Dante and Prim flew the rest of the day and most of the night only stopping a handful of times for quick breaks and for one longer stretch to sleep. Prim was again pleased when Dante automatically curled behind her, wrapping not only his arm but also a wing around her. She had been a bit annoyed he hadn’t been doing that the previous nights they’d shared together, however, as it kept her much warmer. She wouldn’t have even needed to layer all her clothes.
Dante only allowed himself a few hours of rest before they were off again. He was running himself ragged. Prim was sure he would allow a longer rest had she not been finding sleep in the skies. She wanted to stay awake with him and keep him company as they flew, but the steady beat of his wings and heart and his warm chest and arms around her lulled her more effectively than any nursery song ever could. He was just too comfortable.
The impact of Dante’s feet on the ground jostled her awake and he allowed her a moment to take in their surroundings before setting her down. The sun had risen, the Bartoq Mountains were once again on the horizon, and large beasts flew in the distance. They had traveled south and east to reach Pregg, though she didn’t see signs of the large city. They must be on the outskirts.
A patch of fir trees was at her back, a grassy field stretched before her, the two separated by a short wooden fence. At the far end of the field was a cottage. Beyond it, Prim could make out a dirt road and more similar cottages lining it, each spaced widely apart.
“Stay here, please,” Dante said as he lowered her to the ground, guiding her behind a tree.
Prim didn’t object, only squeezed his hand before he took off, easily jumping the fence and running across the green field.
A moment later, the door to the cottage swung open, and a figure emerged. For a moment, Prim thought it was Adrina. The wingless woman wore the same black leathers and had the same brown hair, but as she took off in a run, it flowed behind her much longer than the dragon whisperer’s had. She wasn’t quite as tall, either. And while Adrina had been thin and toned, this woman was even skinnier. Almost gangly.
With both Dante and the woman running toward each other, the distance was closed quickly. The woman flew into him, flinging her arms around his neck. He spun her around, her legs flowing out with the torque, one arm around her waist, one hand on the back of her head. Then he placed her on the ground and she was grabbing his hands, shaking them up and down excitedly, saying words Prim couldn’t hear. But she could see the absolute relief in Dante’s body language to find his woman safe—whoever she was. Not his sister or his daughter, she knew. Not his wife or his lover, she hoped.
Prim’s heart squeezed with the emotion in their reunion. She was relieved, too. Not only that someone Dante cared about was safe, but because as intense as their greeting had been, they hadn’t kissed.
Too busy watching Dante and the skinny woman, Prim hadn’t noticed the other woman padding toward the pair. She had the same brown hair, wore black pants but a loose pale blue shirt, and her curvy body was more similar to Prim’s than Adrina’s. The skinny woman released Dante’s hands and stepped aside, letting the curvy woman approach and cup Dante’s face with both hands. He obediently bowed his head so she could brush a kiss to his forehead. Their greeting completed, the first woman pushed her way back in to grab Dante’s hands again, dragging him backward toward the cottage.
Dante allowed her to pull him all of two steps before he paused, looking back to where Prim waited. Then he was speaking to the women, who both turned their attention toward Prim when he finished. Prim extracted herself from behind the tree, waving awkwardly. Both women turned back to Dante without waving back, the curvy one nodding and the skinny one grabbing his arm and shaking it again as she spoke. Dante pressed his palm to her forehead, playfully pushing her away. She ducked out of his reach, swatting his arm. Then both women watched as he walked back toward Prim.
Prim met him at the fence. “They’re okay.”
Dante nodded. “For now. I’ll have to tell them to go somewhere else for a while. Tamar, too.”
“Tamar?”
“Adrina,” Dante explained, running a hand over the back of his neck. “I’m sure she’ll be here momentarily. Those nosy dragons will have announced our arrival.”
Dante reached over the fence to grab Prim by the waist, hefting her over to join him in the grassy field. He could have used his gift, she knew, but he chose to do it himself. Her heart fluttered, but she looked past him at the two women watching them just as closely as Prim had been watching when Dante was with them. “Who are they?”
