“Zach, I’m not keeping my eyes closed forever while you lurk just out of reach,” Heather said. “Come here. I want that hug. The only bit that matters is that you’re you and I love you and I was terrified and I badly need to give you a hug. Please get over here.” She smiled. “Don’t tell me that after what I heard about you fighting for freedom all around, and I will not buy anything suggesting that you weren’t in the thick of that, that you’re scared?”
“Terrified,” Zach admitted.
Heather said nothing, just waited.
But then, that was Heather: she’d said what she felt was necessary, and she wasn’t going to keep talking beyond that. She was going to just let him decide what happened next.
He couldn’t hover forever. His options consisted of fleeing in shame, which would make it much harder to ever face her again, or claiming that hug he wanted so badly.
He sighed to himself, closing his eyes briefly. He’d faced difficult challenges recently, but the risks had been very different.
He braced himself and closed the last of the distance between them. Hesitantly, he reached out to close his hands around hers.
“Try to ignore the scales,” he said.
“Let me worry about that.” Stepping closer still, she dragged his hands around her to either side, left them there, and reached around his waist with one arm. She slid her free hand up his chest, which was against the grain of the scales and not entirely comfortable, but he held still.
She opened her eyes, and he watched them search his face, absorbing every detail—the short spiky platinum hair, the toffee skin, the fine golden scales like a mask over his eyes with violet immediately around them that matched the violet that lingered on his lips. After what felt like forever, she smiled and wrapped the other arm around him, snuggling close for a proper hug.
“I would know you anywhere and looking like anything, Zach Oliver,” she said, her head resting against his shoulder. “And honestly, what else could you be but a dragon? I know you. And I have never in my life been as frightened as I was when you didn’t come home from what should have been a quick errand.”
“I’m sorry. That should never have happened.”
“No, it should not have—to me, to Max and the others, to you and the others, to everyone else who was kidnapped and their loved ones. It did, and you helped make sure there won’t be any more, and I am very proud of you for that. Not surprised at all, though. For the record, I did not ever, not for an instant, think that you had disappeared voluntarily or that you would ever abandon me or your mom or the kids, and I certainly hope you know that.”
“I... for a while I was scared of that. I eventually got a grip and clued in that you’d never believe it. But I still had to find a way to make sure you knew. I couldn’t stand leaving you in limbo forever. Even if...” He faltered.
“Even if what? Think seriously about what you’re about to say next, because I can see it coming and you don’t want to go there.”
He took another deep breath. “You’ve never seen a snake that didn’t make you flinch, and sometimes other things with scales too. I’m not even male, most fae, or at least the ones that have kids with humans, are strongly unbalanced towards female, and all seven of us came out female, although at least in this form it’s not exactly obvious. You’d do better without me.”
“Oh? And you know what’s best for me, do you?” She drew back far enough to look up at him, and there was a warning in her eyes.
“Things are going to get... I don’t even know how complicated. We still have a huge amount to learn about what we can do, there are a hundred other faelings who need help, I don’t even know whether I can learn to change back to my original form. It’s going to be stressful and hectic and probably scary at moments and possibly dangerous, I have no idea. It’s going to mess up your life and...”
“Stop it. Right now.” She drew back to fold her arms across her chest. “How dare you try to make that decision for me instead of allowing me to gather info and make my own choice? I have been through one of my grandmothers dying an inch at a time, in pain, with cancer eating her alive, and the other grandmother fading away into Alzheimer’s stealing her memory of her family and her self. I did not disown either one. I kept right on visiting them because I loved them very much and it was the only thing I could do. I can probably be a lot more useful in the current situation, since you might have noticed I have a bit of experience with organization and logistics, among other things. If not, well, so be it. If the only thing I can do for you and Theo and the rest is be here, then I will fucking do that. That is not your choice to make. Is that clear?”
“But...”
“Is that clear?”
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“Yes,” he said meekly. “I think you’ll regret it, though. And I’m going to feel terrible if your life gets messed up because of it.”
