I didn’t forget, he told her. He liked using Mom’s maiden name. It made him feel like he was undercover.
She pulled her sunglasses down her nose to look at him over the top of the rim. You have so much Power, sweetie. . . . Make sure to keep your cloaking tight around your body, okay? Otherwise you might make someone nervous.
Okay, he said.
What about your cell phone? Do you have it with you?
Yeah. He patted the pocket of his shorts where the phone rested.
Who do you get if you rapid-dial number one?
He looked up at her. You.
That’s right. Who is number two?
Dad. He kept staring at the Dark Fae girl when she wasn’t looking in their direction. He liked how she looked. She looked sassy.
And number three?
Hugh.
Her fingers tightened on his. Remember to dial Hugh first, if you need somebody right away, because he’ll be just outside the school grounds.
I won’t forget, he told her.
“You’re going to have a great day, I just know it,” Mom said out loud. Her voice sounded kind of clogged up, like she might be getting a cold. “It’s hard to believe that only last year you really were the size of a peanut.”
He said, out of the corner of his mouth, “Mom, you promised you weren’t going to call me that in public anymore.”
“Right! Sorry, sweetheart.”
As they reached the doors, he turned to her. “I remember how to get to my classroom. It’s okay, you can go home now.”
“Sounds good. I’ll meet you right here after school.” She gave him a smile that looked a bit strange, but he was too busy to question it for long.
“Okay.” Pulling his hand free, he hopped to reach up for her kiss.
Usually he was an optimistic guy, and as he darted inside, last night’s nervousness became a thing of the past, because Mom was right.
He was going to have a pretty great day.
*
Pia stared after Liam as he disappeared into the school building.
Over the last couple of months, his hair had darkened to a honeyed gold, and it wouldn’t be long before he stood as tall as her shoulder. Whenever she looked into his eyes, which were the same midnight violet as her own, she caught a glimpse of the Power contained in his tall, young body.
It wasn’t the same as Dragos’s Power. It didn’t boil with quite the same fiery heat. But it was every bit as strong, every bit as vast.
She was so proud of him, and more than a little scared for his future, and she loved him so much, sometimes it squeezed the air right out of her lungs.
And look at how strong and brave he was. He ran into the building without giving her a single backward glance.
Well, that was good. Good for him.
As she turned to walk back to the SUV where Eva waited, tears spilled out of her eyes and ran down her cheeks.
Climbing into the passenger seat, she slammed the door and looked straight ahead. “Don’t try to talk me out of this. I need to cry it out.”
Eva put one dark brown hand on her knee in a gentle pat. “Your baby just went off to school. You go right ahead, and cry all you want to, sugar. Today you get a free pass on anything you want.”
Pia nodded, wiped her eyes and stared out the passenger window as Eva drove them back home. The majority of work was finally done on the house, and the focus of construction now centered on the office complex by the lake.
The site where Dragos had been so badly injured last month.
Pia didn’t intentionally set out to avoid the area, but for one reason or another, she never went down there after Dragos’s accident. She kept telling herself that things would be different once the complex was completed. For now, whenever she stepped through the trees and looked at the scene, all she could remember was the horror and terror she felt when she thought Dragos might have died.
After they parked, Eva gave her a tight hug. “Let me know if you want to talk anything over.”
“I will. Thanks.” Returning the hug, she went inside to find Dragos.
He was in his office, sitting at his desk and conducting a meeting via the secure telecom system he’d had installed. After days of fierce concentration as he had tried to think of what the other Dragos—the Dragos before his accident—would have done, he had finally managed to recreate the password on his computer. As she heard the voices, she recognized two of his sentinels, Graydon and Constantine.
That was how he approached anything to do with his injury and subsequent memory loss. He treated it like a battle and brought all of his formidable attention and tactical skills to the field with the intent to win. Pia found it both exhilarating and exhausting to watch.
Reluctant to interrupt, she hovered in the doorway, but as soon as he caught sight of her, Dragos said to his screen, “We’ll have to talk more later. I’ve got to go now.”
“Sure thing.” Constantine’s voice sounded clearly over the speakers.
Graydon said, “Text me when you’re ready to pick this up again.”