Dante didn’t answer, only turned around to walk back to the women. When Prim didn’t immediately follow, he stopped and faced her again, holding out his hand. She took it.
When they approached, Prim realized two things about Dante’s family. First, both of them were beautiful. Second, only one was a woman. The gangly one was too young to be considered as such.
Dante had lied to her.
He did have a daughter. Prim’s heart pounded and her gait slowed. The older woman was obviously the girl’s mother, their features were too similar not to be. Dante had a wife and a daughter.
Dante paused, still several yards away from them, turning to Prim. “What are you afraid of?” he asked, his brows furrowed.
She wasn’t afraid. She was livid. She snatched her hand out of his grasp. “You have a family? A proper family? A wife and child? And you let me…you kissed me. You were going to--”
“But I didn’t. And I never will. We never will. I told you, everything that’s happened since that alley has been forced upon you whether you realize it or not. And I’m not going to be one of those things.”
Prim was shaking. That was utter bullshit, but it had nothing to do with why she was angry now. “I’m going to tell her, Dante. I’m going to let her know what you do when you’re away. She deserves to know.”
Prim stalked toward the woman and girl, but Dante grabbed her arm. “She’s not my wife, Princess. She was Carson’s.”
Prim stopped, glancing between Dante and the others. The latter were looking at them questioningly, obviously not being able to make out their words. “And that’s his daughter?”
Dante released his grip on her arm. “He didn’t even know Delle was pregnant when he died.”
Prim’s heart broke. For all three of them. Dante took her hand again, and she let him guide her toward his brother’s widow and child he never knew.
“Bear, this is Delle and Marnie,” Dante said, gesturing to the woman then the girl before gesturing to Prim. “And this is Bear. She’s going to be staying with us for a couple days. And then we’re all going to be leaving Pregg for a while.”
Delle raised an eyebrow at him, but didn’t ask any questions before turning to Prim. “Welcome to our home.”
“Thank you,” Prim said, curtsying.
Marnie laughed at that. “People from Hogard are odd.”
Dante smiled mischievously, mussing the girl’s hair. “You have no idea. But we don’t say it out loud. That’s rude.”
Curtsying was a sign of respect and it only felt right to do it to the woman opening her home, especially considering her relationship to Dante and the fact that she was in danger because of Prim. But Prim didn’t explain that, only pinched Dante in the arm. “You’re odd, too, you know. Just ask what’s-his-name.”
Marnie nodded her agreement with a wide grin before tilting her head. “Who’s what’s-his-name?”
“Lance,” Dante and Prim said at the same time, and she smiled at their inside joke. The corner of his mouth only twitched, and she knew he was holding back again.
Marnie raised her brows, but didn’t say anything more about it. Instead, she wrapped her hands around Dante’s arm again. “Now do you want to ride Zulas? He can make it here from the mountains in three minutes flat! I timed him.”
Delle answered for him. “No, he wants to eat and rest.” She looked him over. “And put a shirt on.” She placed a cool hand on Prim’s shoulder and another on Dante’s to guide them inside.
The back door opened into a cozy stone kitchen, the smell of some kind of stew filling Prim’s nose, the air warmed by the fire blazing in the hearth blasting her face. The back wall was lined by a crowded counter before an archway opened into a room filled with a cushioned sofa and two chairs. On the other side of the kitchen was a table, which Dante padded to, pulling out a chair and gesturing for Prim to sit. Then he announced he would address his shirt issue first, disappearing through the archway and into the house beyond.
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Marnie took the seat opposite Prim as Delle extracted two bowls from the counter and filled them with whatever was bubbling in the pot over the fire. She then placed one bowl in front of Prim and the other at the seat next to her.
“Eat, then Dante can show you where to get cleaned up and to your room. I’m sure you need the rest, too,” the woman said, wiping her hands on a towel and slinging it over her shoulder. She then turned her attention to the kitchen, cleaning and straightening up.
Marnie said nothing, only watched as Prim blew on a spoonful to cool it before taking a bite. It was delicious, far better than any of the tavern food she’d had and certainly better than the traveling food they usually ate. When Prim said as much, the girl beamed, announcing she made it.