“If my life gets messed up, it will be the result of my own decision. I married you because that symbol mattered to you so much, but it didn’t matter to me either way because I had already made my decision about who to spend my life with. I did not do that as a dizzy starry-eyed romantic or with my hormones in charge, even though you can be very sweet and romantic and you certainly get my hormones active. I chose that because you, the absolutely unique person you are, you are special and wonderful and exactly what I wanted. If you started hitting me, that would be difficult to forgive. If you started gambling or something like that, I’d eventually, after some serious attempts at intervention, start laying down ultimatums. But if you developed cancer or Alzheimer’s or were in a horrendous accident with long-term damage, I would never even consider leaving. Why would you expect me to be any more likely to abandon you when things get bad than you’re likely to in return? And I know you wouldn’t. You didn’t, even if we can’t have kids of our own. You didn’t even when I was a complete mess over that harassment fiasco at my old job and I was sure I’d fall apart completely if one more person called me a slut for telling the truth. It wasn’t easy for either of us and we didn’t know where it would end, but you encouraged me to stand my ground. You didn’t leave. But you think I’m going to?”
Zach sighed. “I want you safe and happy. That matters to me before almost anything.”
“The safest and happiest place for me to be is with you. Even if things are hard at times. We are going to stop this nonsense right now, correct? You are going to just accept that you’re stuck with me?”
“Yes.”
“Good.” She wrapped her arms around him again in a tight hug. “You’re lucky I understand you. Someone else might think you wanted to get rid of me because you found a new girlfriend or something.”
He froze, midway through returning that hug. “No!”
“I know that. Hug. Now.”
He obeyed.
“Love you,” he murmured.
“I love you too.”
Motion past Heather caught Zach’s attention.
JC waved, and pointed to a neatly folded blanket, a messily-folded one Heather had been sitting on earlier, and a smallish pillow she’d just set on the ground, then walked away.
Zach drew back just enough to glance around.
Alison and Wade already had one blanket spread on the ground, another rolled into a pillow of sorts, and a third as a cover, and Wade was lying down. Alison sprawled, more awkwardly than usual, next to him, but not quite touching.
Max was spreading a blanket right next to the stream, which Theo was currently sitting in. Theo, looking at Max, licked her lips hungrily; Zach hoped she could keep that particular need under control at least for the moment, although he doubted she could fight it for long. At least she had Max now, instead of the highly-distasteful sole substitute available.
Suzi was just tucking a blanket lightly over Levi.
“Tired?” Zach asked.
“I haven’t had much sleep,” she admitted. “I was hardly going to just go to bed.”
Zach nodded. “So sleep now. Jace brought blankets.”
“I just got you back and you want me to sleep?”
“Easier to cope with weird things if you’ve slept. Lots of time. One day there is a month here. A couple of hours to sleep is like five minutes there.”
“But...” She heaved a sigh. “You do have a point. The adrenaline’s going to fade any minute and I’m going to remember how tired I am. But I’m not sure I can sleep.”
“I know a solution for that.” It had worked for Kayla. And it was unlikely that they’d all be able to stay right here to watch over their loved ones, with so much to do—for one thing, even though Arctos had taken Nestor and Isabel away, they needed to check on the four henchmen. *Ali? Could you ask Theo if she’d mind singing Heather to sleep?*
*Um... Theo says come as close as you want, she’s singing for Max anyway.*
“Move closer to Max,” Zach said, on his way to scoop up the blankets.
“Why?” She obeyed, though.
“Theo. Siren.”
Theo greeted them with a smile, already singing softly. “And he sang as he sat and waited while his billy boiled...”
Heather yawned. “Oh my.”
Zach hastily spread a blanket on the ground and set the cushion at one end. “Lie down.” He steadied her as she stretched out, then gently settled the remaining blanket over her. “Even if I have to do something else, Theo will be here. You’re safe.”
“Mmkay... love you...” Eyes mostly closed, she reached out to close a hand around Zach’s, but hers went slack after only a few seconds.
Zach smoothed her tousled blonde hair back from her face, leaned down to kiss her cheek, and got up.
*Theo says she’ll stay here and watch both,* Alison said.
*Thanks,* Zach said. *I want to stay with Heather, but I doubt that’s realistic.*
*I know. I warned Wade I’d probably have to leave and not to panic.*
*You okay? You sound stressed.*
*I... I don’t know how this is going to work out, whether we’re expecting too much, coping with us now and everything.*
*I think we’re going to have to let them choose. Or so Heather just informed me, in no uncertain terms. Did Wade say something bad to you?*
*Oh! No, it’s... I’m okay. I just... nevermind, ignore me. It’s nerves. I’ll ask Suze to keep an eye out for Wade too if we need to go do something else. And let’s see if Jace knows of anything we’re needed for right now.*