Liam Takes Manhattan (Elder Races #9.5)

Liam said in a soft, courteous voice, “I’m done talking for now. I’ll let you know when I’m ready to talk again.”


With that, he pivoted on one heel and walked out. He took the distance to the living room in long strides, but behind him, he could still hear Pia whisper, “Dragos, let him go.”

That was all he had time to hear before he pushed out the door, ran up the stairs to the roof, exploded into his Wyr form and took to the sky.

*

As soon as she heard the penthouse door settle behind Liam, Pia slumped and put her face in her hands.

“I wondered what life would be like when he reached a rebellious stage,” she muttered. “So now I know.”

She just hadn’t expected him to exercise such control. She had thought he would go through a teenage phase of shouting and slamming doors, and if anything that she and Dragos would laugh about it when they were alone.

This was something entirely different. Almost overnight, it seemed, he’d shot up in height and his shoulders expanded, while his youthful rounded features grew lean and chiseled. Always a handsome boy, he was now indisputably a handsome young man.

They only wanted the best for him. They tried to do whatever they could that would make him feel loved and happy, but tonight the appearance of maturity, along with his quiet voice, and the clenched effort in his demeanor had turned the whole encounter dark with a sense of desperation.

“This is a mistake,” Dragos growled. “I’m going to withdraw my decision.”

The tension in the room hadn’t dissipated with Liam’s departure. Dragos’s energy was boiling furiously. It felt to Pia like a raw blast of heat.

She lifted her head to look at him. Now that they were alone, he looked tired, exasperated and more than a little angry.

The events of the last week had been brutal on everyone. Bereavement was hard at any time, but Con’s death had been hardest on Dragos and the sentinels, who had lost a brother and a comrade-in-arms. Her heart ached for the tired slump in Dragos’s shoulders and the shadows under his eyes.

But as long as he was Lord of the Wyr, it was his job to handle it. And because he had such broad, strong shoulders, she knew that he could.

So she didn’t say anything to make it easier on him. Instead, she said, “Hold on. You made him a promise, and you have to keep it. No matter how hard it might be, we don’t break promises we make to our children. You just told him so, yourself.”

He shook his head. “Normally I would agree with you, but Liam can’t be a rebellious son and expect to be a sentinel at the same time. I won’t allow it. Sentinels obey orders. They have to, Pia.”

Of course he was right. Sentinels were responsible for carrying out Dragos’s orders, and they were responsible for the safety of the Wyr demesne. It was essential for them to be able to balance following orders with taking independent initiative when necessary.

But Dragos was only right up to a point.

“Well, he isn’t a sentinel,” she said dryly. She wasn’t quite sure how to finish that sentence—Yet? Ever?—so she left it hanging awkwardly in the silence. “I guess that means he gets to be a rebellious son right now.”

He looked at her, gold eyes blazing. “Point taken. Should I go after him?”

Dropping her head back into her hands, she scrubbed at her scalp with her fingers as she tried to think.

One of the things that made her so happy was the love she witnessed between father and son. But no matter how much love lay between them, Dragos was very much the autocrat, and Liam had already demonstrated he wasn’t responding very well to that at the moment.

Finally she replied, “I think we need to let him be. And trust him. He’s our good, sweet boy, and I know he will become a good, sweet man. Let’s not make that transition harder on him than it has to be.” Pressing her fingertips to her temples, she added, “I think.”

Dragos dropped a hand onto her shoulder and squeezed lightly. His touch steadied her as it always did, and she reached behind her to cover his fingers with her own.

Then he sat down at the dining table, rubbed his face and said, “So I guess we eat dinner.”

She nodded. “I guess we do.”

She thought she had lost her appetite, but they had a new son growing inside her, and the demands he made on her body had her rethinking that almost immediately. As Dragos picked up his knife and fork, she drew her plate back to her, and they ate their meal in thoughtful, worried silence.





Chapter Two





Most people had no idea who Liam was.