Prim was truly impressed. She didn’t know how to cook at Marnie’s age—the girl must be fifteen based on what Dante’d told her. Hell, Prim barely knew how to cook at twenty-five. “You’ll have to give me some tips, then,” Prim said warmly.
Dante re-entered the room, now wearing a linen shirt made for fae and a fresh pair of pants. The smell of the soap he’d bought her hung in the air and Prim knew he’d also washed up, making her a bit self conscious about the stink that must be on her.
He took the seat next to her, folding his wings over the back of the chair, but didn’t start eating. Instead, he crossed an ankle over his knee, turning to face the kitchen at large. Prim watched as he scanned Marnie then Delle, who paused her hurried movements to turn to him and sighed. “Eat, Dante.”
“You don’t have to clean and put on airs on her account,” Dante said, lifting his chin toward Prim. “It’s not like she’s the Queen of Wassalia.”
Prim flicked her eyes to Dante to find his mouth twitching again. She smiled, closing her eyes to keep from rolling them. Now that she knew what to look for, she was able to recognize his humor—recognize that it was just as immature and nonsensical as her own.
“She is our guest no matter who she is,” Delle replied as she began her tidying again. Then she paused to turn back to the table. “Are you going to tell us who she is?”
Clamor from the other room had all four of them looking toward the open archway as Adrina burst through with her commanding footsteps, halting on the threshold and taking in the scene. Her mouth formed a slow smile. “Gordy said you were seen in the area carrying a passenger and I just knew you’d changed your mind and decided to bring your wife home to meet the family after all.”
“Wife?” Marnie gasped at Dante.
Delle narrowed her eyes at the newcomer. “You didn’t mention a new woman when you dropped off the money.”
Prim turned to Dante. “The money was for them? Not to pay Adrina to give us a ride?”
Marnie’s gaze flicked to Prim. “Who’s Adrina?”
Delle kept her focus on Adrina—Tamar—stepping closer to her. “You’ve met Bear?”
Tamar opened her mouth to speak, but Dante slammed his palms on the table, calling order to the chaos that had just ensued. All four women quieted to look at him.
“Lunin, I thought it was bad when it was just the three of you.” He sighed, then picked up his bowl, gulping down several mouthfuls without bothering with a spoon. When he brought the bowl down the last time and it clattered onto the table, he rose. “I’m going to bed. Tay, have the dragons be on the lookout for a leopard shifter, guards, or any other suspicious folk. Wake me if you need me.”
The side of Dante’s hand brushed Prim’s shoulder as he walked past her, but it was likely unintentional. Not like the purposeful shoulder squeeze he gave Delle, or the kiss on the top of the head he gave Marnie, or even the clap on the arm he gave Tamar. Each of the three watched him stalk through the archway, and once he was gone, they turned as one to look at Prim.
“I’m not his wife,” she said defensively.
Tamar flipped her unbound hair dramatically. “And I am Adrina.” She winked at Marnie before taking the seat next to her. “Although I’m guessing that’s no longer the case seeing as you’re here, and he looks like that, and he just called me Tay. You’re still Bear though, I see. Is he still Con?”
Delle abandoned her cleaning to join the table as well, sitting at the head. “What does any of that mean?”
Prim looked at Tamar beseechingly. The dragon whisperer folded her hands over the table, as if telling their tale was a sacred duty. “I didn’t go to Hogard. I just happened to run into our--” she paused, flicking her eyes to Prim. “Seriously, is he still Con or not?”
“I know his name is Dante.”
Tamar smiled and nodded her head, satisfied. “I just happened to run into our Dante in Sartu with this lovely woman. He was in his doll form and calling himself Con and introduced her as his wife, Bear.”
Prim choked. “His doll form?”
Marnie laughed. “That’s what we call it when he makes his face all smooth. It looks like a baby’s doll, don’t you think?”
Prim laughed. It did. That’s why it looked so plain and generic.
“Though it’s an improvement on his real face, am I right?” Tamar teased, nudging Marnie with an elbow.
“I much prefer his real face,” Prim admitted, to which all three women looked at her again for a moment before erupting in laughter.
