changed in the slightest.”

  Not wanting to deal with any more awkward questions, I asked, “Do you want us to clean the dishes, or can we go…elsewhere?”

  “I got the dishes tonight.” Gregory waved. “Go get to know each other more intimately.”

  I nearly sprinted out of the room with Victoria in tow behind me. Only stopping when Marcy called out. “Put your clothes away while you are up there. By the way, you can keep the bag. I don’t need that one.” She tossed the bag holding our clothes to us and Victoria caught it.

  Without looking back, we both disappeared from the room. Racing up the stairs and into her room. Or was it our room now? No, it was too soon to be thinking like that. Sitting on the bed next to each other, we burst out ughing. “Your uncle has no filter.”

  “No, he doesn’t,” she said through her ughter. Her eyes met mine as we started to calm down. Without either of us thinking about it, our mouths met. Arms wrapping around my neck as I grabbed onto her waist. One leg clumsily shifting out from between us to move to the other side of me. Straddling me as she started to kiss down my neck to nibble on the other side from her earlier mark, before returning to my mouth.