Delle hushed them, though she was laughing nearly the loudest. “He won’t be able to sleep with this racket, and that boy needs some rest. I haven’t seen him look that drained in ages.” She brought her attention to Prim. “Though his work tends to do that to him.”
Prim knew it for the test it was. To see if Prim knew what he did. “I know,” she answered carefully. She had seen what killing that fae had done to him.
Tamar sensed the shift in energy and slapped the table before continuing, her voice much quieter. “Anyway, the three of us spent the night in Sartu together, then spent a couple days flying north. So, yes, I’ve met Bear. By the way, did he ever stop being an ass after I left you?”
The question was directed at Prim, but Marnie spoke up. “Why was he being an ass?”
“Language,” Delle warned, to which Marnie rolled her eyes.
“Because he got embarrassed about me catching him getting all flustered and making goo-goo eyes at her every chance he got,” Tamar laughed.
“So you could be his wife?” Marnie asked.
Prim shook her head. “It wasn’t my bed he slept in practically naked,” she said with a pointed look at Tamar.
Delle gasped, turning to Tamar. “You saw him acting that way toward a woman and then slept with him in front of said woman?” She flicked her eyes back to Prim apologetically.
Tamar held her hands up. “Okay, okay it’s not all that bad. The three of us shared a room with two beds. Dante and I shared a bed, just so he wouldn’t have to sleep on the floor again.”
“Why didn’t he just sleep with Bear? If he’s in love with her and all?” Marnie asked.
A muffled voice fluttered in through the archway calling, “I’m not in love with her!” and the Pregg women laughed, but not Prim.
“So is the hearing a gift? And the scenting?” Prim asked, wondering how many gifts the man had. Most only had one, though it wasn’t uncommon to have two. She’d only met a handful of people with more than that. She supposed the senses might be considered one gift, though Roan seemed to only have the scenting one. Maybe they weren’t gifts at all, though, and just part of that bizarre natural form excuse he’d given her, whatever that meant.
The other three women just exchanged a look before Marnie repeated her question to Prim, asking why Dante hadn’t slept with her instead of Tamar.
“I guess he just wasn’t comfortable with it then,” Prim said, shrugging.
Tamar threw her a wicked grin. “Then? What have you been up to since we parted, Bear?”
Prim blinked, looking between the three brunettes, who were all staring at her. Then she picked up her spoon and began eating again to avoid answering.
“Go to your room, Marn. The grownups need to talk,” Tamar said, pushing the teenager’s shoulder.
“If I can hear about you and Dante sleeping together--which I already knew you’ve done before--I can hear about this. I’m dragon-claimed. I’m not a child anymore.” Marnie stuck her tongue out, contradicting her words.
Though Tamar wasn’t much better as she pinched the teenager. “Who told you about that?”
“You’re not exactly quiet. Oh, Dante!” Marnie teased in an overdramatic mocking tone. She started laughing but quickly stopped at a glare and a hiss of her name from her mother and an echoing one through the archway from Dante. “Well, she asked.”
Tamar rolled her eyes then focused again on Prim. “So did he confess his love?”
Prim breathed a laugh. “What do you think?”
Delle actually joined in, apparently wanting the gossip just as badly as the younger two. “But you did sleep together?”
Prim took a deep breath, feeling sorry for what Dante must go through with these women if this is how they badger a guest who they’d just met. But she smiled anyway. “We had no choice. We had to huddle together for warmth during the nights.”
Prim only realized the two women had leaned toward her to better hear when they both suddenly dropped back into their chairs. “Nothing happened?” Tamar asked, disappointed.
“Nope.”
“She’s lying,” Marnie said conspiratorially to the others, then flicked her gaze to Prim. “Part of my gift is the ability to detect lies.”
Prim blinked. “We just kiss--”
“She’s lying! She’s perfect!” that voice fluttered through the archway.
The brunettes laughed again, Prim dropping her jaw in mock indignation. “You tricked me?”
Marnie wagged her eyebrows at Tamar with an accomplished grin on her face. “And if you’d made me go to my room, we never would have found out they kissed.”